Steens deer info wanted

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LAST EDITED ON May-14-09 AT 10:14PM (MST)[p]I put in for Steens with 5 points so it should be a slam dunk. I have listened to the broken record ie: no deer,yada yada. Lookin' for positives. I've seen a few hawgs pulled out of there recently. Looking for places "off the beaten path". Maybe one of those places you've seen on the map but never been? Overlooked places? Places that take a whole day to walk to? Any info appreciated.
 
you want my opinion? you hear nothing but crap hunts in oregon here. but it's funny all the general hunts i go on kick butt. all the draw tags i , or any of my buddies go on, kick butt. i have a hard time buying anyones stories that ooregon hunting sucks. i will say it's not the best, but if you hunt hard,AWAY FROM THE ROADS< you WILL have a good hunt! i would love to have your tag. dont let all the b.s. you hear here about oregons animals being almost exstinct get you beat before your hunt even starts.
just cause i can bet nascarr88 will pull the old "superhunter" line, i absolutly dont think that it is just me. i have buddies who have bow hunted their first year within the last 2 yrs. after giveing them the "how to hunt your butt off" speach, they have killed bulls. everyone can do it.
 
The steens is a fun hunt. You are not going to see a lot of deer, but if you work at it there are a few good bucks. It's big country. I killed a monster last year that went 210 up there. Again, work hard and glass even harder. Scout it out, and I don't mean the weekend befroe the opener. I am talking right now till the opener, every day to can spare. It will pay off. If you see deer next to the road, and you will, be prepared to not find them there on opening day. there are lots of area to get away from others. Glass, glass and glass some more, you don't have to hike everywhere, glassing can accomplish most of that for you. Buy the best optics period! I use Swarovski binos and spotting scope. IMHO it doesn't get any better than that.

I am not sure but i don't think 5 points is enough to guarantee a tag, I could be wrong though.

Good luck I hope you draw.
 
You should draw with 5 points, I drew it last year with 4.

Send me an email to j.hankins<at>comcast.net and I will give you the info that I have.

I did not kill a buck, but once we figured out where they were it snowed and one of my party was sick, so we ended up pulling out.
 
If you're kicking butt in Oregon you must mean filling tags , if you're getting quality animals you know something nobody else does. there are a few qualty deer and elk taken but out of a kajillion tags a few are bound to happen.

The Steens is a tough hunt with the potential for a nice buck. I hunt chuckar all around Feilds in the late fall and winter and I can say the deer numbers suck, as deer hunts in Oregon go you're looking pretty good but don't expect a cake walk. I would hunt as close to the hay fields as you can on the north end, that's where I've seen the best bucks and the most deer for the last 10 years.
 
>If you're kicking butt in Oregon
>you must mean filling tags
>, if you're getting quality
>animals you know something nobody
>else does. there are a
>few qualty deer and elk
>taken but out of a
>kajillion tags a few are
>bound to happen.
>
> The Steens is a tough
>hunt with the potential for
>a nice buck. I hunt
>chuckar all around Feilds in
>the late fall and winter
>and I can say the
>deer numbers suck, as deer
>hunts in Oregon go you're
>looking pretty good but don't
>expect a cake walk.
>I would hunt as close
>to the hay fields as
>you can on the north
>end, that's where I've seen
>the best bucks and the
>most deer for the last
>10 years.
i agree, "kicking butt" could mean a big difference to everyone of us. but what i mean, doesn't even have to mean filling a tag. getting into lots of bugleing bulls, spotting lots of elk, spotting multiple "better than average" bucks. [ but i will say i dont waist my time hunting the bucks, i like hunting elk 1st, a buck is just iceing on the cake] but i take my parents out every year in the $#@%$^%^ unit:) [ but just an everyday 0-1 point tag] and in the last 3 yrs weve looked at at least 4 bucks a day, not counting spikes and forks. granted NO monster bucks, but for them great hunting! plus i've drew, or had buddies draw multiple higher point tags. IF YOU HUNT YOUR BUTT OFF, YOU"LL BE ALRIGHT. i just hate all the negative that comes from this board. 75% of the guys basically come off as saying a guy has absolutly NO chance of haveing a fun hunt and the best thing he can do is stay home and sleep. me, i'm going hunting:)
 
I think it can be fun to hunt in Oregon, that's why I do it. the problem is if you've been around more than 10 years or have hunted out of state it leaves you feeling a little , a lot, let down to hunt Oregon.

I always have a good time on my limited entry elk hunts in Oregon and most of the time I fill my tag, the deer situation in Oregon is inexcusable. if eveyone ignores the way ODFW mismanages our herds with a make the best of a bad situation attitude it will never get better. there is a line between being a malcontent whiner and a knowledgable hunter who says wait a minute something is wrong here I remember when. I'm not sure where that line is drawn but if you're happy with our game managment I'll just keep hunting out of state until the deer are on the ESA and something has to be done.

I'm an eastern Oregon native and of the 9 states I apply for tags in Oregon is the least important to me because for the most part the hunting sucks. I can afford to go where the hunting is good, I feel sorry for those who can't.
 
Ya but what do you do when ODFW doesn't seem to listen or care about what hunters are saying or what we want? It seems as though they are the ones that are content with the way things are and where things are headed.
 
As long as we keep buying camping tags and organizations like OHA play yes man for ODFW nothing will change, why should it?

It's a tough situation, everyone including myself wants a tag, the fact it's nowhere near as good of hunting as it should be is secondary. it would take an organized serious effort to put ODFW on the spot and force them to justify selling so many tags where deer numbers are so low. one way or another only money will get ODFW to wake up, since hunters will keep buying tags until the last deer is dead the only way I can see to do it is to force ODFW to cut the tag numbers until it brings them to their knees and forces a change.

The one thing I don't blame ODFW for and it's a large part of the problem is lion numbers, while I think they could push the damage control effort harder it's hard to blame them for the total lion issue.
 
Yes, the lions are not their fault. The taxpayers did that one. But they could push harder to get something done about it. I just have a hard time believing in them. I grew up hunting the Fort Rock unit starting in the mid-90's. There were deer everywhere, we would see 200-250 deer in a weekend. Then it tapered off and the numbers dwindled. I gave up on it and a few years later went back for a weekend, I saw 5 or 6 does. They are gone and hurting so bad. Yet they still issue 3500+ tags for rifle hunters. How in the world is that helping the deer?
 
How did my "Steens deer info wanted" thread turn into a ##### and gripe thread? I already know the story and agree with all of you. I was simply asking for options.
 
Your right, sorry about that. One thing led to the next. I got a PM for you.
 
I think you've been given some pretty good info, there is potential but it's no cake walk.

I haven't hunted it since '02, I saw more hunters in Big Indian than I did anywhere else and only one dinker buck there. the land exchange with Roaring Springs changed things quite a bit, make sure you have an updated map or you'll be visiting with them. I'd hunt the north end if I was going to try it again, and hope for some good luck.
 
HTNFOOL: i seen a picture of your buck, nice job! that is a whopper!! if you listen to alot of guys, it is amazing that a buck like that lives in oregon, anywhere! i think you show a fine example of what hard hunting/scouting can do even in this state.
 
>HTNFOOL: i seen a picture of
>your buck, nice job! that
>is a whopper!! if
>you listen to alot of
>guys, it is amazing that
>a buck like that lives
>in oregon, anywhere! i
>think you show a fine
>example of what hard hunting/scouting
>can do even in this
>state.

Killer,

Thanks for the post. The Steens is a great place to chase them! There are some great bucks, not many, but a few. I was just a lucky hunter that day. Hope I have a few more of those in the back pocket.

Any luck on some more of those big sheds? It looks like you found a honey hole!

Scott
 
no luck this weekend. just those 2 good sets. the grass is getting tall and it's hard to glass. not to mention the tics are out like mad!
 
Killer I think we all know there are good animals in Oregon to be had but in the last ten years they have really dropped off. If they are managed the next ten years like they have been the last ten good luck. If you keep that glass half full attitude with ODFw nothing will change, just keep giving them your cash and keep giving that "how to hunt your butt off" line and things will be just duckeeee. As long as your happy in your little world that ok, Have a great day.
 
>Killer I think we all know
>there are good animals in
>Oregon to be had but
>in the last ten years
>they have really dropped off.
>If they are managed the
>next ten years like they
>have been the last ten
>good luck. If you keep
>that glass half full attitude
>with ODFw nothing will change,
>just keep giving them your
>cash and keep giving that
>"how to hunt your butt
>off" line and things will
>be just duckeeee. As long
>as your happy in your
>little world that ok, Have
>a great day.

as long as the woods are filled with people like you, with " it aint even worth getting outta bed, it's so bad" aditudes, i'm quit sure i will continue to be able to have quality hunts. do you ever go to ODFW meetings? or are you another guy who will absolutly complain to everyone you talk to--- EXCEPT the people who matter? i will have a great day, hope you do to;)
 
KillerBee

Not trying to stir the pot....Above you mentioned, "I will continue to have quality hunts". What is your definition of a quality mule deer hunt?



Troutcrk
"Livin the Dream"
 
first, i absolutly LOVE being out in the woods hunting! i have a blast looking whatever i'm hunting. my idea of a quality mule deer hunt depends on the hunt i'm on, couple examples:

[ i will leave out unit names though]
like i said in post #6 or #7 which everone i posted,
1 take my parents on their annual mule deer rifle hunt. a unit you draw most every year, i've heard a million times that it's horrible hunting. in the last 2 yrs we see an average of 4-6 bucks a day, and they have killed at least 2 1/2 yr old buck both yrs. for the unit- thats a quality hunt

i went with a buddy on a muzzy hunt 2 yrs ago, another hunt i've recently heard your likely to maybe see 10 deer on your whole hunt. we glassed a ton of deer, lots of bucks, he killed a 26 wide, 166inch 4x4 buck- quality hunt IMO

last year i had my general archery buck tag, was on a backpack hunt, spent 2 days spotting and stocking different buck anywhere from 16-18"3x3- up to a 24" -160+/- 4x4-- never conected, but had a quality hunt

couple yrs ago i drew a late season archery tag.[ i drew with no points, but that was SH%^ HOUSE LUCK] i chased big bucks every day,2 bucks over 190" [had lots of buddies go on different days to witness] never conected on one of the big boys, but on the very last day i killed a 26 wide,158" 4x4--quality hunt

last year i had a buddy draw a late season archery tag[ i never got to go with him] but he hunted hard and killed a 25" mid 150's 4x4-- quality hunt.

i have another buddy [ who is a LURKER here :) DK]
who kills a decent buck i'd say an average of every other year, usually at least a 20" 4 point buck with his general bow tag,-- quality hunts.

i have a couple other bucks that are respectable also.

i have alot of buddies that are very sucsessful hunting in oregon.it doesn't have to have a certain score to be a quality hunt. AND BY NO MEANS AM I TRYING TO SAY OREGON IS ONE OF THE BETTER HUNTING STATES! i dont know what some guys are expecting? do they think general hunting areas should be as good as the L.E. hunts around the different states? look on the utah forums, they complain about their crummy general hunts too. fact is they are all over crowded, and dont have the deer#'s to support the # of hunters the states put out in these type of hunts. does that mean we should just bag it, sleep in, there no reason to climb that hill, there wont be anything there anyway? hell no, i just love trying! and the more people get the attitude that it's not worth it, the better it will get for those who are willing to try. and it's always funny that the people complaining about the hunting are the first ones to pull the trigger on the spike/forks opening morning. even if this state wont put an antler restriction on hunting, we as hunter can. just dont shoot them. if enough people did it it would help. and really you only get 30 lbs of meat off of them so why? and if your going to complain, why do it on a forum? that will do nothing to help. join a group and start lobbying for your cause, believe it or not, their are people who make changes. but not by sitting back biching and moaning that there are no deer left in oregon.
lots of rambleing, but just my 2 cent
 
It seems obvious to me you weren't around here back when we had deer. Bee you're the kind of guy ODWF dreams of, you'd buy a tag if the deer were on the ESA.

Hunting isn't all about success thats true, but if you've ever had good hunting it's hard to be happy with a good camping trip and a dinker buck if you're lucky.
 
>It seems obvious to me you
>weren't around here back when
>we had deer. Bee you're
>the kind of guy ODWF
>dreams of, you'd buy a
>tag if the deer were
>on the ESA.
>
> Hunting isn't all about success
>thats true, but if you've
>ever had good hunting it's
>hard to be happy with
>a good camping trip and
>a dinker buck if you're
>lucky.
>
>
huntindude: sorry, you missed the boat by a little bit. i hunted oregon alot in the 90's, that was great hunting, i also spent 9 yrs of my life guideing right across the fence to the famous JICCARILLIA APACHE INDIAN RES. if you have never heard of it, it is probably the best known place in the world for trophy mule deer. if you dont call oregon mid 90's good hunting, i'm afraid to tell you it's not the state, it's the hunter. i have seen great deer hunting, i'm not saying oregons is great. but to quote you " it's hard to be happy with a good camping trip and a dinker buck if your lucky" thats not ALL the states fault, there are people who make the best of a bad situation. DONT KILL THOSE DINKER BUCKS and that will be a good start. nothing worse than listening to someone complain, when they are part of the problem.
 
Perhaps this should become a thread in itself, this thread is getting hijacked, again.
 
i think there are some real good bucks in almost every unit. it just depends on how hard you look and how much time you have to look for them. i have lots of pictures and videos of real good oregon bucks.
 
Killerbee,

A 2 1/2 year old buck is not a mature buck by a big margin. So in my eyes you are what you are accusing H-dude of being, a dinker shooter.

I agree that hunting is the fun part but not the kill, but as much as you think you know about H-dude is that he hunts all over the west and does not shoot dinks.

Oregon does have a few good deer in every unit, but I have been on census flights with ODFW in the distant past, and if you are saying that Oregon game populations are good, especially deer you are kidding yourself and everyone else.

Your posts come off as if you feel that you and your friends are great hunters and everyone else doesn't know what they are doing, please spare us the BOLDING OF THE INDIAN RESERVATION talk please. I usually don't sling mud but your posts come off to me as arrogant.

I feel better now,

Rich
 
killer, believe me I'm not going to stop hunting,things could never get that bad. I was just a little disturbed with your everything is just fine junk and if you hunt hard you can still get your animal. Yes I agree you can still tag out with some hard work but the overall status of our deer herds are a joke.
elk are hanging in there in some units but that will change the way it is going. You are just the type of person that ODFW loves and thats what I have a problem with because with your pie in the sky attitude will not make things better. Now if you are just talking bow hunting for elk sure things are not that bad. But this started off talking about deer hunting. Anyone can get into the elk during the rut. Have a great day.
 
LOSTINOREGON: just to clarify, 2 1/2 yr old bucks is the hunt with my parents. it is a draw every year hunt. both parents are 56 yrs old, my mom just recovered from breat cancer last year. a 2 1/2 yr old buck is far above the average buck killed in that unit. it just states that it can be done.

again not trying to be a hero, thats the reason i tried to give instances from alot of different people, not just my hunting. sorry if again me being posative rubbes people the wrong way into thinking it's a hero post. but i re-read all my post and its easy to see they are not.
 
Being positive is not a bad thing but putting your head in the sand and saying everything is great is another thing. We all know the status of Oregons deer numbers so don't try to candy coat it and say you just need to hunt harder.
 
i will admit it's in bad shape. everyone is 100% correct on that. but if someone was to read on this oregon forum about hunting, they would get the impression that you have no chance of even seeing a deer in the woods. i just simply would like people to see they still have a chance if they do hunt hard.
i scored a buck a girl shot last year in another 0 point rifle deer hunt. first time she ever went buck hunting [ granted everyone knew how lucky she was] but the buck was a 28" good mass 170" 4x4. that just goes to show there are still a couple around.
 
There is a difference between being positive and hunting hard once you have a tag in hand and saying that the hunting is not that bad. You yourself said that 2 1/2 year old bucks in that unit that you hunt with your parents is "far above average". That statement alone tells me the unit is mismanaged. You have made yourself appear to be a hardcore hunter yet if you feel 2 1/2 year old buck is an accomplishment the unit is overhunted. I applaud you for taking your parents and for hunting hard but there are a lot of us that want to hunt hard in units that are managed with a chance at a trophy. I dont want to invest the time and energy in a unit where if everything falls into place and I kill one of the biggest bucks on the unit it is a 3 year old 165 class buck. Oregon has better genetics than that they are mismanaging the units.
 
I'll add to the negitive side of this post and how horrible the deer hunting has become in eastern Oregon. This dispute is obviously between people who have seen how the hunting was here in the past and ones who have not!! I've lived in Harney county my whole life and have hunted and worked in all corners of the county, and the deer hunting here is a small fraction of what it was not that long ago. Sorry, but if you don't agree you have not hunted here very long. I guess we just have to live with the lac of deer and continue to enjoy our hunts as most of us do anyway's. And I don't see it changing anytime soon for the deer here.


Koyote
 
Koyote - From someone that has lived in harney county for so long and knows more about it than most of the rest of us...What needs to happen for the deer to rebound? I mean we can all speculate about it. But someone like yourself that is at the epicenter of a hard hit area, what are the contributing factors and what needs to happen to fix it?
 
LAST EDITED ON May-29-09 AT 05:28PM (MST)[p] I'm an eastern Oregon native and hay farmer here so I have watched the deer decline out my front window, and it's as bad if not worse on the public. if anyone says different they've been self medicating.

In the 60's and 70's when I was a kid we had 100's of deer in the hay fields,in the foothills I picked up a ton of sheds. in the 80's there were still quite a few, then in the winter of 92/93 we had an awful die off and the deer have gone down from there.

so what can be done? this is my opinion of course but first we have to acknowledge we have a problem and demand ODFW take a role in fixing it with what managment tools they have. number two is predator control, yotes and lions are killing the chances of recovery. ODFW is limited on what they can do about the cats but they pretty much chose to do nothing as it stands, if ODFW and people like Bee weren't pretending all is well they do have some ability to control the cats, but if there's no problem there's no need is their attitude. much of the coyote control would fall back on us hunters, and as county trapper funding gets cut they're only going to get worse.

There is no simple fix for this, and I don't see a quick one either, but as long as we're content with the status quo the ODFW will be content to issue way too many tags and collect our money, that much I do know.
 
LAST EDITED ON May-29-09 AT 06:18PM (MST)[p]romulous, again not trying to be the hero. but i dont know what you guys expect?
hunting in colorado- you try to draw the 3rd season or 4th season tag for a better chance at a trophy buck, then people still kill plenty of 165 buck[ granted ALOT more bigger bucks,the better the unit/hunt, the more limited it is to draw.

same in utah, their limited entry units are awsome, but unbelievably hard to draw. their general hunts are filled with a ton of hunters who on average shoot small bucks. yes there are still the guys who shoot good bucks, but on a general hunt, most complain there are to many hunters for the area

wyoming- the great buck units are very hard to draw. i went on an elk hunt their last year in november and we never seen a shooter buck [over 150"] we seen 30 + bulls so we were obviously looking alot. but it is not a great deer unit, so the hunting wasn't very good

new mexico, same thing
montana, same thing

my point is were are talking these general hunts everyone goes on year after year, you cant expect to kill a 190" buck every year. if so you wouldn't get to hunt it every year. some[ including myself] would like to cut the tags in half and hunt every other year, but i think alot of guys want to hunt their area every year AND be able to kill big bucks each year--- it's not happening IN ANY STATE YOU HUNT.

i agree 100% with you guys on the hunting being poor right now
UP UNTIL YOU START SAYING THAT THERE IS NO CHANCE IN OREGON. there is[ as slim as it may be] but there is.

i try real hard to talk about others hunts than myself, then someone comes off with the" IT'S OBVIOUS YOU HAVEN'T HUNTED HERE VERY LONG" nothing short of showing a wall of respectable bucks will prove some wrong, but others would call it "cocky" so what the he^% ? as long as a person doesn't join the "cant kill a thing in this state" whinners, then your cocky and dont know what your talking about? again, yes oregon deer hunting is poor and needs ALOT of work, ALOT! but you can make something out of this poor states hunting, if not do all the people ,who would enjoy their hunt, a favor and not take a tag from the draw. someone will be glad to have fun out there.
 
Thats fine if all you want is to have fun and try and harvest the first 3 year old buck and then call it a respectable buck.I consider a respectable buck to be a mature buck whether or not it scores very high. To compare Oregon to Colorado is a joke and obviously either you have not hunted Colorado much or you didnt do your homework when you went. I live in Washington so obviously Oregon would be a nice short trip for me but it is not worth the time right now. I have hunted Colorado for the past 6 years mostly on undersubscribed units which take 0 pts to draw and almost every day I could kill what you are calling respectable bucks. Last year was down a little bit but I still saw 4 or 5 decent bucks and killed a 170+ buck in a 2nd choice unit. I just think Oregon could be a lot better but many people are unwilling to give up a little now including the Game Dept to gain a lot later. Good luck to you! We just have different perspectives!
 
Oregonbowhunter, I've commented on this subject several times in past posts, and im not a biologest so I can be easily discredited. But the EXPERTS don't seem to have an answer either. Im going to agree with the predator issue as we have alot of Cats and coyotes. And I tend to put Coyote's at the top of the list because I believe they are very hard on the fawn crop as the cats are on the adult animals. Predation working over your fawn crop year after year, pretty soon you don't have any deer. And our position did not happen overnight, It got jumpstarted in the winter of 92/93, any serious Mule deer hunter knows what this did to Deer all across the west. The deer never really recovered here then the cat's and Coyote's exploded. It's been a downhill slide ever since. And to help this along there has been changes in the way the BLM manages our desert which is crutial winter and summer ground. There is more restrictions on grazing greatly reducing the maintaining of water sources for livestock/wildlife. Historicly in alot of this desert there were few deer, then came the cattle and sheep and development of water. Now the livestock is slowly being kicked off the desert along with the water.
Still there are areas like the Steens that have alot of water and still no deer. I believe it's in the winter range.
Last summer I spent several days on the Steens along with two other people scouting sheep for a friend. Alot of this was backpacking the high country. Between the three of us we probally had around 50 days combined combing the mountains with good glass. I think our total of deer sighted was around 7 animals. Pathetic!!
We got a 163" ram and had a great hunt.
On the good side somthing has happened to our coyotes here, I've heard it's Parvo. The coyotes are way down here now, so mabye there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Koyote
 
Comparing Oregon to Colorado is like comparing USC fooball with Yale Football. Not even in the same breath or sentence IMHO.

There are deer in Oregon, but Mature bucks should be the key that everyone focuses on. A mature buck may never score over 160 in his life, however he is 4 1/2 plus in my mind. Those deer are the non existant deer in Oregon because they are smoked by hunters when they are forkies and eaten by the lions when the leave their mothers.

Rich
 
LAST EDITED ON May-30-09 AT 03:59PM (MST)[p]can you guys read??

i'm, not comparing oregons hunting to colorado's! how in the heck do you even come to that?


EXAMPLE THAT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND---- YOU CAN ONLY EXPECT THE BEST HUNTING, IN THE BEST HARD TO DRAW UNITS!!


MY EXAMPLES INCLUDED, COLORADO,WYOMING,UTAH,MONTANA,NEW MEXICO,ETC................

so, if you want to shoot nothing but 4 1/2 yr old bucks, i would expect you to NOT deer hunt in oregon for 10 yrs. then you will need to be holding a juniper,white horse muzzy, S.E. metolius,mt.emily late, and others like these tags.

same for ALL states. if you absolutly want a crack at the states biggest bucks[ unless you have your own little honey hole, lots do,] you will need one of the states better tags. THATS WHY THOSE TAGS IN ALL STATES TAKE SO MANY POINTS TO DRAW. it's really simple math.

and i would wager that unless your a colorado resident, i have spent 10 times the amount of time in that state than 99% of any non-resident. i lived on the colorado / new mexico border, 7-8 months a year for 9 yrs, c'mon, dont tell me i dont know colorados deer hunting , at least a little bit.

so are you telling me ROMULOUSE, you WOULD kill your 170" buck in colorado, because it's mature, but you WOULD NOT kill him in oregon because there is not a single mature deer that walks in this state? so in a way YOU are saying oregon hunting is better than colorados? cause are bucks get to be 170" before they are even mature? now thats ignorance at it's best.

i know thats not what you meant, and i believe you know i'm NOT comparing oregons hunting to colorado. dont you think it's kinda dumb to take just a small part of a post, and use it in a way you know it's not stated for?
 
one more thing, go look in the "general hunting" forum, under "IDAHO"

they are back and forth what state is worse, idaho or utah. they are using 100% the same reasons as we do in oregon. they are all true, but what all these guys dont realize is it's not JUST oregon[which none are mentioning] idaho,utah. IT"S HUNTING IN AMERICA. if you think you can just get a general tag now days, and kill 190" buck CONSISTANTLY your crazy. even expecting anything close is ingnorant.
so i say again, you make the best of a bad situation, hunt hard, and you can still sqweek out a respectable buck for the hunt your on!
 
Killerbee, there are places in Colorado that although they are a draw for NR's, you can draw them every year or nearly every year. They are exteme rugged hunts but hold quality deer. Same thing with Utah, there are a lot of extemely nice bucks that come out of Utah's general season. When you look through this forum and others, the ratio between large bucks from Oregon and large one's from Utah general hunts,is staggeringly in Utah's favor. When I started hunting in the early 90's the hunting was phenomenal, every year, in general OTC units. We use to see wallhanger bucks in good numbers, although we weren't smart enough at the time to get one, we did see a lot of big bucks.

So why could I see so many deer, and quality one's at that, back then in OTC units but not now? Why aren't those units able to support the same deer as they use to? they were general OTC then...I don't get it?

Just because something is general and OTC doesn't mean it has to suck and produce only 2 1/2 year old animals.
 
i got ramrodded for even mentioning colorado in a comparison earlier, so in a similer reply--- colorado, has the type of terrain to do just what your talking about. LIOTS of country that is over 10,000 ft elevation. when you go there [ even if it every year] it takes a day to get used to. just like you stated VERY rugged. so the country ITSELF does alot of the game management. by keeping alot of the guys who wwant a trophy to be delivered to their lap. those areas in colorado you will hunt alot harder than 90% of the units in oregon. yes guys do high country archery hunts every year and chase big bucks. but they arent doing it on little hikes from the truck. they are earning it.

and again I AM NOT SAYING OREGON IS GOOD, OR AS GOOD AS IT WAS IN THE 90'S, OR AS GOOD AS COLORADO,OR AS GOOD AS WYOMING, OR AS GOOD AS UTAH, OR AS GOOD AS ETC,ETC......

but it isn't as bad as some make it seem. you can read through alot of the past threads. MOST of the reply consist of " there isn't a deer left in the godd forsaken state" "you might as well sit home and watch t.v."

with some effort you can still have "SOME DECENT" hunting in oregon

THATS ALL I'M SAYING,NOTHING MORE,NOTHING LESS.

these threads get blown up by people adding to someones post. re-read every post i've made. it's the same every time. "HUNT HARD, HAVE A BETTER HUNT THAN MOST" pretty basic if you ask me. but there is alot of guys who take it personal when you say it's even remotly possible to still have a fun hunt in oregon. sorry but there are guys who do it every year.
 
I'm looking for two guys that used to hunt together who got crossed up and one want's to give away the other persons hunt area.......grin.

And no huntindude, I don't want someone elses honey hole. I want people like you to stop hijacking other peoples posts!

Stay tuned for my success...........
 
The way I'm figuring, I should be able to pull a Steens tag for the next 5-6 years in a row. I love hunting The Steens. I've hunted it twice. I am always looking for new leads to check out. I have found "buck pastures" in the Steens. They aren't always in the same area from year to year is the problem.
 
WANTED, i do apoliogize for being part of the hi-jack, wont happen again by me.

but i cant wait to see your pics this fall, like i said, dont let some guys get you beat before your hunt starts! i know guys who kill great bucks EVERY year. if allowed i'd love to drop the pics to prove a point. but i'm not and i wont, but i WOULD love to see some great sucsessful pics form your hunt. i have tried to get ahold of a guy i know who has hunted the steen alot , and done quit well. if i hear from him and get any info i will pass it on. good luck on your , absolutly not 1 single mature living deer, hunt. i bet you will have a blast!;)
 
Killer. I think the problem is that you take a page and a half to get you point across and most people stop reading after a paragraph. Try to cut to the chase you might have better luck with others understanding you. Have a great day.
 
I drew the tag as expected. Still looking. Have done all the armchair scouting, now to start burnin' boot leather......
 
LAST EDITED ON Jul-20-09 AT 01:27PM (MST)[p]Move this up............maybe NWElkhunter or has something to share?
 
i hunted elk in the steens last year. About 10 days durring the rut. there are a few bucks around, our group only saw 1 with large antlers. I saw a few mature bucks, 150" class. The deer i saw that i would have shot if i had a steens deer tag, was a huge bodied deer, 450lbs if it was an ounce. Little basket rack maybe 130", i figured it had some thyriod issue. i watched a 4yr old buck run up on his scent trail looking for a fight, with the resident buck. Out comes this pig weighing 2 1/2 times what the challenger did. You ever seen a deer say oh my good what did i get into here. -----------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
 
uh hum,cough, 450 lbs?

you could have wrapped your elk tag around it and probably got away with it.

you might have broke a guiness book of world records with a muley like that.

that would've been a cool site to see
 
Baltz526,

How was the elk hut?

I hunted it 2 years ago with a bow and the elk where nowhere to be seen. Too hot...too much private
 
i'm still applying for the elk tag, so i'm not talking. Did miss a good bull in the junipers last year. ran it right to a gang of ATV hunters and they shot the crap out of it. about a 280" 5x5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------support your local guzzlers. OHA life member,lapine oregon
 

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