Oregon mulies?

I Havent hunted Chesnimnus, I have a buddy that shot a bighorn in that unit a few years back. I have been to the Owyhee Canyon country and the three forks of the Owyhee river area but havent hunted it. I think the 3 forks area is in the Whitehorse unit and Owyhee reservoir is in the Owyhee unit (could be wrong). The only hunting in the Whitehorse unit that I have done was in the Trout Creeks once, last year. Have you done well? The 3 forks area looks like it should be good, but I just havent heard much about whitehorse other than the trouts. I went to Beatys butte this year, not impressed with the numbers or size, killed a fork the last day of the trip so I wouldnt go home empty handed. I am however very interested in learning the owyhee unit or the Whithorse. I hear that the Imnaha unit up near Chesnimnus is producing some nice bucks. Anyway, I probably wasnt much help, but if you have any pointers on Whitehorse or Owyhee I would love to hear them. - Leo

Well Leo I don't have alot of pointers on Whitehorse, back in the 70's and 80's you would find the deer in the bottom of the canyon up to the rimrock bases, but now they seem to be out on the sage flats, if you can find them. This along with the fact that deer numbers are down, may be due to an increase in the cougar population. And yes Three Forks is in the Whitehorse unit, but I've never hunted it but do know some who have, and it was nothing to write home about. Of course everyone knows about the Trout Creeks and how many points it takes to get in, but a game biologist told me a few years back that the cats were wiping out the deer there, so is it still good or not?. All I know is I sure miss the smell of opening morning in the high country sage, and can't wait to get back. My main goal is to find a good unit that doesn't take a ton of points to get into and still produces good bone, yeh I know, so does everyone else, anyway it was good to hear from an Oregun mulie hunter, thanks again, Paul.

I don't know what exactly you are looking for, but I used to hunt the Klamath Falls unit and the interstate unit. Both can be drawn with little or no points. These units are far from trophy zones, but offer opportunity to hunt mulies in the high desert with the chance to harvest a good buck once in a while. We killed 18-20 inch bucks a few times. We did always see legal bucks though so if you're a guy who just wants to get a mulie and you hunt a little harder than average, I think you could be successful in these areas. If you get the right weather, or are willing to walk into the wilderness, big bucks can be had in the interstate unit.-----shooter

I have two friends who hunt Chesnimnus regularly for archery elk. They indicate that deer numbers where they hunt are poor. They've been hunting it for several years now and I trust if it was any good for deer they would be putting in for it for rifle tags-they don't. They hunt a different unit for deer. Oregon seems to be a toss up for good mule deer.

What am I looking for?, well my best buck to date is a 186, with some 150-160's so I would really like to improve on my numbers. I don't know if that is possiable without alot of luck in Oregon. I have hunted North Warner a couple of times, with moderate success, and it's not bad, but wanted to try something differant, but it sounds like Chesnimnus may not be the place to look. I know the Steen's were good at one time but that is long gone. Thanks for all your input, maybe we'll just keep looking. Paul

Yeah the glory days in the Steens Unit are LONG gone. My dad and I went there during August and went on several long hikes looking for bucks. We didn't see a single buck during the three days we were there.
The Snake River Unit might be a good one to check out. It's a beautiful area and if you're in good shape, you might be able to find a good buck.
Best of luck!

I hunted snake river two years ago an I would avoid it. I hunted hard for 7 days and saw very few deer, and no good bucks. I would absolutely recommend this zone for elk and sheep, but not deer. If you just want a small buck that you will work hard for, this zone is ok.----shooter

Yeah, I actually had the tag in '08. We didn't see very many bucks and no big ones. I did kill a decent 3x4 with eye guards though. We talked to the biologist over there and he said that it was just a bad year. He said he expected much better buck numbers in the years to come. Hopefully he is right!

Well thanks for the heads-up on the Snake River unit. I've seen the Snake from both the Idaho and Oregon side, now twenty years ago I thought it looked pretty sweet. At 55 I don't think it looks so hot. No I don't think I'll hunt it, thanks anyway for responding to my post. I guess I'll just keep looking and reading this forum for hints. Thanks again guys.

I hunted the owyhees about 5 years ago and only saw two good bucks on public land and both were dead one about 26 inch 170 class and one nice buck that looked about 30 inches wide with deep forks I did not get a great look at him but he was big.I killed a 23 inch 3x3 and dad killed a forkie on the last day to avoid tag soup. I came home feeling I did not give it a great effort though and may return in the next year or two if I can afford the tag!!! WOW they are proud of those non-resident tags these days.Bill

Yes huntindad, we here are real proud of our prices, why I don't know, I'm beginning to think there isn't a unit worth wasting the money on!, even as a resident. But then that's what they are managing for MONEY not quality, and they seem to have achived just that. You would be better off going to MT,ID,CO,or WY to get a good buck.

Yeah, we have been to CO,NV(just my dad drew)and ID since that tag and all were better hunts but we have 4 points for deer and 5 for elk and quite a bit of money invested in those points to just let em go.Then there is the fact that I feel like I didn't hunt it hard enough to my way of thinking so we may draw again and then just let OR go after that.Bill

I'm in the same boat, 3 PP and 53 years old, i can still hunt the tuff stuff but alot slower... :thumb

I have 7 points saved up for Oregon deer and am also looking for a unit to put in for. I was thinking the Steens but after hearing everybodies stories there I'm not so sure this is where I want to apply. My dad drew the Juniper muzzleloader tag with 13 points and we went home empty handed, saw plenty of deer but they were all in the refuge which doesn't do us much good. I would love to kill a big buck but in all reality I think that may be asking for too much. Do you guys think if a person were to take horses into the Steens that would be better?

these bucks were taken in the steens with in the last two years, everybody knows deer #'s are way down, but you can still find some good deer in their hidy hole.....no thats not me, i wish...

Hey check out the Oregon Trophy Mule Deer hunt in the Chesinemus unit- Zumalt Prairie. That is a great hunt hunt for muleys!!!!

Just curious, whys it so great? than (???) kx

if i'm thinking of the same place, it's a refuge that is doing a raffle for a deer hunt. 99 tickets at $100.00 a piece. it's known for hunting 170-200" bucks. if were talking about the same thing, it is a great opportunity for someone.

Yes they are doing a raffle out in the preserve. I know of a few guys that picked up some tickets out there.

100 bucks a pop!, is there a limmit on tickets?.....

Only a Max of 99 tickets to be sold. You can purchase as many as you would like.

thanx, with my luck i could buy 98 and still not draw..... ](*,)

My two cents...

I have bow and rifle hunted extensively in the Whitehorse and Owyhee units. I live in Idaho and these 2 units are easy for me to access. Over the last 10 years, I probably have over 150 days of hunting and scouting these units.

The Whitehorse:

10 years ago, just 10 years ago. I started bow hunting this unit. I saw during my pre-season scouting anywhere from 30-40 bucks, up to 180 class, really. I had NO competition. It was tons of fun. Killed several bucks in the 130's to 160 class, missed some bigger ones, what fun. I did notice that every year that went by I saw fewer bucks. The last year I bow hunted it was 2007. That year I had 2 small groups of hunters move in to the area I called home, "I don't own it". They had every right to hunt it. But during that year saw no more than 10 bucks. I scouted twice that year and couldn't find crap. I hunted it anyway and never fired a shot. Both groups reported the same thing. It is such a shame. I never saw any cats or cat tracks in all the years I hunted/scouted. I looked hard for tracks as I noticed the downswing in numbers. I did see lots of coyotes, killed one with the bow.

The Owyhee:

I have hunted this unit far less than the whitehorse but have about 50/60 days scouting/hunting there. Same as above. Numbers declining by the year. Hunter pressure during the bow season is minimal in most areas, Rifle season is another matter. It has the potential for a big boy, history would dictate. I have never seen a buck bigger that 170 in there, but I know it can hold some monsters.

I personally feel that there are too many tags for these units. Archery should be a draw with limits as well. I also think they should make most of the eastern oregon units 4 point or better, especially for the rifle hunt. Archers can kill any buck. IMHO

By the way, in the above post by mosback, is the buck I shot in the Steens. It goes over 210 gross. It is bittersweet to see the Steens go to a draw, but if you want to kill big bucks you have to pay a price. Hope it works.

your links didn't work- but i'd sure love to see them.

as far as everything else in your post- i couldn't agree more :thumb

"killerbee" wrote:your links didn't work- but i'd sure love to see them.

as far as everything else in your post- i couldn't agree more :thumb

Killerbee, try it now. I think I got it figured out.

Thanks for the bump.

Scott

great bucks!! and thanks for sharing :thumb