Hi everybody. Me and my old man are wanting to put in for sled springs this year. We should have enough points (he has 10 and I have 9). I just had a few questions about the timber companies and if you have to by trespass permits or anything like that to have access on to the companies land. I’ve already been doing some looking for places on the national forest land but it’s hard since the unit is only 21% public land. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Sled springs Oregon elk hunting
- Thread starter Elknut615
- Start date
There is no camping on Hancock land during archery season unless we have freakish wet weather like last year. Starting 2020 they will sell camping spots at various locations however, spots and price to be determined. Look at the TMA maps on odfw web site, green roads are open, and gated where the green stops. No e-bikes or motors behind those gates. You can camp anywhere on NF.
odfw, hunting resources, scroll down to "maps". Noregaard and shamrock/whiskey
odfw, hunting resources, scroll down to "maps". Noregaard and shamrock/whiskey
desperatehills
Very Active Member
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- 1,383
This hunt is not for everyone. On a real dry year Hancock can close their land down. Camping there is unique at best. The little bit of public land can get crowded. You will hunt behind closed gates and need to be out that evening. Many hunters will use mountain bikes to get in far enough to clear other hunters. Having said all that, it can be a good hunt. Hunters that are in shape and can cover a lot of ground will like it and have no trouble finding elk.
ORPhotoGuy
Member
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- 30
It can be good depending on the year but have a backup plan in case fire season is worse than normal. Are you in the resident or non-res application pool? Archery or Rifle?
Here's links to the travel management areas that most people focus on.
Here's links to the travel management areas that most people focus on.
tailchaser
Active Member
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- 185
I hunted it for two weeks last year. I swore I would never do that again. Yes, there are elk but every tag holder had 3-4 guys in tow. We basically timed it, if you found a bull talking you had 30 minutes to close the deal before someone else was calling at him and moving in. It was so frustrating. I've been on general tag areas that had less pressure than this hunt did. Last year Hancock opened up for camping, I came back to camp one day and had two vehicles parked next to our camp and walked in on top of us. There are simply too many roads and too many people.
tc
tc
My dad and I are both residents and archery
tmbr_hntr
Active Member
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- 326
Not even close to what it used to be. You used to be able to get away from most people by getting all the way back on the breaks. Not anymore, even with the closures.
I've hunted it many times myself when I was an OR resident and taken bulls up to 330+ in there. My 16 year old son had the tag last year and we spent about 15 days total in there through the entire season. He passed chip shots on ragish bulls holding out for something over 300" and missed. He already has some good bulls he's taken with a rifle. There just were not a lot of decent bulls in there this year to make it a good hunt and WAY too many people. No way worth 10 points, but I get that points in OR don't have much value compared to other states.
If you really want to have a decent hunt be prepared to put 5-8 miles(each way) on the bike behind the gates. That gets a lot harder now when you can't camp. I think their new camping spots will just make it a chit show in a lot of areas.
I've hunted it many times myself when I was an OR resident and taken bulls up to 330+ in there. My 16 year old son had the tag last year and we spent about 15 days total in there through the entire season. He passed chip shots on ragish bulls holding out for something over 300" and missed. He already has some good bulls he's taken with a rifle. There just were not a lot of decent bulls in there this year to make it a good hunt and WAY too many people. No way worth 10 points, but I get that points in OR don't have much value compared to other states.
If you really want to have a decent hunt be prepared to put 5-8 miles(each way) on the bike behind the gates. That gets a lot harder now when you can't camp. I think their new camping spots will just make it a chit show in a lot of areas.
Heck, on the sled they shoot them from the roads they are so plentiful...
All joking aside, a couple of years ago when I had the tag, there was a couple driving the main road by my camp and on two different occasions they had bulls cross the road in front of them (while I as in camp). Once 100 yards from my camp (11AM) and another time a mile down the road (4:30pm-ish). The second time they came upon 8 cows with a bull in tow, and got a couple of shots at the herd bull as he was picking a spot to jump a fence. The miss was verified, no bull. So some people are lucky in getting opportunity without much hard work.
The first time I had just come in from the morning hunt, and the second time I was just getting ready to head out. The satellite and herd bulls both seemed to be on the move looking for cows. Some wallows were well used and others which seemed likely were not used at all. Wallows in unlikely places (easy access and fairly close to roads) were used more than I expected as well.
Thanks to Wapiti Bob, who gave me sound advice and helped me get my bearings. Good luck on your hunt. The hunt can be what you want, from deep canyon diving, to low-hill flattish country, close to road hunting or long remote bike rides. I found elk in most places I ventured. On one section they had run sheep that held no elk, but other than that, it seemed elk were dispersed everywhere, even where I was finding wolf scat. Good luck.
All joking aside, a couple of years ago when I had the tag, there was a couple driving the main road by my camp and on two different occasions they had bulls cross the road in front of them (while I as in camp). Once 100 yards from my camp (11AM) and another time a mile down the road (4:30pm-ish). The second time they came upon 8 cows with a bull in tow, and got a couple of shots at the herd bull as he was picking a spot to jump a fence. The miss was verified, no bull. So some people are lucky in getting opportunity without much hard work.
The first time I had just come in from the morning hunt, and the second time I was just getting ready to head out. The satellite and herd bulls both seemed to be on the move looking for cows. Some wallows were well used and others which seemed likely were not used at all. Wallows in unlikely places (easy access and fairly close to roads) were used more than I expected as well.
Thanks to Wapiti Bob, who gave me sound advice and helped me get my bearings. Good luck on your hunt. The hunt can be what you want, from deep canyon diving, to low-hill flattish country, close to road hunting or long remote bike rides. I found elk in most places I ventured. On one section they had run sheep that held no elk, but other than that, it seemed elk were dispersed everywhere, even where I was finding wolf scat. Good luck.
