I have the privilege to write articles on the MY OUTDOOR BUDDY webpage. A webpage that talks about every facet of the great outdoors in Southern Oregon and Northern Oregon.
The following are my links:
1) Hunting the Dinosaurs of the West
3) Big Mulies of the Big Muddy
4) Hunting Methods and Success
I will add more in future: Updated 07/15/2015
Frank Biggs
Like the wind, the environment of hunting changes without notice. Over the many years of hunting and being able to hunt openly on State, Federal, B.L.M. and Timber company’s properties, plus horse trading to hunt private, it was pretty easy to find a place to hunt without hassle in Oregon.
Not too many years ago I or We were able to hunt a great parcel of BLM in central Oregon near Madras, Oregon. Since the land was rugged we would use quads to get from point A to B, glass and then hunt the game down. Prior to quads from the days of hunting the great Snake River for Rocky Mountain Elk, horses were the key to non-motorized entry for our team.
A number of years ago the neighboring landowners were able to get the rules changed with BLM; no quads or other motorized allowed. Strange that there are many old ranch roads and BLM roads on the land, now closed to the public, yet the adjacent land owner can use quads… Just as strange motorized is allow on another parcel BLM land very close by. The BLM is connected actually by a county line to the south. I will tell you it was not a rancher or farmer that lobbied to get it closed!
Wanting to find new lands on the west side of the Cascades Mountains in Oregon, using my Garmin Montana GPS and the fabulous onXmaps HUNT software a new world open when scouting, finding such lands as Weyerhaeuser, Port Blakely, Longview Fiber (NOW OWNED BY WEYERHAEUSER), BLM, State Lands, plus small parcels of National Forest. Mainly interested in Blacktail Deer though Roosevelt Elk can be found on the same land, scouting during May, June and July before the Oregon Archery season, it was great to find many great Blacktail bucks.
With regular maps you would never know the private timber conglomerates, yet alone small parcels of state owned or National Forest lands without using the onXmaps software. In many western states there are mining claim that the public can pass through, but there are many small land parcels (50 – 200 acres) of mines on BLM and National Forest that you’ll never see on a paper map. Miners don’t take to kindly to trespassing and they might not call the law to Enforce a trespassing law…
Port Blakely allows some free hunting, but one better know the phone number and check prior to the dates wanting to access the land. I am going to give a Hoorah to PLUM CREEK, as they allow the public to use their land with NO CHARGES.
This is where it stops; recently I made a call to an old hunting buddy about his elk hunt during the archery season in Oregon. I was informed he received a $350.00 fine for trespassing on Weyerhaeuser property during the season. What! An area he has hunted for more than 30+ years for elk and deer.
For years the Weyerhaeuser properties have been open to public access. Well things change and now you have to have a permit to hunt. A number of ways to do it, open permits or bid on the total access to parcels.
Stop and think about it for a second, most likely these giant timber companies get tax breaks and I can tell you some it about public access. In the N.W. Weyerhaeuser owns 6,000.000+ acres, the size of Rhode Island in the United States and controlling 12,000,000 acres in Canada on long term leases.
There is now great controversy about Weyerhaeuser charging for access to their lands.
If you go back far enough you’ll find some of the tainted realities of land grab, via the railroads, government and the buying and giving of our timberlands.” I remember the term cut and pay as you go.” Think about making revenue without paying first, well in the timber business it has been done.
For years I have vented my thoughts and anger about BLM and other public land trades, in which there might be blocks of separated lands. What I have seen and many others that fight for our public lands are normally bad changes, with the public getting short end of the stick.
There is one large section of BLM in Oregon in which some our most liberal politicians want to swap great elk and deer hunting land with a group. In the rules of engagement of this particular land swap the two private land owners want to control the road, closing it off during the winter months. They want the county road to be vacated. The swap itself isn’t too bad, but the old wagon road from the 1800’s needs to be the dividing line with open access to the public. No one private individual should have the rights to stop the public from going into public land on a trade such as this.
We find that the National Forest wants to close thousands of miles of roads in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest; the battle goes on with this subject!
So where is all of this leading, well it is leading into a fight for survival of hunting and public access to public land. In the meantime it is very important for land users, whether fishing, hiking, hunting or evening just driving around to know the lay of the un-marked lands. No matter who you are you need a Garmin GPS (colored-microchip capabilities-modern) and the onXmaps HUNT software loaded on the GPS and my personal recommendation on your laptop and your mobile device. I have said since mapping GPS’s came out it is better to know where you are going then to know where you have been. I love to search via onXmaps HUNT (APP) Google Earth and see new spots, thus adding them to my GPS for the next outing to investigate.
In Conclusion: There are some private timber companies in the west and mountain states that allow the public to use their property for recreation. It is important for everyone to know where they are and not take for granted they have access. Use equipment that will keep you legal, safe and open new avenues in your outdoor ventures. Make your voice go forward about what is right! Please remember that it is illegal to try and jump from corner to corner on public land that is encompassed with private…
I personally do not leave home without my Garmin Montana and my onXmaps HUNT updated for travels in Oregon!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
BILL BIGGS HUNTER
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!
Having known many small private plane owner pilots, they all seem to have one GPS product system that they rely on. I will tell you it is GARMIN and be truthful about it.
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.
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 a HUNT 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.
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!
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!
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:
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!
