QuazyQuinton takes his kids hunting

[QuazyQuinton]

I've never done a "live hunt" on a discussion forum, but this seems like a good time to try. We're staying in a trailer in a spot with cell service, so it might work out. I'm sure if I forget, someone will remind me via PM.

My two older children drew deer tags for this youth hunt. It is a late season hair tag in SW Oregon. Too late for a rut hunt, but an area where deer migrate down for the winter. I'm sure anyone who is familiar with the area can figure out about where we're hunting. The only experience we have with this area is that my son and I made a quick trip to scout/hunt for a couple days last week. This time we're here for a few days with the whole family. We pulled in last night about midnight after a long drive from home. The deer here are blacktails, although we're in the Cascade foothills, so there could be some mule deer genes mixed in.

My daughter will be shooting her Savage 7mm-08 loaded with 140gr Federal Fusions. My son will be shooting his T/C Venture .300 Win Mag loaded with 200gr Hornady Precision Hunter.

Installments to follow. I hope. Hopefully pictures, too.

QQ

 

[Bowmannate2000]

Hope the kids have some good luck! Sounds like a great family trip whether the deer cooperate or not.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

OK, Day 1 is also in the books, so here goes.

Got up a little slow this morning after getting here late last night. We didn't unhitch the trailer, so everything was going to be on foot for the morning. Walked down to a gated road where we wanted to make our first hike. Of course there was somebody parked there, so we started walking in on another road where we saw a couple deer last week. Steep uphill hike, trying to remind my son that he has to slow down and look if he wants to find a deer.

We decided to walk out a little spur and jumped two deer above the road. Probably does, but we weren't sure, and they got out of there pretty quickly. About then the rain also started back up. We continued in the same direction into some semi-open areas beyond the end of the road. By then we were so wet and the brush was getting thicker, so we carried on down to the main road and hiked back to the trailer. The rain is probably going to be a recurring theme for the rest of our week. We did see enough tracks to make us feel optimistic.

Hot sandwiches with egg, Canadian bacon, and cheese on an English muffin at least partly makes up for rain. Also got the trailer set up so we can use the pickup to get to a few more places.

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 1, Evening

Wet clothes are cold to put back on for an evening hunt!

The same pickup was still parked at the gate, so we checked a couple other spots and decided to walk another Travel Management road. We did spot a doe and fawn beside the road, but it was another brief encounter. Walking up the closed road, my son spotted movement in the brush below the road. Eventually I also saw a flash and two does. We are definitely used to hunting mule deer in more open country. Even though this isn't as thick as the Coast Range around home, it's still a new challenge when you can't see what you're hunting.

Got to a fork in the road, so my daughter went one way and my son and I went the other. Just a little way down the road, we saw some tracks in the snow. I texted my daughter that there were big paws with claws and keep her eyes open. She later told me that she was pulling out her phone to take a picture of some tracks she was looking at when she saw my text. Pretty sure the tracks I saw were wolf tracks, so I assume that the ones my daughter saw were also. She said there were multiple sizes on her road.



Just before dark we found another set of clearings and worked through them in hopes of finding one more deer. It was almost time to turn around, so I told my son to look ahead a bit farther while I answered nature's call. And there I was with my fly unzipped when I saw a buck slipping away below us. I got my son's attention, but it was gone. We scooted ahead to watch for it, but nothing further appeared. Once we started back, my son just about jumped off the road when he saw a deer coming out about the same spot I had seen the buck the first time. Alas, it disappeared again, and that was the end of the hunting day.



There was one more small surprise on the hike out. I looked up to see an owl in a snag and assumed it would be a great horned. But a quick look, and it turned out to be a Great Gray Owl. Always a cool sight.

Going to get a little sleep and get ready for tomorrow.

QQ

 

[JLS]

...

 

[QuazyQuinton]

That’s a cougar track.

I'm quite familiar with the game where you post a picture of an indistinct track on the internet and then people argue about what made it. I thought I could see claw marks on the indistinct tracks in slushy snow that I saw, so I concluded they were wolf tracks. I didn't see the track in the picture myself, but I assumed they were the same. You could be entirely correct. We've got plenty of cougars around here, too.

QQ

 

[MarvB]

“...there I was with my fly unzipped when I saw a buck slipping away below”

We always call that the “game call”... guaranteed to happen esp. duck hunting once you fight your waders down!

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 2, Morning

Working on another egg, Canadian bacon, and cheese sandwich on an English muffin and ready to continue the story.

Got out a little slow this morning, but we decided to split up and hit a couple spots. My daughter headed out on foot to where we had seen a couple does yesterday morning. My son and I checked the usual gate, and that truck is still there, so we headed up to where we hiked in last night. Our hike was largely a dud, although there were a few new tracks in the patches of snow. Best moment was when a Great Gray Owl, possibly the same one from last night, buzzed us as we hiked through some reprod. It passed about 6 feet over my son's head, but it was dead silent, and he had no idea. I was about 10 feet behind him, so I saw it up close. We hung out in the area where we saw the buck last night, but nothing showed.



My daughter reports that she bumped into a couple groups of deer, including one that she saw was a buck. Apparently they were on the move, so no opportunity for a shot. Her phone GPS showed that she hiked 7 miles.

One drawback to this spot is that we stayed down lower where the habitat is more varied, but we're also closer to town. People come up here to ride ATV's and shoot and drink beer. By 10am it was sounding like a war. At one point I heard "Pow, BOOOOM! Rumble, rumble, rumble." so I'm pretty sure they're blowing things up in addition to shooting. Hopefully all the noise doesn't drive the deer into the next unit. We'll see how it sounds by the evening hunt.

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 2, Evening

The shooting and tannerite explosions continued for most of the day. A couple of the booms rattled the trailer. Not the best choice of camp spot, but hopefully the weather will clear out the recreational powder-burning crowd.

Hunting this evening was underwhelming. My daughter hiked up the same road as this morning but elected to sit and watch a likely looking spot instead of hiking for distance. My son and I hiked in the same road we walked this morning. We did bump a deer out below the road in the same place we bumped them last night. Then we got to our vantage point, and we could see a storm rolling in. I sat at the end of the road, and my son set up back a ways to watch some additional area. A few minutes later, the storm hit. I could see the individual torrents of rain sweep over the ridge, swirl over the canyon and rush up the hillside into my face. I lasted about 5 minutes, and we headed out soaking wet. Between the rain and fog, visibility was about 30 yards. Time to go back to the trailer. My daughter said she jumped one on her walk out.

Hopefully, more tolerable weather in the morning, although this is traditional blacktail hunting weather.

QQ

 

[ignorethefringes]

I'm enjoying following along. Reminds me of growing up chasing blacktail in western Washington.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 3, Morning

Got out at a little better time this morning. My daughter headed back up the same gated road she's been walking. My son and I checked the usual gate, and there was a different pickup parked there. Too bad. On our way back past the trailer, there was a deer standing in the road. My son jumped out to give chase and saw 4 or 5 all together, but that turned out about as well as it usually does. Ironically, we probably could have seen them from the trailer at some point, but that's how it goes. We headed up to our usual road and walked in. A few new tracks on the road, but no deer hanging around. There was talk of some homework that needed to get done, so we didn't stay up there real long. My daughter reported that she heard one deer on her hike. At least it wasn't raining.

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 3, Evening

There were a few people shooting in the area this afternoon, but not as many as yesterday, and fewer tannerite explosions. It doesn't seem to affect the deer movement too much.

We were visited at the trailer by a state trooper who was looking for a dilapidated camper in the area. My daughter had seen one from a distance on her hike, so we told him about it. Of course, he headed directly up the road she had been hunting as walk-in only. My daughter still decided to walk in for the evening.

Driving up to the gate to drop her off, we spotted a couple does from the road. We watched them for a bit, but apparently we're still holding out for bucks. We dropped my daughter off near the gate, and my son decided we should check the gate we've been watching. Sure enough, nobody there! We can finally try the area we've wanted to see. The area looked good, but it would have looked better if there had been some deer. My daughter, on the other hand, saw or heard 5 more deer, but again not really willing to stand still for good looks. This seems to be our thing; we can find deer, but they're always running away from us.

Back in the trailer this evening for dinner of ham and fried potatoes. Mmmm.

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 4, Taking a day off

We have a tradition of taking Sundays as a day of rest during hunting season. Yes, we give up a day of hunting, but it's nice to catch up on sleep, think about things other than hunting, and hang out in camp with the family. (Certainly not judging those of you who don't. ) It's also going to allow our clothes to dry a lot better before tomorrow morning. So the deer get one more day.

In a great twist of coincidence, I got a message from @ashersdad asking which unit and offering some info. Turns out, it sounds like he and his son were the ones parked at the gate we've been checking every day. They were seeing deer in there, so we'll be trying to spend as much time in there as possible for our last two days. And hopefully his son will recover from the poison oak.

QQ

 

[ashersdad]

Good luck to you guys! It's a good area. Wish we could have met you all.

After a visit to urgent care and a prescription of Prednisone, son is doing a little better but it's going to take a few more days it looks like.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 5, Morning

We got some wind during the night, so I was expecting blustery this morning. However, we awoke to calm and no rain. Probably not the best blacktail hunting weather, but at least we tolerate it better. My daughter headed to her usual area, and my son and I finally got to make a morning hike behind the gate we've been watching. We bumped into one deer in the thick stuff before reaching the more open country, but that was all we saw for the first few hours. One thing for sure, the deer we have been seeing are staying in the thick stuff much more than any blacktails I've hunted in the past. I would assume it's related to multiple hunting seasons plus ATV's plus the recent barrage of recreational shooting.

Finally, about 10am, I spotted a doe about 500 yards out. It also started raining about the same time. Between the rain, not being able to relocate the doe, and other people hiking in behind us, we decided to head back to the truck. My daughter had reported running into deer a couple times again, but still no shot opportunities. It's the last two days of the season, so both of them are ready to shoot a doe if they get an opportunity.

Driving back to the trailer, my son and I agreed that this seemed like the kind of day when deer would stay active all day, so we decided to drive up and check a couple of burn/clearcut areas we hadn't visited yet. Up in the timber we kicked a couple deer out from beside the road so I told him to grab his gun and go after them. The high drama came when his gun jammed and he had to come back to the truck to use his knife to spring the stuck shell out of the chamber so he could get it loaded correctly. Anyway, a short time later, "POW!" and a doe was down. Not a "steep and deep" story, but we'll call it a success at putting meat in the freezer for the next year.



One more tag to go. My daughter is heading back out as I type this, and I'm sitting in the trailer dealing with a tiny bit of the feeling that I'm no longer needed since my daughter wants to hunt by herself. Kids growing up....

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 5, Evening

My daughter headed out this afternoon with a specific spot in mind to sit for the evening. She said she got there and set up to watch. Suddenly a deer appeared in front of her out of nowhere. It fed around and disappeared again. When it appeared again, there were three of them. They fed around as she tried to get a shot. She said she was on them as they kept moving around and standing in line with each other. All of a sudden it started raining and snowing and she couldn't see very well. Then the cold caught up with her and she started shaking. She figured the deer could see her shaking and finally took off.

She headed back to the trailer because she was so cold and near the trailer she saw some more deer. I went out with her, but those deer were gone. We jumped in the pickup to go check a couple spots down the road. Then there were more deer beside the road. She jumped out to go after them and caught up to one of them. When she raised her rifle, the scope was fogged up from getting in and out of the pickup. So they got away....

It was a little chaotic for that last hour of daylight, and that is usually not a path to success. It wasn't this time, either. One more day to go.

QQ

 

[bobbydean]

Love this write up. Son did well. I like your daughter's independence. I hope it turns out well.

 

[ashersdad]

Awesome! Congrats to your son! Hoping it comes together for your daughter tomorrow.

 

[FI460]

Wish I had seen this a few days ago. Just up to the north from me?

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 6, Morning

My daughter headed out again this morning. It was clear last night, and we actually got below freezing for the first time in a few days. She headed back to her favorite spot, but it was loud and crunchy because it was frozen. She saw three deer all together, but no shot opportunities. She also had one encounter where she could hear something breathing hard in the brush nearby, but she could never see what it was. (Bigfoot is under consideration. ) Everyone is doing some homework, and she will head out for the evening here pretty soon. We will also be getting the trailer hitched up and ready to pull out for home when she gets out of the woods this evening. If anything happens tonight, I hope it's fairly efficient, or I'll be driving into the early morning hours to get home.

QQ