Eagle Caps

[BIG4_score]

I am planning a bowhunt in the Eagle Caps next year, 5 days and 4 nights out of a backpack. Does anyone have any tips? [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

[skein]

Wow, that's a big question - and a big trip!

Tell us more about yourself and your proposed hunt. What's your experience level? How far in are you going? How many in your party? How are you traveling, by foot or horse or...? How you figuring on getting your game out before it spoils? Etc, etc, etc.

We've probably got more questions than you do. :shocked:

Skein

[Gus Orviston]

I would check with the outfitters in Joesph and Enterprise and then around La Grande to get some insight into where would be good to go, and get a quote for a spike camp.

gus

[Norm]

You might start by picking up a Falcon guide "Back packing the eagle caps". It has some pretty good descriptions of the area. You will want more detailed maps before going which you can get those at the ranger stations. The big problem you will have is getting the game out before it spoils, it's pretty hot during bow season. I can't make more than twelve miles a day with a full pack in that kind of country and I'm in decent shape. Figure an elk will take ~8 trips and your pretty limited on how far you can go in. I'm sure there is plenty of elk around the boundry if you know were to look. You can get packers to haul your camp in and your game out for around $700.00 per person. If you search, somebody here made some packer recomendations a few months ago. I'm thinking of taking my son and nephew on a drop camp trip next year to either the John Day wilderness or the Eagle Cap during bow season.

[nookerdude]

Check the link below - tailchaser did a trip similar to what you describe wanting to do - he may have some good input for you.

http://www.ifish.net/cgi-local/ultim...;f=14;t=001772

-RSL

[Bait O' Eggs]

When you say "out of a backpack", I assume you dont have a horse or you would say "out of a saddle"

When I think Eagle Caps I think pack in trips with stock. I am sure there are places around the fringe you can hike into and set up a small base camp. As stated above you will be limited in getting the kill out should you get lucky. I would think anything beyond 10 miles would be my limit for getting an animal out and that would depend on the ground. I know guides will pack meat for a fee should you get lucky, but it would take time to get out, contact one, get them in and do the packing. Plenty hot that time of year and spoilage/yellow jackets/flies etc... would be a big concern.

Next week when I fly into Idaho we will be doing a spike camp 3 miles from the runway where the plane drops us off. By the time I carry a small tent, sleeping bag, camp stove w/ fuel, water, food, extra shirt and coat, binos, weapon, ammo, meat bags, range finder, camera, spotting scope, knife, raft, oars and pump to cross the river etc.... it gets pretty heavy on the way in, even worse on the way out when we have meat to add to the pack. We spiked camped last year a couple nights and we froze our tail off at spike camp with the snow around us, not the problem you will have during bow season. We had to make two trips out, one with the animal and the second one with camp, and this was a boned out deer, you did not say what you were hunting, but I assume elk, and a boned out elk makes 2 very very heavy packs.

Nothing would be better than to strap on 75 lbs or so and head into the eagle cap and see if you can find a spot to hunt. When you are tired of hiking in, tie a couple big rocks on and go some more, it wont take long to determine how far in you want to hunt. :tongue:

Talking to outfitters at the sportsman show in February might be a help.

[Old Coot]

Spent a week backpacking through the Lakes Basin summer before last. Only saw one deer the whole time, but I was accompanied by 9 teen-aged boys. Not exactly the quietest group...used up all the oxygen before I got to it, too. My son and I caught a glimpse of a cougar within 40 yards of camp.

Incredibly beautiful country. Most of it seems to be approaching vertical. Frazier Lake is a good one to avoid, the mosquitos will bleed you out in under half an hour. I would strongly recommend taking a GPS and the knowledge to use it. I found lots of ridges and cross-ridges that could get a careless person or someone concentrating on tracks pretty lost.

Because of the high level of horse packer and hiker use, I also recommend a good water filter. Be aware that the Wallowas are prone to late summer thunder storms of biblical intensity. Prepare for potential inundation - like stuff your sleeping bag into a waterproof sack every morning, and pack your emergency clothing into waterproof bags.

You could probably find a horse packer who would be willing to bring game out. There seems to be a cluster of them at the south end of Wallowa Lake.

Be sure to take a camera. It isn't possible to take too much film.

One thing for sure, whether you score an animal or not, if you go into that Lakes country, you will remember the trip for the rest of your life. Try the view from the top of Eagle Cap.

[BIG4_score]

I have been bowhunting for 10 yrs. I have hunted wilderness areas in Oregon but nothing to the extreme of a bivvy hunt in the Caps. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img] I am planning on hunting out of Cove,Or. and will use a packer only to bring the meat out, as I do plan on hunting 5 to 7mi. from a trailhead. The main focus of the hunt is Mule deer but by no means would I pass on a bull. :grin: There will be 2 of us (both rookies)when it comes to bivvyacking. :whazzup: Thanks for the help anymore ideas would great. :smile:

[Hookset]

I've hunted the eagle cap wilderness during bow season 3 times. The last being 2 years ago. The caps are impressive, really terrfic country to romp around in. Except 2 years ago I became very discourged with all the stock trailers and bowhunters everywhere. Trails that were seldom used during earlier trips became virtual highways for the horse camper/hunters. There were 10 trucks and 8 trailers at one of my favorite locations when years before, there was nobody.

My personal feeling is, many mis-placed ex-rifle hunters discovered a new method of hunting.

So if your looking for solitude and hunting within 8 miles of the wilderness boundry, your going to have company. Still, the eagle caps is a huge area and if a person avoided the major trails, you may still find a quality hunt.

One thing for sure, bow hunting in eastern Oregon has certainly become a lot more crowded.

Do you think we could get a primitive season with blow darts? Maybe a spear?

Wish I was in shape, bivy hunting has always appealed to me. In fact, I purchased a bivy shelter for the sleeping bag right before the season opened, just in case....well.....the just in case never came up, got to dang hot.

best of luck,

Gregg

[Mello-Yello]

If you don't have it, get your hands on Dwight Schuh's "Bowhunter's Encyclopedia". In addition to lots of useful information, it talks a lot about bivuac camps, including what to take, what to stay away from.

That's an awfully short hunt. To get the most out of it, you'll want to make several trips in before season to;
1. Scout the best places.
2. Get your legs and lungs prepared.
3. Figure out just what you really need, and what you can do without.

Poor planning and preparation is a sure route to turning a great adventure into one of the worst experiences of your life.

If it were me, I'd consider a drop camp. Granted, you won't get the best spots, as those are reserved for the top dollar fully-guided hunts. But it would be nice to be able to call in the cavalry if you get something big down.

Regardless, I hope you get to do this. It would be a great adventure.

M-Y

[Blue Tip Spinner]

my cousin and i drew the wenaha spike plus hunt in 1997. we hired a guy to pack us in and drop us off for 2 weeks. it was worth it. it cost us each about 1000, but we didn't have to bring anything but our equipment and food and the rest was supplied. they even did a meat check on our camp on the 7th day to make sure we didn't have anything that needed to get out before it spoiled. if you are a hands on type guy, there are wilderness areas that are not nearly as rough as the eagle caps are. i hunt just outside of the eagle caps wilderness boundry and i see alot of game. alot of guys won't walk the same canyons because they are so steep, but we still get the game. you might consider staying just inside of the boundry where most other people overlook and not go in too far. you would not believe how many times we followed trucks into our hunting areas, just to have them turn around and go the other way after not seeing anything off the road, and we walked it and got into elk 300 yards off the road. the area that you want to hunt is full of elk. both inside the wilderness and outside. good luck BTS

[tailchaser]

Well if there's one thing I do have info. on it's this type of hunt. We did one that was pretty extreme and it was a bivy show. One thing I want to emphasize is don't bite off more than you can chew when it comes to this style of hunting. I'll post more about it when I have the time, but it takes a lot of preperation, physical conditioning, and the right mindset to do it. It's definitely rewarding in the end though. There are so many things and so little time for typing on this subject. One article I would advise tracking down is Cameron Hanes' articles in Eastman's magazine. He goes into the major things, the smaller stuff I can advise you on later but first do the reading and then we can talk, otherwise I'd be typing for hours over stuff you may already know. You can find it on the Eastman's website and look for Cameron under the various writers and editors.

tc