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Topographic Maps can Help Bow Hunters Find Their Way to Game
I crouched behind a stand of small firs waiting for the herd to come through. The elk had seen me and stopped, whirling to run back through the trees. Anticipating their next move, I had run down the trail to watch a clearing.
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Blackpowder Bighorn on Beatys Butte
Sykes put down the phone and told his customers he had to go outside. He shut the door and stepped out into the alley. Here, with no one to see him, he did his happy dance. He’d made the phone call to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to check on the results of…
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Elk Hunting Excitement Keeps Bowhunters Coming Back
We pedaled up the mountain, bows in racks on our handlebars, the afternoon sun in our eyes. Dave showed me where the elk had crossed the road that morning. Stashing our two-wheeled steeds under some trees, we set off up the hill. We walked up a range cattle trail, billowing dust clouds at every step,…
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Skyline Sheep Hunt in the Steens
“Turn around. And look at your dad.” Steve whispered. 600 yards away, 28 year-old Mason Payer sat staring into the canyon trying to find the sheep. He was focused on the wrong spot. The sheep were there. If Mason would turn, he could see them.Mason had said, ‘no radios’ and Steve Payer agreed. But until…
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In the Throne Room of the Mountain King
He climbed by the light of the moon, careful to make little noise in these last minutes before dawn. But in the darkness, he took a wrong turn and found himself against a wall. “I’d think, ‘Find a little handhold and then find a place for my foot and then find another handhold and I’ll…
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Ask not for whom the vultures wait. They wait for thee.
Spring is coming and the wildflowers will be opening soon. The sage will turn silver-green and the sky is blue. Trout are feeding on the surface again. Doves are roosting in the junipers. It’s easy to think that all of nature exists for our pleasure but the truth is that there are some critters out there that…
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High in the Eagle Caps for a Mountain Goat
Matt McDowell pulled away from the spotting scope and turned. “We need to take a closer look at this goat.” Scott Tibbs, sore from nine miles in the saddle and dizzy in the high altitude, scrambled for his pack and rifle. Tibbs followed McDowell down through the scree, a descent of 400 vertical feet into…
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Gun Control is Not the Answer
After the recent violence this past school year, a good friend remarked, “I wish they could take all the guns in this country and grind them up.” Then, as an afterthought he said, “All those hunters – they could just use bows and arrows.” Now, this is a man who loves freedom. He likes to camp,…
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High Above the Hawks for a Steens Mtn. Bighorn
Some days are mountaintop days. June 20, 2006 was one such for Bend resident AJ Conte. The 8th-grader had drawn one of two tags for a bighorn sheep in the Alvord-Buckskin No. 1 hunt at the southern tip of the Steens.
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Preparation can Keep Lost Hikers From Staying Lost
A week of warm weather melted the snow and I took the opportunity to make a hike into Marion Lake. I left the trailhead in the early morning as the sun came over Rockpile Mountain. The path wound up through old growth fir trees hanging heavy with moss until finally I could hear water running out of…
Field Guide
Oregon Hunting
Hunting in Oregon is a more diverse experience than anywhere else in the country. One of the great things about Oregon hunting is the incredible variety of species available for the taking; a hunter can choose to pursue mule deer, blacktail deer, Columbian whitetail, northeast whitetail, Rocky Mountain and Roosevelt elk as well as goats, sheep and predators. The abundance of diverse habitat allows for everything from sage rats to black bear hunting in Oregon!
I’ve been fishing and hunting in Oregon since I was a teenager and I’ve gotten to know the country, habitat and hotspots. The result was an Oregon hunting guide—my book, Hunting Oregon.
The first Hunting Oregon was brought to you by Sun Publishing in 1999. As every Oregon hunter knows, animal habits and habitat change. That’s why we published the second edition—Gary Lewis’s Hunting Oregon. This update, finished in 2010, is completely new, with chapters written by Scott Haugen and Duane Dungannon. In full color, this Oregon hunting guide is what every hunter needs to have before they head out into the field.
There are other ways to prepare for your time in the Oregon outdoors, and I’ve listed a few helpful resources below, to go along with Hunting Oregon.