Starting the year with one last Oregon hunt from last year

[QuazyQuinton]

My son and I are preparing to leave this afternoon for a few days of deer hunting. This will be our last hunt for the 2022 season, and thus far, no one in our family has fired a shot this year. One last chance to avoid getting skunked.

My two older kids had this same tag two years ago, and I "live hunted" that trip, so I'll give it a try again. SW Oregon, any deer youth tag. Planning on doing a hotel/day hunt trip.

QuazyQuinton takes his kids hunting

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...

www.hunttalk.com

So far today I've been to church and led the Bible study that was my responsibility. Just ate a bite for lunch, and now going to get a quick nap. Then, throw our gear together and hit the road for a 5 hour drive.

Updates to follow....

QQ

 

[FairWeather]

Well, if you do skunk out, welcome to my boat.

Don’t know that I’d say it’s good company, but it’s at least you’re not alone.

Best of luck to the kid!

 

[gonhunting247]

Good luck

 

[Pahoundsman]

Good luck

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 1, Morning

Off to a slow start. It was late enough when we got to our room that I didn't figure my son would do well with an early morning start, so I planned on a later wakeup time. Turns out he didn't even want to do that, so we really did midday scouting. Our main area from two years ago looks about the same. Still a bunch of recreational shooters. The RVs with trash stacked around the outside were new, but this is Oregon. The other spot had burned two years ago, and it looks like it will be worth some additional attention this year. We took one short walk, but not the right time of day.

Currently stopped for chips and salsa, homework, and watching a little snow fall. We'll give it a better effort this evening, and tomorrow morning will have to be different also.

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 1, Evening

We made a better effort this evening, seeing more new country. We also walked back in to the same area we checked at midday for the last few minutes of daylight. We saw a doe and a yearling up higher in the timber, as well as a brief glimpse of a group of several deer down lower in the brushy oaks. I remember from before that we saw quite a few deer, but it was tough to catch them standing still before they headed out of the country. This is doubly difficult because my son has not learned the lesson that you simply cannot walk too slow when hunting blacktails. Apparently we are also holding out for a buck at this point, so we need them to stand still long enough to get a look at their heads.

Starting earlier in the morning....

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 2, Morning

Life lessons for a blacktail hunter:
1. Walk slower. You're not trying to get somewhere; you're waiting for a deer to appear.
2. You can't find deer if you're looking down at the trail.
3. Always be thinking about where you would shoot from if a deer shows up across the ravine.

We actually got started at a pretty good time this morning. We also spent the morning hiking an old road through some decent looking country. Still not entirely greened up from the fire a couple years ago, but definitely worth our time. I spotted one doe 230 yards out, and that was the extent of our action. But it felt like we were deer hunting finally.

I do have to remind myself that it took me a few years to learn those lessons, too.

QQ

 

[fishing4sanity]

Good luck to you and your son!
It's too bad about the squatters that 'camp' out on public now and leave so much garbage behind.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 2, Evening

Minimally eventful evening hunt tonight. We were going to walk back in where we went this morning. I try to do all those cool things I see that Fin guy do on TV, so I pulled out my puff bottle and watched the powder drift straight in the direction we were planning to walk. Not a big deal since there is another trail that goes in on the other side of the road, except we found the wind to be at our backs on that side, too. We kept going, assuming that the hills and gullies would play havoc with the wind anyway.

Near the top of the hill, I caught sight of one deer heading around the hill. We both saw it long enough to think it was a doe, and then it was gone. And that was it.

While walking out I pondered whether mule deer hunting is messing up my blacktail hunting. Deer that like to hang out in the open and stop to take another look before they leave the country are teaching me bad habits.



QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 3, Morning

We headed back up higher where we hunted a couple years ago. Just before crossing the cattle guard to enter the public land, there were 6 deer standing beside the road. I considered hiking out along the fence and waiting for them to cross, but we decided to keep going in. We haven't seen anything more, but the wind is howling up here. I've heard several trees come down. Not sure I want to be in the woods. Trying to decide if we should wait it out here or head down lower and see if there's less wind down there.

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 3, Evening

Starting to feel like I owe everyone an apology for starting a live hunt for such a slow and boring trip. I thought our chances of success were better, and I figured we would at least have a few good stories. So far, not much of anything.

For the remainder of the day today, my son hung out in the rig and did homework while I occasionally took some short glassing walks. Then for the last couple hours we walked in the road that my daughter hunted when she had the tag two years ago. Not much up there, except for some elk tracks in the mud, which were the first we have seen. We hiked back out, and just as it was getting dark, we finally saw a couple of does from the road. We stopped at the next pullout and walked back, but they were nowhere to be found.

One of the lessons learned (or reminded) is the difference in body heat with different body sizes. I remember being a skinny pre-teen and wearing six layers. I would be freezing, and my dad would be peeling his coat off because he was warm. Now my son is the skinny kid, and I'm not skinny any more. It's not especially cold, but he gets cold when I'm feeling like it's pretty comfortable. We've cut a couple hikes short because I figured his concentration was probably at its limit.

One more day tomorrow....

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 4, Morning

Well, we went from slow and boring to exciting to disappointing to more exciting to more disappointing in about 2 hours this morning. Walking in behind the gate we found a tree across the road which was not there yesterday morning. The wind must have picked up more after we left.



Soon after finding the tree, I glassed over the edge and found a couple does below us. We are no longer being picky, so we headed over the edge to cut off their direction of travel. Part way down the hill, one doe caught us in the open and busted out to our right. Two other does were still feeding below us, so we moved a little closer. At that point there was a stand of trees between us, but I had seen them feeding, so I knew they were still there. We could see their escape routes on both sides, so we held tight. The wind was switching all different directions, so I expected them to smell us and head right to join the first doe, but they never did. Eventually we figured out that they had just vanished. Oh well, back up to the road to glass again. The shot would have been 150 to 200 yards, so it felt like we had missed a good opportunity.

Once back on the road, it only took a few minutes and I found another deer farther out, but it was a buck. My son was anxious to go for it, so we headed down the hill again. We knew we would come through a band of brush and the deer would be ahead of us, so we tried to move carefully. I picked out the back half of one deer behind a tree, so we hurried to get set up. Almost instantly I saw legs moving in the brush, and two deer popped into view. I made a bleat to try to stop them in the small opening where we could see them. There was a spike standing broadside in the open, but a much bigger buck was facing away and partly obscured by an oak limb. The original back half of the deer I had seen materialized into a third deer, but I couldn't see it's head. It was just a matter of the big guy taking a step into the open, but within seconds he took off the wrong way. The spike hesitated a couple seconds longer, and then they were all gone. It was an intense minute or two, but it ended abruptly with no chance for a shot at the big guy. My son said he had them in the scope, but I do think I would have made the same choice as my son.



You can't see the deer in the picture because they ran away before I could take a picture. Back at the vehicle now, getting a bite to eat and a nap. One more try this evening before we have to drive home.

QQ

 

[ashersdad]

That's a fun hunt! Hoping it all comes together for you tonight.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Packing now. Update to follow.

QQ

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Day 4, Evening

OK, finally awake with a chance to type. Last night we headed back in behind the gate where we had chased the deer in the morning. We were sitting at the same vantage point waiting to see what might move. Nothing was happening, and I was already mentally composing my "thanks for following along" post. We decided to walk on down the road to check the rest of the openings, and still nothing.



When we got back to our glassing spot, I told my son to walk back the other way and check the one lane on that side where he'd be able to see down the hill. Sure enough I saw him waving, so I jumped up and joined him. There were 4 deer feeding below us within range. By then it was within minutes of the end of shooting light, and I even said, "Are you sure you want to have to do this in the dark?" He said yes, so he laid out on the edge of the hill. This deer turned broadside, and BOOM! 230 yards with his .308 shooting 165gr Accubonds. The deer did not take a step.

We decided to pull her out whole rather than going to get our packs and then breaking her down in the dark. I guess that worked out. Neither of us died pulling her up to the road.

QQ

 

[gouch]

Congratulations on the deer. If any of your kids ever draw that tag, or any other tag down in this area, again, feel free to pick my brain on possible places to hunt. I've been stomping around these hills forever. Might even convince me to take a look around to see where the deer are hanging out before you come.

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Final Reflections

1. This was the final trip for our family this year, and I could tell I was ready to get home and move on to some non-hunting issues of life. This was complicated by our total lack of success for the year, so even though it was last minute, I was glad for my son's success.

2. Dressing to keep warm is critical with kids. Part of the problem was that my son did not pack enough clothes, but that did make a difference in how long we could stay out.

3. Seeing deer made a big difference in how engaged my son was. I know he's not the most avid hunter in our family, but he will get out and do it. Once we had a couple close encounters though, he was a lot more attentive and looking for the next encounter. He still needs to slow down, though.

4. Coming close and then missing out on a big one is still a heartbreaker.

5. That Accubond put a hurtin' on that deer!

QQ

 

[Paulyester]

Day 2, Morning

Life lessons for a blacktail hunter:
1. Walk slower. You're not trying to get somewhere; you're waiting for a deer to appear.
2. You can't find deer if you're looking down at the trail.
3. Always be thinking about where you would shoot from if a deer shows up across the ravine.

We actually got started at a pretty good time this morning. We also spent the morning hiking an old road through some decent looking country. Still not entirely greened up from the fire a couple years ago, but definitely worth our time. I spotted one doe 230 yards out, and that was the extent of our action. But it felt like we were deer hunting finally.

I do have to remind myself that it took me a few years to learn those lessons, too.

QQ

Took me a long time to figure out lesson #1