Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Snake River Unit #59 Oregon

Thinking about putting in for this hunt and wanted to hear from anyone whose hunted their. I'm not familiar with the area but from what I've gathered so far it sounds like a pretty good hunt. Any info would be appreciated.

I've not hunted in that unit, but I've spent time just south on the Oregon side and a lot time (about 18 seasons) across the river on the Idaho side. My suggestions: be prepared for rugged ground. The best approach, unless one is a world class hill climber, is to work the opposing slopes with binoculars and use a spotting scope to assess located critters. Move and glass, and move and glass is the name of the game.

Deer do a lot of foraging on the dry, barren looking, south and west aspects. Amazingly, they can bed and hide in 18 inch high grass, and at 3 to 5 PM deer will show where one would have previously bet a paycheck that the area was empty.

A backpack is a must for carrying out front and rear halves. Carts are only useful if one is going straight up or down hill. Take the pack frame along on the hunt, as one will lose at least half a day going back to camp to retrieve it.

One typically has about 4 to 5 hours to work freshly bedded critters before they get on the move again. A benefit is to have a buddy stay on point, and he can flag you off or guide you in if a critter gets up and moves while one is out of sight. Work out the signals before parting company.

One will find company running the easily accessed ridgetops and roads. Find those end of the road spots where sane people turn around. Work down, or boat the river and work up, and one will not have much competition in the major canyons. It's not a place to roar in and do a Saturday and half of Sunday hunt. Do 5 to 7 days and one will have time to pass on dinks and put in the time to find some big boys. The big guys are famous for only showing in the last half hour of the day, so take a flashlight for getting back.

A lot of front end map time will be a real benefit, and a summer scouting trip will help even more. That would give one opportunity to nail down some good sheltered campsites and a couple of alternatives in case some early bird scoops your spot.

Although it is big country, the topography really suits spot and stalk hunting. While it's nice, one does not need a whizzum magnum to score. I've taken deer from 10 feet (I could hear his teeth grinding as he chewed his cud) out to about 400 yrds. Most though, have been in the 75 to 125 yard range. Good luck, 1Minute

Thanks 1minute. There will be three of us hunting so getting an animal out won't have to be a huge chore. Its my understanding that all the roads are closed before season opens. We don't have mules so that would mean camping on the edge of the unit and hunting in each day. May not be a big deal. I don't know. Where ever we decide to go I'm probably going to do a preseason scouting trip.

Thanks again for the info.

I've hunted it.
I would either pack in with a drop camp or backpack.
It's rugged country for sure, "hunting in" and walking back out every day will eat up alot of time and energy.

The buck numbers suck right now, but theres still some out there of course.
You might even get serenaded by a wolf or two.

When were you there last KC?

2006

I hunted it a few years ago.. rugged, but there is definitely game in there and the ruggedness really added to the thrill of it all for me..