Oregon hunt.

[Buckshot85]

Hello, Everyone.
Looking to do something different so I’ve been thinking about a Columbia Blacktail hunt.
As with all guided hunts prices are making things unreachable.
My wife might come along and it’d be a cool trip for us.
Any way, has anyone here had a hunt with Upfront Outfitters?
They run public land and have private land in the Umpqua Valley.
Prices are consistent with others. More than I’d like to spend but life is getting shorter each day.
DIY for some animals just doesn’t make sense sometimes.
Appreciate any input.
Thanks.

 

[bpurtz]

I don't know Upfront, but I do know Jody Smith Guide Service who is in the same area (jodysmithguideservice.com) - I've done a couple turkey hunts with Jody and can vouch for him - I'd probably give him a call and ask his opinion of Upfront and/or see what he has to offer...

 

[7718Sallee]

I’ll second Jody smith. Haven’t hunted with him but have fished with him a couple times. Great guy

 

[WRO]

3rd Jody Smith, he's a 10. I'd also recommend Tim Pickett with southern Oregon outfitters and Umpqua Valley outfitters.

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[Tmac]

Thorp Outdoors is worth a look. Know him and his dad, good solid folks.

 

[buzzy]

Second Thorp outdoors. Also Ken Wilson and Spoon Creek Outdoors. But I’m guessing both hunts may be higher than you will want to spend.

 

[Buckshot85]

Really appreciate the input everyone. I’ll give these folks a look.

 

[WRO]

Second Thorp outdoors. Also Ken Wilson and Spoon Creek Outdoors. But I’m guessing both hunts may be higher than you will want to spend.

I'd be pretty leery of Ken Wilson..

Mike Lee kills some big bucks out of Medford.

 

[buzzy]

I'd be pretty leery of Ken Wilson..

Mike Lee kills some big bucks out of Medford.

Sorry you may of had a bad experience with Ken but I’ve hunted with him several times over 11 years and never had and until now never heard of a bad experience. Hunts hard, knows the area like nobody else and treats people fairly.

 

[WRO]

Sorry you may of had a bad experience with Ken but I’ve hunted with him several times over 11 years and never had and until now never heard of a bad experience. Hunts hard, knows the area like nobody else and treats people fairly.

I have a little different insight on it because of common people in the industry..

I'm glad you've had good hunts with him.

 

[eaglemountainman]

I'd be pretty leery of Ken Wilson..

Mike Lee kills some big bucks out of Medford.

Could you please post the name of Mike Lee's outfit?

Thanks

 

[Sundance]

PM coming

 

[WRO]

Could you please post the name of Mike Lee's outfit?

Thanks

Southern Oregon blacktails

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[eaglemountainman]

I'm almost ready to pull the pin and send Tim Pickett a deposit. Anybody here have any first hand experience, either for or against, booking with him.

He's very personable and seems quite confident and knowledgeable on the phone. I get the impression that he'd really rather be out hunting, than handling the boring business of doing business.

Anybody have anything positive or negative?

Thanks

 

[roosiebull]

I'm almost ready to pull the pin and send Tim Pickett a deposit. Anybody here have any first hand experience, either for or against, booking with him.

He's very personable and seems quite confident and knowledgeable on the phone. I get the impression that he'd really rather be out hunting, than handling the boring business of doing business.

Anybody have anything positive or negative?

Thanks

Tim is good people, and would be my top suggestion... he's one of the most talented critter gitters i know of. he is a guy that i would personally like to hunt with, he doesn't bank on some crazy chunk of private ground, he doesn't need to... his consistency putting down nice critters on public ground with people who are not experienced in that type of hunting is unreal, and he's a super nice guy too.

you would walk away from the experience with an actual understanding of the hunting you do, he's lived in the woods his whole life and is the real deal. he's the best hunter in the guide industry i know of in this state. his bear hunting is mind blowing how many giant bears he gets killed for his clients, he just knows his trade. if you are considering any western oregon guided hunts, you cannot go wrong with Tim, and if you ever plan to come back and do a DIY hunt, he will give you a big head start in knowledge.

i watched a short video of a commonly mentioned guide talk about hunting, and was pretty surprised by his lack of understanding on the critters he was giving expert advice on, but that guide had some good exclusive land, so it works... i would feel bad for one of his clients coming back and trying themselves on public land.... Tim knows how to hunt

 

[Tesoro]

Any reason why you dont wing it and just hunt yourself? Oregon has so much public land and with onx you are set!

 

[Buckshot85]

Any reason why you dont wing it and just hunt yourself? Oregon has so much public land and with onx you are set!

If I could dedicate more time, I might. As it stands now, It's just simpler for my wife and I to use an outfitter.

 

[WRO]

Any reason why you dont wing it and just hunt yourself? Oregon has so much public land and with onx you are set!

I take it you haven't spent alot of time hunting blacktails in western oregon.

Killing a good one takes a lot of work.

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[WRO]

Tim is good people, and would be my top suggestion... he's one of the most talented critter gitters i know of. he is a guy that i would personally like to hunt with, he doesn't bank on some crazy chunk of private ground, he doesn't need to... his consistency putting down nice critters on public ground with people who are not experienced in that type of hunting is unreal, and he's a super nice guy too.

you would walk away from the experience with an actual understanding of the hunting you do, he's lived in the woods his whole life and is the real deal. he's the best hunter in the guide industry i know of in this state. his bear hunting is mind blowing how many giant bears he gets killed for his clients, he just knows his trade. if you are considering any western oregon guided hunts, you cannot go wrong with Tim, and if you ever plan to come back and do a DIY hunt, he will give you a big head start in knowledge.

i watched a short video of a commonly mentioned guide talk about hunting, and was pretty surprised by his lack of understanding on the critters he was giving expert advice on, but that guide had some good exclusive land, so it works... i would feel bad for one of his clients coming back and trying themselves on public land.... Tim knows how to hunt

Plus 1, except I've hunted a bunch with Tim and he's a great guy and a killer.

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[Pdzoller]

Native of the Oregon coast range here. If you don’t live here I would definitely recommend a guided trip. Coming in blind would be a very tricky endeavor. E-scouting definitely won’t give the total picture. All the people I know that get nice bucks put in a ton of work. There are a very few who get a dumb luck buck during rifle season though.

I have put a lot of time in and have nothing but shadows and stories. Most big bucks I see are in the headlights at 3am on my way to work lol. Good luck.