One of Oregon’s Premier Pronghorn – Antelope Spots
A very common sight around Riley, Oregon. The gateway to the Silvies and N. Wagontire Unit. Plenty of circles and the Pronghorns hang close.
Mick’s hunt did not go as planned, can happen to anyone!
Disaster! My help all bailed. I went Tuesday before the opener, camped at store. Highway noise negated sleep. It was 94 degrees and dryer than I’ve ever seen it there but road hunted on Wednesday. Quad was leaking gas so I was afraid to take it out.
Saw a small group later in the day where you had marked them by water. Several people were staking them out. Thursday much of the same! Met a farmer around 4pm, Hoot Raley! Great guy! Took me right to his farm, glassed a herd on his alfalfa field, and spotted a DANDY walking towards field. Snuck down to a spot he knew this lope would cross to, got into position, waited, guessed at about 300 yards, and took shot, missed 6″ high. Circled around to rest of herd, spotted a smaller buck and they spooked. Gave him Salmon hoping to try again on Friday, Hoot never showed.
Saturday took the Quad and followed your map markings to the “T” jumped a doe on the quad, pulled up rifle, scoped a buck on her tail, and took shot even though it was on a dead run, missed 6″ high. Spent the rest of the day on quad, help arrived at end of the day and he got drunk and didn’t show Saturday. Packed up and headed home.
Devastated, broke, dirty and tired. Your directions were spot on and much appreciated. I still wake up almost nightly wishing I could have either shot over again. Still pretty bummed but Sunday morning took a nice little buck here locally as I had to cancel my Malheur trip due to finances.
My dog became sick while Antelope hunting and had emergency surgery when I got back on his foot. Likely has cancer as his health is worse and new lumps on chest and hip have arrived.
But the conditions over there were brutal. To make matters worse the guy camped next to me took a beautiful buck in the same spot I scoped and it was at or near the spot you marked with an “X” to signal the old scruffy buck about 2 miles from the store. But the experience was good. To have shot and missed is better than most. I was surprised at the number of hunters out road hunting but I guess there was a cow bow hunt going on at the same time. I didn’t see any elk but saw several deer daily. I am confident that had I stayed or if the quad wasn’t freaking me out leaking gas, weather cooler any of these things I probably could have tagged one.
The farm incident was frustrating as hell, but a great guy. I should have gotten his number but the fact that he didn’t return told me he didn’t want to share another try. Plus, had he returned and I missed again I would truly be a wreck. The rifle is still sighted in but I know my judgment of distance is off. The deer I figured at 225 and I shattered its back about 6″ too high.
If one ask they can get permission to hunt near the circles. Ranchers or farmers do not like Pronghorn as they like to lay in the Alfalfa!
So I need a range finder, should have sighted in if for no other reason than to be used to the shot. I hadn’t fired it for over a year and might have been jerking the trigger in anticipation of its fury. But as usual in a like situation I didn’t feel or barely hear the shot. I am also confident of the area now but will likely not ever get the chance again. That tag took 15 years and if I get lucky I know exactly where to go.
Thanks again for your wisdom and sorry to let you down but your knowledge was spot on and appreciated. Thanks again. Mick!
The following statements are my opinion on the subject!
What a topic to write about, one could write a novel and it would a non-fiction totally.
This fine pair of Oregon Columbia Blacktail buck racks were taken illegally in the Willamette Valley of Oregon! Even the meat went to waste!
First off I personally feel there are 3 types of poachers, one that will harvest year round to eat, those that will poach for the horns-rack-antlers-teeth-claws-gall bladders anytime and anyplace, and lastly those that poach for the fun (drunk & other mind-sets), only to have a check mark on a list! The latter is a fact of knowledge, as I know via ranchers and law enforcement that it went on for years in the area of Madras, Oregon (just one local to mention). Some years ago I read and saw the pictures of some 20+ elk lying dead in what looked like a killing field. They were shot for sport and left to rot. The the elk were not salvageable for human consumption.
I would say our first knowledge of poaching would be placed in our minds with the Legend, Myth, or Fictionist Character of Robin Hood who would poach game off of the land of King of England.
Since there were little game laws in the past for hunting or harvesting game for the meat, the hides and whatever else could be used for trade or survive, we will move on to the latter years of the 20th Century and on to the 21st Century.
First off I have no problem for a person or persons to harvest game for survival or subsistence of life!
There is a saying that a famous hunter by the name of Bell Lang who once told to me, “Those that poach by the cover of night shall be caught, and those that poach in broad daylight are less apt to be, though in the end greed will take over and they shall be caught!”
In my early days of hunting or thinking about hunting when I got out of the service, I heard about a great deal of hunts and how the hunts started or ended.
A story that was passed along some 50 years ago from Uncle Dave of a new comer hunting during Elk season shot a monster Mule deer out of season. In the days of past the story only became a story after many years past. In this case it was an accident, yet it still comes under the ORS statues of game violations’.
Poaching for camp meat has been going on for years and was acceptable with hunters in a deer camp or elk camp. “Who’s going to kill us a fat doe for camp meat?” I am sure at least in the 20th Century we all have heard those words from the elders of the hunt, which includes me hearing those exact words. “As long as we eat it all up in camp it is legal!”Personally I was never much into eating fresh deer meat.
Then there is the great group hunting with lots of tags in the camp, with those that didn’t care if they shot anything or not. Hunting was an escapement from the grind of 60 hours plus weeks that many of us know from the past. One or two persons might be the shooters to fill the tags. I once loan a couple of my horses to a man that I once hunted with, later he told me thanks as he drugged out 9 elk with my horses in a single day. He was the shooter of them all and he fed the wild game meat to his care home residents. He has long since left this plant to his happy hunting grounds. Many years ago I told a rancher that invited me to hunt on his ranch that held a great deal of the Rocky Mountain Elk in the sage, Juniper and rim rock country in the Oregon, I had waited a number years to get this bull tag and I will shoot my own bull! I never did hunt in his group of 9 to 12 hunters with him. It was about the meat to him and not the racks, though they did harvest dandy 300+ bulls. It was a free for all when they got into a herd of elk. I do believe that they were pretty lucky as they seem to only harvest the number of elk that they had tags for.
So many times you would hear of stories of Mule Deer hunters hunting the great state of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and even the great Steen’s Mountains in Oregon. Stories would be like the following. “Shot a dandy buck coming down to the wintering grounds, getting ready to gut it and a bigger buck came by and I shot him also.” Now this could all be hearsay or an inflated story, but usually people knowing that they have nothing to worry about, it most likely is the truth. The other line with these same stories, “we got the backstrap and hind quarters out of the canyon”. Many times a great deal of useable meat was left behind… So, is someone hunting deep in a rugged area for big bulls or bucks that only take the rake and backstrap poaching?
Well they are and now there are new laws that have slowed that down. Yet we all know it still goes on out there, just have to read the OSP (Oregon State Police) incident reports that are available on line. I am sure these reports are available to all in other states in the Union.
Here the Willamette Valley I have watched a section of land that has held monster Blacktail deer, prior to me getting permission to take pictures and later hunt the property. I would see these big 4 x 4 bucks and some dandy non-typical bucks, none of them ever carried over to the following year. I believe it was a free for all poachers that were willing to trespass the property. Now that I have put up No Trespassing Signs for more than 4 years, I have been able to watch deer that carryover. I understand that the neighbor is experiencing this in 2014. Access is easy and undetectable by the landowner.
“Come in the darkness and leave in the darkness undetected”
Have to say that some of the most humorous poaching cases are those during archery season, when the hunter has taken the game animal with a rifle and hoisted the animal in their garage or car port to skin the animal, only to have the neighbor call into the authorities that the person or persons have a deer hanging and they don’t bow hunt. It is only humorous because of the ignorance of the hunter!
Poachers can be a trespasser, not just person or persons that harvest game illegal in my opinion. This brings to mind about technology that is now used everywhere and many trespassers and poachers are now being caught. That would be trail cameras that are set out on private property as well as public lands. The new cameras available are undetectable by most, including the game. I have seen a few come onto the property that I hunt in the valley. I have asked the landowner if he know them of course before I pursue the individuals. Recently during the writing of the article, one of my hunters has noticed 2 persons coming into the trail cams range. They even have gone up into his treestand and sat. All is on camera to be seen, strange though as they caught the cams take their pictures, they were out of there. This also allows the hunter, landowners and other concerns the profiling of the game. The old cliché that all they look alike is nonsense.
Poaching will continue and poachers with be caught, they love to brag about their kills with pictures. Most are not old enough to remember a monster bull that was harvest some 30+ years ago in the Mt. Rainer National Park. It was a feature picture in the Oregon Hunting & Fishing Newspaper. It did not last long, as a hiker that frequent the area, knew the exact tree that the bull was posed in front of. It did not take long for the Washington Game Officers to be up to the spot with the picture. Oh! What a fine to poach in a National Park, now the Feds and the State are involved with the crime.
The State of Oregon the Oregon State Police have the finest Forensic Labs in the Nation. I bet most don’t know that they can tell whether a Mule deer came from the Steen’s Mts. or from The Dallas. The 21st Century is upon us and to gamble on taking an animal illegally is a big gamble, as you going to lose more than you can imagine.
Just take a look at Aronson’s in the Bend, Oregon area and thinking he and his wife was getting away with poaching and selling hunts that the animals weren’t his to sell on guided trips. More than $66,000.00 in fines, plus 23 others sited with a total of 1200 illegal game violations against the group. One thing I see he got off easy with 30 days in jail.
One can only get away with for a while; it will always catch up with you, if you don’t stop. I would call it Cold Turkey the process!
Even the once great Kirk Darner got caught in the taking of Boone & Crockett Mule Deer bucks every year for many years. In his case, I do believe his wives of few helped in the process. Be careful who you make enemies of when you are in the practice of poaching.
Remembering a customer once that got busted for harvesting a big Mule deer out of season and bull elk in the wrong area during a given year was busted because he owed money to the fellow that hunted with him on both hunts. The game officers were taken to both spots by the informant.
Some years ago while in the famous Fort Rock area of central eastern Oregon, I had spotted a monster Mule deer that had come down off from the Newberry Crater in to the stubble fields to winter. As I was leaving during the Thanksgiving holiday, driving through a foot of snow to the main highway, I noticed a pickup with a couple of guys. I had that feeling they were up to no good. They were in the heart of the wintering grounds for mule deer in this part of Oregon. I waited a couple of minutes and decided to double back, yep they were stopped, glassing and packing. My presence at that time was enough to stop the act of them making a mistake in life. So you are asking if the intent was there! It was as I left out that someone was standing along the truck with a rifle out! For that moment the buck had another lease on life. I hope he made it through the winter.
On last statement from the past in the 20th Century, is the taking of a Pronghorn – Antelope out of a helicopter with a shotgun legal? We know it is done with wild hogs in some states, but Pronghorn. There once was a world famous hunter with a restaurant that did just that. He has long since left the world, but many of his trophies are still around, though not in the restaurant any longer…
There are all types of poaching, but in most cases it usually in my opinion it is about the rack, horns or antlers as Number 1!
In conclusion game officers’ have to have the mindset of a poacher to catch a poacher! Law bidding hunters and citizens need to take a state in the wildlife we have and the new environment of anti-hunting and anti-guns and help put a stop to poaching!
This Moose has hung over the cast iron wood stove in this Log Home for about 40 years! A lot of shrinkage over the years!
Prologue: I do remember the day I recieved the picture of dad sitting on the Moose, I just happen to be in Vietnam. What a surprise, as I did not even know that he was going on such a hunt! A bit jealous I was at the time. I finally got to see the Moose up close on a wall in my parents home in Portland! Cobra
This is my story of one of the greatest hunts that I have ever been on! It has been some 43 years since the hunt into the Wilderness of British Columbia, Canada! Though I might not remember every detail and I hate to type, I have given you the joust of the hunt through this day by day hunt story! William Lee Biggs
Day 1
The first day in Canada at Fort St. John! It took 3 days of driving coming from Portland, Oregon. It was a beautiful drive and very enlightening trip with the sighting of lots of game along the way. Today I met up with the Head Guide “John” and the first question after shaking hands was “what do you weight?” He had a small plane, said it “it will be a little bit of wait, as we have to clear the highway of traffic so we can takeoff.” I said “OK” the take-off went off without a hitch and we were in the air for about 40 minutes when the pilot said “grab the stick; I need to read my mail.” So I said “OK” and was in total control of the plane as we flew over the Rocky Mountains.
What a sight with all the game moving around on the ground below. As the pilot was getting ready to land on the isolated airstrip, there was a big Bull Moose on the landing strip. He moved off pretty quickly and once landed, all the guides were waiting for 4 hunters at the High Camp.
My hunting partners from Portland, Oregon (John Bay – Fred Bay News) went to the Lower Camp. My choice to go to the High Camp turned out to be the correct choice on this hunt of a lifetime.
“It was my last time seeing any humans, no roads, only game and trails!” So I thought!
Day 2
More information: We gatherer up our horses and started the new day and John (Guide) asked me “how big of Moose do want?” I said “the biggest one you have tied up to a tree!” Anyway I wanted a big Moose and John said “I can do that.” We passed up many bulls for about a week and walked many a mile and road horseback on ground that only game had been on. We never saw a deer or an elk during the whole trip, only Wolves, Moose, Sheep, Goats and Caribou!
Day 3
Up at 0700 daily to eat breakfast before the hunt and lucky enough to have a Pro Cook whose name is Luther Boy and what a cook he is, making sure we have a great lunch while out in the field in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. Around 0900 daily is the times we start are hunts every day. We are now back on the trail and we see a lot of Moose, but all are small. John gives the thumbs down on all of them. While on the trail the horses stopped dead, the Head ‘John” Guide said “Stop” it was a Wolverine crossing our path and they are meaner than “Hell Nasty Critter.”
Day 4
This is a resting day, as we have covered a lot of ground the first few days of the hunt. We felt we had plenty of time to find game on this long hunt.
John looks up and says “we may have weather moving in” “Snow! Hell its August and the next thing we have 2 feet of snow. Built a big fire and spent most of the day talking. I asked John “what happens if a man gets sick?” He said “if you’re lucky they put you on a plane, if the weather is flying weather” a lot of ifs, and we didn’t talk about it again.
Later in the day the snow has melted and I look up from the campfire and in rides an Indian with two (2) hunters. They were in a Spike Camp up in the High Country. Ok! Two (2) Hunters, Two (2) Pack Horses, Two (2) Heads, Two (2) Capes and lots of meat. The heads were two record class Stone Sheep.
The High Camp is some distance from the lake (camp).
Nothing eventful, other than Luther telling us we are going to have fresh fish, as he had caught two (2) big trout from the lake next to our camp. Now that was a meal to remember!
The lake the tasty fish came from on the Day 4!
Ok! It was a big day for me and the guide to see some Sheep that had been harvested, the thought of being stuck in the snow for a while…
P.S. Also only the Healthy Hunter is allowed on this hunt (Sheep)! So the next day we would be back in the saddle for another hunt!
John said, “Hell how do you feel like going up into the High Country, you’ll see the Goats and Sheep up close.”“I am all in for that trip!”
Day 5
It is now Friday morning and what a beautiful day it is; the horses are ready to move on. John said, “We are going into a new area today up high” “Ok! Let’s do it” We road all morning and came up on a big flat area in between ranges; all of a sudden I see something in the flat, “John what hell is that?” He said, “A bear made a kill here, they move all around letting everybody know this is my area, stay out”, so we moved on!
The rifle I have is Remington Model 700 with custom hand loads in 7MM Remington Mag with 175gr. bullet. It could take down anything that I wanted to kill with it. Great flat shooting and hard hitting round.
Looking up the hillside, John puts his arms up and tells me to “STOP”, then the thumb goes up, “ Biggest Moose I have ever seen in these parts” John says! Off the horses quickly and John tied up the horses.
Dad is 6′ 4″ tall and has a wingspan of a Condor!
I am quick to find a down tree, so I have something to lean on and get a steady shot off. The monstrous Bull is at 350 – 400 yards uphill. I shot three (3) times at the broadside bull and he dropped like a log. All three (3) had hit within inches of each other. I learned a long time ago, keep shooting until they fall over. Nothing worst chasing a 1500lb animal in heavy cover and in bear country.
John says, “Reload your rifle; we may not be alone here!”
“Now the work starts”
During the night a bear came in worked over the front quarters of the Moose, yet we were able to get the rest of the meat out in the next couple of days.
Conclusion:
My hunting party that came on the trip with me, that had decided to hunt in the lower camp both got their Mini Moose with little racks. They were most impressed with the big one and wished they had gone the distance on a tougher hunt.
On the way back to the plane, I did take a nice Caribou and was thankful for that harvest also!
John capping my Canadian Moose out for future mount. Finest hunter/guide that I have ever known! BB
This Canadian Moose was the largest that had been taken from the area in many years and the largest that the guide had ever seen taken.
Even after the bear worked over the meat, there is plenty to bring home!
The Canadian Moose scored over 290, and was in full velvet, only wished I had had him scored sooner. It now hangs in the home of my past brother-law in Oregon City; fitting that is a Log Home that one of his sons’ now lives in.
A total of 7 days of hard work on a 15 day hunt, the chance to see game in quantity and drink water next to your horse from a stream or lake!
The following article are my thoughts and opinions on the subject of GPS & Mapping Systems
Private land in middle of National Forest!
I would have to say my interested in the GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment started in or around 1998 after I started to work for a large Sporting Goods Company in the Portland Metro Area in Oregon.
This will be a two part (2) article about GPS Products and then about Topo (Topographical) mapping that is designed for hunters, hikers, walkers, fishermen and anyone else that might use a GPS in the great outdoors of the U.S.A.
Over the course of many years of working with GPS products I have come to the conclusion of what I feel is the best GPS products to use in the field. Now this is my opinion and may not be everyone’s opinion!
I have had the opportunity to try every large name GPS products out there that have Topo mapping that is their branded line of mapping. There are many good GPS products out there, but they are not the best!
I want you to think about support, updates, ease of putting in waypoints, transferring waypoints to and from the computer! Garmin is by far the easiest that I have worked with. With Garmin one can zoom in to about 80’ and that is great when you have detail TOPO (Topographical) mapping to go with it.
As for support it is the best out there via the net or on-line, as I have used both and the last time when I could not get it done on my own, I called support and actually got tech support in my local state, which meant a lot when I was communicating my problem.
Another item of importance is that you need a GPS that has a high sensitivity internal antenna and WAAS system. It also needs to be a colored screen vice black and white. It should have capabilities for an SD Micro Card or have enough internal memory. Much of our hunting, hiking or exploring is done in dense timber, or in areas that there might have a canopy. My latest GPS Garmin Montana will work inside of my office building.
A well used Garmin Montana with lots of secret spots!
Most of my hunters that I help did not realize that Garmin has a free software download called Base Map (Computer interface program to GPS device). This is a big deal to me and my hunters that are willing to get the proper mapping and GPS.
The mapping is from another company (Hunting GPS Maps) that is not a Garmin product, yet is able to be used with the Garmin Base Map and Garmin GPS products.
I believe that Garmin’s Blue Maps and City Streets mapping is great, but I am not a fan of the Garmin Topo Mapping. There is not enough detail or no detail of private lands within National Forest and it does not show B.L.M. Lands. Matter of fact there is only white (no way to know other public lands) for all other lands except National Forest which is green.
The inner face is easy and once you have the software load on both the computer and the GPS you have one of the greatest tools in the world.
If you are not computer sassy you can obtain a HUNT ONXMAP Micro Chip and install it in a Garmin GPS product. The importance for those using the product is that you will know the public land (BLM, State, and Federal) private lands and in many cases the landowners name, then there are the private timber lands that are white with dots. Much of the private timber lands in the west are open to the public. The information regarding which timber lands that is open to the public should be listed with the most State Game Departments, which it is in Oregon. Everything is color coded for the easy identifying of lands, National Forest is Green, State Lands are usually Blue, Private Lands are White, BLM is Yellow, City Properties can be purple or maroon, and the Private timber lands are White with Dots.
Just think about being out there hunting and crossing into a piece of this land thinking you are hunting National Forest and it is a Gold Mine in Eastern, Oregon or maybe a mine in Utah. One might not like the experience they might have with an old miner.
A GPS is one of the most important pieces of equipment to have when you are hunting in areas of mixed land.
I will tell you since I first started to write this page, that my friends aHUNT ONXMAPS have come out with a new product for those I Pad and I Phone users, such as my son. You are now able to get the same mapping for their usage. Hopefully you have a connection when out there, as least you can be legal when working the zones.
My I Pad with the new HUNTING GPS MAPS installed!
I tell my DIY Antelope-Pronghorn hunters that it is a must for them to have a product that gives the boundaries. Just look at a place like the famous Steen’s Mountains in Southeastern, Oregon. There are many parcels of private in the middle of BLM that is hard to tell what is what, since there is so much cross fencing. Yes you can have a paper map from the BLM, which is fine for reference, but of course you’ve had the map for 20 years or got it from a buddy who had it for 20 yards and BLM had done land swaps. Don’t get me wrong, I came from old school with paper BLM and N.F. maps.
I know from experience how important a GPS is with trespassing and these products can save a hunt. How many times do hunters get stopped on B.L.M. or even N.F. by ranchers that might have cattle rights on the public land? Telling the hunter they are trespassing! Oh! It happens a lot in the West! The Foreman of the famous Hay Creek back in the day would stop hunters on public roads going along the ranch and into B.L.M. and the National Grasslands. It is one thing to get stopped by law enforcement, but not by a private citizen on the public land!
Private land in the Steen’s Mnts of Oregon that may not have a fence or may have a fence and you think it is BLM.
When I help hunters find places at this point for FREE, I expect it to be quick and easy on my part. The idea of helping hunters in this hectic busy lifestyle we have to shorten the scouting time in land they know nothing about. Get waypoints to them in good hunting areas and go from there.
There is some much one can learn about a spot that they might only get to hunt a few times in a lifetime, since most special tags take so long to get. With a Garmin Colored GPS with SD Micro slot, Garmin Base Map (Computer), Hunting GPS Maps and Google Earth, you can go from Novice to Expert in a very short time prior to your outing.
Do you really want to get Coordinates and plug them into your GPS without knowing what you are looking at?
Be smart and move up in technology and you’ll find new avenues to hunt and be confident in the hunt!
I would love to say I have stories to go with the following pictures, but I do not have stories. Yes I gave out waypoints for the hunters and I am told the were killed with in 1 miles of on of my waypoints. My understanding that Holly T had chances for two (2) bucks over water and harvested her buck with one arrow in 2012. The other two bucks were harvested in 2013 a couple of days apart by Mark and Jim. I will have to see if I can attach a link to the video’s they made of the hunt in the Warner Unit of Oregon. John Mark does work for an bow manufacturer (Bowtech) in Oregon. He lives by the bow and is a most successful hunter.
John Mark, plus his family and friends do shoot Bowtech!
If you would like to get a hold of their video you can find it on the following site:
Holly and Hubby – John Mark!Holly with her Warner Archery Antelope. She got two chances on taking an Oregon Antelope with her bow!
John Mark took his Antelope a few days later on the hunt with Jeff in 2013!Jeff took his buck on the opening day of the hunt! Great Buck from the state of Oregon
As you can see the Warner Unit which has not been devastated by Coyote predication on the Antelope fawns, has lead to a great herd in this unit! I do believe that if we add up the rifle hunters and bow hunters, my hunters are at 100% harvest in the Warner Unit!
This is an interesting hunt that turned out to be a successful hunt for Ace who was hunting with his father. This is not the first time I have had similar accounts on hunting Lopes. Lopes can be crafty and escape a great stalk. A hunter can misjudge the distance as Antelope – Pronghorns are smaller than deer, so it can be difficult to judge the distance. WELL DONE ACE!
Ace with his 2013 Pronghorn from the Juniper Hunt Unit in Oregon. A well earned dandy Lope!
Dear – Frank
We got there on Friday and scouted til dark. We made the big loop and only saw 5 animals. Got up the next morning just before light and went out. It was too dark to see when we left camp so we waited on one of the roads leading to a water hole. I looked over and saw two bucks about 400 yards to our left and Ace shot at one that had a good size rack. Ace missed with 3 shots and they ran off.
The GPS was a Magellan and I couldn’t figure out the software or the unit and so I don’t have the coordinates and we ended up using the BLM maps we got in Burns on Friday. I have always used Garmin’s but a friend lent me this Magellan. The range finder was kind of useless because laying on your belly it gave bad readings and if you stand up the antelope can see you for a long ways.
We went down the road a ways more and saw some of to the right. He crawled out to get a shot and got a shot in a sitting position but also missed. He thinks he was shooting under the animals because the range finder was not accurate in the sagebrush. Then we saw at least one hundred (100) Antelope come over the ridge, but saw three (3) hunters and away they went from us.
As Ace was coming back to the rig we saw one male and six does about eight hundred (800) yards out but no way to get to them. We drove out the main road and headed North we went out another road and saw two groups out on a ridge. Ace crawled out to the gully and come down into it till he thought he was under them. I was watching at the rig with the spotting scope and he came up right under them with my guidance (hand signals). When he got to the top of the ridge they spooked and he got of a shot but missed again.
He decided that he needed to fire his gun when he was in the prone position because offhand and sitting he shook too much. We went out to the main road again and headed North and took a road East. He saw some out at a distance and crawled out to a point where he could get a shot and not be seen by the antelope. He took a shot and dropped this antelope. I drove out in the sagebrush to where the buck dropped, about 3/4 mile from the road. We field dressed it and quarterd it out right there and put the meat in the huge cooler on ice.
A few things we learned. Its hard to sneak up on Antelope on flat ground. Range finders are useless in flat ground with sagebrush. Knee pads are essential for crawling up on Antelope on your belly. You need to be able to cool the meat down fast. Walkie talkies are a great thing to have for communication. Its hard work to get a good shot at an Antelope. Thanks for the GPS points but we hunted on the west side of the unit and your points were for the east side mostly.
We appreciate your thoughtfulness. – Dennis and Ace Clark
Hunting the Rancho Rajneesh aka “The Big Muddy” Ranch #1
My best Mule Deer Buck!
Before we start the story of a lifetime, there is more to the story than just the harvesting of a monster Oregon Mulie (Mule Deer) buck, but more about time period of this great hunt.
“It is 1985, a time in Oregon‘s History that will never be duplicated!”
The following story might be hard for some to fathom, but is real and unless you’ve had the opportunity to experience even a part of it, it may appear to be something from a fictional novel…
The Leader with his disciples (Idiots)!
During this era of time we would be hunting on and off of the original “The Big Muddy Ranch” located in Oregon close to Madras, Donnybrook (Historical), Ashwood (Post Office), Clarno (Historical) and the Famous Town of Antelope or better know at the time as Rajnesshpuram. The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (later known as Osho) came to America from India to be a teacher of his faith and culture. He would take up residence on the “Big Muddy Ranch” outside of Clarno, Oregon (Historical)! The main house would be at 3 miles line of sight to Clarno’s Grange Hall which sat along the John Day River! There would be more than 2000 disciples on the ranch!
The purchase of the ranch was made through lawyers, un-be known (as the local story goes) to the Rubin Evans as to who was actually buying the 64,000 acres of land that also encompassed a great deal of BLM and some State Lands. Rubin made a great deal of money (4.3M gross) on the sale of rimrock, sage and juniper trees that could not support any sizeable amount of cattle. The City of Antelope (97001 Zip) some 12 miles away from the main ranch was later taken over the Bhagwan and his followers, thus it was incorporated and called Rajneeshpuram.
Rajneeshpram (Antelope) and the Rancho Rajneesh now had its own Peace Force that carried Uzi’s and M-16’s. Traveling into the ranch on the county road (Cold Camp Rd) and once past the boundary of the Smith Ranch (cattle guard) were Security Huts with active machine gun toting Peace Force clear down to the numerous buildings and hotel! I can remember when Burns Bros., Travel Stops sold FM handheld radios to the Ranch. They were used to monitor people driving through the ranch on the county road. How much time it would take to travel in and out of the ranch. There were back doors into the BLM via Gosner and Muddy Creek Roads to the southeast, but you still would get stopped in remote areas. Questioned of course what your intent was, which we would say was traveling to Mitchell, Oregon. Once out of sight, you would get yourself deep into the BLM, such as Horse Heaven. It is hard for most to understand what this place became and how things were done. I would have to think it was one of the largest Commune’s of its type that has ever been established in the United States. There was even a Crematorium and Machine Gun Range on the ranch. If one ventured deep enough into the interior of the ranch, you found many un-expected buildings and sights! A great deal of land use laws were broken by the leaders of Rajneeshpuram and Rancho Rajneesh!
The people of Rancho Rajneesh even damned up Current Creek (dam is still there) and made a dandy lake with a floating lodge on the lake for the followers to sunbath. As said before they broke many land use laws and even made a paved road that was built in the center of the ranch and put in an airport. The paved road was built so the Bhagwan could exit without notice to Madras, Oregon in one of his many Rolls Royce’s. The road came out on Gosner Rd. on the south side of the ranch.
The Bhagwan did some improvements to the land with the planting of wheat, alfalfa and putting in small stick dams in the creeks plus the electric fence that surrounded more than 100 square miles of BLM and Private Land. It create a atmosphere for deer, elk and antelope to multiple, live longer and move into neighboring ranches in the area up to 10 – 15 miles away line of sight.
He was a great buck with great symmetry, with the only deduction with the even cheaters!
It was not an easy tasking for anyone to hunt the public land, as the Bhagwan thought the BLM also belong to HIM, his (followers-disciples) would do everything to keep hunters out of the public land that intertwined the ranch. I probably forgot tell you that there were hundreds of No Trespassing Signs put on the parameter of the ranch, which included the posting of all the BLM, even if it was not on Rancho Rajneesh. We use to joke that if we were ever caught, that are destiny would be left at the Crematorium!
Been there and it was big, even with bleachers to the north!
The challenge was on for myself and a few other fellows, such as “Stick”, “Baily”, “DB”, “MJ”, “Bennie” and “Bone” just to mention a few that I knew that would hunted for the monster Mule Deer bucks that harbored on the ranch! I did leave out the fact that in 1984 we discover Elk on the ranch while glassing for bucks in a basin below the tower via the county rd. I will leave that up to your imagination whether we hunt for elk, but then that is another story…
If one thought they would get away with trespassing on the private part of the ranch, they had something to look forward too, like 50 – 100 young people some with weapons in lines working down the ridges or draws where you might have been spotted from the “Tower” that had windows & maps with a 360 degrees layout! The “Tower” was put on the highest spot of the ranch that would allow the viewing of draws such as Gallagher Canyon, Fir Tree, Lyon Ridge and Vanderhoof Canyon. It was not only the Rajneesh patrollers (disciples) that could number in numbers, but the local law enforcement… I will never understand the alliance that was between the cult and government’s police forces’.
This sign was taken from B.L.M. Land near Mays Res., to the south in 1984!
Oh! It would have been great to have my BLM mapping program and a modern day Garmin GPS, which would leave no doubt to being legal! Then again BLM had great maps and I could read and visualize the land marks!
It was once told to “MJ” by an old Oregon State Police Game Officer of the time,“Go in on BLM and Come out on BLM”.
The cult would take the State of Oregon and other people to the cleaners over the years with Debt, above the law and trying to rid Wasco County of a good people.
In 1987 the Rajneeshpuram came to an end and not without controversy, such as Ma Anand Sheela setting up a Bio-Terrorism attempt in The Dallas with Salmonella Poisoning. She would later be deported back to the United States from Germany to stand trial. The Bhagwan would be deported (allowed to leave) back to India! He died in 1991 of Aids, so you might be able figure out what else went on in the ranch besides the spiritual teachings!
I would have to say it was like those that drank the Kool-Aid at thePeoples Temple Agricultural Project of Jonestown. People gave their wealth away to follow the Bhagwan’s radical teachings! I understand their standings in the cult were based on the money!
Now let’s get one with the story!
The Oregon Archery Season was coming to a close in three days. I’s passed up many smaller bucks during the early season, trying to find a P & Y Mule Deer.
Now it was performance time!
I made a quick call to Dave Brill because I knew I could count on him to go on a mission with me at the drop of a hat. I told him we could make a Saturday afternoon hunt over on the breaks of the John Day Rive rin Central Oregon.
The final weekend of the season also happened to be my drill weekend with the U.S. Naval Reserve. Luckily, I only had to spend half of Saturday and Captain’s Call was out at 1130. I made it to Dave’s place just past noon in east Clackamas County. There was an hour drive to the BLM, leaving us about 6 hours maximum for hunting.
On the way to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property, we spotted a small herd of mule deer, with five bucks located on Earl’s Smith’s property. All looked pretty nice, and I decided to take a few photos. They were in the 23 to 25 inch class with one respectable four point at about 28 inches. I did not have permission to hunt Earl’s Ranch, which would come later!
I took this picture on Father’s Day on a scouting trip with Dave Brill! I spotted the buck in the canyon and worked within 300 yards and let him come to me at 8 yards! He was very surprised!
At 3:00 p.m., we reached the B.L.M. land on the west side of theJohn DayRiver. There a mutual friend, MJ, met us. He wanted to show us where he had seen some big bucks. In the middle of the basin were four “swamper” Mulie bucks, two around 28” and two in the 30” neighborhood. I know, at this point you probably think I’m really pulling your leg. I did take a few pictures of these bucks also, as they were not hunt-able at this location also.
Then, it was time to put down the camera and get down to the business at hand. We split up and MJ headed over to his a ranch he would be hunting located along the John Day River to locate a Mulie he felt would easily go 36”. By the way M.J. took this buck during the rifle season and he was 36”. M.J. was a rifle hunter that we put up with as he was great with the game location logistics!
I would get a shot at the middle buck the following year!
With only about three hours of hunting time left in the day, finding a big Mulie was going to be even tougher. Just before dark, I located a buck that would be about 28” to 29”, but he wouldn’t cooperate as I just couldn’t get on him in the open terrain pushing to fast before fading light.
We departed the area as Mother Nature began to drown the junipers and sagebrush. The most difficult part of the trip was yet to come. As I told you earlier, this was supposed to be a Saturday afternoon hunt-only. Now, Dave and I would have to make phone calls to our respective wives. Both ended being most understanding, which meant they knew we would be calling. So we would have one more chance to get our big bucks before the rifle hunters came out of the woodwork in about 1 week. You wonder how they were most understanding, well we did stretch the truth and told them we had a buck down and tried locate it in the dark, but would have resume in the morning!
The next morning we awoke to 39 degrees, patchy fog and overcast skies in Madras, Oregon. We were working against the clock now, so crispy bacon and eggs at the Madras Truck Stop were out so a Coke Cola and Hershey Chocolate Bar were in order. Ok! Had a large jar of Jerky!
There is one smell in Oregon that really turns me on and that is the smell of wet sage at daybreak. You have to know the feeling you get from the smell, as this is an optimum time in space to kill a buck!
It was already light when we arrived at the main access road. Strangely, we saw nothing along the road going in. When turning down into the main access road the Muddy Rd., there were fresh tire tracks in the road as it was very muddy, that was the answer to not seeing any game! The roads in the area turn to slick clay like surfaces and deep ruts. In about two miles we caught up to a Black Bronco II in front of us and the driver climbed out with bow in hand. We pulled up for a brief conversation, and soon he couldn’t hold himself back. He said he’d already had taken shots at 2 big bucks and that he saw a 30” buck feeding. In the back of the rig was a respectable three-point his partner had taken with a 50-yard heart shot. We also told him that he was now on ranch property and he better not be here hunting! Oh! Don’t get out of the truck with your bow if stopped by the patrollers! He might get a chance to visit the Crematorium…
This 30” talk was something that should be investigated, I figured since it was located on BLM by the way he described the spot. David and I headed back, hustled out of my truck and I climbed up the draw where the hunter said he’d seen the buck! The draw would lead into a small basin with volunteer wheat. It was in the BLM near Currant Creek, one the great spots to hunt. There, at 45 yards, was a massive buck, feeding and completely unaware of my presence. He was a long tined four-point, with extremely long eyeguards. I felt he would be real close to 200 Pope and Young and real Oregon Record contender. (You can tell I already had him on the wall!) I did not have my bow with me, just my camera (I didn’t even take a picture).
I watched him for a few more minutes from behind a juniper grove, and then slowly backed away. I hurried back to the rig, told Dave what happened, and quickly returned to the spot with my bow. He was gone! The shot was there if I had taken my bow instead of the camera.
I returned to my truck, more than a bit upset with myself, but Dave quickly lifted my spirits.
“Frank,” he said, “I’ve located some more dandy bucks!”
As we stood there making our game plan up, there was a group with some twenty bucks in the distance, but immediately are plans to hunt ended quickly. It was incredibly exciting to watch them through the binoculars as they departed out of the tight draw in single file. The smallest buck of the group was no less than 24 inches wide. Seeing that group of bucks only made me a firm believer in “buck pastures”. I have to tell that over the years hunting here, it was always like that. Very few does were ever seen in the area during the archery season. It should be noted that the big buck in the back was at about 38” on the roll jabbing the other bucks to move along. He was a buck that one would never forget it if seen again.
Within a few moments we on a small out cropping of rocks, Dave and I located a good buck, bedded and chewing his cud. I put the spotting scope on him-not real wide, but great long tines with super eyeguards. I felt that he would score very well, a 180-plus. The hunt was on! I dropped into the canyon, using junipers for cover. The terrain wasn’t too rough and I was able to circle around the rim quickly without making noise. In these days I was running no less than 50 miles a week! The wind was coming straight at me, and a light mist of fog hung in the area. What more could I ask for? I slipped into the junipers between the buck and myself.
At 40 yards approximately I decided it was time and drew my bow back without thought, set the 40 yard pin on the lungs just in case I miss-judged the distance of the bedded buck. The 125 grain 3 blade broadhead was delivered to him right into the lungs behind the shoulder. He was up in a hurry, but soon collapsed down the draw.
Great Bucks of the B.L.M. in the Oregon Grizzly Hunt Unit!
Thanks to Dave’s help, we were able to drag him to the truck fairly easily. I couldn’t wait to put the tape to him. With a quick measuring, he went 27” wide, not counting the “cheater points” on each side of the main beam of the same length. I also did a quick P & Y score for a solid 198 green score. My net score on this tremendous buck was 190 P&Y. (After some 15 years I had him officially measured at Sportsmen’s Show and he would be set at 188 2/8, to bad I waited to long to put him in the Oregon Record Book). Just think he wasn’t even one of the real monster Mulies and my taxidermist felt the buck was only about 5 years old!
While leaving the area, Dave and I saw at least six more good bucks. I went back during the general rifle season to camera guide and saw two taken that went 32” and 38” wide.
As the readers might find it hard to believe the amount of deer, I will close with this one comment.
In the mid 80’s and until about 2001, it was not uncommon to see as many as 100 plus bucks in a morning or evening drive!
The 38” buck that was mention earlier on my bow hunt was the same that one that Greg A. would take in the rifle season in 1985. The buck was 38” on the roll and would have a net score of 201 B & C. The buck was killed within a 2 miles of where he was spotted him during the archery season. He was taken on a piece of private land that bordered Rancho Rajneesh to the S.W.
You are probably wondering why I have not put down having any encounters with the disciples of Rancho Rajneesh, when you know the enemies’ habits you learn when to come and go! We did have some encounters, but then it also help to have a local rancher with you once in a while.
This picture was during the archery season on a scouting trip by Michael J. Michael was very close to this Shooter Buck!
Whether it was to get dropped off at the BLM corner or BLM Section by someone, bike ride or run the 12 miles back to Antelope to get the pickup vehicle, it was always a rush and an outstanding Clandestine Operation in Hunting.
Camo was worn to conceal from the enemy, not the game!
Frank, Here’s my story. Dylan
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Cathedral Rock access debated • Backers aim to open up the John Day; critics say the plan hampers non-floaters…
By Dylan J. Darling / The Bulletin The question surrounding the proposed Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven Wilderness Area Act is clear on a map. Just west of the planned 8,686-acre Cathedral Rock Wilderness Area runs Muddy Creek Road, a dusty and bumpy Jefferson County byway. The right angles of the proposed public land boundary mimic the curves of the old road, leaving a ribbon of private land between the public road and the wilderness. Supporters of the federal-for-private land swap that would make Cathedral Rock a reality say the buffer benefits the public and wildlife, creating a wilderness focused on access from the John Day River. Critics of the plan say it makes access difficult for members of the public who would recreate on public land, particularly hikers and hunters. “One of the major goals is to expand the amount of public ownership along the (John Day River),” said Brent Fenty, executive director for the Bend-based Oregon Natural Desert Association. The group has been working with the private landowners and advocating for the wilderness designation for more than three years. He said the plan would make public a four-mile stretch of the river, adding about a dozen campsites for rafters on an increasingly popular run. While the river would provide a route into the wilderness, it wouldn’t be an easy one, said former Madras mayor Rick Allen. He said anyone looking to hunt or hike the land would have to first float the river unless they had permission from the landowners to cross the private land between the road and wilderness. “I don’t understand why anyone would be supporting this,” he said. Wilderness push Sens. Ron Wyden, and Jeff Merkley, Oregon Democrats, are co-sponsors of the Cathedral Rock and Horse Heaven Wilderness Act, which could be lumped together in an omnibus bill for congressional approval with two dozen other wilderness bills spread around 12 states. The Campaign for America’s Wilderness, a program of the Washington-based Pew Environmental Group, called for combining the separate bills into an omnibus bill in November newspaper ads. While he had heard the question about access before, David Dreher, manager for the Pew Campaign for America’s Wilderness, said Cathedral Rock would be a part of the omnibus. “It would be a great win for Central Oregon,” Dreher said. The bill has not been introduced in Congress, which has about a week left in its session, he said. The 112th Congress could be only the second Congress to designate no new wilderness areas since the 1964 Wilderness Act established the process. The 113th Congress is seated in January. Spokespeople for the two Oregon senators said they also are aware of the concerns about access, particularly from elected leaders in Jefferson County, but they still support the plan. “(Sen. Wyden) believes it addresses multiple land ownership challenges presented by the current checkerboard while giving the public more access than it currently has now without the problem of trespassing on private land,” wrote Tom Towslee, Wyden’s spokesman in Oregon, in an email. The Cathedral Rock segment would be named after a rock along the John Day River, and the Horse Heaven segment would be named after a mountain. Both of the geological features would be in the new wilderness. Merkley’s spokeswoman expressed qualms about the access issue. “Senator Merkley believes the proposed Horse Heaven and Cathedral Rock wilderness area has numerous merits, including improved road access to Horse Heaven, and he continues to support the proposal,” wrote Courtney Warner Crowell, his deputy communications director. “He does believe, however, that legitimate concerns have been raised about public road access to the Cathedral Rock portion and that it would be to considerable public benefit if this concern could be addressed.” Trespassing and poaching On the map, private land surrounds pockets of public acres close to Muddy Creek Road. The situation leads to trespassing and poaching issues, said Fenty, of the Oregon Natural Desert Association. Young Life, a Colorado Springs, Colo.,-based Christian group that runs a camp that draws thousands of middle and high school students each summer, owns most of the private acres involved in the swap. Fenty said it has felt the brunt of the trespassing and poaching problems along Muddy Creek Road. Allen said Young Life would be giving up 8,000 acres, including the riverfront land, in exchange for about 12,000 acres overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. Two other landowners would be involved in the exchanges, which would lead to about 18,000 acres of new wilderness. The Young Life camp, the Washington Family Ranch, is the former compound of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and was once known as Rancho Rajneesh or Rajneeshpuram. An Indian guru, Rajneesh ran the commune in the 1980s before his followers were caught poisoning salad bars in The Dalles and plotting to kill local and state officials. He was eventually deported. Most of the public land around Muddy Creek Road is surrounded by Young Life property. “As the land is currently configured, it is not accessible and usable by the public,” Fenty said. Young Life officials directed calls to Rich Ellerd, ranch manager, who did not return messages left Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday by The Bulletin. Craig Kilpatrick, land use consultant for Washington Family Ranch, in an email response to questions posed by The Bulletin, stated that creating two wilderness areas would bring “greater legal public access than now exists.” Consolidating private holdings presents opportunities for “workable land management” with clearly defined borders for rangeland, agricultural and recreational uses, he wrote. Kilpatrick pointed out that numerous conservation, wildlife advocacy and hunting organizations have endorsed the wilderness bill, including Oregon Wild, the Sierra Club and Trout Unlimited, to name a few. An original wilderness proposal, called Coffin Rock, included a parking area on Muddy Creek Road adjacent to Cherry Creek Ranch, Kilpatrick explained. During negotiations that redefined the wilderness into Cathedral Rock, Cherry Creek’s owners became concerned about public access near the century-old ranch headquarters building, he wrote. Cherry Creek and Young Life representatives were concerned, as well, that those property owners would bear the responsibility for rescuing lost or injured visitors along the unimproved Muddy Creek Road, he wrote. The Cathedral Rock portion of the wilderness proposal would only be accessed by the river. Fenty was quick to point out that the 9,200-acre Horse Heaven portion would be accessible by two roads. Pulled support The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners supported the original proposal for the wilderness, with access off Muddy Creek Road. The commission pulled its support in October 2011. Commissioner Mike Ahern said the current plan would make a wilderness that was a “private little playground” for the landowners along the road while the public would be relegated to floating by it on the river and then hiking out of the river canyon. He doubts that the lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are hearing their complaints, though. “I think the train has left the station,” he said. “I think we are going to get screwed on it.” Matt Smith, manager of the Cherry Creek Ranch, said the access issue is overblown; state hunting tag restrictions would limit use of the private land and hunting in the new wilderness. “There should be no controversy here,” he said. The Cherry Creek Ranch is one of the three private landowners involved in the proposal. Smith said it opposed a prior plan for a parking lot along Muddy Creek Road because the lot would have been close to the ranch headquarters, and visitors would have come right through the property. “You literally can bump your side-view mirror on our barn,” he said. He said the landowners tried to put together a plan for access off the road involving seasonal closures, but the county commissioners rejected the notion. Kilpatrick wrote that Cherry Creek and Young Life proposed gate access and seasonal closures that the commissioners endorsed, a position that changed after four public hearings in which local residents sounded their opposition. Now the landowners are only interested in entering into the swap with the federal government, Smith said, because of the limited access to the wilderness area that could stem trespassing and poaching along Muddy Creek Road. He said chances to preserve parcels like the land around Cathedral Rock don’t come along often, and it could slip away. “It would really be a shame to see such a solid deal, such a solid package as this, to go by,” Smith said. —
