What's the best mulie hunt in Oregon?

I started hunting 7 years ago. I've only hunted blacktail in that time, and have done well with them... I love it. I started saving up preference points 7 years ago so now I have 7 for antelope and 7 for mulies, 2 hunts I have not done yet. Fort he last 6 years I've been buying my out-of-state brother pref points for mulies every year and he now has 6 points. The idea being that we will do a supreme Oregon mule deer hunt at some point in the next couple years. I mention all this just because anyone who hunts Oregon will know that when you start getting 7 or 8 points for mulies you start to be able to get almost any hunt there is... almost.

What I mean by "best hunt" is what tag would give my brother and I the best chance of bringing home 2 decent bucks? I'd prefer great odds on tagging 2 decent bucks, to a trophy area with poor odds but some trophies. (I THINK that that's how they manage Trout Ck Mtns- a trophy area. Does that mean it doesn't have a lot of deer? I see there are over 3500 applicants for 50 tags. Must be someting going on there!)

So what's the best hunt in Oregon? Trout Crk. Mtns? Steens? Those are two of the hardest to get, certainly. The Ochocos? Blues? If you can tell me specifically what hunt, not just a unit, you get extra double gratitude points! The only eastern Oregon unit I'm intimately familiar with is Ukiah, where we hunt elk.

Thank you,

-jeff

The biggest trophy unit is indeed the trout creek mountains. I think its around John Day. Anyways, anything around John Day produces very very big bucks. The strawberry mountians come to mind here. Very big bucks and bulls. The steens also have some good bucks, but theres not many deer...If you have 7 points for deer, I would be putting in for the trout creek mountains for sure!!! Good luck on that.

remingtonman_25_06":ig5eo54o said:

The biggest trophy unit is indeed the trout creek mountains. I think its around John Day. Anyways, anything around John Day produces very very big bucks. The strawberry mountians come to mind here. Very big bucks and bulls. The steens also have some good bucks, but theres not many deer...If you have 7 points for deer, I would be putting in for the trout creek mountains for sure!!! Good luck on that.

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Trout Ck Mtns are way down in SE Oregon, almost in Nevada, past the Steens. My fear with the TC Mtns is that it might be one of those trophy hunts; IE, not a lot of deer but big ones. Since I've never hunted mulies, my idea of the ultimate hunt would be lots of deer! I'm not that concerned about killing a huge trophy mule deer. Especially in sage country! Sounds tough and gamey. this expedition, when it happens, will be a big deal for my brother and I and I'd like to put him especially into an area that had good odds.

I think I'll call the ODFW and see if I can't get them to give me some clues...

-jeff

Delintment lake area, near Riley, holds lots of deer.
Also outside of Prineville there was a large burn a few years ago that should be productive. It has been 5 to 6 years since I have been on that side of the state and I'm sure things change just as fast as they do over here. Good luck

old #7":1hoqq4k5 said:

Delintment lake area, near Riley, holds lots of deer.
Also outside of Prineville there was a large burn a few years ago that should be productive. It has been 5 to 6 years since I have been on that side of the state and I'm sure things change just as fast as they do over here. Good luck

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Thanks. It's still a couple years out. My brother got a wild hair up his ass and is back in college full time at the UW (the huckin' Fusky's). So he's messed up as far as leaving for two weeks in October for at least another year.

I'll look into that area around Delintment lake.

-jeff

the biggest bucks in eastern oregon are also the best eating deer you will ever have the pleasure of eating. think about it, for 11 1/2 months a year all they do is eat and hang out getting big and fat, in october they are in their prime. it just dosn't get any better than that. any unit south of hiway 26 and east of 395 will get you in prime deer country, but you will have to work at getting a decent mature buck.

baltz526":udsuvhmx said:

the biggest bucks in eastern oregon are also the best eating deer you will ever have the pleasure of eating. think about it, for 11 1/2 months a year all they do is eat and hang out getting big and fat, in october they are in their prime. it just dosn't get any better than that. any unit south of hiway 26 and east of 395 will get you in prime deer country, but you will have to work at getting a decent mature buck.

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Do you know much about the Trout Creek Mountain hunt? Looks like very few tags, high success rates, and big bucks from the stats. I will be able to get that tag 2 years from now.

As far as eating... the blacktail over here on the wet side are pretty tasty!

-jeff

i have never hunted the trout creek mountains. last season i hunted the sheepshead mountains, which are north of the trout creek mt. very low deer numbers. in 2005 i hunted the north steens for elk, very low deer numbers. most of the beatys butte unit has very low deer numbers, but if you hunt hard, you have a good chance at young bucks. too many hunters chasing to few mature bucks, including the trout creek tag. i try a new area every year, looking for mature bucks

How do you draw those deer tags down in those areas year in and out?? Thats what I want to know. From what I see in the synopsis, most southern and central units take a good 3 years to draw. To long for me to shoot a deer. I'll keep takin columbia basin and walla walla unit. Got me a 145" whitetail out of the Walla Walla last year. There is also some 30" mulies, guaranteed. However, access is getting less and less each year. To much private property. Good luck on your quest to find a top notch muley unit!!

i get drawn like everyone else, at random. tags i have drawn in the last several years are mixed with idaho general season and cascade general season tags, past eastern oregon deer tags include, 4 silver lake, 4 upper deschutes, 1 juniper, 2 beatys butte, 1 east white horse, 2 sprague, 1 high cascade (hunting fort rock high country mule deer) and 5 years in idaho with about an equal number of cascade general tags. unsucseful hunts, 2 in silver lake, 1 in juniper, 3 in cascade general, 1 in upper deschutes. some of these hunts are pre drawing, while learning to hunt deer. my list of areas to hunt is years long, next is interstate unit. then beulah, south malhure, owhyee, juniper again, steens, wagontire. in no particular order. to hunt any area more than twice is boring to me. a normal year i'm deer hunting over 2weeks, some years 4 weeks. these are all rifle hunts.

The Trout Creek Mtns. aren't all they used to be. They're locating SE of Fields and NW of Denio. My family has hunted them for quite some time with great success, when you drew tags. Of course that was before the wide spread use of ATV's, and you could actually hunt the desert on foot, without rampant off-road use. It was also during a time when cougar populations were still controlled by hounds. The local biologists in the area are still blaming the hard winters during the mid-90's and high cat numbers for the decreased deer in the Trout Creek's, as well as, the Pueblo's. If you're looking for a trophy there are still some undesturbed portions of Beatys Butte, and North Warner that hold some dandy bucks, but you need to know the country...

For numbers of deer, a chance at many young bucks and the occasional opportunity on some very nice deer, try the burns and wilderness areas in the Desolation Unit, around the Middle and North Fork of the John Day Rivers.
-TB

TBASTIAN":7z2pmdh3 said:

The Trout Creek Mtns. aren't all they used to be. They're locating SE of Fields and NW of Denio. My family has hunted them for quite some time with great success, when you drew tags. Of course that was before the wide spread use of ATV's, and you could actually hunt the desert on foot, without rampant off-road use. It was also during a time when cougar populations were still controlled by hounds. The local biologists in the area are still blaming the hard winters during the mid-90's and high cat numbers for the decreased deer in the Trout Creek's, as well as, the Pueblo's. If you're looking for a trophy there are still some undesturbed portions of Beatys Butte, and North Warner that hold some dandy bucks, but you need to know the country...

For numbers of deer, a chance at many young bucks and the occasional opportunity on some very nice deer, try the burns and wilderness areas in the Desolation Unit, around the Middle and North Fork of the John Day Rivers.
-TB

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Thanks for the great info! That's kind a bummer about Trout's and echos what locals were telling me last spring, down at Steens.

I hunt elk in the Tower Mountain wildernes, which is right up above the North Fork there. I will say, the burns around there at least have grown up to an almost unhuntable state. The tamarack and such have re-seeded themselves and are now 4 to 8 feet high. But I do think that would be an interesting place to hunt and I have seen some good bucks there, during elk season of course. I'm not a good judge of B&C scores, but one day scouting for the upcoming elk hunt, my buddy and I saw TWO huge mulies that either one was taxidermist material! About 75 yards away and I could have killed either one on the spot. Figures.

-jeff