Archery opener

[birdhunter]

Wanted to see how it's starting off for everyone. I don't have a tag this year but I went down to Drain to help some stick-flinging buddies. Seeing as how all of Douglas County is basically closed because of fire danger, we were very fortunate to have access to 800 acres of private timberland. Spent the weekend hiking around there and it is absolutely as dry as I have ever seen it. Found plenty of critters though. Saw tons of game though, just couldn't get real close to them. Plenty of blacktail down there, seemed like every doe had a fawn or two with them. We found a nice herd of 24 head of elk with 1 branch bull and 2 spikes. There are a couple of other satellite bulls running around too. We'd follow them all day but never did manage to get within 100 yards tough. Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The thing that got me was that I ran into the same damn bear 3 times this weekend. This little dark brown black bear. I wasn't packing anything of course and it was all close range. First time I walked up on him in a clearcut. 20 yards away we both see each other and scramble the other direction. Later that afternoon walking down a road higher up the ridge I turned a corner and there he was again walking towards me. He bailed off pretty quick. Then this morning I'm at this little spring on the side of the ridge and the bear comes in for a drink. Couple more years and he'd be okay for a rug but he's still pretty little right now. Right now he's definately not "smarter than the average bear."

So that's a lot of type for a hunt in which we didn't kill anything and I didn't fully participate in, but it's an update. Nobody is rutting yet, but things look good for later in the season. Hope some of you found your target.

[Fishalot]

Hi Ben, I was home for the opener with a bad knee :depressed: however I did get out near home and found lots of sign. I saw two doe one on the drive in and when I went back to that area I had one walk with in 40 yards of me. I think it's time to set the tree stand and get in it an hr 1/2 before day light. Some of the track were good size and according to Tom Brown's field guide to nature observation and tracking thay look like buck tracks. Also the size and shape of the droping point to some good size bucks in the area. Glen is at the Elk spot we hunt every year and it is real slow so far.
I still hope to get together and fish with you, Take care :smile: .

Fishalot

[Bait O' Eggs]

:depressed:

Got to camp Friday night to find thunder lighting and pouring down rain. :whazzup: The weather forecast I saw said 75 degrees all weekend. I was in the cascades and was shocked to see this weather as I wasnt dressed or prepared for rain. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

Started out glassing at daylight and saw a cow and calf move over a ridge and into some brush, then we saw a lone cow and decided it was time to go find the bull we couldnt spot and stalk.

We hiked into a very large canyon. I would never admit to being lost, as I was always in the canyon we hiked into. For some reason I got turned around and came out the wrong end of it and decided it was closer to hike to camp from that point than the truck. I figure I did about 20 miles saturday and never saw so much as an elk track. I did sneak up on a couple does and used the range finder to confirm 24 yards broadside for over a minute. My GPS did me no good as I could never pick up more than 2 satellites in the timber. :depressed: I should have used the compass but, but why....... I thought I knew exactly where I was in my mind right up to the point I came out on the road at the other end of the canyon

After having my hunting partners wife drive me back to the truck (25 miles on road) to meet my partner, I decided it was time to do some road hunting as I had hurt my hamstring hiking so many miles. We spotted a couple cows and a bull right at dark at a very long range. They were running like the wind and decided we wouldnt be able to catch them in the morning as we werent sure how far they would run. We never could count points as it was almost dark.

It rained and thundered thru half the night limiting the sleep. I was still limping this morning so we started off glassing from the road. We spotted a nice 4 point buck with a forky tagging along behind him. The big boy was just a little wider than his ears. Seeing horns got me going and we made a hunt on the bucks as my hunting partner has a deer tag. It was a 2 mile hike in behind a locked gate to get to where the deer were. We got close but it was a no cigar as they ran off before we could get into range.

I saw probably 30 to 40 ruffled grouse this weekend. It looks like a bumper crop of grouse are out there and I should probably be taking the time to harvest a few of them.

Not the opening weekend I wanted, as we never heard an elk bugle and we tried to entice them.

[ 08-26-2002, 06:32 AM: Message edited by: Bait O' Eggs ]

[lor]

I spent the weekend in Ukiah, bumped 2 herds of elk. Counted about 9 cows, and one calf. Saw 4 does, and 3 fawns.

Myself nor any of the hunters we spoke to saw any bulls.

I considered it a successful weekend eventhough I didn't fill a tag.

[birdhunter]

Roy,

FYI grouse season doesn't open tilll September 1st. [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img]

[6wapiti6]

I would consider our opener a sucsess. We focused mainly on deer and were able to fill 4 out of 7 tags by last night. No great big deer, 2 3 points and 2 fat little forked horns. Saw close to 30 deer this weekend and one huge heard of elk, probably 60 or 70 head. No great big bulls to speak of but some very nice bulls none the less.

[Alligator]

My wife and I scouted the Starkey and LaGrande area Friday evening and Saturday morning. We made a hunt in the morning after finding elk tracks crossing the dirt road we were driving. My wife saw an elk cross the road 80 yrds ahead of the truck while I was watching over the caynon. We saw plenty of tracks, mostly of elk that seemed to be wondering the area. We walked a trail between meadows and timber hoping to catch the elk going back to their bedding area. We saw two bucks and a half dozen does with fawns. One loan calf elk within 40 yards. The only bugling we heard was from me. We did see a scrape in a marshy area, where a bull had torn and flung the swampy grass in a 20 foot circle. The bulls are getting ready for the rut.

We didn't encounter rain like Roy but it did get cold during the night. We had Ice on the grass in the meadows we walked.

Don't forget your shovel and water can if your traveling in the forest areas. It is a requirement during fire season.

Les

[Norm]

Since my plan A area is closed due to fire danger, plan B area was occupied by someone else, I hunted my plan C area. Saw a lot of deer but no elk. Hunted and camped with my Dad and my son so it was fun anyway. Things will get better if we get some rain and green up some of the cuts on the west side. I sure hope they open private lands back up on the north coast soon, or I'm really going to have to work for my elk this year :grin: . it's all fun anyway.

[Tanner]

Went to a spot just a short drive from home opening morning. It was my oldest son's first opening day. Unfortunately, it was also the day of his football jamboree which is mandatory attendance if he wants to play during regular season.

We got into the area we were aiming for about 1 hour before sun-up and within 2 hours we had stirred up a Bull. He was responding real well to my cow call. At one point he couldn't have been more than 30 yards from us but we could not see him. We could hear him, smell him and see all the brush moving. But the bottom that he was in was so thick that we never got a glimpse of the animal. I wanted to dive in after him but my son had to be at his football jamboree by noon. We elected to come back another day and try again.

[outdoor.spec.ops]

Our group saw a lot of elk, shot at a few, and ended up with one. It is bound to get better when the rut begins.

[DRUNK COWBOY]

Tanner,
We have had great success by bailing out on a HOT bull and then comming back in saveral days [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img] We have found that the Bull does not sence as much fear by doing this and is more likely to investigate his intruder

Hope you two can get him!

[aye fsh]

Hi Ya Ben!
Erik and I scored Tues. a.m. YEEE-HAAW!!
Drilled a Young bull with a spike on one side and a fork on the other (my first bull) from a little over 40 yds, still in velvet. Erik was right next to me and ranged it for me. I am so happy to have had him there being such an integral part of experience.

We drew Chesnimnus tags for the second year in a row. What a difference from last year! Everything was lush and green and silent. Rained 4 out of the 5 days we were there. Made 9 forays into the woods, 7 of which resulting in elk encounters. It was absolutely the best hunting I have EVER experienced.

Called in another bull tues. evening for Erik (my 13 yr. old son) to within 38 yds. He had probably 30 inch main tines and 6-8 inch forks on top. Just didn't get him into a shootable position, but it was real close. It's a great story that I'll have to tell later. Have to finish unloading the truck and get to work. Have a builder's wife all P.O.'d at me because I stayed a couple extra days.

Oh yeah, Popped a nice doe too! Unfortunately it was with the front of my truck. Jumped off an embankment right into me. What a waste. Truck's gonna need a little fixing, but it's just body damage. I'm more upset about wasting an animal than the damage though.

Anyways, I'll post some pics and the tale a little later. Give me a call when you can, awesome stories to tell!

T

[Tilla]

Was the poorest openers for me. We rely on hunters from surrounding ridges to stumble around on foot and ATV Yay Hoo's to push animals into our area. They didn't show up. I went up the opposing ridge the second day and found the tracks but the animals seem to deflect and stay on their side instead of dropping down to us. I did encounter one chirping bull one evening about 75 yds above me. Didn't hear him come or go, I'm studying that Walkers Game Ear thread.
Last year I had the opportunity to screw up almost everyday, just ask Fishalot.

[Fishalot]

I better keep the mistakes Tilla made last year to my self or they might laugh him right off the board :grin:

Fishalot