18 preferance points and success

S

salmonchaser

Handloader
Dec 13, 2013
4,606
3,809
Just checked Oregon draw for elk and deer. We all blanked on deer but after 18 years I finally drew an any bull tag for the Walla Walla unit. The last of our group to do so. Perhaps the second best unit in Oregon for big bulls. With nearly three weeks to hunt in this unit I'm feeling lucky.

Scotty and Bill, we'll have to get together in Tollgate for dinner when you head up second season. Regardless if I happen to get a bull during the first season I'll be in the Walla Walla unit during the second season as the rest of the group drew second season spike tags.

A quick update from Alaska, we've been concentrating on Rainbows to this point, some pretty good fishing on the Naknek and surrounding streams. So far we have not landed a rainbow over 30 inches but have several that went 27 and 28 inches.
Kings are starting to show in the lower river and I'll make my first trip for them in the morning.
The trip this year started a little rough, on my first morning in camp I took my GSP "molly dammit" for a run. about 7 minutes into the run she tangled with a porcupine. Did the same damn thing last year. This time was bad, 42 quills in her face. Took four hours to get them out, no vets out here, she was not a happy pup.
Had to take a break, just ran a grizz out of camp, Looked like a three year old boar. First one this year.

Hope you all are having a great summer,
Don
 
Sure seems like you're having a great time up in Alaska. Nice rainbows! Shame about the dog though. Dang, that had to hurt.

Congrats on the elk tag, there's some big ones in that area!

Best of luck this season, Guy
 
Some dogs just never learn; just like some people. The fishing sounds great. Good luck on the hunt; sounds like you drew the right tag for one.
 
Congrats on the tag. I also drew bubkiss in Oregon but my son and all my friends drew. Hopefully we are going to be doing a lot of packing.
 
Don
Dinner sounds like a great idea, we haven't even started on logistics as yet, but I will be the first one to show up and the others will come in later. We will probably camp up the Canyon from Gibbon, past the Workstation. That puts us kind on in the center of where we have been hunting.
 
I know the area, we'll spend some time when I get home in September and figure out how to meet up. Good luck. We camp up on top where the old Kendal sky line road forks to go to Timothy springs, were probably 30 miles apart as the crow flies but we're each an hour out of Tollgate.
 
Congrats on the bull tag. Hopefully we can have dinner one night before Scotty puts us all on daily death marches :lol:
 
Well our fall started out a little screwy. We didn't draw our Oregon deer tags, our Washington deer area burned to the ground and Sande started us off with a huge cow elk on an 80 degree October day. I arrived in my elk A/O three days before the season opener, hoping to fill a tag I had waited 18 years to draw. We know the area well, having hunted spike bulls in there for years as well as filling the any bull tags the rest of our group had drawn in the past.
Three days of scouting proved the bull I hoped to kill was still alive, we had nicknamed him super freak due to his mass and kickers on his huge frame. Opening day was eventful, I passed on three small raghorns, not to mention a couple of spikes. Day two was the heart breaker. I spotted the freak on an opposing ridge, moving away at 650 yards and a full value wind steady at 20 and gusting to 40. Unwilling to attempt the shot, and thinking I knew where he was going, I radioed my brother and arranged for an alternative pick-up location at the end of the day. About then a dozen cows and calf came over the top of the ridge and turned the bull back my way. At 500 yards they slowed to a walk and started side hilling up the canyon. I cussed myself for not investing in turrets, held for 500 and pressed the trigger. I saw him react at the shot and then run like a scalded dog into the bottom. It took 45 minutes to work my way into the bottom and up the other side. I searched the area for a couple hours with no evidence of a hit. Talked to a spike hunter who happened to find me still trying to track the bull. He had seen the bull clear the top of the canyon shortly after I had shot at him, running like his tail was on fire. Figured I shot over him.
Over the next couple of.days we were plagued with fog which complicated spot and stalk. Passed on a couple of small bulls and caught a break on day 4. Just at dawn we spotted him, the freak, way down the canyon and up the other side. I dropped 1400 feet in just over 1/2 mile, then climbed about 1,000 going up the other side. My brother watching through the spotting scope told me I was 10 minutes late getting to the interception point.
Day 7 at first light we found five bulls feeding together a little over a mile from our O/P. Down into the canyon, sweating going down hill, cross the creek and start up the other side. Working hard to close the distance and gain elevation. I ease up over the last rocky ridge and spot the little rag horn. There are trees in the intervening draw obstructing my view. I move a little higher on the ridge and slide into a strong sitting position, prone won't work. I tighten the sling on my bicep, cradle the rifle in my lap and start scanning with the binos. I can see bits and pieces of all five bulls. Radio check with Phil a mile behind and a thousand feet above. He is new to our crew, understands why we follow the rules regarding radios and finding game. He confirms one of the bulls is the freak.
I know I'm running out of time, it's 0800 and these guys should be heading for their bedding area. I raise my rifle and settle the crosshairs on the raghorns. My hold feels good. Binos up trying to find a shooting lane for the freak. He steps into view, drop the glasses, raise the rifle and consider the Texas heart shot, no longer indexed, I pray for him to turn but he steps off the ridge, out of sight, growing away. The rifle is still up when the number two shooter steps out. My on board computer had been going a mile a minute in the intervening seconds, I adjust slightly, hold straight up his near leg, crosshairs on the top off his shoulder hump for 427 yards, and tap the trigger. Hit hard, on three good legs, I wait for a second. I can see blood coming from his nose, but he stays up. I hold a little over his back and tap the trigger again, breaking his spine at the base of his neck. It's done.
Takes me about 15 minutes to work my way through the intervening canyon and get to him. I'm sitting there, no BS, and I look west. On another ridge, 800 yards away is the freak. Like me, he looks old, moves like an old man, he doesn't run, simply walks the ridge out of sight.
 
Great account of a really exciting hunt. Too bad about the Freak, but good that you tagged a good elk. Any pictures?
 
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