Oregon Blacktail Hunt: Scout and Strategize!

[@johnnash5118]

The flora and dryness look like Southern Oregon, like the Melrose or Evens Cr. units. I hunt the Trask and Santiam units in NW Oregon, which is even more lush and wet. I look for riparian zones of maple, alder and ash trees, with salal (I call it "so loud") brush, wild rose, wild blackberry (snag berry vines on the ground to trip you up,) Oregon grape and huckleberry bushes in semi-swampy creek basins; sometime there are associated Creekside flood plain meadows offering longer lines of sight, all surrounded by conifer forests providing wind protection and escape routes up the adjacent ridges. It takes hours of google topo and google earth scouting to find these gems; but once you do, scout out trails ground scrapes and tree rubs to confirm fresh activity. Trail cams are well worth the cost too, it confirmed a whole herd of Roosevelts including an old 5x5, younger 5x5 and a spike for me this year at my chosen spot. For bucks, find the busiest intersection, place cams for trends of direction and frequency, then set up a stand upwind.

[@juliogalvan3914]

Hit big clear cuts in the am after that go in big timber