Rating Oregon Mule Deer Huning.

[Bubzilla]

Okay, I know the rifle season isn't even over yet, but the general bow is, and curiosity has gotten the better of me. I'd like to get a feel for how everyone would rate Oregon's mule deer hunting. So, if you'd like, rate the hunting on a scale from 1 to 10, and maybe briefly explain why you think it should receive the score you give it, and what other states/provinces you've hunted, if any, for comparison. Also, what you'd give those states/provinces as a score would be nice too. Also, please specifiy if your rating is based on hunting private ground as well.

The reason I ask is that I'd like to get a sense of what others think about the state of Oregon's mule deer hunting. That simple. No alterior motive; just genuine curiosity.

Oh, and on a side note, I saw a MONSTER elk Monday morning. He'd have probably went 350 B&C or better, and he was only about 75 yards away. I've seen a lot of bulls, but this was the biggest I've ever seen in Oregon. Well, outside of that experimental forest up at Starkey at least. Incidentally, anyone got a sure-fire recipe for getting BVD's white again? [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

[CAGEY]

Bubzilla, I dont think the deer hunting is even close to what it used to be. Of course iam one of those guys who was hunting monster bucks on the "Stinkingwater" back in the late 40's and 50's. I wish you all had a chance to have hunting like it used to be. I remember bucks that it took three grown men to hang them in a tree. Back in those day's you just kept walking until you decided on the deer you wanted to shoot. Never less than a huge 4 pt.

Now days there are less deer and the ranchers are not likely to let you hunt. I hunted a ranch out of Burns several years ago on a personal invite because my cousin worked on the ranch. According to him we were the first to hunt in 10 years. Need i tell you what the deer were like. "FANTASTIC" describes it. There are still a lot of places like that with large numbers of deer but chances of hunting them are nill. You can still take some nice bucks in certain area's if you are willing to work for them. Its just not a good as it used to be.

[blacktail]

Cagey,

Are you talking about the Stinkingwater Pass area out of Burns?

Just curious as we stopped there once on the way back from the Owyhee on a fishing trip and poked around and also saw a rattler.

Mike

[blacktail]

Oh, and my grade for Oregon as a trophy Mule deer state is about a "2" on a 1-10 scale.

I had to struggle to even give it a "2" after this year's hunt. :depressed:

Mike

[Mello-Yello]

If you look at the statistics for 'record book' animals, hands down it's Colorado, then Utah. After that it's pretty much a wash between all the others, and Oregon is right in the mix of things.

The main issues that affect "where" is hot and where is not;

-Major Winter Storms
-Loss of winter habitat
-Amount of land available to hunt(public vs. private)and (permit entry vs. general entry)
-Coyote population
-Cougar population

To get really big, Mule Deer have to have a chance to get mature (at least 5 yrs old if they have great genetics). Our last big winter, I believe, was 1996. A couple years for the doe population to rebuild, then the real rebuilding of herds gets going. That puts the majority of mature bucks in Oregon around 5 yrs, and very few any older than that. If we can go a couple more mild winters I'd expect to see some real trophy opportunities.

The one thing Oregon has going for it right now is there is a lot of public land available to hunt. I hope that never changes...

M-Y

[blacktail]

Here's some interesting numbers I added up from my 1999 edition of Boone & Crockett on Typical Mulies. This is the number of entries by state for the top 100 as of the 1999 edition. I may be off a hair as this was a quick count.

Colorado - 41 entries
Utah - 14 entries
Idaho - 12 entries
New Mexico - 11 entries
Wyoming - 9 entries
Arizona - 7 entries


Here's where it really drops off:

Oregon - 2 entries
Nevada - 1 entry
Alberta (Canada) - 1 entry
Sonora (mexico) - 1 entry
Kansas - 1 entry....Kansas???

Just a side note. I was surprised to see that Washington did not have a single entry in the top 100. I have heard stories of some huge bucks in the NE part of the state. C'mon you Washington boys, even Kansas has one entry! :grin:

[CAGEY]

Hi Blacktail, yes, the Stinkingwater Pass. We used to turn off there and wind our way back in by picking rocks so we could get in there.We wnt in approx 25 miles. Not many 4 wheel drives around back then. We would go almost to the lake. Strictly a tent show. Never ever saw another hunter. If you still want to kill a big buck back in that country go find Colemans Canyon. Tough to hunt but holds some mighty fine bucks even today. I have not hunted that country for at least 10 years. Once the road went in the hunters came out of the woodwork so we bunched it and now hunt other places.

[MountainLion84]

Blacktail
More so than Washington, it is hard to believe that Montana was not on that list.

[blacktail]

Corlyn,

Good catch. I forgot about Montana. Looks like you have to go down to about # 122 to find the highest Montana listing.

I also thought Nevada would of had a few more.

Mike

[MarlinMark]

Just a side note fellas. The book is just a publication. It is something that one can use as a reference. It is just one reference. I know of several 30"+ bucks killed in eastern OR on public land. If you asked these guys if they were going to put them in "the book" they would ask you if you were F$#%#@^&)^ CRAZY!! "Why don't I just invite some more out of staters to hunt here." I won't even go into the "Portland crowd" thing. Unfortunately it takes scouting, scouting and more scouting to locate good new areas. I can't drive 8 hrs. every weekend to look for a big deer. So, I will hunt the places that I know when I get the points and draw.

Mark

[MarlinMark]

Oh yeah, just try and get a good ol'boy from Montana to put a critter in "the book." He'd rather drink his coffee out of a dirty hoof print than do that.

Mark