John Day; Muleys?

MichaelJ

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Hi OR crowd!
Had a few things happen recently and they have resulted in an opportunity to move down to John Day possibly. I worked there for the USFS as a summer college intern a few years back so I'm familiar with the town, but never really got out to find any animals that summer.

I've been hunting Idaho for the last few years as a resident, am currently back in E. WA. I'm an archery and rifle hunter and prefer to hunt out of my backpack early season when the opportunity exists.

I have heard there are some big deer around the area, but not from anyone on a real first hand experience. Are there good opportunities around that part of the state to kill a big buck? I'm looking for potential to scount up 180"+ deer. I've found them in WA and in ID, would like to know there's a shot of finding them in OR around there. What kind of draw odds for rifle buck tags am I looking at for good units around there as a resident? Any input at all is much appreciated... Thank you very much.

Mike
"~Who says deer don't eat Berger's???"
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-10-12 AT 02:09PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Dec-10-12 AT 02:05?PM (MST)

I think you will be very dissapointed with the quality and quanity of the deer around John Day, ecspecially on public land. Sure there are a few big bucks in the area, but Oregon's rifle season is usually too early in the year, to many tags issued and very short (12 days). Archery would probably be your best bet due to the length of the season (about a month). But to find a true 180' class buck anywhere in Oregon on public land is a very tall order. It wouldn't surprise me if less than 10 were killed in the entire state anually with all seasons combined. We just don't have many mature Mule deer in Oregon.

If you do move to John Day, just plan on hunitng in Idaho for big bucks. You will spend less time driving back and forth to Idaho to find one that you will searching in your own back yard.
 
Thats not bad advice and I appreciate the input! I saw more elk around there than I did muleys in 2010 that is for sure. But the more I hunt the more I'm wanting to focus on muleys as they are my passion. Got a few points built up in Colorado too which might get cashed in this year. I just don't know if I could deal with moving to a place where I know big muley hunting is going to be hours away. Its not much better here in WA but we have a full month of archery season and I know what caliber of bucks hang out in our wilderness areas...

Mike
"~Who says deer don't eat Berger's???"
 
I wish it was a differant story, I get excited if I see a 150" buck in Oregon. I will be going to Idaho next year or Mule deer, and plan on starting to build points in Colorado, Wyoming and Nevada.
 
I agree.

I've hunted Murderers creek since I was a kid 35 years ago and this year was the worst I've seen to date. even after the last real winterkill of 93/94 I saw far more bucks.

Deer hunting in Oregon is nothing more than a camping trip with the same chance at a 180 buck as a winning megabucks ticket.











Stay thirsty my friends
 
Sorry to disapoint you but mule deer hunting here in Oregon just isn't that great. By the layout of the land around John Day you would think the deer hunting would be great, and really it should, however years of poor game management has finally really taken a toll on this area. No boubt there are still a few studs out there but its like finding a needle in a haystack. It is my honest belief you have better chance at killing a 350" bull arond that area than killing a 170" mule deer.
 
I lived there for quite a few years and did a bunch of hunting around there. There are a few good bucks scattered around, Northside, Beulah and Murderers Creek all have the potential for good bucks but it's not easy to find them. The Strawberry wilderness has some great backpacking opportunities and you may get into some good bucks up there but don't bank on it. I would say, put in for a pointsaver and get your preference point and then spend the fall scouting and checking out the country looking for the area that you want to hunt next year and the years following.
There are quite a few elk and some very good bulls all around John Day I would say that the elk populations are doing ok.
Be sure to get your cougar tag, there are alot of cougars in that area.
Good luck!
 
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