2025 Hunting Season

[filmjunkie4ever]

Buck season here in Oregon was the worst Ive ever seen. In all of the hunting I saw 3 does on public land. Nary a camp had a buck hanging in it that I saw. Dad and Mom who were hunting a different unit both tagged out but those were also the only two bucks they saw all season.

Yesterday, my Antlerless Whitetail Hunt opened. This morning we tagged out. It was my first time hunting with a Ruger No. 1 rifle and the 6mm Remington cartridge.

I loaded the Speer 105 grain SP on top of 45 grains of IMR4350 for right at 3000 FPS at the muzzle of the 26 inch barrel. Sadly Speer no longer makes this bullet.

It was pouring rain when we left the house. A 40 yard neck shot through the brush was all she offered so I took it. God is good, all the time.

 

[Slimfinn]

Those smiles tell the story, glad you filled a tag!

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on your doe. Awesome to have your son with you.

JD338

 

[GregoryB.]

Buck season here in Oregon was the worst Ive ever seen. In all of the hunting I saw 3 does on public land. Nary a camp had a buck hanging in it that I saw. Dad and Mom who were hunting a different unit both tagged out but those were also the only two bucks they saw all season.

Yesterday, my Antlerless Whitetail Hunt opened. This morning we tagged out. It was my first time hunting with a Ruger No. 1 rifle and the 6mm Remington cartridge.

I loaded the Speer 105 grain SP on top of 45 grains of IMR4350 for right at 3000 FPS at the muzzle of the 26 inch barrel. Sadly Speer no longer makes this bullet.

It was pouring rain when we left the house. A 40 yard neck shot through the brush was all she offered so I took it. God is good, all the time.

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Congrats on some fine venison. I have the same rifle, need to work up a load for it. Going to try a 90gr AB in it for deer.

 

[DrMike]

A worthy buck, my friend. Congratulations.

 

[DrMike]

Buck season here in Oregon was the worst Ive ever seen. In all of the hunting I saw 3 does on public land. Nary a camp had a buck hanging in it that I saw. Dad and Mom who were hunting a different unit both tagged out but those were also the only two bucks they saw all season.

Yesterday, my Antlerless Whitetail Hunt opened. This morning we tagged out. It was my first time hunting with a Ruger No. 1 rifle and the 6mm Remington cartridge.

I loaded the Speer 105 grain SP on top of 45 grains of IMR4350 for right at 3000 FPS at the muzzle of the 26 inch barrel. Sadly Speer no longer makes this bullet.

It was pouring rain when we left the house. A 40 yard neck shot through the brush was all she offered so I took it. God is good, all the time.

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Someone is pleased to pose with Dad and a fine doe.

 

[Hunter26]

Nice shooting y'all. I'm suprised from the lack of blood trail on the bow buck. The AccuBond or Partition would be dynamite in the 6mm Rem. Those Ruger Number 1's are great looking rifles.

 

[NYDAN]

My biggest ever from this AM using the 6.5x55 Swede again!

Congratulations on a great buck. Nice shooting.

 

[NYDAN]

Was fortunate enough to fill both my deer tags this am, the buck was around 8 am , the doe was at 930 am. 300 weatherby, 200 gr. Nosler AccuBond, buck shot distance was 210 and the doe was 286. Built this rifle 3 years and started to think it was cursed. Today she proved me wrong.

Congratulations on your successes. No curse this year.

 

[NYDAN]

View attachment 27635
After working on my som’s deer stand this morning , went for a stroll around the 40. Stalk a group of 6 for quite sometime , kept loosing track of them in the heavy brush. Finally caught the before crossing the creek.
First turkey I ever shot. The good old 10ga came through.

Congratulations. It is really tough to stalk turkeys.

 

[NYDAN]

Posted this in the reloading thread for the round I was working on but figured this would be a good spot as well.

My grandfather passed away a few years ago and I was given his early 80’s Remington 700 .270 this year. I spent some time dialing the rifle in with various 130gr .270 loads for future whitetail use. He had always wanted to hunt a Red Stag. The stars seemed to align and I was able to get a Red Stag hunt in this year. I had a box of Nosler 160gr Partitions collecting dust in my reloading cabinet that I decided I wanted to use for the hunt with his rifle. So I got to work and dialed in a Sub MOA load that would be used for this hunt.

I shot this beautiful stag after some spot and stalk work. Got into about 100 yards on him and had a freestanding/free hand quartering away shot. Shot entered the lungs and exited the shoulder, he ran 10 yards before he dropped. Was unfortunate that some of the meat in the front should was ruined but I was very happy with the shot overall. Stag was on the lighter side at 217 hanging weight.

I’m not a very emotional person but this was an emotional one. Pride and happiness really poured over me as I honored a very important figure in my life.

That is a beautiful stag. I can't think of a better way to honor your grandfather than this.

 

[NYDAN]

Shot this WV 9 point buck last night with my bow at 32 yards. Very little blood on the ground mostly just a spec here and there, had me worried. He ran about 100 yards down the mountain then slid over a small drop off. Drug him back to the top 3 foot at a time, we even slid back down a few times. During the autopsy I discovered he was heart shot. First buck I have killed on my property in the 4 years I have lived on it. Now it’s doe patrol for the rest of the year on my property. Over run with does.

Congratulations. You must have done a great tracking job. Great shot. Good luck with the does.

 

[NYDAN]

Buck season here in Oregon was the worst Ive ever seen. In all of the hunting I saw 3 does on public land. Nary a camp had a buck hanging in it that I saw. Dad and Mom who were hunting a different unit both tagged out but those were also the only two bucks they saw all season.

Yesterday, my Antlerless Whitetail Hunt opened. This morning we tagged out. It was my first time hunting with a Ruger No. 1 rifle and the 6mm Remington cartridge.

I loaded the Speer 105 grain SP on top of 45 grains of IMR4350 for right at 3000 FPS at the muzzle of the 26 inch barrel. Sadly Speer no longer makes this bullet.

It was pouring rain when we left the house. A 40 yard neck shot through the brush was all she offered so I took it. God is good, all the time.

View attachment 27658

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Congratulations. That was a fine shot.

 

[salmonchaser]

Buck season here in Oregon was the worst Ive ever seen. In all of the hunting I saw 3 does on public land. Nary a camp had a buck hanging in it that I saw. Dad and Mom who were hunting a different unit both tagged out but those were also the only two bucks they saw all season.

Yesterday, my Antlerless Whitetail Hunt opened. This morning we tagged out. It was my first time hunting with a Ruger No. 1 rifle and the 6mm Remington cartridge.

I loaded the Speer 105 grain SP on top of 45 grains of IMR4350 for right at 3000 FPS at the muzzle of the 26 inch barrel. Sadly Speer no longer makes this bullet.

It was pouring rain when we left the house. A 40 yard neck shot through the brush was all she offered so I took it. God is good, all the time.

View attachment 27658

View attachment 27659

I’ve talked to quite a few people who have had the same luck you and I had. Some very poor reports from the field. I stopped at the Dale store for a snack and to meet the new owners. They had two small bucks hanging in the locker. I talked to a Bio who works the Starky area for years. It’s dismal.
Couple of things he mentioned, across eastern Oregon adult doe survival year to year is only 73%. Most studies suggest adult doe survival needs to be upwards of 90% to maintain herds. Fawn survival is very low. Two of the biggest contributors are poaching, 4% and vehicle strikes4%. He told me the most disturbing thing on the poaching is the deer are just being shot and left, some think for long range target practice.
For years we hunted the Owyhee unit. Got to where it took 4 or 5 points to draw, couple years ago we saw very few bucks. Few years before that they were plentiful. Talked to some guys who boated up the river and used our old campsite this year. They didn’t see a buck at all and I don’t think but one of them saw a deer!
Glad you got the doe, interesting as I was up at 8000 feet and the does I saw there were whitetails. Did see a couple of guys along the 21 road trying to explain the raghorn bull they shot was a buck, Trooper did not seem too impressed.

 

[sako2]

Gongrats on the doe Dale

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

I’ve talked to quite a few people who have had the same luck you and I had. Some very poor reports from the field. I stopped at the Dale store for a snack and to meet the new owners. They had two small bucks hanging in the locker. I talked to a Bio who works the Starky area for years. It’s dismal.
Couple of things he mentioned, across eastern Oregon adult doe survival year to year is only 73%. Most studies suggest adult doe survival needs to be upwards of 90% to maintain herds. Fawn survival is very low. Two of the biggest contributors are poaching, 4% and vehicle strikes4%. He told me the most disturbing thing on the poaching is the deer are just being shot and left, some think for long range target practice.
For years we hunted the Owyhee unit. Got to where it took 4 or 5 points to draw, couple years ago we saw very few bucks. Few years before that they were plentiful. Talked to some guys who boated up the river and used our old campsite this year. They didn’t see a buck at all and I don’t think but one of them saw a deer!
Glad you got the doe, interesting as I was up at 8000 feet and the does I saw there were whitetails. Did see a couple of guys along the 21 road trying to explain the raghorn bull they shot was a buck, Trooper did not seem too impressed.

Don -

I hunted Fossil unit this year. We drew it on our second choice, Ochoco being our first choice and where my folks hunted. I believe largely we are still suffering from the effects of those huge fires having killed or displaced much of our already struggling deer population. Combined with predation, automobile collisions, disease, etc. it seems like the mule deer don’t have a prayer.

I had not heard about people shooting deer and leaving them, that is absolutely sickening. But I wouldn’t put it past some of the turret jockeys I know to do an idiot thing like that. Personally I feel like technology has gotten to the point that it is no longer “fair chase” and states will need to regulate what if any “long range” technology is legal for hunting use. Maybe even going as far as establishing a “traditional high power rifle” season for bumpkins like me versus a “long range high power rifle” season for people who absolutely have to shoot across timezones.

I have heard ODFW is planning a huge overhaul of the deer hunting in this state for the 2026 season and going forward. I have heard the units will be much larger zones compiled of several WMUs but that a large reduction in tag numbers (and therefore greater amounts of points will be needed to draw) will likely accompany that. Personally I think LOPs and Outfitter tags should be eliminated for deer, requiring all regardless of land ownership to have to draw tags through the lottery just like we do with Antelope.

Deer hunting will likely become a once in 3-5 years experience but if its a good quality experience versus what we currently see, I am for it.

Things need to change or we won’t have any deer to hunt. Period.

 

[Ralt71]

I used a Grim Reaper 3 blade expandable. Got a complete pass through and the head was fully open all the way through. I assume since the heart wasn’t pumping blood that’s the reason for the sparse blood trail. That’s the exit hole in the picture.

That's my favorite broadhead for compound bow, hands down. The last few years, that is all I have put on my hunting arrows. I run the Megameats on the wife's crossbow. It's great as well, but I thnk it's a bit much for my slower speeds on my bow. Great buck you got there!

 

[salmonchaser]

Don -

I hunted Fossil unit this year. We drew it on our second choice, Ochoco being our first choice and where my folks hunted. I believe largely we are still suffering from the effects of those huge fires having killed or displaced much of our already struggling deer population. Combined with predation, automobile collisions, disease, etc. it seems like the mule deer don’t have a prayer.

I had not heard about people shooting deer and leaving them, that is absolutely sickening. But I wouldn’t put it past some of the turret jockeys I know to do an idiot thing like that. Personally I feel like technology has gotten to the point that it is no longer “fair chase” and states will need to regulate what if any “long range” technology is legal for hunting use. Maybe even going as far as establishing a “traditional high power rifle” season for bumpkins like me versus a “long range high power rifle” season for people who absolutely have to shoot across timezones.

I have heard ODFW is planning a huge overhaul of the deer hunting in this state for the 2026 season and going forward. I have heard the units will be much larger zones compiled of several WMUs but that a large reduction in tag numbers (and therefore greater amounts of points will be needed to draw) will likely accompany that. Personally I think LOPs and Outfitter tags should be eliminated for deer, requiring all regardless of land ownership to have to draw tags through the lottery just like we do with Antelope.

Deer hunting will likely become a once in 3-5 years experience but if its a good quality experience versus what we currently see, I am for it.

Things need to change or we won’t have any deer to hunt. Period.

Dale, the good old days, Dad would pick us up at the high school after our football game on Friday night. Drive all night, get to our mule deer area by daylight. By the end of day Saturday we would typically have 4 to 6 good bucks in the truck. Sunday morning back across the mountains to be at school by 1500 for game films.
I am in favor, after reading the studies, of expanding the mule deer zones as many of the zones don’t account for winter /summer migration patterns. I’m not sure how that will affect tag numbers, they certainly won’t go up but the herd now is less than 10% of what it was in the 70’s. I have points in Wyoming, Montana and will become an Arizona resident this winter. I’ll be 70 during elk camp this year. Sure would like to get one more good mule deer hunt down in Trout Creek or the Owyhee.