A
Anonymous
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This year I got lucky enough to draw tags where I grew up hunting, which only happens once every four or five years (thanks state of Oregon). One of the best things about hunting in this unit is that I also get to spend time hunting with my father and cousin so this season was something I was really looking forward to all summer.
The weather was perfect for about 3 or 4 hours the first morning.
Then by about lunch time the snow started to fly.
By mid afternoon it was time to get out of the woods. This photo looks very peaceful but it is very deceiving. This is in between white-out snowstorms and 35 mph wind gusts. Since we were hunting in a recently burnt area we decided to get out of there before any trees started coming down.
The next morning we started out in about 10 inches of snow, fortunately it scared most of the non-locals back into their tents.
Knowing that we would literally have to kick any deer to get them out of their beds when the weather was like that, we headed to some slightly lower elevations. Everyone else that drew tags must have decided to spend the day next to their stoves or road hunting because there was nobody out there. We jumped a lot of deer and some elk and had a great hunt that day.
I had to work the following week but beat feet back to Eastern Oregon Friday after work and was ready to go on Saturday. Most of the snow in the lower country had melted off and it was exactly what you hope for going into deer season.
I ended up going back to work on the following Monday, just for one day, and my dad ended up getting a nice buck that day. I made it back just in time to help load up the horses and hear some gloating because it was a nice buck and one hell of a shot.
Back up top around the burn area.
The last day of the season. It had been raining non stop all morning and after spending some time debating about where we wanted to hunt we went somewhere we stayed away from all season, pretty much because it usually gets a lot of foot traffic. The rain and snow must have kept everyone at bay because, once again, nobody was there. I spotted a small forked horn about 600 yards away and tried to get as close as possible. I made it within about 400 yards and while sizing the buck up got noticed by an unseen doe which spooked all of them. I got a couple of long range chances at the same forked horn, but it was too far to be a comfortable shot. While making my way around the hill a group of five does and the buck below came charging right at me. Probably spooked by a road hunter, they weren't worried at all about me and I took the shot at about 50 yards.
The 130 grain AccuBond from the 260 Remington hit him right in the shoulder and traveled almost the entire length of his body before stopping just under the far side hide. (I'll post pictures of the AccuBond tomorrow along with my father's buck which just happened to be larger than mine). All in all, it was a great season and I can't wait to do it again.
The weather was perfect for about 3 or 4 hours the first morning.
Then by about lunch time the snow started to fly.
By mid afternoon it was time to get out of the woods. This photo looks very peaceful but it is very deceiving. This is in between white-out snowstorms and 35 mph wind gusts. Since we were hunting in a recently burnt area we decided to get out of there before any trees started coming down.
The next morning we started out in about 10 inches of snow, fortunately it scared most of the non-locals back into their tents.
Knowing that we would literally have to kick any deer to get them out of their beds when the weather was like that, we headed to some slightly lower elevations. Everyone else that drew tags must have decided to spend the day next to their stoves or road hunting because there was nobody out there. We jumped a lot of deer and some elk and had a great hunt that day.
I had to work the following week but beat feet back to Eastern Oregon Friday after work and was ready to go on Saturday. Most of the snow in the lower country had melted off and it was exactly what you hope for going into deer season.
I ended up going back to work on the following Monday, just for one day, and my dad ended up getting a nice buck that day. I made it back just in time to help load up the horses and hear some gloating because it was a nice buck and one hell of a shot.
Back up top around the burn area.
The last day of the season. It had been raining non stop all morning and after spending some time debating about where we wanted to hunt we went somewhere we stayed away from all season, pretty much because it usually gets a lot of foot traffic. The rain and snow must have kept everyone at bay because, once again, nobody was there. I spotted a small forked horn about 600 yards away and tried to get as close as possible. I made it within about 400 yards and while sizing the buck up got noticed by an unseen doe which spooked all of them. I got a couple of long range chances at the same forked horn, but it was too far to be a comfortable shot. While making my way around the hill a group of five does and the buck below came charging right at me. Probably spooked by a road hunter, they weren't worried at all about me and I took the shot at about 50 yards.
The 130 grain AccuBond from the 260 Remington hit him right in the shoulder and traveled almost the entire length of his body before stopping just under the far side hide. (I'll post pictures of the AccuBond tomorrow along with my father's buck which just happened to be larger than mine). All in all, it was a great season and I can't wait to do it again.
