This Saturday, Oregon’s general deer and elk archery seasons kick off. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it this weekend, however I will be headed West and hunting where I grew up in Central Oregon for the last 8-9 days of the season, Sept. 18-26 — just in time for the elk to start singing and hitting their dance floors. Hey, what can I say? I know how to time my elk hunts! With both an elk and deer tag ready for some ink, I’m confident this season will be our best ever.
Bowhunters Wax Up....season starts Saturday, Sept. 28
4x4 stud with eye guards/browtines. My Dream Buck!!!!!
My bowhunting buddies Jared, Miah, Zach, Brad, Graham, Eric, JW, Isaac and Mike (there’s more and I’m sorry if I left you out!) back home are all geared up and have set plans to hit the woods, and roads this weekend!! After all, a good redneck stalk always starts in a vehicle (sorry fellas’). Miah and Eric are both on the board for 2010 having both tagged nice coastal bruins last week. Congrats men!!! And I can’t help but mentioning but at 30 and 60 yards you were in bow range!!
morning after long hike during the night in 2009
Central Oregon’s High Cascade region is a hotspot for elk and deer general archery season tag holders. Its diverse landscape features high desert regions with a good mix of timber, rivers and lakes, sage flats, and towering mountains. Closer to the eastern slope of the cascades you’ll find large stands of old pines, firs, a few aspen stands, and a landscape littered with mountain lakes. Elk, deer, bear, cougar and the numerous species of small game run nomadic-like lake to lake.
Deep Timber and Thick Country
These features don’t make filling a tag a slam dunk. Central Oregon draws a huge number of hunters throughout the West. Logging roads and skid trails provides access to a lot of country and hunters take advantage of this. Roads literally dissect this country east to west. Not only will you experience a good number of bowhunters pounding roads, you’ll also find a fair amount of rifle hunters scouting for their upcoming October firearms hunts, as well as mushroom pickers looking to fill buckets with the prized Matsutake mushroom. Plus, after experiencing a fairly light winter, which can affect the overall water table, hunting can be tough.
view of the valley and range to the Northwest
The watering holes deer and elk prefer to use, which are few and far between and considered a gold mine when found, are nothing but bare trenches of pummus dirt after a year with no snow and rain. The water is simply gone. Bowhunters rely on these types of setups for consistent success. In high desert regions similar to central Oregon, a secret brimming spring can provide constant action, but as summer’s pounding rays combined with an arid environment take their toll, these sure magnets vanish. Therefore scouting must be taken seriously. Otherwise hunts are basically nothing more than a crapshoot.
Dry temps equals fire danger in Central Oregon. Scouting is key to consistent success.
Perched over waterholes bowhunters can find success. However in dry years you better have a Plan B.
To offset this situation the use of attractants has become a big player in helping patterning game and ultimately contributing to the success of Oregon bowhunters. Admit it or not, baiting deer and elk in Oregon is legal and when honey-hole water sites dry up, using salt licks, minerals and apples are all used to lure wandering game into stands or blinds. I should add there are some people in Oregon that find baiting deer and elk a tactic better left unused as it creates an area that draws in too much game and creates a zone where diseases can spread. I don’t know all the details about this but I do know hunters in this area experience a fairly low success rate when it comes to bowhunting elk and deer. And even when you do build such sites it’s no guarantee you’ll be eating venison. Trust me! I know from experience. Such tactics give the Central Oregon Bowhunter options and they need them. Simply put, it can be tough country to hunt.
Pine trees are perfect for climbing treestands, which is the stand choice for my friends and I. Pictured is Gorilla's Greyback Elite climber.
My good buddy Jeremiah (Miah) has relied on a number of waterholes throughout the years, however, after visiting all of his dried up “holes” this year, he decided to go to Plan B and build a mineral site. After years of driving backroads, Miah knew of an area that held deer and a good number of bucks. So at the end of July he picked a spot where he had noticed deer and elk passing through, walked in a ways and using an ordinary salt block, minerals and a pellet-type attractant, he built his site.
These sites can be gangbuster throughout the summer, luring in all types of wandering animals. Concentrate on these areas heavily during the first two weeks of the season. As hunter traffic increases, camps are set and pressure rises, deer and elk hit the underground and become much less visible during daylight hours. So what can provide tremendous action during the summer months and early archery season, can also dry up and become visited less. So hunt them early and hunt them hard. And needless to say, wind direction is critical. If the wind isn’t ideal take a day off, burn some boot leather and try your luck spotting and stalking.
The following images are animals Miah has officially put on his hit list. Come Saturday I know where he’ll be at! Good luck to you Miah and good luck to all you Oregonians this weekend hitting the woods. I wish I was there with you all!
NOTE: Some of the times and dates are wrong. I apologize.
Good buck captured during day
Good 4x4 with browtine starting
nice 3x4 during daylight!!!
3x4 with a partner
Watcha looking at?
#1 bruiser on Miah's hit list
Mr. Tall — Great 3x3 hitting it during the day
He's back! Good to see he's still in the area
I call this guy Mr. Stickers!! Matching stickers on his G2s and another on his right G3
Mr. Stickers has a friend
Look at that mass!!
Miah's #1 on hit list....My Dream Buck!!!!!
And again!!!!
They found each other! Two bruisers running side by side.
Nice to see ya Stickers!
She looks like one mean cow!
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