231 Gardner Unit/ Late Whitetail Buck

[ROBBIELEEW]

New here. I drew the Gardner tag.  I have hunted Mazama a little but never the South side of 20 and never for whitetail.  I have seen guys ask questions about this unit before on here.  Maybe they could let me know how their hunt went so it could flatten my learning curve.  Did I just waste 6 points?

[7mmfan]

I've never had the tag but can say that whitetail are doing quite well in the valley. All creek bottoms adjacent to the river, and even up quite high into the hills will have some whitetail around. Call the biologist, they will be helpful in pointing you in the right direction to start your scouting. If you can secure some private land in the bottom that would be ideal, but highly unlikely.

[ROBBIELEEW]

Sounds better than average. I can work with that.

[h2ofowlr]

We had it last year.  Never saw a shooter buck in a spot I could hunt.  Lots of private property they like to hang out on.

[ROBBIELEEW]

How much were you out hiking?

[h2ofowlr]

How much were you out hiking?

That's all we did was hike.  Also set up a blind in a few spots and rattled.  We went the middle of the season and just didn't have the bucks rutted up running around unfortunately.  We hunted for a solid 5 days.  Talked to one other guy that had the tag from Bellingham and he had hunted 12 days before he saw a buck and he shot a nice 4x4 white tail.

I drew this tag 5 years ago.  My buddy drew it 3 years ago.  I never saw a white tail buck in a spot I could shoot it.  Only on private property.  My buddy missed two opportunities at nice bucks when I went with him on the state land. 

[ROBBIELEEW]

Ok sounds promising considering I can hunt the normal season and use it as a decent backup.

[OutHouse]

Ok sounds promising considering I can hunt the normal season and use it as a decent backup.

If you are having trouble finding ground I have a few spots I can point you to near the valley floor close to some areas where they like to bed in the thick stuff. If that time comes, PM me as these are also my spots but would be happy to share for your tag.

[Onewhohikes]

PM those guys and maybe they will share info