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Columbia blacktail help

I'm debating making a trip to Oregon next week to hunt blacktail.Coming from east coast its not a cheap diy.I was given some imfo to try around Alsea.Anyone familiar with this area at all??Just wondering what the population is like in that area.I'm planning to go next week to hope to hit some rut,and have a gun as backup.I know dirty word but it is what it is.Are blacktail able to be called in with some regularity?I looked over google earth of the area and looks like some nice sized clearcuts to glass also.What hunt strategy would you do during this final week of their rifle season to try and get bow close.It took me about a week to figure out the Sitka blacktails in POW.Not that I figured those out that well except for realizing what all you guys were telling me about going at the wrong time was spot on.I was able to start finding some of those as the week went along though,but a decent buck eluded me Basically, I'm trying to decide if this is worth jumping on an airplane for,and sleeping in a rental car for the week up in the national forest Thanks

I'm headed out there Thursday to Powers, OR. Blacktail of the Columbia variety have been my unicorn. This will be my fourth try for one. I am using an outfitter there named Ron Hofsess. I am looking forward to another chance to complete my deer collection!

If I were trying to kill one with a sharp stick, I would go early and go to California. I found plenty of deer there while bow-less during the archery season. Rifle opener was a road hunter rodeo.

For the record, I admire and respect your reckless abandon. I own that urge as well, and as with any addiction.... I often over indulge. Good luck with your hunt!!!

Oh yeah.... And GO FOR IT! Never know what might happen if you're in the woods with a permit in your pocket (that I hope you already bought since the season has started and they're not for sale anymore).

I believe you can still buy a non-res license but you have to buy it at a F&G office in person.

That would be an incorrect belief.

A guy can buy a deer tag at Regional Offices after the season starts! They charge a small extra fee to buy the tag late! David

My belief is correct. I was there earlier this fall and know you can buy the tag despite what is written. I believe the fee is $7.00

Halibutman, I talked with Ron last year about hunting blacktail with him. But my brothers who were hunting with me didn`t want to pony up the fee he was charging , so we went diy. Please let me know how you hunt goes. And Good Luck. Mick

Honestly if you spend time in the woods you have a chance. That being said, my opinion is that Columbia blacktail with a bow here in the western Oregon rainforest is the hardest animal to take for me. I still haven't shot a mature buck but I wish you luck. I have had young bucks (and does) respond to rattling and deer calls occasionally. All units I have hunted on the coast have blacktail. They are called the grey ghosts for a reason, though. Again, good luck.

We went 3 for 3 with Ron in a day and a half. We all used rifles. Third buck was killed inside if 15 paces this morning. 2 nice 4x4 bucks and one 3x3. All really nice deer. I highly recommend Ron Hofsess.

Alsea's a brutal unit. Thick coniferous rain-forest jungle. Best ground is private. Timber ground is best bet for DIY, at least you can glass the cuts. Find a buck, pattern his entry point to a cut and sit and wait him out. No suggestions for area, public pressure is high. Hike/bike a couple miles off the road to get away from the locals, but good luck finding a buck in that tangled mess.

There's way better units out there in W. Oregon.

They SAY California blacktail are Columbia blacktail, but if you ask someone who really hunts a LOT of blacktail (I consider myself one such person) they really should be a different species. There is almost nothing in common between hunting CA blacktail and hunting blacktail on the Oregon/Washington/Alaska coast. Totally different environment and animal.

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