Deer Hunting 2015 and Badger Lake Fishing

It has been a couple years since we last went deer hunting. Things have been busy with our son being born two years ago and building our house last year. But now it's time to get back in the grove.

John and I have been talking about hunting a unit further east out of the trees, but we decided to keep it simple this year and hunted White River 141B like we have in the past. Opening day was Saturday, October 3rd. It is a tough unit to hunt as it is on the crest of the Cascades in Northern Oregon. The area is mostly dense mixed forest and packed with hunters.

In the past John and I have set up our deer camp the weekend before, but we didn't this year. It was a mistake as our spot was already taken when I arrived Thursday afternoon. I drove up the rode further and our second choice spot was still open. I snagged it and setup camp before John arrived. The fire ban on Mt Hood national forest was lifted a couple weeks ago, so we could legally have campfires this year.

On Friday, we drove into Badger Lake and spent the day fishing. There were a couple other people there and the lake was the lowest I have ever seen it.

   

Fishing was pretty good and John landed a nice 18 inch rainbow trout. It was the largest fish either of us have every caught in Badger Lake. Powerbait was good for awhile, but then we switched to spinners and caught and released plenty more trout.

   

On opening morning John and I split up and went out just before first light. It had rained a little overnight which helped muffle the sound of walking through the woods. I spotted a couple doe and stopped to see if there were any more. There were 7-8 doe in the group, but unfortunately no bucks. Later in the morning I spooked a nice buck (looked like a 4x4), but didn't have a chance to get a clean shot off. I tried to find him, but he was long gone.

Back at camp I learned John didn't have any better luck. Oh well. We still had a few more days to hunt as we weren't planning on leaving until Tuesday.

   

Hunting Sunday and Monday were not any better. In fact they were worse. The weather was dry and we saw less deer and more people. It was disappointing, but still a fun trip. It was great to be in the outdoors with good company.