Hunting

We didn't get our first choice draw this year and instead drew our second choice, High Cascades. We have never hunted this large unit before which starts with an early season hunt then converts to a general season deer tag if unsuccessful. We took a short overnight trip in September during the early season hunt to scout out an area West of Three Fingered Jack. It looked okay, so we decided to come back at the end of September to hunt the opening week of the general season.

I didn't apply for any controlled hunts this year, but did buy a general Western deer rifle tag. My friend John and I went up to Hideaway Lake this weekend to see if we could find a buck or two. John went up early Friday and I followed shortly after getting off work a bit early.

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.

After missing out on most of deer hunting season last year, I was very excited to be able to hunt a full week this year. There were only two of us this year, and we drew tags for the same unit we have been hunting for the past few years, White River 141B. Opening day was Saturday, September 29th. 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.

With my new job as an electrician apprentice, I had to shorten my annual deer hunting trip. Normally I go up Thursday night after work and set up camp, but this year my friends had take over. Luckily they all had Friday off and went up that morning to secure our spot. John, Tyler, and I all had buck tags this year for the White River Unit # 141B. We like to hunt an area in the vicinity of Badger Lake (roughly 12 miles West of the town of Wamic, Oregon). It's mostly forested with noble fir, douglas fir, and pine trees with interspersed clearcuts that are slowly growing in.

I drove back up to our deer hunting spot on Friday night to do some more scouting and check the game camera we set up last weekend. I came up alone and was able to get the spot where we had our base camp last year. My two friends and I have buck tags for the White River unit again and like to hunt an area in the vicinity of Badger Lake (roughly 12 miles West of the town of Wamic, Oregon). It's mostly forested with noble fir, douglas fir, and pine trees with interspersed clearcuts slowly filling in.

After cleaning up our new-to-us 2007 Fleetwood Pioneer 18CK travel trailer over Labor Day weekend, we decided to take it for a test run to Rock Creek Reservoir near Wamic, Oregon. Rock Creek Reservoir is approximately 100 acres when full (only in the spring) and is stocked annually with rainbow trout. The reservoir also supports a healthy population of bass up to 5 lbs. each. Rock Creek Reservoir is located in Tygh Valley within the Mount Hood National Forest. It's about 6 miles WSW of the small town of Wamic.

This year's annual deer trip was a success! My buddy John bagged a trophy 4x5 mule/black-tail hybrid buck just a short walk from camp. The single shot to the lungs from his .30-06 knocked the buck down where he quickly and humanely died. Tyler and I each missed a long shot at another nice buck, but at least we got to try. It would have been a real pain to drag him out anyway.