2010 Oregon Elk

the hunt for you is Mill creek water shed.

i disagree on the elk hunting going down hill. elk hunting is getting better in most units.

remember , those NW units get a very small % of non res tags. and they go back and forth , year to year, going to the general draw and the next year the tag goes to an outfitter. so for a DIY guy, you can only possibly draw the tag every other year+ you dont have the points to draw those tags anyway.



SO----- MillCreek Watershed does NOT allow an outfitter in there. you have to hunt it BY yourself or with someone else who has a tag. and only 1 person can help you pack it out AFTER you have killed your bull. NO spike hunts in there , NO bow hunts in there, NO buck hunts in there, just 1 rifle bull season.

i have a buddy who drew the tag this year. he just recieved his pack from the ODF&W.


this year they WILL allow 1 person the hunt with you that DOES NOT have the tag. and 3 people can help you pack out. but still NO OUTFITTERS.
my % tags book says you have a 42 % chance with 10 points and 100% chance with 11 points. as a non resident. BUT draw odds are messed up for oregon NON residents. these are guesses at best IMO but close.


hope that helped a little, let me know if i can help any more :thumb

Thanks killerbee,

Just the kind of info I was looking for. I also get the oregon %tags and think that it has been a great resource in drawing several mulie tags. The reason that I'm shying away from my origional plan of drawing the MT emily or walla walla tags is that I don't want to compete with a bunch of spike hunters while trying to pick out the bull that I want. I don't hunt elk often and would like to get the one I want. Just FYI, I have harvested mulies in the Fossil, Snake River, and Warner units. Living just a little south of the OR border in Cali, I also shot alot of coyotes in SE or, and we had an annual tradition to go film winter range mulies every thanksgiving in the lakeview, plush, hart mt, sheldons areas. I love hunting in OR and will continue to put in even though I live in UT now, besides, I'm over halfway to drawing a Hart MT goat tag. Thanks again for the advise, I like the sounds of this tag!---shooter

Are you a rifle hunter? From your post I am assuming so-your reference to spike hunters in WW and Mt Emily. I personally would hunt Mt Emily and get out on the breaks. But then again I would also archery hunt it.

Mt Emily was the plan 11 years ago. I've just heard alot of bad reports lately. I appreciate the feedback from you guys who live in OR. Thats what I need to make the choice. I am mostly a rifle hunter. I used to bow hunt alot when I was a kid and killed scores of blacktails and turkys but the super early California bow seasons led me away from bowhunting. I need to pick it back up as there are many great bowhunting opportunities here in Utah where I live now.----shooter

that would be a fine idea, but you simply do not have any chance to draw it with your points.

mt. emily is good. but at your point level , your in a "chase" poole, meaning you will gain a point every year, but so will the tag. who knows how long till that changes. if you want to hunt, that is not a good choice. if you dont care how long it takes, pick any of the top 3.

I'd rather not wait forever on a MT emily hunt and I don't know that area anyway, just heard that it was good from some friends that used to live in Hermiston. I almost gave up on my points when work took me out to Utah, but I've always liked hunting in OR, so i'm gonna stick it out. I like the sounds of the mill creek hunt, it might be exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks a million for your advise.----shooter

last year my older brother drew the wenaha branch bull tag. he hunted all 9 days and saw bulls everyday. 35+ for the season. 10 or so of them being over 300 inches. on the last day he was fortunate enough to shot a bull they conservately guessed at 360 as it was getting dark. the next day they found good blood for the first 300 yards and jumped him up in his bed. they follwed a dry trail all day and bumped him up once more and never found him. as sad and depressed as he is, he says he will never apply for another tag in oregon besides the wenaha branch bull tag. it is without a doubt the best tag to have in oregon.

that is really a bad deal. almost a once in a lifetime tag.



but just on topic, i know guys who have killed that size bulls in 4 point tags. ME PERSONNALLY, i dont believe a 360 bull is worth 15 yrs of not hunting elk/ UNLESS you take advantage of are archery hunts. but if i only rifle hunted. i would draw one of the 4 point tags , every 4 yrs vs. drawing one of the top 4 in MAYBE 15-20 yrs, some 25 +.


for the record, i'm not degraing the bull at all, just the yrs it takes to draw.

i partially agree with killer bee, but my brother drew his wenaha tag on 3 points. it is a tag though that there is little to no hunting pressure and alot of animals everywhere. alot harder to find low pressured areas with tags that only require 4 or 5 points

what a lucky dog:) 3 points? i do hear every year of someone drawing a tag like that with few or no points.

dont get me wrong, i'm not saying that 360 bull wasn't worth shooting on that hunt, i'd be happy with it. i just dont like the idea of not hunting elk for 15 yrs just to draw that tag. but we do have some decent archery hunting here. but i dont know how much longer we'll get to just "buy" are archery tag after the draws are over.

I would go with your two best bets: Walla Walla or Mt Emily

Murders Creek unit is another good unit. It's pretty thick but there are some great bulls in there. Some good access but also a lot of roadless areas. Good luck on the draw hopefully I will be hunting the Northside unit next year.

My friends used to hunt east Murders creek for years, but lost access to their favorite spot as the rancher who used to let them drive through his porperty sold out. They killed some great bulls in that unit. Thanks for the post.---shooter

Western Oregon Tioga Unit is supposed to be good too. (Just stay out of the Reserve)

Re the 35+ elk spotted before taking the shot in 2008. We hunt Muley's in Fort Rock, and missed our draw in '08. One of the regulars drove over anyway, and saw 45 bucks in an hour. In '07 they were scarce, and this year we saw nothing. One of our group caught a 4 point looking around a tree at him that was bedded. He's in the freezer now. Either they weren't migrating down yet, or they got killed off in the long winter last year. May be the same with those Elk he saw in '08.

Re Utah bow Muley's, my wife's cousin lives in Lehi, and took a 4 point in velvet in '08