White River report

birdhunter · 10-01-2002, 09:52 AM

No deer tags to speak of, but the small game hunting over there was great. I was there from last Wednesday till Saturday and we cleaned up on the silver grays. Got limits every day and saw plenty more. Did a little bit of bird hunting and it was only okay. The doves were gone from the wheat fields and Postage Stamp so the grouse had to do. Finding water was the key. Only got a couple of ruffs and saw one covey of quail until Saturday. Went up around eightmile canyon Saturday morning and to an old spot I have for blues. Ended up getting 5 of the things just bushwacking along without a dog. Pretty good way to end the trip. Only saw 2 little bucks the whole weekend and we covered a lot of area on foot. Badger Creek Wilderness, Bonney Crossing, Little Badger, Jordan Creek, Postage Stamp, Fifteenmile, Flagpoint and Eightmile canyon. That is some beautiful country. Oh, and the fishing wasn't too bad either.

skein · 10-01-2002, 10:24 AM

Welcome back. Sorry the deer hunting was skinny, but glad to see you got into some birds.

I'm headed over just north of Long Creek this weekend for deer and birds. Sure wouldn't mind seeing a little of this snow over there - HoooooooBoooooyyyyy!! Maybe the change in weather will show up on the dinner table. :grin:

I'd like to join you at EE one of these mornings. I can hunt a little before work and just go in late - and work like hell to catch up. But it's worth it. I usually get a 2-bird tag for out there, so that's no problem. The darn thing usually lasts me a long time, too.

I'll fill you in when I get back and maybe we can hook up.

Skein

[ 10-01-2002, 11:26 AM: Message edited by: skein ]

Bait O' Eggs · 10-01-2002, 10:32 AM

Birdhunter - their is a limit on silver grays? :whazzup:

Skein - are you headed for moregrass?

skein · 10-01-2002, 10:55 AM

BOE

Yep. Wanna go? Just my wife and I so far.

Skein

skein · 10-01-2002, 12:40 PM

So you've worked *and* hunted over there. Hmmmmm. Any tips? When we scouted, we stayed mainly east and south of Long Creek. We scouted high mostly, and it was pretty dry with not much going on. I'm kinda excited about the looks of the terrain north of Long Creek, at least from what I see on the map. There looks to be some good creek bottoms and draws. Is there any place that stands out in your memory?

I'm not hung up on a wall-hanger, I just want to see my wife have a successful hunt. That, to us, goes something along these lines:

Going to beautiful country (just about anywhere in Oregon)
Being there for a number of days (not just passing through)
Seeing game
Getting a chance for a stalk
Filling a tag

Naturally I'm going to take my shotgun in case I get stampeded by quail or chukers. Oh, man, I love this time of year!

Skein

Bait O' Eggs · 10-01-2002, 01:16 PM

I didnt spend much time on the ranch other than in a couple of corrals sweating. We got there late and spent the night at the motel in longcreek. (we called ahead and made reservations, they left the key on the counter for us and went to bed, you gotta love that level of trust) The next morning we had breakfast across the street and headed to the ranch to work. I didnt get to see much of the ranch except the part that had 4 legs.

After we were done the cowboys took the rocky mountain oysters up to the house to cook up. [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] :shocked: [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img] :shocked: I passed on the desert they were all enjoying

The other ranch I hunted for a few years is more towards Condon. I wish I had connections with a big rancher back there that didnt hunt and would let me chase their deer around. One thing about those ranchers is they love fish and seafood, I guess they dont see much of it that doesnt come in a frozen box. I would ship them all the salmon they wanted for good hunting access.

Good luck on your trip.

Snapset · 10-01-2002, 08:02 PM

Skein, I have hunted Northside for some time now. I Have done pretty well hunting around the rimrock ridges south of Lantern Springs. Keeney Meadows at the end of the season is usually ok as the crowds have left. To tell the truth, I probably won't hunt there anymore, we have had to settle for smaller bucks. There are a lot of roads in the unit, and the bucks don't seem to survive long enough to get good growth. On the other hand, our party usually tags out. I guess we have been part of the problem, but we will be applying for a unit that is more remote next year.

Bait O' Eggs · 10-01-2002, 11:24 PM

I dont have an eastern tag. It looks like I may be committed into family duties this weekend and was gonna be in SweetHome visiting the brother-in-law. Thought I might stop and say hello if I couldnt get out of it.

I went and branded cattle at moregrass a couple years ago. I was one tired boy at the end of that day, since I didnt get to ride and rope, I had to administer shots, brand, and generally wrestle the calves of which some were pretty good sized. I hunted one of the owners of moregrass's other ranch for a few years, some quality people.