2014 Oregon Elk Hunt

Great story Scotty, and beautiful pictures.... I laughed hard at the picture of Brandon with the frozen Elk nose held to his face. :lol: Looks like a great place to hunt Elk, love the open parks between the timber, reminds me of Montana.

Well that's too bad it hadn't been more successful for the two of you, maybe next year? Next time you come out this way you're welcome to come by for a night, I have a cabin always ready for good folks like yourself anytime you wanna come by.
 
Nice hunt, great story, and awesome pics -- well done! Looks like the Grande Ronde country in the Blue Mountains??? How did everybody's legs and lungs hold up? Pretty hard to go very far in that county without a lot of vertical involved. Great country!
 
Awesome job guys!

Bill how may elk is that now? 900? :grin: That 300 winmag of yours is certainly an Elk Slayer!

Brian how did it feel to walk up to that beast? Pretty sweet isn't it?

Scotty great write up and pics. Sounds like Brandon had a great time!
 
Thanks folks, it was probably my best hunt since my boy was with me. Absolutely going to be an excellent elk hunter. The kid just "gets it". He was land navigating, hiking quietly and able to stalk well. His elk will come before he knows it.

Kevin, I will absolutely take you up on your offer next fall..

It was a great adventure for him and as someone mentioned, it is either straight up or straight down. Great for physical training!

I have grown really fond of this area for hunting. While I may never draw a branched antler bull tag, I am okay with hunting the spikers.. It is about as much fun as you can have with your clothes on! :lol:
 
It usually takes a while to harvest that first elk. I started hunting elk with very experienced hunters and it still took me about (5) years to harvest my first spike elk. Brandon has good teachers, he should learn fast and be successful soon!
 
Thanks for all the congrats guys! Three is my lucky number and finally connected with an elk on the third season hunting with Bill, Scotty, and Brandon. The hikes in those mountains were still tough as last time but do enjoy them like Scotty said. Sure as heck didn't think a spike would be as big as it was until standing over one! I stood back for a minute just to take it all in after hiking over to find him. Also surprising how easy was to find branch antler bulls and the spikers were mountain ninjas.
 
Sounds like a heck of a trip Scotty! Thanks for sharing and congrats to the successful hunters.
 
It was a great adventure for him and as someone mentioned, it is either straight up or straight down.
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I believe that I may have been responsible for that comment. As Scotty and Brian have already said it was a great hunt and being around those guys makes it really fun for me. They do need a little help with a "jump start" in the morning. I had always thought that Marines were born to leap out of bed and hit the trail for a brisk morning walk. Apparently not all are like that. Brandon has an outstanding sense of terrain, and how the land lays, and how it is tied together. We spent an hour one afternoon talking about sections, townships, corners and navigation with survey markers and what they mean and how they can be used. I have hunted and worked with "many" who do not have the skills that, that young man has. We got two beautiful bulls, and had a great time together. An interesting note is that my bull was taken about a 1/4 mile from where we took the two bulls last year.
 
Elkman":2oi5hjqo said:
An interesting note is that my bull was taken about a 1/4 mile from where we took the two bulls last year.
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From what I've seen......a elk spot is a elk spot. From year to year they frequent the same places. I've killed 8+ elk within a 1/4 mile radius with my muzzleloader and a couple more with my rifle within a 3/8 of a mile radius. It took quite a few years to figure out how to hunt it but after that it was rather easy. If anything they are quite habitual and can be patterned quite easy. I'm sure you've seen that through the years too Bill.
 
From what I've seen......a elk spot is a elk spot. From year to year they frequent the same places. I've killed 8+ elk within a 1/4 mile radius with my muzzle loader and a couple more with my rifle within a 3/8 of a mile radius. It took quite a few years to figure out how to hunt it but after that it was rather easy. If anything they are quite habitual and can be patterned quite easy. I'm sure you've seen that through the years to bill
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Over my life I have found several spots just like that in a couple of different states. The trouble for me is they are all somewhat weather dependent. When we got the early snows in Idaho there was a spot near Grandjean, where the elk passed through on their way to the S. Fork, 5 bulls died within 1/2 mile of each other. In Wyoming we have killed four cows within 300 yards of the same spot and a 5th a 1/2 mile up the canyon. It is also weather dependent, if it snows they move out of there. I think we found where. but its harder to get into. I believe that this Oregon spot will be good for a while, we are now see wolf tracks there and its also needs a little snow and cold weather to move the elk in to the lower half of the canyon. Haven't found that spot in Washington, but will be searching for it again starting Tuesday. Thanks for the comments guys.
 
My building lot in Oregon is on the NF of the Umatilla, downstream a ways from where you guys are hunting.
 
Way cool Scotty. It's amazing how you can pattern animals. Really not that much different than humans. All of us have our patterns. I know the deer on my alfalfa I can put a stop watch on them and within 5 mins everyday they will come in. They really are all amazing critters. Nothing can replace being in the field and just sitting and watching.
 
Hey Scotty, excellent pics and a magic write up. Enjoyed seeing and reading very much. Just makes me wish I was younger and more importantly fitter than I am now.
Just brilliant & happy hunting for you all.
Best wishes...G
 
Thanks fellas. It was a great hunt. It's a serious disease once it gets into your blood. Those darned elk are just about the top of the heap when it comes to my Fall hunting.
 
SJB358":2rpybere said:
It was a great hunt. It's a serious disease once it gets into your blood. Those darned elk are just about the top of the heap when it comes to my Fall hunting.
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Yeah, they can do that to a person. :grin:
 
How did I miss this post the first time?

Great pics and story Scotty. I'm glad Brandon and you had the chance to share the adventure.
 
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