Monmouth area deer hunting ?

[herman76]

Hey, first time hunting this area we got access to a friends land , went last weekend to scout , a lot of bear scat some elk but did not see deer , any advice , thanks. And safe hunting ! :huh:

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[Mark W.]

buy a bear tag

 

[speedbump]

In the Monmouth area you have the Rickreal water shed, Dallas water shed, go into Falls City and get onto Fano Ridge or any number of areas out there

 

[mikemenzie]

Hey there. I was going to post new, but didn't want to without searching first for previous posts, so figured I'd reply on here even though it's old. I'm looking for deer areas near Dallas, OR for my mother. She used to go out Black Rock or Valsetz way years ago, and that's where she found Waldo (her deer) but it seems over the past few years that EVERYTHING west, south or north of Dallas within an hour to an hour and a half is timber land - even completely encircling and closing off access to BLM and other public land, and Weyerhauser, Hancock and others are often closed to any public use "for fire season" even after fire season is officially over, and, though some are open for walk-in late into the season, they're difficult to find, or access to the walk ins is blocked by closed access areas around them, or they're horribly overused and you're never sure where the next guy with a gun pointed your direction is.

Any advice? Anyone know of private land being offered for hunting, even? We could maybe afford a small amount for something like that, just to avoid the hassle.

Thanks, on behalf of my mother.
-Mike

 

[Beefcake]

I'm going to start a private conversation with you. I can start you in the right direction, but please don't abuse the information (I take my handicapped stepson there, so I don't want too many people to know the secret access points). I lived in Independence until last year, and there is some good hunting not too far from there. However, my "hot spot" was invaded by cougar about 2 years ago, and we saw less than 1/4 the deer there last year as the year before.

 

[mikemenzie]

Oh, that'd be great! Poor woman's been going crazy. We spent 6 hours driving miles and miles last week and every time we'd find a good looking road on a map - poof! Magic! No access.

 

[Beefcake]

Holy crap, that took me an hour and a half to write. I hope it helps!

 

[mikemenzie]

I'm not surprised! I can tell that was an olympian task, bud! Someone give this man a medal!

 

[Oregonhunter5]

You wanna be a blacktail hunter huh?
Lol!
Smartest deer out of any. Right up there with the Coos deer. Blacktail bucks are nocturnal. literally. Lots of guys will disagree with this, but i dont care. Buy higher end Binos adn Scope. Like nothing less then $600.00 for a scope and $1,000 for Binos. Reason is, you will have half a chance at the least light Seconds maybe minutes. Dont forget that the last week is prime time. Focus on 6 foot tall new growth. Understand what color they are. Most dont. Deer dont leave areas with bears. Get a bear tag. They are the most fun to hunt over there.

Dont get frustrated. Its the adventure more than the Kill.

 

[mikemenzie]

Oh, she's been hunting for a while. I just drive the car, and walk around with her. She's got an old fashioned leupold on an old Sako .30-06, and just sent the scope in a couple years ago for a full warranty work up, so she's more than good in the rifle and scope department.
Thanks for the advice, though!
-Mike

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

Hey, first time hunting this area we got access to a friends land , went last weekend to scout , a lot of bear scat some elk but did not see deer , any advice , thanks. And safe hunting ! :huh:

Those dog-gone blackmail bucks will let you walk right-on by; they have nerves of steel.

Glass the ferns in tall timber too; watch for ears twitching or antlers rotating.

You can approach as long as they think they are hidden; if their face is behind cover, they do not know their body may be exposed.

 

[winchester270]

So I am going to post a question here also..
I have been on a couple scouting trips lately for deer, as well as hunting all day today and saw very little deer sign. I covered clear cuts, deep timber, not so deep timber and everything else. And everywhere I went was full of elk sign, as well as I was on elk on two occasions, but no deer.
What am I missing? I there a reason I may be finding %95 elk signs %5 deer sign?
I am hunting the Trask unit in western oregon
thanks for any tips

 

[Beefcake]

So I am going to post a question here also..
I have been on a couple scouting trips lately for deer, as well as hunting all day today and saw very little deer sign. I covered clear cuts, deep timber, not so deep timber and everything else. And everywhere I went was full of elk sign, as well as I was on elk on two occasions, but no deer.
What am I missing? I there a reason I may be finding %95 elk signs %5 deer sign?
I am hunting the Trask unit in western oregon
thanks for any tips

I wouldn't let this discourage you. For me, elk sign seems more prevalent because it is easier to spot (bigger scat, bigger bedding areas, etc.). Deer can hide behind a single bush or stump, and I find most of their scat in areas of "cover". Once it rains, I concentrate on tracks (especially crossing trails I use to access the area or on hillsides / road cut-banks). In the timber, I haven't been able to pattern them; they just appear between the trees or from behind big ferns, so I still-hunt near creeks or in timber bordering clearcuts.

I have found that they are easier to pattern in clearcuts - usually near the edges and mostly in the areas hardest to see and / or access from the roads. For instance, I hiked an area in the Trask unit a couple of years ago that required parking at the bottom of a clearcut at a locked gate and hunting uphill. You could see about 500-600 yards uphill with the logging road doing switchbacks all the way up. I glassed for quite a while, then decided to take a walk. As I walked up, I found a few tracks in the cutbanks, but nothing to write home about. Once I got to the top, the cut continued about 60 yards beyond what was visible from the landings below (top of the hill, beyond the horizon from all lower vantage points), and there were probably 30 deer trails. I bet a hundred rigs parked at the bottom and glassed this cut without success, and the deer were having a party just out of their view!

Everyone has their own way of doing things, but I mostly look for antlers, "Mickey Mouse Ears", and the color white (muzzle, throat patch, butt; not many things are white in the forest, so the white parts of a deer stand out).

 

[Oathkeeper1775]

Things will get crazy in a few weeks; the season runs well-into the rut.

This weekend's weather outlook is looking pretty-darn good for deer hunting.

Upper 1/3 of the bottoms; somehow, the bucks that I usually-see, are bedding in the upper portions of a draw, ravine, or bottom...what ever ya call it....I believe it is where the air currents begin to swirl or change directions the most.

They like level spots to chew cud, or face up hill when napping.

When walking; and you come upon a place where you have to climb-over wind-downs, under brush, or negotiate an obstacle to get through....congrats, you are knocking on the door to their bedroom..

Look for those large hemlocks with limbs that almost reach the ground..

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Things will get crazy in a few weeks; the season runs well-into the rut.

This weekend's weather outlook is looking pretty-darn good for deer hunting.

Upper 1/3 of the bottoms; somehow, the bucks that I usually-see, are bedding in the upper portions of a draw, ravine, or bottom...what ever ya call it....I believe it is where the air currents begin to swirl or change directions the most.

They like level spots to chew cud, or face up hill when napping.

When walking; and you come upon a place where you have to climb-over wind-downs, under brush, or negotiate an obstacle to get through....congrats, you are knocking on the door to their bedroom..

Look for those large hemlocks with limbs that almost reach the ground..

Usually the rut happens the second week of November I've found.

 

[ConcreteJungle]

So I am going to post a question here also..
I have been on a couple scouting trips lately for deer, as well as hunting all day today and saw very little deer sign. I covered clear cuts, deep timber, not so deep timber and everything else. And everywhere I went was full of elk sign, as well as I was on elk on two occasions, but no deer.
What am I missing? I there a reason I may be finding %95 elk signs %5 deer sign?
I am hunting the Trask unit in western oregon
thanks for any tips

I'm in your same boat. I spend a few days attempting to hunt. I searched high and wide. Found tons of tracks, trails, droppings...not a single deer in sight. I even heard a few early in the AM, about 2 hours before sunrise. No dice!
Saw a few Elk but that was it...

 

[Oregonhunter5]

I'm in your same boat. I spend a few days attempting to hunt. I searched high and wide. Found tons of tracks, trails, droppings...not a single deer in sight. I even heard a few early in the AM, about 2 hours before sunrise. No dice!
Saw a few Elk but that was it...

Bucks move at 2am

 

[ConcreteJungle]

Bucks move at 2am

Wish I had some high vision or thermal imaging optics so i can actually see something beyond 2 feet in front of me during the night. That way I can just camp out on a hillside in the dark and see where they are.
I'm so frustrated...i hiked 12 miles within a few days scouting the area and trying to follow the signs but still no luck. I came home exhausted as can be but heading out again tomorrow night to spend the weekend up in the woods.Going to have a friend with me so maybe my luck will change.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Lol.
This is very normal. And it doesn't help if you hunted mule deer your whole life, than tried the black tail. Find the 6 foot tall reprod and trails leading in. Sit back 100 yards.
Go further south. And slightly east. More open and easier to see. Like east of grants pass.
Look into the muzzle loader hunt.
November there stupid for love. Like really stupid.

 

[winchester270]

Well thanks guys for the tips, filled my tag today with a nice hefty forked horn. 75 yards and DRT.
It was during the storm on Saturday and he was bedded down in the ferns on the side of a forested cliff over looking a creek. Hard a s hell to get to after the shot... But he was a nice buck and it has been a great weekend