After 4 years of trying to get a decent pick we finally got a #1 pick and have never been. It’s going to be my son, daughter and myself. Going to go the evening before to at least find the check station. Was wondering if anyone had any tips? Pms welcome
FishOn81
nice job on the #1 pick , 27 years for me and best i got was #2
go up and hunt the week before , you will get a good idea of the area
we always hunt both days even with one pick. the best blind is #3
(not a secret ) and has been since they put it in 12 years ago.
have fun and let them get close.
go up and hunt the week before , you will get a good idea of the area
we always hunt both days even with one pick. the best blind is #3
(not a secret ) and has been since they put it in 12 years ago.
have fun and let them get close.
Thanks for the reply! The kids and I have been putting in for 4 years and the best we got was 13th pick. Yesterday when I checked the emails the first 2 I checked were 16th and 21st and wasn’t expecting much by the last and I was pleasantly surprised! Definitely noticed 3 is usually the hot spot but noticed 4 and 12 had a good year last year. We’ll see how it goes. Good luck this season
Best tip I can offer for Umatilla, especially on the river, is be prepared for the occasional goose. You may get a small flock, and you can call in a lone honker, if you can blow a goose call and have a few goose decoys in the water.
And of course, if a goose does come by, let em get real close if you are shooting #3 or smaller shot.
Don't count of geese of course, but it's a nice bonus you can get out there.
Other thing about hunting the river is know your retriever's limits. If you have a dog, be confident you can call him back in. Easy for a dog to swim a mile into the river chasing a cripple (current isn't strong, but wind can whip up big waves). Or bring a kayak or canoe to retrieve the swimmers.
And of course, if a goose does come by, let em get real close if you are shooting #3 or smaller shot.
Don't count of geese of course, but it's a nice bonus you can get out there.
Other thing about hunting the river is know your retriever's limits. If you have a dog, be confident you can call him back in. Easy for a dog to swim a mile into the river chasing a cripple (current isn't strong, but wind can whip up big waves). Or bring a kayak or canoe to retrieve the swimmers.
Congratulations!
I've drawn #1 once and selected O3, and it was one of the slowest days ever at Umatilla. 6 total shot attempts. Which is very rare. Our group has drawn O3 one other time over the years and reached our harvest limit by mid day. A great day of ducks flying can get your group your limit in an hour at O3. We limited in an hour at O2 one time, which was a phenomenal day of ducks.
#12 and O2 blinds have been very good to us over the years. But with#1 draw, it's hard not to pick O3 as it's a great location.
One tip:
It's a trek down to O3 blind from the parking lot on a sandy path (or snow late season). Getting all your decoys and gear down there can be challenging. We've taken to using our kayaks to transport our decoys down the river to river blinds. At that parking lot for O3 you can get a kayak down to the river and it's an easy float down. Far easier than multiple treks on foot.
I've drawn #1 once and selected O3, and it was one of the slowest days ever at Umatilla. 6 total shot attempts. Which is very rare. Our group has drawn O3 one other time over the years and reached our harvest limit by mid day. A great day of ducks flying can get your group your limit in an hour at O3. We limited in an hour at O2 one time, which was a phenomenal day of ducks.
#12 and O2 blinds have been very good to us over the years. But with#1 draw, it's hard not to pick O3 as it's a great location.
One tip:
It's a trek down to O3 blind from the parking lot on a sandy path (or snow late season). Getting all your decoys and gear down there can be challenging. We've taken to using our kayaks to transport our decoys down the river to river blinds. At that parking lot for O3 you can get a kayak down to the river and it's an easy float down. Far easier than multiple treks on foot.
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
