Oregon elk hunters
 

Anyone hunt elk in Oregon? I am lucky enough to be within 30 minute drive of decent elk hunting. I spend most of my elk hunting in eastern Oregon.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

:)Whoa! This is weird! Same little town! I hunt elk every year on Snow Peak! Now mostly on BLM since Weyerhauser bought out Willamette. Be nice if they would open some of the lines back up, especially the " D" . Makes hauling a trailer up a heck of alot easier! Lots of nice elk up on the peak!

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

Hi Whtelk,
I live in Salem but by father-in-law has a 15,000 acre ranch in eastern Oregon in the Heppner unit. It is a 6 hour drive from my home but it sure is worth it. I sure am spoiled not having to hunt on public land but I will take it. He only lets family hunt on his property so only 10 to 12 of us hunt it each year.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

Yea it would be nice if weyco would open those gates for us bow hunters, last year I never could hunt snow peak. I hunt alot up on soda fork and moose mountain areas where there arnt any gates.So your from our little town, how strange...we probrably know each other or have mutual friends. I have lived here all my life.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

:)Yeah, I know the gates up snow peak are closed alot during bow season. You can still get up if you drive through Sweet home and all the way around the river and go up by Dogwood Park. Bit of a drive. Yeah, we probably do have mutual friends. My family has lived in Lacomb and Lebanon for about four generations. I lived here when I was little, moved, and then came back about 12 years ago. I love it here!:D

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

I have 4 pref. points for elk and 3 for deer. I now have enough points to draw Mount emily branch bull tag, only 61 tags this year for the big bulls. I am going to use a point saver though and go next year when my hunting partner will have enough to go also. I have been putting in also for the S.E Metoliouse [spelling] buck tag, the buck tag is a late hunt in thier wintering grounds but it takes at least 6 to even have a chance to draw. We hunted the Ochoco' s for elk and deer last 2 years and have a roadless area that holds some awsome bulls. 2 years ago I was after a herd bull that was 7x7 and had around 30 cows with him, closest shot was 50 yards but not enough window to thread the arrow, word has it he was killed last year. :(

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

hey i live around here to ,in sweet home , i did' nt get to hunt elk this past year but hopefully i will get to this year . this year i think i will put in for the chandler mt cow hunt , but i mostly hunt swamp mt , buck mt and chandler mt , never been up snow peak. glad to see someone from around here finally.
[quote]ORIGINAL: whtelk

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

I hunt in the central to north eastern part of the state. The closest place That I hunt is in the Ochoco unit. In N.E. it would be in the Heppner, Starkey or the Mt. Emily unit.:)

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

CAMOHUNTER...Have you ever hunted the Mount Emily unit? I am very familiar with the unit. I have scouted there many times and also killed 2 big rattle snakes there. The bull population isnt what it use to be, could be all the cats and the bears. Saw 2 bear in one day over there 2 years ago, be a great spring bear unit.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

whtelk, Yeah I grew up hunting elk there. I took my first bull there and then took my oldest son there a few years back and he took his first elk there also. I have rifle hunted up there for the last 5-6 years, when my son started hunting. I first went up there back in the 70' s. I have a few friends that get a few bears out of there in the spring. I hunt faily low elevations. How high up do you hunt?

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

We hunt up fairly high and drop down into the canyons, I have been all the way up the north fork meacham creek on mule. I am thinking about hikeing into the shimmerhorn. I read that last year the police found a pot growing operation in bear creek that had 8,000 plants...did you hear about that? do you think it was the bear creek that is off of forest road 31. If it was those guys were tough since that trail is fairly steep. I was shown this area back in the ' 70s by an old man that had guided for 30 + years in there, I fished the north fork while there and caught alot of trout.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

whtelk
No, I had not heard about the pot growing operation. Stumbling to to something like that could be bad for your health.
Back in the early 80' s there was a big poaching sting up there. I can' t remember how many elk that were poached, but I remember that it was quite a few[:@].
We have never hunted much higher than Sugarloaf around 5 points creek down to Pelican creek. In the 70' s you could see elk almost every time you left camp, even if they were cows and calves. Last year was the first time I hunted up there and did not see an elk. I will probably be back up there again this year.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

Camohunter, are you rifle hunting the unit or archery? I am going to hunt archery again and now I have enough points to get 1 of the 61 tags this year but am going to wait until next year when my hunting partner will have enough points too. I scouted it one year the last week of august and never seen anything really big but saw alot of cows and raghorns. I sure Love that country though.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

I agree whtelk, I love that country too. I was probably 15-16 years old when my dad finally started taking me up for a full week of hunting. Back then we were going up there about the middle of November. We sure hunt earlier in the year now (late October). Boy sometimes that 2-3 weeks makes a big difference in the weather.
We started hunting in the Ochoco' s in 1983. That elk country sure looked different over there. We had always deer hunted there too. First year in central Oregon I was lucky enough to bump into a 330+ bull. That made the change of areas a little easier. I started bow hunting in the late 80' s and hunted Mt Emily one year then went to the Ochoco and Heppner units. Then, as I said on an earlier post, I started going back with my sons and I try to do that every year now.
Last year I archery hunted elk for a week in late September, then rifle hunted with my oldest son and friends. Good thing I had lots of vacation time:D

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

We archery hunt the Ochoco' s every year. Last year we ended up moveing to a new area, the old spot just wasnt holding the elk. We found an area that was real good, 1 day we had a herd that was moveing through a small canyon that numbered around 50 head. My hunting partner had 4 bulls at different times within range but not a one presented a shot, two were sparring and the others were watching all this. I cut across the ridge to intercept them and missed a large cow and saw a big bull. Ended up seeing 11 bulls on that trip but no meat :(. This year we will be over there for two weeks. Last year we tried the first week of the season but this year it will be the last 2.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

whtelk, that sounds like alot of fun. I have bow hunted in the heppner unit for the last 7-8 years. There are some big bulls where your hunting, good luck.

RE: Oregon elk hunters
 

I have bowhunted in the La Grande area the last several years for Elk and Deer but have an opportunity to hunt a ranch along the Crooked River somewhat near Prineville this year. Anyone familiar with this area? Is it a good area? I believe the area is in both the Paulina and Maury units. Any input would be appreciated. I am told the area is mostly juniper and sage with " some" timbered draws.