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