Rudio Mountain

N

NorthSide

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144
I have a home in Long Creek and a friend of mine and I have decided to enlist the help of a helicopter to access the Rudio's for an archery hunt. We have researhed all the hike / pack in avenues and the landowners seem to have all the access blocked. Does anyone know of any one flying helicopters in that area (out of John Day, Prineville, Pendleton, etc.) or have any experience getting in there by other means?

Thanks NorthSide
 
Good Luck
We had the West Northside tag this past year. How do they gate a Grant County Rd. and get away with it?
 
>I have a home in Long
>Creek and a friend of
>mine and I have decided
>to enlist the help of
>a helicopter to access the
>Rudio's for an archery hunt.
>We have researhed all the
>hike / pack in avenues
>and the landowners seem to
>have all the access blocked.
> Does anyone know of
>any one flying helicopters in
>that area (out of John
>Day, Prineville, Pendleton, etc.) or
>have any experience getting in
>there by other means?
>
>Thanks NorthSide

Thank you for the awesome idea!
 
There are some guys from Prineville helicopter in for rifle season and they do pretty well. I'm not sure who's flying them in.


Grant and Wheeler counties are run by a few people with lots of pull, it will be cheaper to hire a chopper than to fight the road deal out in court. it's been that way forever.



Stay thirsty my friends
 
I will check on a pilot I know who lives in Redmond. My friend and I have always thought about this. We had friends in the 80's that had access and hunted Rudio. Let me check on the pilot.Good luck I hope you can pull it off. JB
 
I sure would appreciate it. I think it's going to come together. The tricky part is going to be trying to figure out where to get dropped and where to hunt sight unseen, except maps of course. Looking forward to unlocking the blm ground that the landowners have locked up. Thanks again and I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

NS
 
440sixpack,

Do you know any of the hunters, or how to get a hold of any of the hunters from Prineville?

I'd love to talk to someone thats been in there before..

Thanks NS
 
I was thinking of doing the same thing myself in the future. Just could not afford that type of trip right now. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Should be a great hunt.
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-08-12 AT 11:14AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Feb-08-12 AT 11:10?AM (MST)

Are you in good shape? It might save you a bunch of money to pack in. There are no trails that will take you in but if I'm correct, you can come in from the far west end and pack back in there a few miles. It would be a beast but I think it could be done, then again, I've never tried it nor even thought about it until now so it may not be a viable option.
Just out of curiosity, is the hunting that much better in the Rudios? I grew up in Grant County and I never heard even stories about any exceptional hunting in there (even before the ranchers started closing off their land) Maybe just a well kept secret or could it be "the grass is greener idea"?
You've got me curious now, let us know how it works out!
 
Northside,

I will check with my friends who hunted in the 80's. The biggest bull they killed that I saw was 335. Back then there was talk of the Rudio Bull horns wide enough to fit over a Vokswagen.

My pilot friend she, flew in the military, Iraq, Afganistan, Panama. When she came back flew mountain rescue in Colorado. Good luck, I'm sure John Cole wont be too happy with you getting in there. JB
 
Ahh...it all becomes clear now. This is less about the quality of hunting and more about not using John Cole. Or breaking into the area that he guides. So if it costs $5000 each for the helicopter rental and it would cost $500 each to use John, you're going to go with the helicopter...It wasn't making sense to me why someone would want to fly a helicopter into the patchwork of public land on Rudio Mountain (and not alot of it at that) instead of just hunting somewhere else. But now it all makes sense. There are alot of better places to hunt in Oregon. You're in Long Creek? Just go up in East Northside, plenty of good public land in there.
But really, this is this just a feud with John Cole. If you are set on the western end of Northside, I would say just get over it and use him. He's a good guy, I knew his kids growing up. Good people. Good guy and a good guide. Maybe he would cut you a deal, since you will have your own accommodations (unless you've burned your bridges with him), plus he'll get you access to some of the private that you can't get even if you spend the $10000 for a helicopter, for an OTC bow hunt :) Sounds funny just to write that!
As far as John "not being too happy", my guess is that he would laugh himself silly if he found out about the whole helicopter thing and he and the Petersons, the Munds, and every other "evil" rancher in this "conspiracy" to "lock up" all the land, would say good luck to you. :)
 
BP

Let there be no confusion. I have never met Jon Cole in my life, although I know of him. I could care less about the checkbook buck and bull hunts he is selling. I am looking for an "experience" as well as a hunt that may allow me to hunt with out seeing to many other hunters. If it works I'll be tickled if it doesn't I'll move on to the next idea. As for your pricing - $500 for Jon Cole to provide access would be great, but not realistic. $5000 per person for a chopper wouldn't be worth it, but that is also an unrealistic price. I'm pretty sure your figures are backwards. About $500 per person for the flight or $5000 for the access. I know the check book bucks and bulls are running in the $5000's (at least down in the planted fields)..

In regards to hunting East Northside / West Northside - I have hunteed it all with success and love it. I'm looking for a new "experience" and I'm hoping the Rudio's can provide it.

I'll keep you posted.

Thanks NS
>is less about the quality
>of hunting and more about
>not using John Cole. Or
>breaking into the area that
>he guides. So if it
>costs $5000 each for the
>helicopter rental and it would
>cost $500 each to use
>John, you're going to go
>with the helicopter...It wasn't making
>sense to me why someone
>would want to fly a
>helicopter into the patchwork of
>public land on Rudio Mountain
>(and not alot of it
>at that) instead of just
>hunting somewhere else. But now
>it all makes sense. There
>are alot of better places
>to hunt in Oregon. You're
>in Long Creek? Just go
>up in East Northside, plenty
>of good public land in
>there.
>But really, this is this just
>a feud with John Cole.
>If you are set on
>the western end of Northside,
>I would say just get
>over it and use him.
>He's a good guy, I
>knew his kids growing up.
>Good people. Good guy and
>a good guide. Maybe he
>would cut you a deal,
>since you will have your
>own accommodations (unless you've burned
>your bridges with him), plus
>he'll get you access to
>some of the private that
>you can't get even if
>you spend the $10000 for
>a helicopter, for an OTC
>bow hunt :) Sounds funny
>just to write that!
> As far as
>John "not being too happy",
>my guess is that he
>would laugh himself silly if
>he found out about the
>whole helicopter thing and he
>and the Petersons, the Munds,
>and every other "evil" rancher
>in this "conspiracy" to "lock
>up" all the land, would
>say good luck to you.
>:)
 
The numbers may or may not be close though I just looked online just to get a general idea and for a 4 seat copter and the cheapest company I found is charging $950 and hour with a 3 hour minimum. So you're looking at possibly $6000 for the flight (if the pilot can get there and back in 3 hours or less, probably possibly from Bend/Redmond and maybe even Pendleton.) But for 2 guys or even 3 guys that's alot of money! There has to be a cheaper way, it would seem. I'm just as much against doing a guided hunt as anyone, but I think that if you told John that you wanted to hunt that area, you didn't need food, lodging, or a guide to hold your hand, he might cut you a deal on simply access to his leased acreage and that would give you access to the BLM as well. And I'm guessing that it would be significantly less than $3000 a person.
The other option that I really do think would be worth considering is coming in from the west. The map I have (though its a few years old) shows a few places where the BLM meets the Highway (19) and I think if you had 3-4 guys you could work your way up one of those canyons and get back into that area. It is rough country to pack into but with a few guys you could get enough equipment in to camp comfortably.
I still think though that whether you pack in of fly in, your biggest problem will be navigating the patchwork of BLM. It is kind of strung out in there and you may not be able to go from piece to piece without crossing private land. it's not like there is a border around all the BLM to tell you where the edges are. It's remote so you might be ok but if you are even unknowingly on private and you get caught, it will not be worth it. You'll have to be really careful to keep on the public land. I am curious if it would work out. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the advice. I will check with Jon cole and do some chopper price shopping. I'll let you know how it goes. As for coming from the west, I'll look into it some more. I thought I exhausted all pack in options, but maybe I missed that one.. I'll check in to that one some more. Thanks again.

NS
 
Not trying to kill a dream but i know a guy in the area. Sounds like you might want to check with BLM first.

quote "There were enough complaints to the BLM two years ago about a helicopiter flying people into BLM ground that BLM pulled all their flight permits. Anybody flying in now will probably be doing so illegally and there are plenty of people around here who will turn them in."




My favorite hunts are because they were with friends and family not just because "I got one".
 
Interesting. I'll call Colleen Wiley back. She is my contact with the BLM and she hadn't mentioned that, but I'll double check.

Thanks NS
 
Wow, Bone picker! how much of a cut to does Mr. Cole give you?Gotta give Northside credit for looking into and doing research on getting access on new hunting area to him rather relying on just calling a guide! Some people just like the DYI aspect of it
 
Northside -
Two friends and I archery hunted the BLM pieces that I believe you are referring to in 2007 and 2008. One of those friends called me because he saw your post on here and asked if we should help you out. That being said, the best advice I can give you is the same advice I got, don't waste your time and money! We were like you, had never seen the country and were going in blind. We asked around a bit. Made a few calls to friends of friends who had done the same and the majority of their responses were the same?don't waste your time. We spent the money and flew in but from the time we took off, everything seemed to be against us. Flying in, I was hoping to get to see some elk, but didn't. The one thing I did see was 4x4 pickups. It turns out, most that ground has roads all over it. Not long after we landed we were greeted by one of John Cole?s guides. I was half expecting him to be upset we were there, but he seemed to really care less. He was a polite, friendly man, and kind of helped us get our bearings and a lay of the land, which is very open country and the BLM/private line is not marked at all. The only thing that caught me a little off guard about him, was when I told him I had my hopes up of seeing some elk, flying in, but didn't see any. He laughed and said, "That's because there's none here! They?re all down in the alfalfa fields on the river." I thought he was lying, but he wasn?t. The only elk we saw or heard for seven days of hard hunting, we glassed going in and out of a neighboring ranches alfalfa fields and they never even came close to BLM. In 2008, we flew into the opposite side, of the same piece of BLM, but it was the same story, only that side had lots of cattle on it and no feed.
I hate to rain on your parade, but for us anyways, that place was terrible! Best of luck to you and let us know how you do!
 
I'm with steeler on this one... give the guy credit for being creative and wanting to go full diy. So what if he doesn't turn much up, I'm more impressed by that than by someone who simply cuts a guide a $5000 check.
 
Huntinlife,

That's a bummer. We were a bit nervous on what we might find up there. I want to talk to fish and game and get their take, but it's starting to look like it may not be worth it. Were you unable to get off the tops into any canyons due to private? Can you give me a little more insight on your teips in? If you didn't get into anything in two trips it would be hard for me to condone the investment in time, effort, and the almighty dollar..

NS
 
Steelers,
Funny you should ask, I get a 50% cut, I'm his secret contact here on MM. My job is to convince people to use John and Cody Cole. But now my cover is blown, you've exposed me! :) No, I have no vested interest in people using the Coles but I know that they are good people and reasonable. My advice to NorthSide was simply in the interest of his pocketbook. To tell John he wants a DIY hunt and see if he could just pay him for access to all his leased private for a smaller fee, then he could hunt that and all of the BLM too. My thought was that it would possibly be cheaper than renting a helicopter.
 
Well i cant tell you much more than what has been stated but i will tell you what i know about the area you talking about. Me and my family own around a thousand acres across the river from where you are talking about and i can tell you from hunting around there and glassing the area that you are thinking about hunting that most of the elk in that area tend to be around the alfalfa field next to the river and like all elk seem to know whats private and whats not. I can also tell you that at least the rancher across the river from us will run the elk back on to his place if they even start to think about heading across the river. The outfitters in that area seem to keep the elk pretty well corraled on there hunting leases during hunting season. I guess that's what it comes down to when the elk are worth more than the cattle they ranch, sad but true.
 
Bonepicker,

Not sure how you made the leap from a John Cole reference to being against John Cole.I said I didnt think he would be too happy, then you made the obvious deduction this was about John Cole. It is public ground if someone wants to hunt it I think it is great.Helicopter may not be practical, but who knows.

As you know this has been a long standing public dispute regarding access. There is alot of good gound to hunt in there I think about 60,000 acers and a ton I mean lots of elk.The John Cole pack in sounds like a good idea to me as well.JB
 
Northside ?
I don't by any means mean to discourage you from the hunt you have been planning. I only thought I would share our experience with you to give you a little heads up that it might not be what you are expecting. I will say it is pretty country up there if you like taking pictures. We didn't have too much trouble getting off the top. The BLM gets rimmed out quite a bit, but there are routes off. There are also pieces that we were not able to access because of private between the piece we were on and other pieces. You don't strike me as the type at all, but I'll say anyways that I definitely would NOT consider trespassing under any circumstances. I have heard rumors of ranchers around there taking trespassers to civil court and suing them for amounts of $10k and the court ruling in favor of the rancher! The biggest problem we had, was there just wasn?t any elk. From what I have gathered, is after the feed in the high country dries up, typically late July/early August range, all those elk on that end of the mountains move down to the lush alfalfa fields. It's my understanding that it's been this way for years and it's pretty obvious if you drive the highway between Monument and Dayville, early morning or later afternoon, that it has been. You will see hundreds and hundreds of elk in those ranchers? fields. We never flew in during a rifle season so I'm not sure if it would be any better then.

I apologize if you already posted something about this and I missed it, but have you called landowners in that area to see if they would allow you access to ground to hunt? Much of that ground has changed hands over the past ten years. I've heard some of those old time ranchers down there are pretty good people. I have a friend that steelhead fishes and he said there's a ranch he stops at every time and the landowner has told him several times to quit asking if he can cross his property, and just go fish. Granted, comparing elk to fish is comparing apples to oranges, but worse case scenario, all they will say is no.
 
Huntinlife4me is correct that alot of elk are off the mountain rifle hunt. Not sure when that kicks in.
 
Didn't you used to be able to park on the blm road by the ranch house and walk the 7 miles or what ever it is up there to the blm? It may be posted but it's blm and legal. But to help you out and other people too go to huntinggpsmaps.com and pick up a card for Oregon. It will clearly define all property boundaries and give you the name of most of the private land owners. It's color coded so you will know for sure where you are at. It's worth the $99 it cost.
 

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