owyhee or whitehorse hunting

I was looking into trying a new unit this year and was wandering if any one out there has ever hunted either one of these units . and if so what was your thought on them.

[salty dog]

I've hunted the Owyhee twice for buck deer - no luck either time although both were interesting trips. If you want to see interesting country, this is it. If I had been blindfolded and dropped in I would have sworn I was in west Texas or Southern NM. On both trips I saw doe, more quail and chuckar than I could count, plenty of jacks and coyotes and one sheep at a distance. However, no bucks. Its a good opportunity to hunt and fish if you have a boat. We hunted morning and night and fished - successfully - for crappie during the day.

[Snapset]

We just this year decided to move our muley hunting from Northside to Owyhee. At Northside we were getting deer but mostly 3-points. We considered Whitehorse but after talking with the district biologist in Ontario, we opted for Owyhee. Salty dog, did you hunt the canyons on Owyhee reservoir? We are considering that this fall. I think it would be a blast, but the guy who calls himself "Party Leader" gets all
quivery-lip when we talk about bringing the fishing poles on a hunting trip. Then we have to have a wrestling match and he calms down. I am getting too old for that kind of conflict resolution. I would love to have a crappie fry for one of our dinners.

[salmurai]

Rippin Lips, If you are seriously looking for a big buck, (antelope or deer) go to Whitehorse. For a more relaxed trip, head for Owyhee Res. There are a few big buck deer around there also. For antelope, you can hunt from a motel in Vale, Nyssa or Ontario, and can expect to be successful. Just my two cents worth.....

[fish forever]

You might want to look at ODFW release from last week. I've hunted Owyhee in the past but this year tags were cut 20% - a sign of two things: Lower populations and much tougher draw. Dont know much about whitehorse.

[Fishrite]

I've killed 3 nice buck antelope in the Whitehouse unit. It is hard to get a tag there. It have seen some good mulies on these antelope hunts...but not many. I think that I would consider the Owyhee Unit because I've also guided other parties in this unit and have seen more quality bucks, plus I think that your chances for a nice mule deer would be better.

thanks for then replys

[Killertraylor]

I hunted Owyhee last year and harvested a nice forked horn on the third day. Passed up a few spikes and a fork on opening day and passed up another spike on day two. By then, I was so beat from climbing up and down the canyons that I decided the next buck I saw was going to die.

I camped at the state campground and there were 6 deer hanging for about 30 camps when we left. Only one 3 point and the rest spikes and forks. The local biologist said he hadn't seen a 4 point all year. He also mentioned that several guides from Idaho came over a few weeks before the season opened and scouted and decided to return to Idaho as they didn't find any big bucks. If they were there, they sure eluded me.

Interesting you should mention Whitehorse - that's where I applied this year with a party who has some points saved up. They've been successful every year, but they usually shoot the first buck they see and then regret it.

Good luck - and you might read up on eating the fish in the Owyhee. Lots of people do it, but they reportedly are tainted with Mercury. The fishing wasn't too hot when I was there last year and all of the fish (crappie) were schooled in one arm of the lake. Also, the water was way down - only about 1/2 of the reservoir was full. Lots of guys flyfishing the outlet creek every day for big trout but we only cought a few.

[nitrobass]

I've seen some monster bucks in Owyhee, all of them while hunting antelope on foot. Look for wild horses, big deer and lots of antelopes will be nearby. Worth the walk.

I applied for the whitehorse unit for both antelope( 7points) and for deer (1 point). I figure that if i get lucky enough to draw a antelope tag , while was hunting them I could do a little scouting for some deer. Good luck on all your draws everyone.