Oregon points?

[fairchase]

What should I do with five points for deer? Keep saving or use them? I am looking to kill a deer of 170 or bigger.
I really enjoy muzzleloading but will do a centerfire hunt too. I'm from out of state but I'm willing to put in plenty of time scouting. Any advice?

 

[moonlight]

Not sure if you have enough points yet with 5, but for big muzzleloader bucks in OR you can't beat the Juniper hunt. The hunt is over thanksgiving so you got the rut working for you. I went with a friend a few years back and saw probably 40 different bucks in the area, many of them ranking as the largest deer I have seen in Oregon. The only problem is that they only give something like ten tags for it a year. Good if you draw, but makes the odds of doing it pretty low. Good luck!

 

[HighDesert]

The best odds of killing a buck like that are in the Permit entry Muzzlloader hunts. Those hunts are the Hart Mountain Hunt Juniper Hunt NE Whitehorse hunt and a couple of others.

The Hart Mountain hunt can be a phenomenal hunt I consistently see 170 class bucks there. The juniper hunt you will be about 10 years out before your draw it unless some of the preference points other non-residents have draw out on a different hunt. However this hunt is determined by weather. If you get a good early storm in the Desert this hunt cannot be beat. as is like wise with the NE Whitehorse hunt However like wise with the Juniper Hunt you are still 4-5 years out with drawing it. As far as rifle hunts go with 5 points i cannot reccomend anything superb you are several years out for the Trout creeks and the steens are not what they used to be.East WHite Horse has some respectable bucks in it. You can draw it with 4 points but it is big country over there and the deer are scattered all over there. That is about the best i can reccomend for ya.
Good luck with your apps

 

[traks]

well I researched the prefernce point system and you can put in for a 1st choice unit like Hart mountain, or Juniper and then if you dont want to wait you can put a easier unit to draw for your second choice. If you draw the second choice you will still get a preference point for the first, so you will actually get a chance to hunt while waiting to draw a really good unit. I have never hunted anywhere outside of Oregon but I have seen the bigggest bucks ever in northeast ORegon during the rut. Take for example our Mt. emily unit a very good unit but deer are often times hard to find but when the rut hits..........well, we will just say that would be a nice tag to draw. If you put in the time and hunt hard and you have a rut muzzloader tag your chance of tagging a 170 inch buck is better than good.

Good luck......oh you should probably double check the preference point system just to be 100% sure

 

[traks]

sorry, just to clarify there is not a Mt. emily rut muzzleoader hunt. I was speaking in terms that the bucks are just out during the rut and seeing all the big ones really makes you want to draw a rifle tag.........thought I should clarify so knowone got confused.

 

[fairchase]

Thanks for the ideas guys.

Greg