Fossil Unit

[robinsg61le]

I know it's kind of taboo to get too specific about a hunt area but I was wondering if anyone had hunted the Fossil Unit around the Painted Hills John Day Fossil Beds. I think the area is called Sutton Mountain.

Are their any good bucks in the area at all?

What is the hunting preasure like?

 

[springer]

I haven't seen any nice bucks in that area but it is infested with snakes.

 

[huntindude]

I don't live far from there, I hunt chuckar around there all fall and winter and it's been years since I've seen a decent buck. hunting pressure is pretty heavy because the unit has so much private land, the public land gets pounded pretty hard. the deer hunting is pretty poor as a rule, but the elk hunting can be great if some bulls come across from Six Shooter, if they don't cross the road it can be real slow. it's not hopeless to hunt the BLM but there's a reason Fossil tags are easy to draw.

 

[robinsg61le]

I also hunt private in the area. We hunt on over 30,000 acres and have NEVER seen a buck over 23 inches in over 15 years. I'm not a professional, but I glass hard and am generally patient. It sounds like finding a big buck in the fossil Unit is a chore.

 

[Wanted]

Try not letting anyone shoot dinks for a couple of years on your 30,000 acres.

 

[robinsg61le]

You're right. I wish Oregon would manage more units for 3 or 4 point plus. SE Washington has mostly 3 point + hunts, and you see mature bucks everywhere. That doesn't mean that monster bucks are everywhere, but it's nice to see a 4 point every third buck or so.