Tag Archives: onXmaps HUNT

Hunting Equipment, Successful Hunters 2016

Navy Family Keating Unit Deer Hunt

October 31, 2016 Frank Biggs 4 Comments

NO EASY DAY!

It’s Saturday, October 1st, 4:30 AM. We are drinking coffee, standing around the fire and making plans where we’re going to hunt. It is opening morning and this will be our best chance to take down a nice buck.
It’s the first time we have our two sons, Dave and Scott together for a hunt. They have both been Navy SEALs for many years so we haven’t had this kind of opportunity, and we are all excited to get out in the woods.
Bill, my husband, has been hunting in this area for almost fifty years, so he is our coordinator. (not to mention, camp boss)
The boys will go together on one quad (one they borrowed from their sister, with bright pink lettering) with a boat seat attached to the back for a passenger seat. Real SEAL TEAM equipment! I promised not to post pictures on Facebook.

Bill and I will go a different direction on our quad with the boat seat on the back for me, which I love because I sit high and can see deer better.
We left at daybreak and hunted until 10:30 when we met back at camp for a big breakfast and a new strategy.

The boys had actually found a spot that looked untouched and rather promising, so with full bellies and a renewed determination, when we headed back out for the afternoon hunt, they went back to that same spot, which they dubbed “Delmer Pass” ( inside story ) for another look, and Bill and I went the opposite direction.
Bill and I have been riding in this terrain for twenty years on quads without incident. We have been up and down some really rough trails and enjoyed every ride. We have spotted many deer and elk on our rides. But, this ride was different! We crossed a rocky creek and headed up the mountain, when we came to a crossroads. Do we go on the narrow right, or the rocky gully on the left? We chose the gully…began our left turn and the next thing I remember was Bill asking me if I was alright. He had asked me many times, but because our quad had turned over and I was knocked out on the rocks I didn’t hear him. But as I came to I was aware of a really bad pain in my foot and my head was bleeding like crazy. I asked Bill to please get the quad off me. The poor guy was trying but he couldn’t get his legs to move for several minutes. We could smell and feel gas spilling on us so we struggled together to get free. Somehow we did it and my foot came free. Pain gone!

Bill, and old Navy man and father of the Seals, doing some Marlin Spiking (knots)!

He got the first aid kit and cleaned up my bleeding head and wrapped it in gauze, and I struggled to my feet. Together we set the quad upright, and realized our rifles had flown off about ten feet away. Believe it or not, when we sighted them in later, they were still right on
Bill insisted we go into the nearest town hospital and have me checked out, which we did and four hours later we were back at camp with our two concerned sons. No breaks, no stitches……just a small concussion and cuts and bruises. Lesson learned; getting too old to ride on my boat seat and maybe cut back on some of those really rough trails! I love that boat seat, but it has to go……
We all enjoyed a big fire that night and had a wonderful time just being together.

Well we do not see any of the elusive Navy Seals in this picture... — Well we do not see any of the elusive Navy Seals in this picture…

The next morning, those two NAVY SEALs were up and out early on that pink lettered quad, determined to come back with a nice big buck…….it didn’t happen….not for any of us. And that afternoon the oldest son, Dave and I walked through the woods together for about three hours and only saw the bald headed type deer.
They told me in the SEALs they were taught to think like the enemy, so we should think like the deer.( I agreed to do that, which I’m sure they got quite a laugh over) problem being, who the heck knows how a deer thinks? Instincts, instincts!
Well, maybe it worked for them because the next morning our younger son, Scott shot a real nice 3 by 3 on a hillside to their left. They were using the “field of fire” technique. Dave being left handed would be responsible for whatever showed up on the right side, and Scott being right handed would cover the left. They both got him in their sites however because his horns were hidden among the tree branches and hard to make out and they wanted to be sure. He turned his head just right and Scott said “buck!” and sent a perfect shot right through the heart… By the time we reached them Dave had it all gutted out and they had it tied on the quad.( always team work with them ) We headed back to camp for the pole hanging, dressing out and bagging and bragging ritual……followed by a celebratory straight shot!
They didn’t get a chance to double their score because they had to leave the next day. It was hard to see them go, because we never know when we’ll get a chance to hunt together again. (OK I admit I cried a little) Best hunting trip of our lives, with memories to last a lifetime.

Help me they are dragging me up the embankment!

For the next two days Bill and I hunted hard……we still rode the quad most of the time but one day it was down to nineteen degrees at night and really cold in the morning so we took the truck. We drove out to an area to find a place to get out and hunt, but as we are driving along I yelled at Bill to stop because there was two four point bucks right off the road on my side. Our dream scenario! Except for the fact that if I get out and put a round in the chamber those bucks will be gone. So, Bill gets out and goes around the back of the truck, but the deer are in front. He never saw them before they both walked off. We lamented over our lost opportunity as we drove on down the road.
After about four turns I yelled at Bill to stop again……there they were looking right at us, on my side of the road still. I still didn’t think I could get out without scaring them off so I sat still while Bill got out and went around the front of the pickup, off the road and nailed one, while the other ran off. (never to be seen again)
If we needed a bigger hint that we are getting older we got it in spades with this big buck. His body was really large, and a handsome 4×3 rack.
He was lying down in a deep ravine and we knew we weren’t going to be able to pull him up without help so we marked our spot and drove back and got the quad. So, now we have a dead deer, the quad with the winch on it and the pickup to put the deer in. Sounds pretty simple, right? NOT! We had to tie the quad to the pickup to keep it from going over, and then there wasn’t enough cable to reach the deer, so we had to keep adding rope and pull, then add more and pull. It took two hours to get it to the road.
Then, Bill gutted it out and we were ready to throw it in the back of the pickup, which was a great idea only the buck was too heavy and we couldn’t get him in there. So, next obvious answer was tying him on the quad, but we couldn’t lift his body up on it. By now we are sweating and exhausted and I sat on the tailgate and came up with a scathing, brilliant idea. Get that buck tied to the front of the quad the best we can, put the ramps down and drive it up into the truck and dump him in. We agreed that was the answer, however, I didn’t plan on me being the one to drive the quad up the ramp but Bill had to hold the bucks body up off the ramp, so I couldn’t get out of it. I said “I’m scared, I’m scared” all the way up that ramp, but I did it. (it was actually kinda fun) If you’re wondering why we didn’t just quarter it out, the answer is simply that we didn’t even think about it until that evening. Oh well!
We got back to camp and thank God the hunters in the camp next to ours were there to help hang it. It took us four hours from kill to camp…… As they say in the TEAMS!

“The only easy day was yesterday.”

Fran L. 2016

Archery Talk - Posts, Hunting Equipment

Public lands belong to everyone in the U.S.

October 20, 2016 Frank Biggs Leave a comment

I am a true believer of Public Lands for all!

“Public lands belong to everyone in the U.S. Often, though, your public lands are surrounded by a fortress of private property, making them inaccessible. Sometimes you have to go to extremes to hunt your public land.”

You could be the person in this photo. You have until October 2016 to get it done.

This is the first feature film ever done for onXmaps and features Randy Newberg (Renown Big Game Hunter) and Matthew Seidel (onXmaps Staff) hunting an area that Randy tends to go to every year. If you watch his show you will know the area in question.

LINKS BELOW

A great video to view today:
LANDLOCKED – Montana Elk Hunt

Until the end of October there is a giveaway:

The great October 2016 give away from onXmaps HUNT

Frank Biggs aka Bwana Bubba

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, 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.

Hunting Equipment

3.0 HUNT APP Contest – onXmaps HUNT

January 15, 2016 Frank Biggs Leave a comment

Mobile Users – Enter the Contest – A chance to win free App, and maybe an IPAD

Everyone! Whether you hunt, fish, hike, explore, or just go out into the wilderness on a ride, onXmaps HUNT has the latest product for mobile devices. I have had the privilege of being able to use the 3.0 HUNT Beta APP mobile platforms (IPAD for me) for about 4 months. There are so many things that can be done using the 3.0 HUNT APP, such as current weather, knowing where B.L.M., National Forest, Private Lands, Private Forest Lands, State Lands, Recreational Sites, detail information with the landowners names (great tool to gain access, just a phone call away), being able to look up areas via (coordinates, landowner name, cities, places, just to name a few), an extremely fast operating platform. I have always been a Garmin GPS user and still will be in the field, but I use my 3.0 HUNT APP while at work, at home or in my RV while camping 3 days a week on my days off throughout the state of Oregon!

LINK: 3.0 HUNT APP

Frank aka Bwana Bubba

Hunting Equipment

Bwana Bubba’s Thoughts – Mapping Technology

August 17, 2015 Frank Biggs 1 Comment

onXmaps HUNT

The technology is here for all to enjoy accurate mapping in the field!

How many people know that Wyoming was the first to make jumping B.L.M. corners a trespassing violation? It is the same in Oregon, as I have tested the waters on this one. There is no need to trespass!

There is technology and mapping resources to keep you from unintentionally trespassing in the State of Oregon and many other states in the continental U.S. that has private land and public land in a mix of blocks with fences and without fences. In many cases hunters find the landowner and gain access to public land or even the private sector.

For many years I have been helping hunters find places to hunt for big game in the State of Oregon. In the four years I have been involved with new mapping technology and giving coordinates or waypoints to hunters at NO COST monetarily, none of my hunters that use the technology have ever had an issue. I have expected them to buy a GPS (Garmin) (colored screen) (SD Micro Ready) that interfaces with the Topo Mapping Software from onXmaps HUNT. Recently I have extended free service for those that are using Android and Apple devices. In this case with the onXmaps HUNT software loaded to the device, I can send them a Google Earth KLM file. This keeps it simple and fast for me to get them into the area, saving a great deal of time in the scouting of an area.

This is what you would see on an Mobile Device from a Google Earth from a KLM file download.

A bit of humor though, when checking back with the hunters after the hunt, I have asked where the pictures and short story are, some have told me “I didn’t find an antelope at the waypoint!” “But I did get kill one close to the spot!”

For those who are savvy with a computer to have the software on the computer and on a colored screen Garmin GPS there is limitless opportunity with the knowledge gained from using the technology.

The great thing about using onXmaps HUNT is that in many states you have the private, private timber lands, BLM, State Lands and National Forest lands distinctively marked for easy reference. In many counties you will see the blocks of private by land owner name. The onXmaps HUNT Information Technology team is always updating the maps when needed!

What does amaze me daily that many hunters who let’s say have waited 12-20 years for a pronghorn tag, still come back to me when they are using their computer to find me and my services and tell me they can’t afford a GPS or they tell me, “I have a paper map.” I don’t even carry paper maps in the field any longer.

This is how my Garmin GPS and Google Earth looks with onXmaps HUNT with waypoints and tracks. You decide if you want accuracy or gray zone!

The major problem with paper maps is that most are outdated and most will not show the small blocks of private land that are on Bureau of Land Management, State Lands (sometimes) or National Forest. Just one example is near Sumpter and Granite, Oregon where there are privately held mines on private land. Always interesting to see the names of the mines in some Oregon’s and other state’s remote locations. You won’t see that on most paper maps, little along on other mapping software. I can guarantee with a National Forest map or road map, you’re going to get a trespassing ticket if you rely on that source to keep you legal. A landowner up in this neck of the woods on an active mine, might not take too kindly to someone trespassing. Now if you had the onXmaps HUNT mapping, you might be able to find the landowner and get permission to hunt. Remember, asking is not that hard to do!

This would be the typical National Forest Map and other mapping companies software on a GPS Device.

Yet to this day in a moment of compassion, I will print a map from my onXmaps HUNT program, scan it and send it to a person so they can hunt. It is just not the same doing this rather than to have the waypoints on a GPS and while at camp, look at them on a laptop for the next day’s hunt. You can make a route to get to that hard to reach spot. For those that don’t have a Garmin, they might only get txt files and try to figure them out on a map. Land ownership and boundaries change over the years, just look at the boundaries of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation today versus 15 years ago.

Now this is the view of the above National Forest land with onXmaps HUNT software on a Garmin GPS.

Having a local tell you, “Once you get to the store in Hampton, there is a road that goes to the north out of town, travel for about a mile, stop at the first tree on the left, turn then once you cross the stream on Grade 7 road, then travel about 1 mile, then turn right at the big boulder with class of 70 painted on it, then up the hill until you see the pine tree, then take the second dirt road to the left” is utterly confusing. Most of us get lost!

I hear of hunters or outdoor people getting ticketed every day for trespassing unknowingly. The fine alone, if they get a good judge with compassion, you could have bought a new Garmin Montana and onXmaps HUNT SD Micro Card, and many sporting goods stores have package deals!

This is my Garmin Montana with onXmaps HUNT software. This is what it looks like and you can zoom in for greater accuracy!

The other amazing thing is that the GPS and the mapping software will give the hunter or outdoor person and insight into the unknown. You’ll find places you can go, that you never knew existed. These places aren’t advertised, but once you locate them by using the equipment, you can make the call or let’s say check with ODFW on private lands on which the public can hunt. Do you really think that timber companies advertise for the public to hunt their lands? They might have some lands open, but they also have some not opened to the public and yet both are posted the same way!

#huntsmarter #teamhunt #onxmaps #bwanabubbaadventurers

Bwana Bubba of Oregon

Bwana Bubba Adventurers