Deer Hunting in Oregon

Gary has been deer hunting in Oregon for over 20 years, and his experience has led to several books, including the newest edition of Hunting Oregon (pictured to the right). Gary has also written hundreds of articles on deer hunting in Oregon, which we provide for you here.

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  Drug Bust Mule Deer Hunt on the Umatilla NWR

  You’re missing something if you don’t apply for the 600-series antlerless deer hunts. Halfway down page 57 in the 2007 Oregon Big Game Regulations, you’ll see there is a One Deer bag limit for Hunt No. 644A3 Umatilla NWR No. 3. There are a couple of other One Deer opportunities, but this one is special. For the patient hunter, the 644A3 tag is a trophy hunt with little competition.
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  Hunting Oregon’s Mysterious Open-Country Muleys

  Over on the dry side, where water holes are few and far between, it isn’t hard to find deer sign. Spend a day scouting near water and you’ll find evidence aplenty. Once you locate a buck’s track, stop and look around. Chances are he’s no more than a half-mile away. We know this, but mule deer remain a mystery. Especially the big bucks that run with the herd and the outsized loners that use every trick in the book to keep from being seen.
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  Thanksgiving Day Blackpowder Blacktail

  On a November morning, a hunter poured a careful measure of powder down the muzzle of his rifle and seated a round ball against the charge. He looked to the priming, pinched the percussion cap and slipped it under the hammer. Then he put his hand on his brother’s shoulder to wake him. They slipped into the oak trees toward the river as sun lit the new day.
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  Football Season’s Biggest Game

  Every year, thousands of parents and their offspring are forced to make a decision between two great passions of autumn: football and hunting. This year, 12 year-old Jacob Lum, a wide receiver on his middle school football team, had to decide what was most important to him. Fortunately, his football coaches understood.
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  Gateway to Good Deer Hunting

  Road Closures are Key to Success for Oregon Hunters. It was opening morning. The sun was pushing back the shadows. It had been a long climb in the hour before dawn, but I was here now. I told myself to slow down, to be patient, to not settle for anything less than a mature buck: a four-point with antlers wider than his ears.
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  Blacktails in the Mist

  High above the river, there's a quiet place on a mountaintop where a few rocks have been piled atop one another. It was a place where young Indians used to go in search of their vision. I've been there. As we passed the trailhead, I remembered.
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  Backtrailing for Next Year’s Blackpowder Deer Hunt

  In 1853, a pioneer named Alfred Beeson stopped for water at Tub Springs in southern Oregon. On August 27, 1853, he wrote in his journal, “... 15 miles over hilly stony roads through very heavy timber to mountain spring. Good wood, water and grass. Saw several bears, killed two deer.”
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  3 Great Mule Deer Tags for a Hunter with a Hawken

  In the mid-1800s, there was almost as much travel to the East as there was to the West. In forts, in saloons and around campfires, there was a lot of conjecture about what the pilgrim should carry between here and there. One of the authorities on the subject was Captain Randolph Barnes Marcy. In his book The Prairie Traveler he penned these lines published in 1859.
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  Muzzleloader Blacktail Hunts are Better When it’s Wetter

  If I could pick one word to describe Western Oregon in November, that word would be ‘wet’. And wet is a good thing. The more rain and snow the better, at least if you’re holding a controlled muzzleloader tag for a November blacktail hunt.
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  Hunting Big Timber Blacktails

  After dark, I stood outside of camp and gazed across the valley at the lights of Ashland. Opening day in Jackson County had been tough. This was public land and pressure was high. By now, the deer would have moved into heavy cover. The woods were so dry that still-hunting was difficult. If I wanted a good buck I would have to go to where they lived, deep into the high timber, far from the road, and miles from the nearest clearcut.