Eastern Oregon Landowner Tag, thoughts?

[TheCougar]

I’ve potentially got an opportunity to hunt a very large piece of private land in eastern Oregon using a landowner tag. I know very little about it other than it is primarily high desert, but supposedly holds low densities of elk. Some of the land is in unit 66 and some in 67 (Malhuer and Owyhee), in the southern half of the areas closer to the Cedar Mountain Wilderness. I’m trying to figure out if the juice is worth the squeeze. The aerial imagery doesn’t look too promising. Is anyone familiar with the general area and can tell me what it’s like, boots on the ground? On a scale of 1-10, how would the late season rifle elk hunting be?

 

[robby denning]

Elk are perfectly comfortable in habitats like that. And if quality is on your list, a few of our best bulls are coming off of units like that in Idaho, have been for 20 years. There’s not very many, but they are out there


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[Salmonchaser]

Those units are both tough draws for deer and hold a lot of really big deer. I’ve hunted both since the 1960s for deer.
low density elk is a little ambiguous, I’ve seen some great elk on private ground, not a lot on BLM. I’d go take a look.

 

[TheCougar]

Those units are both tough draws for deer and hold a lot of really big deer. I’ve hunted both since the 1960s for deer.
low density elk is a little ambiguous, I’ve seen some great elk on private ground, not a lot on BLM. I’d go take a look.

I’ve heard it’s good deer country. I haven’t looked much into it yet, but I believe they also have landowner tags good for private land only for deer. If so, I’ll probably have both tags in my pocket. I’ve never considered Oregon for hunting, so I’m just in the infancy of starting to research whether or not it’s worth the time and money.

 

[TheCougar]

Elk are perfectly comfortable in habitats like that. And if quality is on your list, a few of our best bulls are coming off of units like that in Idaho, have been for 20 years. There’s not very many, but they are out there


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I’m just looking for a decent hunt. No real expectations other than a good time. I’d just hate to spend the money and find out that there’s no elk in that area or terrain. It’s a long way from Texas and I don’t want to waste my limited time! I look at it and think theres no way elk live there, but it seems as if they are there, albeit in limited numbers.

 

[Swede]

I worked out of Burns with the Forest Service for years. There are hunters that do really very well over there hunting the Malheur River and Other desert areas, but they know the elk and the land. One guy I know flies over it on a regular basis.
You will have to be very lucky if you just arrive and start hunting with no idea where the elk are located. The National Forest is heavily hunted and the elk are call shy. The desert is not hunted near as much with hundreds of square miles with few elk. If you have a ranch with good fields near the Forest, you might be in for a very easy hunt. The Silvies Valley Ranch would be such a place.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Having spent an awful lot of time in that corner of the state I know one thing for certain, there are some incredible deer in that country. I know one ranch that has good elk, if I had access to 20000 acres plus and could afford the green fees I’d do it in a heart beat.

 

[Bubblehide]

I'll take that tag in a heartbeat, just let me know.

 

[wapitibob]

LO tags in OR are ranch only.

 

[TheCougar]

LO tags in OR are ranch only.

Yes, that’s what I’m tracking - they are private land only. The ranch in question is 20,000 total acres or something like 50,000 if you account for all the interspersed public is yuuuuge. More land than I could likely hunt in a week, to be sure.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Whose ranch? I know some of those folks.

 

[HeadHunter7x8]

I bowhunt that area, public land of course. There are plenty of elk there, of course I'm not there in October/November so take it with a grain of salt, but if it's ranch land I would think that they'd be much more likely to be in the private flatland that time of year. Not a waste of time by any means, though if you're coming all the way from Texas, I think there are probably better hunts in other states.

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[PDXcureuil]

I worked out of Burns with the Forest Service for years. There are hunters that do really very well over there hunting the Malheur River and Other desert areas, but they know the elk and the land. One guy I know flies over it on a regular basis.
You will have to be very lucky if you just arrive and start hunting with no idea where the elk are located. The National Forest is heavily hunted and the elk are call shy. The desert is not hunted near as much with hundreds of square miles with few elk. If you have a ranch with good fields near the Forest, you might be in for a very easy hunt. The Silvies Valley Ranch would be such a place.

Hej Swede,

I'm intrigued with your user name and job experience--I'm a wildland fire pilot hoping to be attached to a helitack crew in Burns this season, and I just spent 5 years in Sweden. Can't send PMs yet as I'm new to the forum, but maybe you can contact me.
Cheers,
--Matt