Where would you put in in Oregon with 14 points?

[SI Eagle]

A buddy of mine and me both have 14 points in Oregon and after starting out paying $70 a year to put in and it now being closer to $200 we have abandoned our original plan of trying for the Mt Emily tag and want/need to go elk hunting. We are both seasoned elk hunters and looking for a good unit to kill a nice bull. Just a quality hunt. Would even be willing to share points with the right people in order to insure a quality hunt. Thanks

[blackveltbowhunter]

Archery or Rifle? I can't help with first-hand knowledge. But I have been witness to several good friends/hunting partners who ended up in the same boat as you.  All were rifle hunts. ( My hunting  partner actually started out wanting an archery tag then when the state stuck it to NR he was forced to look at other options to maximize the points). Of those the snake river has been the most consistent producer from what I have seen. The same hunting partner mentioned above booked a drop camp and went 3 for 3 on good bulls with one being a real nice 6. Stay away from Starkey IMO. Every hunter I know who has bailed and gone with that unit has a bad taste regardless of harvest. Good Luck!

[go4steelhd]

The main questions are
Rifle or archery
What type of hunt are you looking for- glassing,slow timber hunt, setting up and have being elk pushed past you, bugling in bulls in archery?
What- type of bull would you shoot the first day
What terrain do you want to hunt- sage, heavy timber, high country, rough terrain, mild terrain
Physical fitness- average to me means you can walk 5 miles in the mountains every day with a light pack, Good means you train

I currently live in Oregon and grew up here. My avatar is an Oregon bull

[Halo]

Good luck, I have 22 elk points. My daughter has 4 and I may just apply with her to get her a better hunt but I haven't started really looking at next year's options yet.

[SI Eagle]

The main questions are
Rifle or archery
What type of hunt are you looking for- glassing,slow timber hunt, setting up and have being elk pushed past you, bugling in bulls in archery?
What- type of bull would you shoot the first day
What terrain do you want to hunt- sage, heavy timber, high country, rough terrain, mild terrain
Physical fitness- average to me means you can walk 5 miles in the mountains every day with a light pack, Good means you train

I currently live in Oregon and grew up here. My avatar is an Oregon bull

Very good questions that I should have listed.
Looking for a rifle hunt with good bulls, again not expecting giants but would prefer any 6pt of course. The terrain would depend on the quality of the hunt. I would say it wouldn't matter as long at the hunting is good and average to good fitness as we are both in pretty good shape but in out early 50's and not getting younger.

[Bigshooter]

Here is a site I would check out:  https://sites.google.com/site/oregontags/

And my advice would be to apply for the Pole Creek Muzzy tag.  There will only be 1 nonresident tag at most maybe 0 if it goes to a guide.  Obviously it's not a rifle tag but this is a good hunt for average 5 and 6 point bulls.  But you will get a quality experience with so few tags given out.  And you could do this hunt 2 years in a row 1 hunt where you have a tag and the next year where your partner has a tag.


Actually looking at the site I posted it looks like next years tag will be going to the guides.  So you wouldn't be able to draw until 2020 and then again in 2022 for your partner.

[go4steelhd]

I will send you a PM
I don’t want to blast areas on the general forum

[finnman]

With what was asked, murderers creek or north side. Chance for a good bull, nice terrain not weather dependent. Outfitters are available. A framer we use guides for Hunters Rendevous, they killed a bunch of nice bulls this year in those units.

[jnordwell]

Heppner muzzleloader. My dad otc hunts there and always sees a few good bulls. This last year a guy with his kids drew it and his daughter shot a monster 7x6 I guess..

[Rimrock hunter]

Murderers Creek has been very good to me in the past.

[Bobvernon2]

Well saddle mountain always produces 😂😂😂

[GBoyd]

I don't have a suggestion, but some general advice. Don't forget about the spike hunters if you're rifle hunting. I've heard more than a few stories of people being disappointed by their draw hunt because they didn't realize there would be other simultaneous hunts with dudes running all over the mountain.

[BrandonWatts]

Heppner muzzleloader. My dad otc hunts there and always sees a few good bulls. This last year a guy with his kids drew it and his daughter shot a monster 7x6 I guess..

This!
I have hunted heppner with a bow and there are some good quality bulls there. My buddy that lives in Oregon hunts there every year and they always fill there tags. Said he has seen bulls that will go over 300 in the unit. One bull they took scored right at 340. Not an easy area but definitely one I would put in for.

[KopperBuck]

Heppner muzzleloader. My dad otc hunts there and always sees a few good bulls. This last year a guy with his kids drew it and his daughter shot a monster 7x6 I guess..

This!
I have hunted heppner with a bow and there are some good quality bulls there. My buddy that lives in Oregon hunts there every year and they always fill there tags. Said he has seen bulls that will go over 300 in the unit. One bull they took scored right at 340. Not an easy area but definitely one I would put in for.

My family's ranch is in that unit with lots of good hunting and I don't put in for bull tags there. That's private access with elk killed every year... Just depends on what you're looking for I guess. Tons of people unless you get the Pole Cr tag. That's not going to be a slam dunk either - there's been a couple tag holders on here from the past. Maybe look them up. I don't know what the non-resident odds are, but I would say 14 pts in Heppner seems crazy to me unless I have one tied up.

[vandeman17]

I would be applying in either Mt Emily or Walla Walla