Off to Oregon tomorrow!

[MuleySniper]

My dad and I are all packed up and ready to head out tomorrow morning for our special draw elk hunt! Were driving to Joseph, OR and staying a night in a hotel until Weds. morning when we load up the horses and pack into our camp. I already have butterflies. Weather forecast looks like we will encounter some snow sometime during our hunt I'm not setting any huge goals since I have never killed a bull, but at the same time I plan to be somewhat selective if the numbers are there. Anyway, best of luck for the rest of everyone's season. I'll have lots of pics when I get back and hopefully some of a couple good bulls.
MS

[ThePascoKid]

Good luck! Great time to be in the woods especially northeast Oregon.

[Opportunist]

Good luck! We just got back yesterday from my wifes first season Oregon elk hunt. I leave friday with my dad on his 2nd season Oregon elk hunt. There is definetly snow in the forecast, be safe and shoot straight.

[bucklucky]

Good luck MS! Hope the numbers are there to be picky! Cant wait to hear how you did!

[bowsandhose]

good luck and good hunting

[tmike]

I killed my first branch bull there during the same time frame. Good luck, it's beautiful country.

[MuleySniper]

Thanks guys! LD, thanks for the tip on where to get a bite to eat.
MS

[jae]

Sounds like a great trip. Good luck!

[Crunchy]

Here is the elk I got in eastern Oregon in late September.  Took me three days to get this one.  We were into them pretty good, just couldnt get the bulls to come out of the thick stuff.

[huntnphool]

Good eats right there Crunchy, well done.

[Crunchy]

Thank phool,  I had a litte last night (elk that is).  I should post another pic to see if anyone can interpet the crime scene correctly.  IT was a great hunt, and my first out of state.   Always nice to bring meat home when u paid 438 for the tag.

[C-Money]

I Like the Top Hand in Enterprise, Good steaks! The El Bijo is good Mexican food, also in Enterprise. The Stubbern Mule in Joseph had LARGE burgers. Just a few ideas. If you guys are hunting in the Imnaha, you will be competing with wolves. Good luck!

[bowsandhose]

nice work Crunchy 

[C-Money]

Crunchy, no kidding it nice to bring home meat when the tag is $438. I have been trying for a bull tag for a few years in the Imnaha, I must be getting close with a few points. The elk on our ranch in sled springs are just to unpredictable to fork out that many non resident dollars!

[Gobble]

Good luck MS. Take lots of pics

[MuleySniper]

Well, our hunt didn't turn out like we had originally planned, but we managed to have a good time. We went in two days early and were able to get our camp set up fairly quick the first night. With about 5 inches of snow on the ground, the amount of sign we were seeing was lets say minimal to nonexistent. After two good days of covering some country we only saw a spike and two cows. The Saturday of the opener wasn't all that different from the previous couple days other than hearing a few shots hear and there in the distance. Day two of the opener, all snow had melted and the fog rolled in thick. Our camp was placed in a fairly heavily timbered area which my dad or I don't prefer to hunt as much as the open country. Day three was clearer than  day two except our chilly weather had warmed up to the mid forty's and it rained cats and dogs. Not elk.  Day four was fairly exceptional. We managed to glass a small heard of about 13 about a mile away from an area we found that was great for spot and stalk. After already hiking about 7 miles, we started our trek to the heard that was starting to rise from their beds and move up the draw.  We got on top of them pretty quick. I fired the hoochie mama off and they instantly started talking and making their way to us.  We had a "descent" shooting lane through some old burn and scrub brush. After the first two cows passed by, a 300 class bull presented himself with a slightly quartered away shot at his vitals at 100 yards. BOOM! I fired one off towards right behind his shoulder. He paused for a minute, took two steps back and took off down the hillside. The rest of the heard just filtered out of the area. Long story short, we looked long and hard for that bull. No signs of blood or anything. After a long hike in the dark back to our camp, we spent the next couple of days without seeing an elk. We called our trip a couple days short. We were physically and mentally exhausted. One old guy maybe in his sixty's ended up killing a hog 350 bull. I was glad to see he did well. I saw pics of it on our packers camera. He was a real nice guy and was hunting by himself. When the packer got his elk for him, they almost started crying when they saw he had cut its head off w/o caping it out. He said he could never afford a mount. Anyway, we came home empty. We had two opportunities to kill spikes, but we honestly wanted to each kill good bulls. Time to start building points again, it was a good lesson, and we both know what we would do differently next time. My photo bucket is acting goofy, I'll try posting a couple pics later.
MS