Backpack Archery Hunt

[Irish Pennant]

I’m thinking of doing a backpack archery hunt for deer and elk and I’m looking for some areas to scout out. My criteria is:
1) Got to be in Oregon
2) Has to be on public land
3) Has to be during the general season
4) There has to be a safe place to leave a rig
5) Has to have water near by. I can filter water

I’m pretty good with a gps, compass and topo map, so I’m not restricted to established trails. Any suggestions regarding what I’m asking for will be appreciated.

[blackdog]

I would suggest you start doing some research on the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Plenty of room to roam and a number of trailheads from which to attack it. Also, there's lots of water in the bottoms and even some up near the tops if you know where to look.

[Norm]

I've thought about it, but during archery season it's usually hot so you don't have much time to to get the meat into a cooler. Unless you have a packer available via cell phone, it could be tough.

[Spotted Owl]

Where do you come from and how far do you want to drive? Do you have a general areas already in mind? Would you like to stay around a general area you may already be semi familiar with? Answers to these may help people with the info they may be willing to give out.

[baltz526]

rogue umpqua divide wilderness, wolf lake area go in from the top off the 28 rhododendren rd to the 950rd about 43 10.00n by 122 30.00 on your gps/maps. bring your bug spray

[Irish Pennant]

I'll drive anywhere in the state, I usually hunt the Northside, Desolation and Murderers Creek units, I've day hiked a couple of the trails around Olive Lake. I have also spent alot of time in the Saddle Mountain, Wilson, Trask, Hood and Santiam. I hunted aroud Oakridge, Alsea and Stott Mountain once. I prefer the east side of the state because the terrain is more open and it seems like it doesn't change much. I use to like hunting the west side but everytime I'd find a sweet spot it would get logged off or closed down plus there are too many crooks and theives, so I dont feel good about leaving my rig unattended for a couple of days at some trail head. I'll be doing this hunt towards the end of the season when the weather is a little cooler and the bulls are talking and I don't want to go so far in that we can't pack a critter out in a day.

[Salmo trutta]

If I was a bow hunter and I was going to do a pack in hunt. I'd check out the Potato Hill area over in the Desolation Unit.(I think) I know it's close to Olive Lake. It would be a down hill pack out. I would also get a couple of extreme coolers fill them with frozen water bottles and strap them shut with ratcheting tye downs. Store them in the truck so if you have to make several packs over a few days the meat will keep.

Another idea would be to mountain bike in on the Lords Flat rut/road over in Hells Canyon. It's reasonably flat on top so you could go a ways.

[stickflicker]

All I have to say is rabbit butte in the Desolation unit Lots of elk and plenty of big bucks.For more info feel free to give me a call @503-709-2952

[stickflicker]

All I have to say is rabbit butte in the Desolation unit Lots of elk and plenty of big bucks.For more info feel free to give me a call @503-709-2952

[BrianMaguire]

I think the Lords flat area in the snake would be a great pack hunt. Do it on your bike and go 15 miles in and you will have elk all around and the place to yourself.

If you have hunted desolation you have been in some of the top areas for backpack hunting. There is not much left in the state that does not have a road cut through it. This is not Idaho, we don't have much intact wilderness left.

[baltz526]

There is not much left in the state that does not have a road cut through it. This is not Idaho, we don't have much intact wilderness left.

sometimes i see a statement like this and wonder. idaho has very large wilderness areas, oregon has a lot of smaller ones. the kalmiopsis,grassy knob, mountain lakes,wild rogue,sky lakes rogue umpqua divide,mt thielsen,waldo lake wilderness,three sisters,drift creek,menagerie wilderness,mt washington wilderness,mt jefferson wilderness,middle santiam,table rock, bull of the woods,salmon huckelberry,mt hood,columbia wilderness,steens,bridge creek,mill creek,north fork johnday,strawberry mt,wenaha tucannon,eagle cap,hells canyon,boulder creek. i may have missed a couple but that is most of oregons wilderness areas and that is a lot of sq miles of mostly natural area. oregon may have more wilderness areas than any other state, larger i do not know but we sure have a bunch of small to mid sized ones. i count thirty wilderness areas total. then there are the other areas like yamsee mt roadless area, oregon cascades recreation area, crater lake,the wild and senic rivers. i'm a map junky so i have maps of a lot of these areas.

[BrianMaguire]

Yes we do have wilderness, and wilderness does not have to be congressionally designated to be wild, however much of it is rock and mtns, some is actually huntable by backpack. But like you said, small to medium in size and many and you can walk across in a day, not really backpack hunting. OR has less than 3% wilderness, the lowest of any western state. CA has 10%, ID much more. More the 97% of the state is within 3 miles of a road, when you count out the mtns peaks there is not a bunch of options to get away, and there will be less as time goes on. But you make it what you want and there are some areas to get back in away from the crowds and some of them are in places often overlooked.

[baltz526]

oregon wilderness areas are spread out pretty evenly around the state and if a person wanted to go hiking in one most people can be in more than one in less than a 2hr drive to get to the trailhead. i missed one diamond peak wilderness that puts the count to 31. my point of view is a little sqewed, i have several within an hour of my house. three sisters,diamond peak,mt thielsen,waldo lake,crater lake, yamsee mt,oregon cascades rec area. within two hrs i can add boulder creek,mt washington,mt jefferson,rogue umpqua divide,sky lakes.

[trouttroller]

Check out the Wenaha river canyon.

[Salmo trutta]

Baltz.... you are right a lot of small island wilderness areas. Which according to the science of conservation biology and island biogeography does very little to preserve genetic diversity...and can and will lead to species extinction. The islands need to be connected.

[Beamerfish]

Last year we backpacked into the Imnaha Unit from Indian Crossing during the last week of the season. Fantastic country and there were alot of elk in there. There were also alot of people. Outfitters had drop or guided camps sprinkled in every area and we talked to alot of disappointed people. It sounded like most were first time hunters in that area and many were from out of state. From what we pieced together, there were elk in every canyon and several were taken but by the time we got there they had gone to ground. Little bugling except for other hunters. I ended up cow calling in a raghorn and shooting a tree that suddenly jumped into the small gap I was trying to thread through while a cow was just about to walk over me. That sequence made the whole season for me and that's what its all about. (Next time I need to go for hair over horns.) Then on the last day of the season, I sat on a bunch at timberline in a high bowl during a thunderstorm and tried to waylay the 5-point when he got up at dusk but the evening wind shift got me. (Another priceless lesson learned. Same think happened during last year's spring bear hunt. Not a mistake I plan on making a third time.) My buddy had a tough week and saw one bull with some cows but couldn't head them or pull him away. On balance, a mixed review. This year we're going to try somewhere else but I'll probably go back in there some day. We had a buddy to horse pack us out. Would have taken awhile to pack an elk out of some of that country piece by piece.

[tailchaser]

There are opportunities around that an archery hunter can get away from the crowds and do this sort of hunt. Where we go (please don't ask) I have yet to see another bow hunter. What it takes is a lot of time to find such a place. On the phone with wildlife bio's, scouting, talking to outfitters, and some general backpack trips. Don't necessarily look at just wilderness areas. There are forested regions that are not considered wilderness that are roadless and have plenty of elk in them.

Be careful though on your desire to go a long way into the backcountry. We have an outfitter that packs out our game strictly because if we did it on our back, by the time we had two trips in, the meat may be spoiled. Plus it would kill us physically to hunt more. We've gotten to be friends with him, so we hike in, hunt as we go and bivy sac hunt the whole way. Sometimes as many as 20 miles away from a road. When one drops, our buddy is called even before we field dress just to give him enough prep time to get to us by the next day. So there's a lot of logistics into a backcountry hunt that make it successful.

tc

[ehunter]

I love to backpack but elk hunting 10 miles or more from a truck with a elk down is a huge undertaking. We have been biking in about 3 miles in our current area and the last bull we shot was 5 miles from the truck one way. That elk was a 20 mile elk ( round trips in and out with 2 of us with bikes 12 miles on bike and 8 miles on foot)and by the time we got it boned out and packed out it still had eggs on the meat. We had all the meat out in about 12 hours. Due to fatigue and darkness. We were able to salvage all the meat but that was close. It was also hot about 65 to 70 at night. This year we have access to some pack mules so we will try that but tailchaser is dead on about, getting the meat out, this has to be a real concern. At least with a deer and if there are 2 of you you can take it all out in one trip.

good luck it would be fun.

[Irish Pennant]

Thanks everyone for your input and the pm's, really great stuff. Hope everyone has a fantastic hunt and be safe out there.

[Irish Pennant]

Thanks everyone for your input and the pm's, really great stuff. Hope everyone has a fantastic hunt and be safe out there.

[Hoosier Daddy]

I just wanna say I like you screen name IP