chicoredneck
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We just returned from our successful elk hunt in Eastern Oregon courtesy Gordon Long of Multiple Use Managers - http://www.mumwildlife.com/ . We were hunting the Three Valleys Ranch for the Oct. 24th 5 day season. Our tag was for any elk.
The ranch is huge, 38,000 acres, and straddles the eastern edge of the cascades. A mix of high timbered peaks, open grassy mountain sides, and low sage flats makes for an incredible and vast landscape to hunt. Heavy snow covered the highest peaks giving way to a light dusting on the lower slopes. The countryside alone was worth the long drive from Chico, CA.
The ranch has two cabins, one at the upper end of the ranch at the foot of Ironside mountain and one at the southern end near Beulah reservoir. We chose to start our hunt near Ironside. The cabin was already full of hunters so we pitched our tents outside. Luckily, we were prepared for the cold weather.
A view of Ironside mountain from camp. It is much more impressive in person.
After camp was up we set off to go scout for elk. After only 15 minutes we spotted what looked like a nice bull on the slope above camp. At least one cow accompanied him, but the heavy timber made glassing difficult. What was apparent was that the elk were on the move, heading down the slope towards the valley below. We spent another 30 minutes looking for more elk to no avail. We moved off in the opposite direction of the two elk we had seen earlier and set up a target to verify that our AR15's were zeroed and ready for a long shot if necessary. We were using our company's new line of precision 243WSSM AR's for this hunt - www.verwoestpa.com. We also had one of our light weight 6.8spc carbine along on this trip as well.
We awoke early the next morning to the sound of the other hunters warming up their ATV's for their trip up the mountain. A warm breakfast was our first priority after spending the night in 12* weather. After our bellies were full we drove back to where we had spotted the elk the day before. One of the other hunters in our group had spotted some fresh elk tracks crossing the road in the same area and had marked the location with some neon tape in a tree. We glassed across the valley in the direction the tracks were heading. There across the valley, just outside of the timber, was a herd of 50 elk or more stacked up against a fence line.
Our goal was to either take a cow or preferably a small bull. We were purely meat hunting and saving the largest animals for Multiple Use Managers paying clients. The elk were a good two miles from us, but we could tell that there were some mature bulls in the herd and probably some smaller ones. The hunt was on!
We drove back to camp because it was closer to the animals than where we had first spotted them and started our approach. By this time a steady snow had begun to fall. The animals had moved on. Glassing was becoming difficult because of the snow and clouds that had moved in. We searched for tracks to try and gain a bead on the direction they were moving, but the snow was falling so heavy that it was quickly hiding any evidence left by the elk. It was suspected that the elk had moved up the ridge line into the timber to spend their day. Continued...
A view of the mountain the elk were on from camp. It's peak is hidden in the clouds.
The ranch is huge, 38,000 acres, and straddles the eastern edge of the cascades. A mix of high timbered peaks, open grassy mountain sides, and low sage flats makes for an incredible and vast landscape to hunt. Heavy snow covered the highest peaks giving way to a light dusting on the lower slopes. The countryside alone was worth the long drive from Chico, CA.
The ranch has two cabins, one at the upper end of the ranch at the foot of Ironside mountain and one at the southern end near Beulah reservoir. We chose to start our hunt near Ironside. The cabin was already full of hunters so we pitched our tents outside. Luckily, we were prepared for the cold weather.
A view of Ironside mountain from camp. It is much more impressive in person.
After camp was up we set off to go scout for elk. After only 15 minutes we spotted what looked like a nice bull on the slope above camp. At least one cow accompanied him, but the heavy timber made glassing difficult. What was apparent was that the elk were on the move, heading down the slope towards the valley below. We spent another 30 minutes looking for more elk to no avail. We moved off in the opposite direction of the two elk we had seen earlier and set up a target to verify that our AR15's were zeroed and ready for a long shot if necessary. We were using our company's new line of precision 243WSSM AR's for this hunt - www.verwoestpa.com. We also had one of our light weight 6.8spc carbine along on this trip as well.
We awoke early the next morning to the sound of the other hunters warming up their ATV's for their trip up the mountain. A warm breakfast was our first priority after spending the night in 12* weather. After our bellies were full we drove back to where we had spotted the elk the day before. One of the other hunters in our group had spotted some fresh elk tracks crossing the road in the same area and had marked the location with some neon tape in a tree. We glassed across the valley in the direction the tracks were heading. There across the valley, just outside of the timber, was a herd of 50 elk or more stacked up against a fence line.
Our goal was to either take a cow or preferably a small bull. We were purely meat hunting and saving the largest animals for Multiple Use Managers paying clients. The elk were a good two miles from us, but we could tell that there were some mature bulls in the herd and probably some smaller ones. The hunt was on!
We drove back to camp because it was closer to the animals than where we had first spotted them and started our approach. By this time a steady snow had begun to fall. The animals had moved on. Glassing was becoming difficult because of the snow and clouds that had moved in. We searched for tracks to try and gain a bead on the direction they were moving, but the snow was falling so heavy that it was quickly hiding any evidence left by the elk. It was suspected that the elk had moved up the ridge line into the timber to spend their day. Continued...
A view of the mountain the elk were on from camp. It's peak is hidden in the clouds.
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