Eastern Oregon OTC DIY Archery Elk Hunt

Joined
Jul 16, 2020
Messages
41
Hey all,

Hope everyone is doing well in these crazy times! My brother and I are headed to Oregon this year for OTC archery elk. We have only been able to e-scout/GoHunt and have not been able to go in person to scout units. Our number 1 priority in choosing a unit, is lack of heavy hunting pressure. We'd take small bulls and less people over the opposite. At the same time, we realize that any OTC unit is going to have pressure. That being said, there are still some areas out there with solid elk herds that are tougher terrain and not many roads around, cutting down on hunting pressure. We had our eyes trained on Unit 62 (Pine Creek) as where we had planned to try. But after a recent conversation with the biologist in that area, it sounds like that unit gets hit pretty hard as well and tons of people. So now I feel a bit deflated. He mentioned there being a ton of elk in unit 50 Desolation, but everything I've read online says that unit is a zoo with people. Have any of you on here had experience in either of those units (62 or 50) and if so, would you recommend either? I've also heard 46 Murderers Creek is popular? Thanks so much for the insight/advice!
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2020
Messages
780
Location
Oregon
I honestly am not wanting to be a downer for you guys. All the units have pressure and can be a zoo. It takes time and leg work to find a spot that a guy can find some space.

Good luck.
 

slobow

FNG
Joined
May 20, 2019
Messages
23
Elkdreamer is unfortunately correct. Everyone wants to hunt elk these days. Having horses will definitely help but without knowledge of the trails/blowdowns/etc that could be interesting. Really have to think about getting the animal out once the animal hits the dirt. Good luck. Wish I had better news for you.
 

Rob5589

WKR
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
6,243
Location
N CA
Welcome! What I have found, in my very limited experience, is that if you found a great looking spot on OnX/Google Earth, so have hundreds of other guys. Everyone will agree, there's no substitute for scouting it in person. Good luck!
 

jay97070

FNG
Joined
Jan 19, 2021
Messages
6
How did your hunt go?
I have experience in Unit 50. Yes, lots of people but there is ground to hunt. Opening weekend is always crowded but mid-week there is generally less. And if you get off the road in some areas, you'll have spots to yourself. Desolation has some beautiful country.
 

crosey5

FNG
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
61
I was in the Beulah unit (65) for the last week of season. Man the rut was slow. We have many theories on why. Smoke from the fires, weather still too warm, etc. Did anyone else have a similar experience? In 9 days we had 1 bull that was interested and we got no shot opportunity.
 
Joined
Jun 5, 2017
Messages
406
Location
Portland, OR
I was in the Beulah unit (65) for the last week of season. Man the rut was slow. We have many theories on why. Smoke from the fires, weather still too warm, etc. Did anyone else have a similar experience? In 9 days we had 1 bull that was interested and we got no shot opportunity.
Man that's rough! Sorry to hear you had such a hard experience. I'm assuming you were in the NW portion of the unit since that's where most elk are at that time of year.

Did you move around the unit at all and try different areas? After 2-3 days, if you aren't seeing bulls, they most likely just aren't there. How was the hunting pressure? It can be hit or miss in that area.
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2020
Messages
780
Location
Oregon
IMHO it was a hard year for sure. I also have my ideas why. Hope 2021 is better but with lack of snow I doubt it.
 

crosey5

FNG
Joined
Oct 19, 2020
Messages
61
Man that's rough! Sorry to hear you had such a hard experience. I'm assuming you were in the NW portion of the unit since that's where most elk are at that time of year.

Did you move around the unit at all and try different areas? After 2-3 days, if you aren't seeing bulls, they most likely just aren't there. How was the hunting pressure? It can be hit or miss in that area.
We were in the NW part of the unit. We did not move too much as we had a base camp that we were pretty committed to with our travel trailer (won't do that again). Hunting pressure was so-so. On the main roads we saw plenty of dudes but never ran into anyone on our hikes. It wasn't like there weren't elk in the area. We were seeing fresh sign and glassed a very nice 6 point and even heard plenty of bugles. Bulls were just not ready to rumble.
 
Joined
Jun 5, 2017
Messages
406
Location
Portland, OR
We were in the NW part of the unit. We did not move too much as we had a base camp that we were pretty committed to with our travel trailer (won't do that again). Hunting pressure was so-so. On the main roads we saw plenty of dudes but never ran into anyone on our hikes. It wasn't like there weren't elk in the area. We were seeing fresh sign and glassed a very nice 6 point and even heard plenty of bugles. Bulls were just not ready to rumble.
I think it was hit or miss for a lot of people this year in OR. Hoping next year we don't have the fire issues (or at least at big/bad). Seems that you can't even count on being allowed on private timber land until the latter half of the archery season due to dry conditions.
 

Redwing

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
238
Location
Oregon
I don't want to be a downer either, but I would not be traveling to hunt eastern Oregon unless I lived in the state. There are far better non-resident options out there.

The hunter/elk ratio is just not in your favor.

Last year was particularly terrible, probably due to fires and smoke and warm weather, but it's difficult to suss that out from other possible factors.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Messages
408
Location
Idaho
I was in the Beulah unit (65) for the last week of season. Man the rut was slow. We have many theories on why. Smoke from the fires, weather still too warm, etc. Did anyone else have a similar experience? In 9 days we had 1 bull that was interested and we got no shot opportunity.
I wasn't out there the last week in September due to being away from the Guard Station, but I heard very minimal bugling August through mid October. All the bugling I heard was mostly in the evening at sunset or before sunrise in the morning. Saw quite a few bulls chasing cows though when I rode my bike in the evenings and went fishing in the mornings. I saw only 2 archery killed elk up there.
 
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