Oregon Coast Range Cow Hunt

Little Big Man MT Chris

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Just picked up my cow tag ! I'm pretty pumped , they don't give out a lot of these tags each season, it's my first cow hunt ever , I took my 1st elk last season a spike , this is most likely my last Roosevelt cow tag , I don't plan on ever putting in for one again. I have other hunts I want to pursue in future seasons, I get to hunt from home everyday as I live at the base of the coast range and in the unit the tag is good for , this hunt will be special as my mom drew the same tag also , getting to chase elk with the folks should be a blast , dad got a spike in the Bull season last November, I expect mom and I will both tag out as our tags are good for 2 months. a matter of not if but when .hunt starts next Wednesday the 1st ! It will be a year to remember if we all fill our tags and put 3 elk in the freezer in just a 3 month span, I will post some pics of the hunt as it progresses IMG_4600.jpg
 
Good luck on your hunts.
Why would your tag say 2016 if your hunt starts on Feb 1st 2017?
 
Good luck on your hunts.
Why would your tag say 2016 if your hunt starts on Feb 1st 2017?

It counts as my 2016 elk hunt , ODFW counts all spring cow hunts for 2016 draw , the people who apply in 2017 and draw this tag can't hunt till February 2018 and so on, I had to give up OTC 2016 bull if I wanted this hunt , good thing is I can kill a cow this spring then buy a bull tag in Nov and get 2 elk hunts this year
 
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Waiting for the folks to pic me up and head for the hills for today's controlled hunt cow opener , weather is gonna mid 30's today and cloudy, bought a HOWA 308 last summer , looking forward to see how it preforms on an Elk, took my Blacktail at 150 yards , it dropped in its tracks last Nov with one bullet . Don't expect my shot to be over 200 yards when I get one ! Have a great day all ! :hump:
 
Well that sucked , we have access to timber property that we have a key to unlock gates in our unit , we had a big snow storm 3 and a half weeks ago , mostly all melted now. some years we don't get but a dusting , we didn't think to bring the chain saw !!! Oops , big mistake, some of the roads we use to get to our high points to glass , still have small trees across them , back home for the chainsaw and a reset to the day , we might end up spending as much time bucking trees as hunting , glad it's a 2 month hunt , but a road we don't clear today is a road we clear next time out , we're back on the road , chainsaw in tow , this still beats a day at work IMG_4624.jpg
 
After getting the chainsaw we regrouped and choose to take the 35 min drive from Banks to Vernonia and access the gate there , knowing there is some more active logging in that area the roads might be better from the logging crews , we were right all the roads were good , we never had to take the chainsaw out all day , we were able to enjoy a good day in the woods , with the exception of some loggers working off in the distance, we were all alone in the woods today, saw 4 Blacktails and 1 cow Elk , mom got a shot off and missed, she rushed it cause the cow saw her and was starting to bolt just before the shot , I had her in my scope for a second as she was on a dead run straight away, I didn't shoot , followed her tracks till she disappeared into thick reprod and called it good , wasn't ment to be today , but we had a blast , good family time . And the like always , almost home standing in the garden of the house next the Tavern was 8 cow elk grazing away ! Ha ... then after the folks dropped me off and headed to their house , mom texted and said there was another 40-50 elk in one of the farmers field just off the road .. my folks and I only live about 4 miles apart! I think dad knows who owns the field but he won't let people shoot Elk when they come down in his field. With the worst snow we've had in 10 years , it forced the elk down a lot lower than normal , and most have yet to go back up, but even if this hunt ends up being a little more difficult than I first thought , I'm gonna enjoy the journey. I've never had a tag that's good for 2 months, I'm enjoying knowing that I get to start my year off hunting that long if needed. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. Here is a few pics from the day to show what the country were hunting in looks like IMG_4695.jpg
I think that's Mt St. Hellens in the back ground
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Eastern Oregon mule deer protein sticks .. yummy
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My dad John , using his expert spotting skills , who needs binos?
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The area where mom got a shot off , the Elk was down in the flat Along the birch trees
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Hunter safety tip of the day , when hunting elk in your warm, tan and golden brown carhart jacket , be sure to wear a blaze orange beanie! Ha ha ha
I won't be going back out for about a week with work and the super bowl on Sunday, I will be going back to the area we started in this morning to get that road open, my friends and I took 3 elk in that area in 2015 and my girlfriend got her first deer up there this past October, lot of critters in that area and it's down lower by the private . I'm taking February 17-27 to get serious about this hunt and try to close the deal on my 1st cow tag , mom and dad are retired and will be going out more frequently before I can get time off. Hope to share some hero shots with you all soon ....
 
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Good Luck, and thanks for sharing. So are these Roosevelt elk you are hunting? And are you hunting private property?
 
Good Luck, and thanks for sharing. So are these Roosevelt elk you are hunting? And are you hunting private property?

Yes , Roosevelt Elk , and Yes , Private Property, the unit I live in is mostly private , the Oregon Coast Range for the most part is a giant tree farm, and a multi million dollar timber corporation owns the area I'm hunting and most of the unit , they sell 600 first come first serve passes to hunters , it was 275$ This year and I have access to about 110,000 acres , so sometimes there can be a lot of other hunters out and sometimes you can be alone all day , I don't mind paying the cost it allows me more area to hunt where I live for Blacktail deer and Roosevelt Elk, also in the cost you may take 2 cords of wood . They mail u a key , a map , ID papers and a tag for the window , they put rec locks on certain gates and we can come and go as we like , some gates if you want to hunt you can hike in also , you just can't open them . This years pass is good from August 1st 2016 till June 25 2017 , u can hike , shed hunt , scout , explore all u want , I wish there was wide open area like some places east of Oregon , but that's the hand we're delt here , so I'm gonna make the best of it. The cow hunt I'm on the ODFW gave only 38 or 39 tags this season and I'm restricted to the southern half of the unit, so there won't be a ton of pressure on the animals
 
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Went up this morning with plans for a half day hunt before the game , but old man winter won the day !!!! Another winter storm has hit the coast range with more snow , this is like the 8th time this year we've had snow , which is 7 times more than normal. With our wet climate , a couple inches of wet heavy snow can cause real problems, wasn't worth the risk of wrecking my truck , the weather calls for snow all day and into tomorrow. I'm off Thursday, hope for the snow to be gone by then

I glassed a few clear cuts before leaving
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Back home in Banks no snow just rain only 5 or 600 ft of elevation change and 20 mins away
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My aunt took this pic Monday , in her yard , they own 10 acres just out of town , but won't let my Mom shoot one at their place , there not anti hunting, but my aunt just can't deal with an elk being killed and gutted in her yard !!! The folks are heading out to hunt tomorrow morning and see the part of the area we hunt if the snow is melting and road conditions are like , looks like dad and I are hunting Thursday , the 2017 Roosevelt Cow quest marches on :p
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After a 12" or more snow in the Coast Range on Sunday , Monday a new storm has hit in the last 24 hours with tons o rain and warm weather, melting almost all the snow and causing flooding in the lowlands , but it was my day off and I was gonna hunt no matter what today , dad got me early and off we went , got to our area we wanted to hunt and had more trees down from the last snow earlier in the week this time we came armed with a chainsaw!! We would cut a tree from across the road and move on and so forth , but we were quickly excited because we could Elk tracks in the road in the half melted snow , knowing we were the only ones who had been up here since the snow , getting to the first clear cut , we could see where a small herd and been in the road , knowing Elk and been everywhere in the area and all over the roads because of the snow added to the excitement of the search, I think we cut and moved at least 15 trees today as we moved up the mountain to get to from clear cut to clear cut. now were to the 4th clear cut of the morning , and we're still seeing tracks everywhere, you could feel Elk were somewhere close . The road we were on went through the middle of this cut and looped far around to the back left of the area , as we drove though, I was getting frustrated because in this clear cut , scotch broom was growing 10ft tall on both sides of the road giving almost no sight lines , we got to the end and dad turned around , I said , we can't see crap , let me out ! I have to hike to this hill top to get a view of this whole area , dad said in this rain ? YES ! I Grabbed a hand held and bailed , my dads 75 , so I understand why he didn't want to hike up a steep hill in a down pour and 25mph winds when he don't have the tag. Got to the top and within 10min I was on an elk !! Radioed to dad I'm on elk already, don't move the truck , all I could see was a Butt , Green Gold I thought , my friends and I in Oregon call the elk Green Gold , because it's so green here with the evergreens and the Elk are so golden colored they just pop when there out in the open around these trees . A single cow at about 400 yards below with a 25 mph side wind steady but not constant , I knew I need to close the distance, down the hill I crept , looking for a place to set up , i got to a stump within a distance I felt comfortable and bipod out , not wanting to risk going lower afraid I might lose sight of her .she was feeding broadside , With the wind so hard and shooting downhill , ,I felt the wind was gonna pull my bullet left so I aimed at the middle of her hind qtr and a little below the spine , steadied my self and pulled , BOOM ! I saw her jolt and instantly her back end hit the ground sat there for a second and rolled over front legs kicking. Reloaded took aim , she twitched a few times and stopped , Elk Down I radioed to dad , about that time I see another elk move across the clear cut , I never saw her , she was hidden from view by a small hill my elk was on . We were able to call friends to help get her out , dad and I went down to start the cleaning, and wait for back up to arrive, when cleaning the elk we found my bullet hole right through the spine a little behind the front shoulder , wind drift was about 2 feet from where i aimed , i used the HOWA 308 with 168 gr bullet, first elk hunt with this rifle , i love this weapon
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After finding the elk we realized the were only a 100 yards off the road and we drove right past them , but with the scotch broom so high we never saw them and they never saw us , with the wind and rain so hard we doubt they herd us pass

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The hill in the background is where I was at when I spotted the elk, i took the shot from about a third of the way down , later we estimated it to be around 250yds

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Dad standing with the elk

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The Calvary arrives!!

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Tagging Out , you can see in the back ground the scotch broom is higher than my dads truck


After surveying the area , the elk was about 100 yards from a T road , we chose to connect 4 ropes to the elk and just pull her straight out , the T road allowed for an almost straight pull
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Into the scotch broom we go
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Got her to the road , in above 2 pics , you can see the truck down the road , in background , what also was nice the weather broke during the gutting and pull out
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Loaded up

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Down in the low country , rivers coming over the road

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Back at the shop to skin and clean, which only leaves one last thing to finish off this day !!!


VICTORY BLIZZARD !!! Took this idea from the Newberg book of hunting ! Ha ha ha
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mom still has a cow tag and 7 weeks left of season, depending on when she gets one , there may be another elk hunt on this post
 
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Congrats! Love all the pictures to go with it, thanks for sharing and enjoy!
 
Congratulations on your wet adventure today. I bet it felt good to figure out how to pull her up to the road
 

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