Oregon Antelope???

oregonmuley · Jan 10, 2006

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on good units - I already know some but since we as residents only draw a tag once in a blue moon just not sure which is a good choice. I should have enough this year with 11 points to draw some decent units like maybe Steens, maybe Whitehouse, S. Wagontire, or hold out for Hart Mtn. Any advice??
Thanks
Frank

huntindude · Jan 10, 2006

I hunted Hart in '03 and my wife in'04, it's a fantastic hunt for 80" bucks.I loved hunting there but book billys are harder to find than you'd think given the hunt it is, just genetics I'm told . with 11 points you're a few years away from Hart I'd guess. Steens has the best quality but sometimes the private land can be a problem, but you'd have a shot at that tag. of course if you know Oregon goats a booner could come from any unit just some more than others.

lostinOregon · Jan 10, 2006

Depends on if you want to wait for Hart Mountain, if not try S. Wagontire. Went on a hunt with a friend 2 years ago, shot a 78 incher the first day, say several quality antelope in the area. It is all preference on how long you want to wait. I agree with the Steens comment above.

Rich

HighDesert · Jan 11, 2006

After Guiding on Hart last year and spending a total of 43 days on the mountain for several hunts and helping the Governors raffle tag Antelope with his hunt. There were several book class goats on Hart. Not Very Many 90"ers as a matter of fact one that i saw may have that big. I personally saw 4 or 5 that were over 85". The Steens is a good unit for average goats. That roaring springs property shuts down some of the country. I spent quite a bit of time in the Wagontire as well area some some real good goats butt he biggest was about 84". The 5 best goats i saw last year were in Whitehorse, HART MTN, W. Beattys Butte on a friends and the Warner on a friends ranch. East Beattys had a low success rate last year so they should have some excellent goats in it. But if it was me I would hold out for HART with 11 points that is a once in a lifetime hunt and with some units being split into 2 seasons due to the antelope populations I would just go ahead and wait for Hart.
Good luck on your decision
Dave

oregonmuley · Jan 12, 2006

Dave,
Thanks for the info. To be honest, I was really just looking to kill a decent lope but it sounds like there are some pretty good ones if you are patient. I'm thinking that if a 84' or even a 82' inch antelope walked in front of me I'd pull the trigger and be thrilled. Its nice to know I guess that we have antelope that big in Oregon. Anyway, maybe you are right and be patient but to pull the hart tag still might be a few years off. I'm still thinking S. Wagontire might be a sleeper unit, I talked to a guy that hunted it last year, he got excited and killed the first decent antelope he saw, then saw a couple of monsters later in the hunt.
Thanks again,
Frank

Oregonbowhunter · Jan 16, 2006

HighDesert,

I've been saving points for Hart Mt. archery deer and I've heard that the quality of deer is way down. Is this true? are there better hunts to save and use these points for?

HighDesert · Jan 17, 2006

The Hart Herd is down quite a bit from historical numbers. Just like the entire state due to the cat Problem. There are still some stud bucks up there.
However Depending on how many points you have would also depend if i would apply for it or not. There was a great recruitment this year. with this winter so far unless something catastrophic happens in the next 2 months we should not have a horrible winter kill number. If we get the early rains again this year we should have a similar recruitment as last year I would say 2-3 years hart will be a hell of a hunt. It is a good hunt now but if we gets 2 more years like this last year and that hunt will be incredible.
However if it was me and i have 3 points now Hart Number 1 is the tag to get. There are still some great bucks up there and they know where the safety is and if you cannot hunt where they are do not waste your points.
Dave

SteelieP17 · May 11, 2006

Hey, oregonmuley, hope I'm not too late to chime in. I'd say Whitehorse, hands down. It'll be years before I draw it. The goats are like rats out there. I've spent a lot of time out there hunting deer and I was at the point of going postal on the 'lope besause there was so damn many of them. My buddy and I were out there scouting for bucks two years ago on the opening morning of antelope season and had a legit 17" buck wandering around us at like 300 yards. We were arguing about how big he was so we decided to find somebody to shoot him so we could measure. We didn't find a hunter!?! Every time I go out there I see at least 4 or 5 decent bucks that are 15"+ and at least one in the 16"-17" range without really trying. Not giants, but about as good as it gets in OR. Oh, and the deer are WAY down. Between my group of friends the last two years we've seen MAYBE 10-12 bucks between the five of us and only one that was over 25". 5-6 years ago it was very different. But I've seen literally thousands of speed goats.