Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Owyhee Reservoir Deer Hunt Oregon side

I am taking a boat over to the Owyhee Reservoir for deer hunting this year. Looking for any advice, do's, don'ts from anyone that has hunted over there. I hear there are a lot of rattlesnakes... I had a brutal hunt for Elk last year in the Mill Creek Watershed, and it looks like the Owyhee is also going to offer me very similar geography, steep and deep, minus all the trees. I have a very nice Vortex 20-60x85 spotting scope and Vortex Viper 15x50 binoculars. I anticipate the weather could be t-shirt weather one day and snowing the next. Guessing I will just need to hike up to decent elevation and glass, glass, glass, spot and stalk... It's my understanding there are not a lot of deer over there, but there are some dandies. I am going with a buddy and I believe we will be hunting south of the boat ramp, but exact location is not yet known. I am an avid hunter, bow hunted Oregon wilderness for about 25 years, harvested two moose, a dall sheep and a mountain goat in Alaska within the last 10 years and really enjoy being out in the woods. I'm headed to sagebrush country and am looking for any information anyone is willing to offer. Planning on taking my Ruger M77 30-06 and a 6.5 Creedmoor, both have Vortex optics of course :-) . Thanks in advance.

Welcome to the forum. I don't have an good info for you, but it sounds like it will be a cool trip. Failing that, you can always buy an over the counter Antifa tag. We know you already have a man bun, so a grungy flannel shirt and a quart of patchouli and you'll be able to sneak right up on them without drawing attention.

I chukar hunt and fly fish by the reservoir and the Owyhee river. Familiar with mill creek as I've bow hunted for elk in that area too. Mill creek is much bigger country imo. Not saying the Owyhee is easy country, but much easier than the mc watershed. And if you sheep hunted should not be a problem. Id bring hiking poles and carry extra water. Yes, lots of snakes in that area but never had any issues with them. Thats some gorgeous country in the Owyhee but hear the deer numbers and trophy quality is down from the past. Just get in your area before first light in the morning and start glassing.

good luck

Sounds like a challenging hunt - good luck to ya!




If the multiple mentions of said optics brand was/were done so to impress, you've likely joined the wrong forum.

I used to chukar hunt that country extensively. It's not all that rough of terrain.

You'll find deer!

Brown trout fishing below the dam in the fall can be phenomenal.

Ribka, thank you for the info! I am really looking forward to this hunt, if nothing else, it's going to be some beautiful Oregon country!

Skane, no, the power of the optics is what I was trying to portray. I do like my Vortex optics very much, but not trying to say they are the best or that everyone would like them. For my budget, they work perfectly. :-)

Kenkeri - Just having fun.

Kenkeri, I've done the hunt you describe, although long ago. At that time the snakes outnumbered the deer, including one four foot monster rattlesnake as big around as a beer can. I was young then, I'd like to do it now just to compare. We had a big ol' owl try to get our dog one night, the party got one forked horn deer, a badger, and some smallmouth bass. We went about 20 miles down the reservoir and camped on the beach, hiking west in the morning. Tons of chukars back then. It'll be a great hunt, but please be careful with snakes.

Fireball2, thank you! For sure, I'll definitely be watching for the snakes, there will be no getting off the lake in a hurry if bit, and a long way to local hospital..... I need to check the regulations, I don't think chukar hunting opens until later in the season... thanks again!

Good crappie and bass fishing too.
I haven't deer hunted there, but it's beautiful country. Hope you do well!

Well Kenkeri, can't add a darn thing to it all...

however welcome to the campfire... and you have 4 or 5 current Campfire Members right here in Grants Pass...

there is me, Fireball 2 ( Roy),, Ringman ( Rich).. and a couple inactive former members...

ya might run into any of us at the Sports Park Range..

Let us know when you get back on how the hunt went...

My season is over courtesy of a cooperative blacktail over off the Bear Camp Road just outside of Galice...

I don't do Elk anymore... was around too many places where other hunters were getting shot each year it seemed..
up between Union Creek and Crater Lake...

Best of luck out there....

I fished out there recently. Never hunted. It's not that steep. I saw several deer near the river bottoms and a few around the reservoir. No buck deer though. Good luck, beautiful country.

I hunted chukar to the southwest of the reservoir around Dry Cr. for 15 seasons, I never recall seeing any deer or deer sign. Other than the river ....water is so limited, and it being a record drought, it should be fairly easy to scout access points where deer come down to water. Did occasionally see a few deer just on the edge of Harper where we turned off to go down to Dry Cr.
My info is pretty old. Also there was a horrible winterkill back in the mid '90's in that country, snowed fencepost deep and the froze hard, but that was 25 yrs ago, maybe it's recovered.

I'm back from the hunt. It's a beautiful location, unfortunately our party did not get any deer. We jumped a couple and saw successful hunters, but the deer are pretty scattered and there are a lot of places for them to hide out. We had to cut our trip short by 3 days, party member got a kidney stone and septic kidney infection, had to be taken to Boise for surgery. I will go back, it's a LONG way over there from Grants Pass, but it is a beautiful reservoir. We hunted basically 3 days instead of 5 or 6 as planned. If you go, take a lot of gas, your boat will use a lot motoring around. I appreciate everyone's feedback and insight. Lots of birds over there, can't believe some of the ridges bird hunters hiked for chukar, shotgun shells all the way to the top of very tall ridges. Did see two rattlesnakes, they were not very active, almost stepped on one. Had wild horses come right into camp, that was pretty cool. Again, thanks to everyone!

Just saw this and obviously too late to chime in. Worked the east side for a couple years doing graduate school studies. Tough country as one mostly has to put in miles and it's obviously not flat. Also, the season is about two weeks too early, as it's mostly winter range with the deer showing up in late October early November. On the east side the best area is to bump up as close as possible to the private ground on Mahogany Mountain. Not an original idea though as Leslie Gulch will be crowded early on. The rims on either side of Succor Creek may hold a monster or two as well and there is a guzzler in the bottom of the Honeycombs that can nourish an animal or two.

Tucking in close to the Rockville ranches can also be a good idea as there is still some green feed left in their meadows.

Really a tough hunt to do from the reservoir. The high country is roaded on the east side and one can at least start from the top on that side.

Did one bump into any sheep? Ewes and lambs are mostly around Leslie Gulch and Spring Creek, but the rams can show up anywhere.

That's great info, thank you. We did not see any sheep. Some local guys were telling us many died due to pheumonia type disease. Not sure if fish and game killed any, apparently the disease can also effect cattle, so the sheep either all died or were killed. There may be a few still in there, but we did not see any. Yes, I located a spring up a draw from our camp on the East side. Unfortunately I didn't find it until the last day of our hunt. Thanks again for the information, Owyhee is a beautiful place!