elkrchr
Well-known member
My wife and I drew Starkey Experimental Forest rifle deer tags this year. Another friend of ours also drew the tag and camped with us. My son prepared his "good luck" card for us as he does for every hunt and after a four and a half hour drive from Portland, a beautiful sunset awaited us.
Deer were very scarce during the hunt as the temperatures reached the mid 70's and the deer were locked down in the pine/larch thickets where it seemed only a chipmunk could find its' way through. Elk however were extremely abundant. It reminded me of being in Yellowstone Nat'l Park. The season opened on Saturday, Oct. 3rd and by the 4th another camp a few miles away from us had found the humor in the lack of buck sightings and posted a "reward" sign which we thought was hilarious.
It was a great family outing shared with a couple of friends and abundant wildlife sightings (with the exception of deer!) helped us maintain our focus. My son shot a ruffed grouse with his .410, found the pelvis from an elk and was a trooper as we covered mile after mile of beautiful country devoid of deer. We saw four bears (no shot opportunities) and two great grey owls.
After opening day, my son's shadow puppet buck was the only buck sighted. Enjoy the photos of our adventure as I prepare for my upcoming sitka blacktail deer hunt on Kodiak Island.
Deer were very scarce during the hunt as the temperatures reached the mid 70's and the deer were locked down in the pine/larch thickets where it seemed only a chipmunk could find its' way through. Elk however were extremely abundant. It reminded me of being in Yellowstone Nat'l Park. The season opened on Saturday, Oct. 3rd and by the 4th another camp a few miles away from us had found the humor in the lack of buck sightings and posted a "reward" sign which we thought was hilarious.
It was a great family outing shared with a couple of friends and abundant wildlife sightings (with the exception of deer!) helped us maintain our focus. My son shot a ruffed grouse with his .410, found the pelvis from an elk and was a trooper as we covered mile after mile of beautiful country devoid of deer. We saw four bears (no shot opportunities) and two great grey owls.
After opening day, my son's shadow puppet buck was the only buck sighted. Enjoy the photos of our adventure as I prepare for my upcoming sitka blacktail deer hunt on Kodiak Island.
Attachments
-
SEF 5.jpg173.3 KB · Views: 462
-
SEF 4.jpg100.9 KB · Views: 465
-
SEF 2.jpg75.6 KB · Views: 468
-
SEF 7.jpg156.8 KB · Views: 460
-
SEF 6.jpg209.7 KB · Views: 464
-
SEF 8.jpg104.5 KB · Views: 466
-
SEF 1.jpg176.6 KB · Views: 473
-
SEF 3.jpg219.1 KB · Views: 469
-
SEF 9.jpg256.9 KB · Views: 468
-
SEF 10.jpg183.8 KB · Views: 470
-
SEF 12.jpg234.3 KB · Views: 464
-
SEF 13.jpg180.4 KB · Views: 466
-
SEF 11.jpg83.8 KB · Views: 459
-
SEF 14.jpg320.9 KB · Views: 463