All posts by Frank Biggs

Archery Talk - Posts, Hunting Equipment, Hunting Ideas, Uncategorized

Bwana Bubba’s Thoughts – Saving Big Game Hunting

December 15, 2016 Frank Biggs 3 Comments

Predators taking the place of big game animals

This is one of five Cougars spotted near a town, working within the same proximity of each other.

Let us not forget about the resilient Coyote that roams all of North American. Ever thought about asking a chicken or duck farmer to hunt the Coy Dogs that will lay in wait free roaming egg layers…

Archery Talk - Posts

The B.L.M.’s Plans – Affects Hunters Too!

October 16, 2016 Frank Biggs 1 Comment

The BLM’s Plans – Affects Hunters Too!

By William E. Simpson
10/16/16 — The BLM intends to double the size of the current 66,000 acre Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument by securing an additional 64,000 acres of existing public and some private lands, including some O & C lands from OR and about 10,000 acres from California via executive order of President Obama. This will severely effect the traditional and customary uses of all these acquired lands, and will ultimately affect all recreational sports, especially hunting. Environmentalists at and around Southern Oregon University were apparently given special advanced notice of the meeting ahead of other stakeholders and opponents to the proposed expansion, and the environmentalists organized well in advance of the meeting, even telling their supporters to ‘wear blue at the meeting’ (seen in the photo at this article: ijpr.org/post/public-weighs-cascade-siskiyou-monument-expansion) . They are now using the flawed science regarding ‘climate change’ to help justify what amounts to just another public land grab by the BLM.

========================================================
An Open Letter

TO: Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden
Oregon and California Hunters
All Concerned Stakeholders

SUBJECT: The Proposed Expansion of the Cascade-Siskiyou Monument (Soda Mountain Wilderness).

First of all, by way of a brief introduction; I grew-up in the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon (circa 1960’s), not far from the Monument and the expansion lands in question. I graduated from Grants Pass High School and attended Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. My father is buried in the Applegate Cemetery (OR) and my mother is buried in Gazelle, CA (Siskiyou County). I have fished, hunted and logged in and all around the existing Monument lands for decades. Today, our family owns land near and bordering the Monument and the proposed expansion lands, so I am a legitimate stakeholder.

As we have seen time and time again in the news, what Government agencies like the BLM tell the public is sometimes very far from the truth… and the BLM has seemingly earned a reputation for corruption and misrepresentation as shown by any quick Google search.

Here is just a small sampling from such a Google search:

justice.gov/usao-mt/pr/jury-convicts-former-high-ranking-blm-official

indianz.com/News/2015/018111.asp

billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/ex-blm-officials-indicted-in-elaborate-fraud-scheme/article_d7c75cd2-9070-5ee5-be61-cb1a45747628.html

dailycaller.com/2016/06/04/this-federal-agency-had-a-tough-week/

havredailynews.com/story/2015/07/30/local/denny-blm-supervisor-sentenced-for-fraud/504995.html

usobserver.com/archive/jan-11/blm-abuse-criminal-conviction.html

And it goes as high as the top of the Dept. of Interior:
huffingtonpost.com/wayne-pacelle/inspector-general-report_b_8393670.html?fb_comment_id=468560149935946_468588926599735

For instance, the BLM talks about ‘doing right’ for wild burros and horses on page-3 of the Internal BLM Memo linked herein below, yet, as we have read in the link just above, the BLM is guilty of rounding them up and killing them every way possible. The BLM Memo:naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/doimonumentdesignationdocs_revised062910.pdf

Another current example of BLM malfeasance was discovered by KLAS News through their FOIA request of the Elko NV BLM office, which KLAS contends proves the BLM intended from the get-go to cheat Madeline Pickens on her $28-million dollar effort (which they encouraged her to do) to save thousands of wild horses from the BLM storage pens and slaughter, and in the end, the BLM is now trying to steal her water and grazing rights, as ‘a compromise’.

Learn more about that BLM con-job here: lasvegasnow.com/news/i-team-madeleine-pickens-losing-battle-with-the-blm

The internal BLM document linked below details the BLM’s claimed designs on public lands to be targeted by what I call ‘Monumentalism‘… which I venture a majority of Americans would consider an abuse of the Antiquities Act of 1906, where the original pure spirit and intention of the Act was to protect prehistoric Indian ruins and artifacts. However that Act has metastasized into an environmentalist’s tool for the allocation of land that would be reasonably and logically well beyond their reach or control. But as many of us know by following the money, that is merely part of the sales pitch and political activism used to fuel the acquisitions of lands well suited to the ultimate goal of mineral, gas and oil leases.

We’re broke as a Country, and looking at $20-trillion dollars in debt today. President Obama once called the addition of $4-trillion to the national debt by President Bush to create an aggregated total of $9-trillion dollars “un-patriotic and irresponsible” in a speech (here: youtube.com/watch?v=1kuTG19Cu_Q), then he turns around and spends another $16-trillion by himself! Americans everywhere are sick to death of this immorality and political corruption as we clearly see today. Integrity seems to be low on agenda.

Yet, look at the money the BLM is willing to spend to take lands out of the control of average Americans by proposed spending of nearly $2.4-billion dollars! (budget on the last pages, of course; page-21) naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/doimonumentdesignationdocs_revised062910.pdf

And Siskiyou County is currently running on fumes financially because of government over-regulation and loss of lands, and related jobs. Yet even knowing this, these Federal agencies are happy to take even more land off our tax roles, and then replace property tax revenues with Federal money that has all-kinds of strings attached… making us into children who don’t get their allowances unless we do as we’re told. This is what is unpatriotic. The chair-lady of the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors, Grace Bennett, was given last minute notice of the meeting and had little time to prepare-for this meeting in Ashland, OR and then, even worse, she was allowed only 3-minutes to address this enormous issue. All the while, the environmentalists who filled half the room ‘dressed in blue’, who arguably ‘staged’ this meeting at Southern Oregon University, had two large screens positioned on both sides of the meeting hall, each displaying only their ‘pro-expansion’ talking points! The entire ‘public input meeting’ was totally rigged.

Hawaii is also being conned by the BLM and their administrators who are obviously working for special interests and big-corp. giants interested in the undersea manganese deposits around Hawaii.
I lived there for a decade and taught at the University of Hawaii Maui Campus and ran a combination of charter and commercial fishing, diving and research boats that helped scientists there restore the reefs through a program of best-practices in anchoring and mooring systems on the heavily used ‘tourist reefs’.

The agenda for the expansion of the Monument there in Hawaii has nothing to do with pelagic fish preservation as they allege… same SOP … people hear about meetings at the last second, meeting is preceded by mainstream media covering the BLM talking points, opponents are provided with 3-minutes or less to opine on a complex issue, audience testimony is stacked with proponents selected by the BLM to speak, meetings are located as far away from genuine stakeholders as possible…. and during times and days where working-class people cannot attend, especially with the short notices provided by the agency.

youtube.com/watch?v=pTMIjFVkgiE

A vicious self perpetuating cycle of gobbling-up public lands and then exploiting them (*revenues from the lease royalties derived from the lands), and then using the licensing royalties to buy even more lands!

Then we have the Medford BLM with the audacity to tell the public in meetings, like a recent meeting in Ashland that a significant portion of the access roads to/in the Soda Mountain Wilderness ‘Monument’ have to be closed-down because the BLM cannot afford to maintain them, thus limiting, and in many cases, eliminating public access to lands that were allegedly set aside for the multiple-use enjoyment and use of the People (hunting, etc.)… bait and switch at the highest levels of government and its agencies run-amok.

And as a result of road closures (“no money for road maintenance” says the BLM) in the Cascade-Siskiyou Monument (Soda Mountain Wilderness) hunters are no longer able to access the more remote and productive hunting grounds in the Soda Mountain Wilderness (Monument), where vehicles are needed by handicapped and infirm or older hunters, who are subsequently forced to use (trespassing & hunting on) more accessible privately-owned lands, creating conflicts with private land owners, which I have seen as a growing trend in Siskiyou County from my on-site observations.

This is just outrageous and intolerable multiple levels, and it’s a sham that any politician would allow this to occur. Something must be done! This is the kind of problem that will eventually circle around and bite everyone in the backside.

Given the malfeasance and shenanigans that surrounded the so-called ‘public input meeting’ in Ashland on Oct. 14th, I strongly urge both Senators Merkley and Wyden to consider having a more balanced and honest public input meeting in Siskiyou County, with adequate notice provided to our County Officials, since approximately 10,000 acres in our County seem to be under the BLM’s gun as well, including the Horseshoe Ranch Wildlife Area, a local hunter’s and recreational paradise.

I also urge all readers of this open letter to immediately contact both Senators who are collecting input on this Monument expansion; Senator Jeff Merkley via his office by phone and by email/mail ASAP:

Senator Jeff Merkley (OR)
121 SW Salmon Street., Ste. 1400
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: (503) 326-3386
Fax: (503) 326-2900

And, Senator Ron Wyden
wyden.senate.gov/contact

MORE INFO ABOUT THE PROPOSED MONUMENT EXPANSION HERE:
healthyforests.org/action_center?vvsrc=%2fcampaigns%2f48159%2frespond

*A number of federal laws establish requirements for oil and gas leasing and development on federal and even tribal lands. These include the (1) Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 (30 USC 181 et seq.), which established the authority of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to oversee oil and gas operations on federal land; (2) Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947 (30 USC 351 et seq.), which extended the DOI authority over oil and gas operations to federal “acquired lands;” (3) Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 (30 USC 21 et seq.), which established modern policy regarding mineral development in the United States of encouraging private enterprise while mitigating adverse environmental impacts; (4) Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 USC 1701 et seq.), which defined the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) responsibilities with respect to oil and gas development; (5) Indian Mineral Leasing Act of 1938 (25 USC 396a-g), which provides for leasing of minerals on tribal lands; and (6) Indian Mineral Development Act of 1982 (25 USC 2102 et seq.), which provides for tribes to enter into energy development agreements with DOI approval.

William Simpson is the author of Dark Stallions – Legend of the Centaurians, proceeds from which go towards supporting wild and domestic horse rescue and sanctuary.

Capt. William E. Simpson II is a U.S. Merchant Marine Officer with decades of boating and expedition sailing experience, having logged more than 150,000 miles at sea. Simpson has successfully survived long-term ‘off the grid’ at sea and at remote uninhabited desert islands with his family for years at a time. He holds a U.S.C.G. 500-ton captain’s license for commercial-inspected passenger vessels and he is also a commercial airplane and helicopter pilot.

Simpson spent his formative years growing up on the family’s working ranch in the mountains of Southern Oregon, where horses were an integral part of the daily life. William left the family ranch to attend college, which turned out to be a stepping stone into a bizarre lifestyle that led him around the world on an entrepreneurial quest. An adventurer at heart, Simpson and his best friend and wife Laura, spent many years at sea during two sailing expeditions (1991-1994 and 2008-2011) where they experienced some of the many wonders and mysteries of nature. Since retiring, Bill and Laura have changed lifestyles and are once again engaged in a new adventure; living an off-grid lifestyle in the remote wilderness of the Siskiyou Mountains, where they enjoy coexisting with herds of wild horses, along with a myriad of other wild animals. The staggering beauty of the local mountains and valleys is awe inspiring and has influenced Bill to frequently write on subjects related to wild horses as well as wild and domestic horse advocacy, rescue and sanctuary.

Capt. William E. Simpson II – USMM Ret.

Member: Authors Guild
IMDb

Successful Hunters 2013

2013 Successful Hunter’s Pictures – Mostly!

October 16, 2016 Frank Biggs Leave a comment

The following are just pictures, that might or might not have a story to go with!

Grizzly Unit

One should have a camera that will take a picture in low light!

David K and his Applegate Muzzleloader Blacktail!

Donnie! First deer-Blacktail Buck-Redland, Oregon

Mark D's Archery Blacktail Molalla, Oregon — Mark D’s Archery Blacktail
Molalla, Oregon

Mark D's old time friend and his buck from Mark's Place. — Mark D’s old time friend and his buck from Mark’s Place.

Ace with his 2013 Pronghorn from the Juniper Hunt Unit in Oregon. A well earned dandy Lope!

Dandy Buck Lope from the South Wagontire Unit in Oregon!

Mark with his P & Y Buck! First bow kill of big game!

Frankie with his first bow buck kill with the bow and arrow!

A great picture of what looks to be one of Oregon's Benchleg Bucks from the Cascades! Mike's Opening Dad Buck 2013 — A great picture of what looks to be one of Oregon’s Benchleg Bucks from the Cascades! Mike’s Opening Dad Buck 2013

Whitehorse Lope 2013! First time shooter1 — Whitehorse Lope 2013! First time shooter!

Willamette Valley Blacktail 2013 Archery

Archery Talk - Posts, Hunting Equipment

Bwana Bubba’s Thoughts – Landlocked Public Land

October 14, 2016 Frank Biggs 1 Comment

Landlocked Public Land – A Good Trade or Bad Trade?

When plans of a great hunt goes bad after doing your in depth homework on a hunting unit and finding it is too much work to make it fun and give up. The great State of Oregon, as well as other western states in CONUS has a great amount of public land, whether it is National Forest, State Lands, and Bureau of Land Management lands. Those that spend a great deal of their off time in the field hunting, fishing, hiking or whatever else takes them in to the field have found that there is a great deal landlocked public land that is very difficult to access.

In my younger days, with my hunting partners we challenged the access every year. Having worked with paper maps in my early stages of my hunting life, too figure out how to get into the public lands was very time consuming. Early on we would find the touching points and jump the line, though Wyoming was the first to make that illegal to do so. Unless the government changes the use of satellites’, I will trust the modern day GPS or mobile device and my mapping software 100% as many paper maps and some mapping software are not accurate with all the changes going on. How many still have 20+ year old National Forest maps and Rams maps? Funny I just threw way in my recycle container all of my paper maps from the last 40 years… That included the map of a certain hunt unit in Oregon that had more than 200 elk harvest from the circle of acquaintances’ over the years.
The other day after posting an old article about a land trade that was in the making back some years ago, I took some heavy hits from a rancher. I understand where he was coming from and his comments were well said. My feeling still did not wavier on the subject of that particular B.L.M. and private land trade, to free up B.L.M. that was encompassed with the private lands. Reading the government/private land proposal, I personally and others that opposed it, knew that much of the public land would still only be used few and the private sector would still get the better deal. The majority felt the only road into the new setup would be control by the private sector… That would have been by a very big organization and not the ranchers.

This BLM which you can access, could have been lost to the public... — This BLM which you can access, could have been lost to the public…

As I am writing this article, I venture up in the hills outside of Molalla, Oregon looking for Blacktails to do a photo op. I wanted to work around some old haunts in the upper area; low and behold I find that some of the BLM has been swapped out to a private timber company. Weyerhaeuser property touches some of the property and the companies warning signs were in full view. One has to love the BLM No Shooting Signs on posted on the BLM, and no residential structures in the area. I feel it is an attempt to keep hunters from even going on the BLM, since there is private and timber company properties close by.

If the public (outdoor enthusiast) would look at computer or mobile device with mapping software such as the best being onXmaps HUNT , you’re going to be very surprise to see how much public land that is tied up and almost impossible to have access to. The ranchers, farmers, and landowners have the access and it basically like an extension to their own land. With money one can find a way in, such as being dropped in by a helicopter, parachute or even an ultralight… You have to weigh the cost and still know you’re going to have to come back out the public landlocked land, without setting foot on private.

In this paragraph I am attaching number pictures of BLM land that the private land makes it basically landlocked. There is a BLM Right-Away, yet the public can’t use it. The land has caretakers or ranch hands that besides using it for their personnel use, act as if they own it, since the owner is not living on the property. There are always two sides to the story of course, giving access to the public on the Right-Away and the public take advantage of it using the private land as well as the public land. I do know that opposite side of the river in this attached map, the Right-Away is open for about 4 miles. For the most part the public does adhere to the only using the public land.

The BLM Rd. on the east side is closed and locked. River crossing or 11 mile walk... — The BLM Rd. on the east side is closed and locked. River crossing or 11 mile walk…

BLM Rd. is accessible to the road closure, which is about 4 miles.

There was a major poaching problem as far as I am concerned in 2016 prior to the opening hunt for Oregon with local Natives being able to have access year round to hunt when it necessary to do so based on treaties, even if they are trespassing. It would not have been so bad if they had not cut the heads off and only took the backstraps only on the elk and deer they took on private land. In this case the Right-Away is problem since they can drive and kill on both the public and private lands… We have to remember that the land owners are not landlocked. They can have easements with the B.L.M., in many cases they have the lease on public land.

Some of the greatest Mule Deer and Rocky Mtn. Elk hunting area... — Some of the greatest Mule Deer and Rocky Mtn. Elk hunting area…

Many years ago I had open access to a parcel of land in eastern Oregon, what a great deal it was for archery deer and elk hunting. Most of the time in the gang, there were 4 of us. In those days working in the sporting goods business, to buy a 4 way rifle which was an inexpensive way to give a gratuity to a rancher. Many years later after the rancher sold-out, I went into the back country with my Garmin GPS and onXmaps HUNT software loaded on the GPS, low and behold much of the land that we travel through his fences to get to where all Federal lands (BLM/NF). To access this land all one had to do was travel on another access point on federal lands.

If I was a private land owner; I would want all my lands in one parcel overall, as long as it has a good water source. Saying this there are the ranchers that have the summer range and the winter range and that is important to them, and rightly so. The public should never lose access to public land in any state, and we (public) should never give up or lose the river or water rights to private, unless private land is already deeded with their water source and have the land to the navigational line in the sand so to speak. The B.L.M., should never be allowed to take away land and the ranchers lose their water, a necessary commodity of life to a ranch. The trades need to be even as they can, so both the public and the private benefit from the trade.

Bwana Bubba…

Hunting Equipment, Successful Hunters 2016

Scott’s 2016 Juniper Pronghorn Hunt

September 18, 2016 Frank Biggs 2 Comments

Juniper is one of the premier Oregon Pronghorn Hunts

“I am also a long time subscriber to onXmaps and use it religiously.”

First off.. Thank you Frank for the tips… As many know the Juniper unit antelope hunt is an incredible opportunity. I was fortunate to have unexpectedly drawn the coveted tag with only a single preference point. The news came as a great surprise and the time to scout was severely limited with my prior commitments. This lead me to some online research and the discovery of the Bwana Bubba Adventurers. Upon contact with Frank, he sent me some places to look in search of antelope. This being my 5th Oregon antelope tag, I had set my sights on killing a high caliber animal. This is my story…..

Scott and son checking out a herd of Pronghorn in the Juniper Unit in Oregon

On to the hunt… Due to previous commitments with my oldest son, I was unable to make the season opener and did not arrive in the unit until Monday afternoon. My son and I quickly setup camp, made a sandwich and headed out in search of our quarry. We immediately headed for a spot Frank had pinpointed for us. We weren’t 15 minutes from the trailer when I had spotted an animal apparently fleeing a waterhole that someone was driving into. It was immediately evident the animal was a billie antelope and we fought to get into a better position to see. We caught up with him 4-5 different times, but every time he was 750+ yards away and we just couldn’t make a good determination what caliber animal he was. Based on the glances of occasional clarity, he appeared to be a really solid billie with good height and prong length. This guy’s worth a second look… The adventure continued into the sage and a few hours passed before any antelope were spotted in some nearby fields. There were a few billies, but nothing worth watching to see if an exit from private was going to be a probability. The evening found us trekking across what seemed to be an endless plateau of sage in search of the billie we had encountered earlier in the day. As we hiked in search of our prey, the probability of killing an animal in 4-5’ tall sagebrush seemed a monumental task. As darkness overcame us, the billie had gave us the slip and was securely hidden in his native territory.

Day 2 – We awoke early and headed to another location marked by Frank that allowed us to glass in a Westerly direction. As the light slowly illuminated the desert floor, we patiently glassed a large bowl full of tall sage. We found one good representative billie in the 13” range with decent prongs managing a small group of nannies a little over 500 yards from our position. This was an easy pass and we moved on. The next few hours we drove, hiked and glassed numerous locations to only find a few nannies and two very young billies. Upon exiting the area we stopped to speak with another hunter whom was struggling to find any antelope in the area. With this information and what we had also encountered it was determined to mark this spot off the list of places to revisit. It was decided to head a little further South and explore during the heat of the day. The road that separates N. Juniper and S. Juniper seemed like a good choice. After a dusty 4 hour ride in the truck, we determined our choice was less than stellar… Not a single antelope had been found upon the stretch of road. We came out few miles North of the Narrows and made the decision to head further South. After traveling another hour South we made the turn back into the unit again. The next 10-12 miles were bumpy and dusty, but our hopes were high despite not locating any animals. Then, all of a sudden we located several animals. As we continued to glass, more and more of the tan and white creatures appeared scattered amongst the cattle in the area. The next several hours were spent locating and investigating billies. By the time the sun had set we had passed on 10-12 billies ranging in size from 8-13” all within a 3 mile radius. The drive back to camp was long and filled with discussion around our discovery and future prospects.

Day 3 – Again an early rise took us in search of the billie we saw that first day. Finding a decent vantage point, we set up and glassed the sea of sage in search of the elusive animal. As the sun rose and the temperature quickly climbed we decided our search was futile. No animals to be found…. While departing a billie was located off the side of the road seemingly careless of our presence. Luckily for him, we again were not interested in what he had to offer and we both moved on our separate ways. Arriving back at camp, we packed a healthy amount of supplies to ensure lunch and dinner were covered and pointed the truck South again. Arriving at our location early afternoon we quickly located several groups of antelope. One group had a dominant billie that was definitely coming into the rut and spent all his time head down checking the nannies. With the heat waves in full effect, it was quite challenging to judge him at over a mile but we again passed feeling he didn’t meet our standards. A couple miles further down the road another group was spotted over a mile away and we began closing the gap. Once within 900 yards we took another look from atop a small rise. It appeared there was a group of billies and one worth taking a closer look at. We geared up back at the vehicle and prepared to sneak in for a closer look. Due to the lack of terrain, we struggled to get within 600 yards of the group. Finally, by crawling on our hands and knees we closed the gap to 470 yards. This was when we were able to determine with confidence there was a billie in this group worth our precious tag. Unable to get into a prone position I was far from comfortable taking a shot at that distance. A small bunch of taller sage was 70 yards ahead and I felt I could get the needed elevation to setup for an ethical shot. As we crawled toward the sage two additional billies began running in from the East and gained the attention of the target group. This gave us the opportunity to quickly close the remaining gap and approach our target. I quickly began setting up for the shot on the bedded billie. Before I was able to settle in, the other two billies came into the targeted group and put them into alert. Before I could react the group had quickly traveled away and was now acting very nervous at 800+ yards away. A quick assessment found that we could access some tall sage and attempt to move close enough for a shot. As we progressed thru the tall sage the group again became anxious and didn’t let us get within 600 yards before moving off to a ridgeline where they again met up with yet another group of antelope. Our cover was good and were able to again move toward the group leveraging the tall sage. The antelope went over the rise and we picked up the pace. Looking up a single billie had turned back and was now staring us down at 300 yards. A quick assessment put him at about 13” so we waited for him to move off and we proceeded toward where the group had went. Just after cresting the ridgeline a group of antelope materialized on the opposing hillside. I snuck up to a shooting position and quickly picked out the largest billie. As the billie chases a few nannies It just didn’t look right to me. At 450 yards the billie just didn’t look right… I hesitated long enough for the billie to move out of range. Just as I sat up to scratch my head and figure out what happened, my other billie came out from under us. He had been over the roll of the hill and just out of site from our position. He and the others that were traveling with him now joined the other group that now totaled about 50 animals. The group seemed to be settling down and we backed off in attempt to parallel their position to get closer. When we felt we were close to parallel we eased to the edge using sage for cover. Our silhouettes didn’t even break the ridgeline before the large group began moving away again. We sat and glassed them as they traveled over the next rise… Quickly deliberating about our next move we noticed another single billie traveling in our direction. A quick assessment found him to be too small and we decided to give the group one more chance. The sun had set and light was quickly leaving as we pushed the half mile to the next vantage point. We crested the top to see them already 800+ yards away and still moving. We were unable to get within a ½ mile of them. Aborting the mission we would come back Thursday and try again…. It was a couple miles back to the truck in the dark and a couple hour drive back to camp that night.. It was decided while traveling back we would move camp in the morning in attempt to be closer to our quarry.

Day 4 – We woke early and immediately worked on breaking camp. On the road by 9:00 we headed to the Narrows. A quick check-in at the Narrows campground had us headed for our hunting grounds before lunch. We again saw a few groups of lopes on the way in and decided the billies were not what we were searching for. Pulling into the drainage we left the big billie in the night before we parked the truck, gathered our gear and went afoot. After cresting a rise just out of site of the truck we were immediately pinned by some nannies. The range was 300 yards as we squatted in the open terrain. Wouldn’t you know it, they were in curious mode and wanted to check us out. Not knowing what may be behind them we stayed put. The nannies came to 64 yards before deciding to lose interest in us. Unfortunately when they did spook, they went the same direction we were traveling. We rose up and went about 75 yards when we saw the original group of 8 billies from the day before standing 450 yards away. I saw the one billie that was noticeably larger than the other 7 and knew this was our group. I needed a better shooting position and found a mound of dirt 50 yards ahead. The nannies had now joined the group of billies and they were becoming increasingly anxious. I quickly got into a shooting position on the mound and my son began calling yardages. 350, 375, 400, 375…. The group was unsure on what direction to depart, I had to shoot quick. I identified the large billie thru the 95 degree heat shimmer and followed him until he momentarily stopped. At the report of the rifle the lope immediately dropped in his tracks. I rolled over and gave some high fives to my son as the remaining group galloped away in a dust storm. Gathering up our gear we headed over to claim our trophy. Approaching the billie, there was something wrong…. This was not the billie we had hunted the previous day. In my haste, after chasing him miles the day before and not being able to get within 800 yards of him, I had taken the wrong animal. The heat shimmer and my haste had resulted in harvesting the wrong animal. Although saddened by my actions, we were also very happy with having harvested a beautiful animal that is proving to be excellent table fare.

Success after a long hunt of checking out many on the run. Great looking Oregon Lope

Thanks again Frank for your aid in making this a fantastic trip!

Pronghorn from a previous hunt in Oregon

Hunting Equipment, Successful Hunters 2016, Uncategorized

Derek’s 2016 Steens Pronghorn Hunt

August 31, 2016 Frank Biggs 1 Comment

A new predator in the hood has taken a liking to

Pronghorns the Steens Mountains

Derek's hard earned Pronghorn from the Steens Mountains in Oregon — Derek’s hard earned Pronghorn from the Steens Mountains in Oregon

The most frustrating hunt I have ever had! Left early Friday morning and after shredding a drive belt on the truck in Madras, Oregon made it to The Narrows south of Burns by 11:00 to start scouting. The plan was to ask landowners to hunt the pivots in Princeton. After talking to 3 owners I was informed that they had seen very few antelope this year, in the past there where 100’s and were considered pest.

They rack up the missing antelope to cougar problems. So that said went to 2^nd spot Dry Lake just south. The lake was half full and had multiple camps around it. Talk to a few campers/hunters and said they too had seen only a few antelope in the area. My son and I only saw 1 herd of Lopes that were staying around the Round Barn in Diamond on private land with only a very small buck in the herd.

The week before I had talk to O.D.F.W. & B.L.M., Burns, Oregon and all had said the same thing, very good water year and the antelope were spread out everywhere making them difficult to find.

We moved south to New Moon Rd. Check out the waypoints I was given from Bwana Bubba based on using onXmaps HUNT and my Garmin GPS and did stop at all overlooks and canyons to spot. Saw nothing, 3 hours later we were at the end of the road at Fish Lake. Went to the top of Kiger Gorge and talked with a few camps that we set up on the road leaving the view point. Again no one had seen Antelope. Frustrated we headed back down and to the HHH road, above Fish Lake to get away from the main road. Had a very hard time finding a place to set a tent, thought we might have to set it on the edge of the road at one point. Found a meadow on a spring head right above Fish Lake on edge of private ground. With the lots of batches of Aspen trees were surprise at the lack of any animal signs. The Steens seems to be a dead zone with very little wildlife left…

Started opening morning glassing the open basins to no a fail, only a lonely doe across the Blitzen Canyon. Decide to break camp around 10:30, and headed back to main road. Came around the last corner and 20ft in front of the truck are 2 doe Lopes and seconds later 40 more crest the ridge in front of use. I jump out of the truck and go to the back of the truck and the Lopes all cross in front of use at 50ft away; there was 1 very nice buck in the middle of the herd. They see a fence in front of them and panic and turn around and pass us again, yet the buck is buried in the middle of the group. As they crest over the ridge he almost gives me a parting shot, but gone. We run up the road only to see they are circling the ridge above us heading back towards Fish Lake. We run up the road and rush to the ridge line were I get an open shot at 150yds, but cannot take it as I knew they were on the wrong side of the fence on private land. We watch the herds for over 10 minutes, traveling miles to the top of Kiger Gorge where they were fired on by the hunters camping on top.

Frustrated we went for gas in Frenchglen. Talking to other hunters, all had the same story can’t find Lopes. Decided to skip going back to New Moon Rd and opted to head to the South Loop Rd south of Frenchglen. Drove and glassed for a couple hours. Lots of water holes and all were still wet. Saw A few other hunters driving and glassing. After only seeing herds of horses and cattle heading back towards highway 207, our goal was to find small spur round to get off on our own. At a junction I saw a rancher unloading his quad and hay bales. Stop and talked to him and was informed he had seen a small group of Lopes every day for the past week right above us working the area. He suggested a hunt strategy and told us about water holes up the old road he was using. We did the hunt the spot, saw no Lopes only horses so decided to make camp in the area. The area was more deer country with juniper trees and draws with open plains in between.

Next morning were up glassing before daylight on the plains above camp looking out towards Hart Mtn. Saw nothing, around 7:30 I get a buzz from my son who has locate the group in a draw find a mile above camp. 20 mins later I’m in the same area hugger under a Juniper tree watching the group in the draw. Saw 2 does and 4 yearlings mixed through the Juniper trees at 400yds, after 5 min I see a buck moving in the trees. My son decided he would move down the draw cross it and get to the other side. I was afraid they would see him and move up the draw out of range. The buck was now at 375yds. I decided I better make the shot as I probably will not see him again. I was getting ready to make the shot when I saw the does; they were closing their distance, walking right towards me up the old road. Told my son to stay put and turned the radios off. The does and yearlings passed to my right just 40yds away the buck was trailing, so ended up taking the shot at 60yds, dropping him in his tracks. There was 10 minutes of per thrill as he closed the distance to me on the road, thought for sure something would go wrong or the does would see me. Took care of the Lope and broke camp, was on the road by 11:00AM with the Lope in the rear seat of the truck and A/C on high.

Derek D.

Bwana Bubba Adventurers