Oregon Juniper Unit Muzzleloader

[CentralOre]

Oregon Juniper Unit Muzzleloader

Been applying for the Trout Creek Mountains for eight years now, and I was really disappointed on hearing all the quad traffic and lack of big bucks. A friend hunted down there last year and shot a light horned 24" four-point, and that was the best he saw. It's supposed to be a limited hunt, but he saw more people than deer, not the kind of hunting worth waiting 10 years for. Don't quite understand how folks think they can get up on a big buck on a quad, it really irritates me when I hunt and walk my butt off and have some dork driving a fourwheeler raising hell and scareing everything off in the area. Since my sudject is on the Juniper Muzzleloader hunt could any of you give me any idea on the quality of hunt this is, and is it worth putting in for. I've hunted the Biggs unit all my life, and have shot some good bucks but would someday have a shot at a dandy. Thankyou and I appreciate your advice.

 

[HighDesert]

RE: Oregon Juniper Unit Muzzleloader

IT is evident your buddy did not know the trout creeks. The roads there are all travelable by quad however the majority of that area is WSA so there are is no cross country travel so that tells me he was on the roads alot of the time. and not way off the roads out in the breaks and that country. Makes me think he stayed on the west half of the unit. I saw several nice bucks down there. I had the tag also there were quite a few spindly horned 4 points running around i probabally saw 20 or 30 bucks like that I saw several pigs also preseson but there were quite a few poeple on the unit. It did not help that one guy drew the tag and they brought up 7 other guys on quads to scout for the season. Ohh yeah they did get some tickets for driving there quads in WSA's. However if this was your buddies first time ever hunting in the creeks tell him he did better then most people who just show up there.
Juniper is pretty much a road hunt wait for the deer to come out of the refuge to the base of jackass mountain and stalk them there are some good bucks in this unit why do you think it takes 11 years to draw.
Dave

 

[lostinOregon]

RE: Oregon Juniper Unit Muzzleloader

A good friend of mine had the Juniper Unit tag two years ago. There was no weather to speak of and the bucks had not migrated and they were all on the refuge. Most of the hunting is hoping that they cross a road and off of the refuge. He shot a 23", 150's after hunting hard the entire hunt. If you get early weather it can be a great hunt. The hunt was hyped up after a early winter and they killed a 202" buck a few years back. I don't think they are worth the wait hoping for a freak snow storm. I agree with the gentleman above. If all your friend was seeing all of those 4 wheelers he was too close to the roads. I have been an Oregon resident all of my life and if you are looking for a dandy, look to other states. I have started hunting in Montana, Wyoming, Nevada and Colorado. If you do your research you won't have to wait so long to get a dandy. That same friend drew the Klamath muzzleloader tag this year and shot a better buck than he did on the Juniper hunt. Even in the premium hunts (the few that they are) there are too many tags and not enough critters. Just some thoughts.