whitehorse deer

baltz526 · 10-12-2006, 08:17 PM

i'm back from 12 days of deer hunting. 2 days pre hunt scouting and 6 days of hunting the sheepshead mountains. saw 24 deer total in the 8 days, one 3yr old 3x3 preseason and 2 2x2 bucks. there are 4 less coyote in that area. moved to the eastern boundry with idaho for the last 6 days. more deer and little bucks but no mature bucks. averaged about 15 miles per day in the field, looking in all the remote places, nothing. last evening as the sun was just touching the steens, a 2yr old spike presented himself. tomorrow in the freezer he go's. i passed on two other 3yr old deer, a 4x4 and a larger 3x3, hoping for mister big. one day i had the 4x4, 4 2x2, 2 spikes, for 7 deer total with horns in easy shooting range, another day it was 3 2x2, 2 spikes. this was daylight to dark hunting, with a short break for a quick lunch each day. i lost some hunt time moving from the sheepsheads, but i used most of the 12 days we are given. and enjoyed most every minute of it. the few low points where all 4wheeler related. hike 3hrs into the top of a wilderness study area, only to find atv tracks everywhere, in multipal places in the sheepsheads, then again in the threeforks wilderness study area.

gottafish · 10-12-2006, 08:23 PM

the few low points where all 4wheeler related. hike 3hrs into the top of a wilderness study area, only to find atv tracks everywhere, in multipal places in the sheepsheads, then again in the threeforks wilderness study area.

Baltz Any chance the ATV's were used to study the wilderness area by the forest service or did you see hunters rideing them??

baltz526 · 10-12-2006, 08:37 PM

they where ridden by so called hunters. government employees have to follow the wilderness study rules, just like everyone else is suposed to.

Ryan Pultz · 10-12-2006, 08:51 PM

Sounds like over all you had a good hunt rp

huntinfool · 10-13-2006, 04:29 AM

Alot of those "Wilderness Study" roads are open to vehicle traffic, but you do have to stay on the established roads. That was my worry when they made alot of the Steens into a wilderness as I use a few of these roads to get to my jump off point. But as long it is what they consider an established road it is still open. I don't hunt on Quads, but I do own one.

So baltz, curious if you would draw this tag again with the deer you seen?

B-RUN STEELIE · 10-13-2006, 06:59 AM

I was hoping you would get what you were after. I have a tag east of that area and there are alot of deer. I have found it odd that there can be so many more just a short distance away as the crow flys. Either it really got over hunted at some point or the winter is somehow alot harsher in that area. Just asking ?? how many tags do they issue for that hunt.

baltz526 · 10-13-2006, 09:11 AM

no, i will not apply for the unit again. i hunted or scouted the best big buck areas in the unit and found nothing to get excited about. it would take a couple more years to completely cover the unit, but in areas that should of had deer, you could not find a track or even old dung piles. in some prime habitat i found old sheds, five years ago the areas held deer, now nothing. overgrazing was bad in large sections of blm lands and the blm had just let the cows into all the remaining sections. deer hunting the high desert is doomed, with this type of continued land management. when the cows are released onto the only deer winter range, right when the deer are moving onto it? just twisted management of our public lands.

nwsteelheader · 10-13-2006, 12:23 PM

the steens mtns to the west got hit HARD 2 years ago with late snow that didn't melt off and there was a very large winter kill. Likely the sheepsheads got the same weather. Deer numbers are down in that area of SE oregon. Hopefully they'll rebound in the next 3-5 years.

shawn

Limbhanger · 10-13-2006, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Hopefully they'll rebound in the next 3-5 years.

This would be great, but the sad truth is the decline is from a lot more factors than a bad winter or drought every so often. Deer have overcome these types of things for thousands of years. Baltz is correct in poor land management. Not to mention shrinking wintering habitat, nothing to eat once they get there, increasing predator populations. The survival of adults and new fawn crops cant overcome the mortality.
Mule Deer populations across the west are on the decline and have been for several years. It is just now starting to compound to be visibly obvious. The deer populations wont get better until a host of things get fixed or changed.

baltz526 · 10-13-2006, 04:15 PM

in one area i saw a heard of old does, 5 with no fawns one with a yearling one with a fawn. in other areas most does had fawns, some with twins. on average in the sheapsheads it was about 20 to 40 percent with fawns or yearlings. but with only 24 total deer seen in 8 days, that is a big guess. i hunted the top, north and east sides of the sheepsheads, so the west or south side may have been better. but the road hunters i talked to where not seeing anything at all.

Ras · 10-13-2006, 10:33 PM

I have been hunting the trad area near there for the past several years; and have had the odd rifle tag over the previous 25. That being said, and as has been mentioned above, the high desert of Oregon aint what she used to be

And that is not a cool thing.

Dad and I have always talked about "exploring" the Sheepsheads; thanks for saving us some time

Still, I just can't stay away from that part of the world for long

Ras