Oregon Archery Elk?

[Little Fish]

I've been chasing elk here in Washington with a bow for the last 6/7 years and although its been fun and I've had lots of close calls I haven't been able to close the deal. One thing I've noticed over that period is that the season seems to be getting shorter AND farther away from the peak rut in the areas I hunt. Combine this with timber company land closures and sometimes I only get 6 or 7 days of hunting in during the "non-peak" part of the season.

Since I would rather change my game plan to something that works better instead of complaining about what I can't control I've been contemplating putting the majority of my effort into hunting Oregon then only hunt Washington when conditions are ideal and I have the time.

Does anyone have an opinion on Oregon versus Washington? I know its more $$$ for an out of state tag, but when you put a price on burned vacation time, missed time with the family and the fact that you only have so many years when you can really hit it hard the price of that tag doesn't seem like that much money.

[bobcat]

Oregon has more elk, more public land, fewer hunters, a much longer archery season, and eastern Oregon is not spike only like eastern Washington is.

What's not to like?

I'd do it for sure if you have the time and the money.

[cld40]

im going to hunt oregon next year for sure...
bobcat nailed it

whats not to like, more elk, less hunters spread out over much more terrain and more time to hunt...

im in...

[firedog]

I may hunt Oregon next year, will still hunt all of Washingtons season then go spend the rest of the month in Oregon when it is getting good. Was intending to do the same this year but drew a Chesnimnus rifle tag so will be hunting Nov instead.  Main reason I would go down there is because I have lots of buddys that hunt down there.

[Shawn Ryan]

Bobcat's reasons.  I've hunted WA for years (I'm 49), then started hunting OR in 2009 and have done so every year since.  I still enjoy a few days in WA, but OR is superior.   I've hunted ID and MT and they are also better than WA.  WA has more hunters per acre and less elk per acre.  Pretty simple math.

[Little Fish]

You guys have confirmed what I was thinking. Time to start doing some research. At least I have almost a whole year to figure out my options.

[WSU]

How does hunting Oregon compare to the other western states?

[Curly]

I went to college in OR.  Sometimes I wish I would have stayed down there after college and got a job there instead of coming to WA.

[Opportunist]

License is $140 and elk tag is $500. Season is a month long, you can hunt any open general season unit. If you are going to hunt oregon, apply for points since you have already bought the license, they have points only option for Deer/Elk/Antelope/Spring bear there are no points for Bighorn sheep. I love hunting Oregon and to be honest I do more rifle elk hunts in Oregon than archery to get away from the people, archery is pretty popular. Alot of the hunters apply for rifle tags and if not drawn they bowhunt, there is a whole generation of these hunters and if I lived over there I would be one of them, me being an Oppotunist and all.