I would like to say that this is a success story, but it could have been for a few guys.

I have always said one should listen and learn about hunting and gain knowledge.

I had a fellow sales person draw a Grizzly Unit Deer tag for 2008 and when I heard that he and his couple of buddies had done the same, I told him that I would help dial him and his buddies into an area that I have hunted a great number of times.  I also had all the BLM Coordinates, fence lines, past kill spots on large maps and loaded on Garmin GPS’s.

I told him I would share it all just to see how the hunt would go for them in the area, since the BLM has closed it off to quads.  I had given TJ the maps and also had him get some other paper maps.  

TJ left the company and I just heard from him on October 24th after I called TJ on his cell.

 This is how the hunt when for TJ & Buddies:

The guys decided that on opening day they would hunt the area around Gateway, just north of Madras between Hwy 26 and Hwy 97.  They had heard that there might be some good hunting down there.  Well that didn’t turn out very well, a lot of private land.  That area has been greatly overgrazed, which I have known for a long time of scouting and my Ranch Forman buddy Ben who has worked on one of those ranches in the area.

The second day hunting off of my directions and the maps, the guys were parked along Hwy 218 waiting until day light to venture into the unknown sage, rimrock, draws and Junipers.   As they sat in the truck waiting for light, another hunter stopped by and told them they were wasting their time hunting the spot they were glassing at first light.   “Three big bucks were killed in that drainage yesterday at first light”.  

The hunter also told them “I have killed a good buck every year in this area”  The hunter then parked at the spot along the road to drop down to the old quad trails leading up into the canyons.   They had waited to long to move out of the truck and head into the draw leading up to the ridge.   By the time they got oranized one of TJ’s partners saw the guy kill a dandy 4X4 buck.

As the day wore on as TJ told me, one of his partners up near a spring and had a good buck in his sights for more than 10 minutes.   He thought that the buck was to far and watch the buck just mill around.   I know the spot well, as I myself and other partners used it as landmark while using Quads in the days of past to get out late in the evenings.

Anyway the buck moved on and over the hill, he followed the bucks but could not get any closer.  As TJ tells me of the story, the walked off the distance.   The buck had stood there for some 10 minutes feeding at 150 yards.

This is a great opening day spot and end of the season spot.   Many deer get moved off the private ranches into the BLM.

frank