MARCH NEWSLETTER 2022
/MARCH 2022 NEWSLETTER
TURKEY, TURKEY, TURKEY, GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE
Well, the 3rd wave of COVID is behind us and winter is hanging on. The latest on the weather front is that La Nina is going to hang on for until June, meaning more moisture, which is fine. We need it. Snow pack in many parts
Oregon is at 85% of normal for this time of the year.
Duck season, how do you spell inconsistent. But there were flurries of serious shooting around, and goose hunting was not bad. Lots of snows on Sauvie’s Island, and some fun shooting.
Upland bird. Hatches were scattered in E. WA but birds were around, and spooky, wild if you will! Eastern Oregon good hatches of Chukars, but with all the people who have jumped into the outdoors the last two years, they were pressured very hard by hunting.
Turkeys appear to have had a good hatch, late but good. Recent scouting shows a great group of young birds and carryover of older birds in Douglas County and up and down I-5. We do have openings for turkey and info is below.
Deer season for us was good, hunting was more difficult process then in years past. The bigger deer came in later, much like in 2019, so the second season proved to be a better hunt, a lot of deer rolled in at the end of the week and hunting was good. We are booking spots for E. WA, but are close to being sold out.
North Central WA was also a challenging hunt but success was realized in both modern rifle and Bow. Our late season Rut Bow hunt for Whitetails, we were a tad early, the bigger bucks came in later then typically happens but a few turkeys obliged our hunter and their bows.
Tag deadline is coming up in 2 months, not sure where to tell you to go in Oregon it has been pretty lean.
With the mask mandate behind us, maybe we will see a Trap Shoot Yet at Pope Lake.
Have some great links in the body of the Newsletter with great info for all of you
https://northwesthunting.com/turkey-hunts
TURKEY SEASON 2022 APRIL 15TH TO MAY 31ST. People are booking dates already so get on board, opening weekend, only one spot left, the train will leave the station without you. John McClay will help again along with a couple of other Gents. Hatch was good. Lots of new birds everywhere. Nesting season this year appears to be a better hatch than 2020, which was huge. The beauty of having ranches and farms all over Douglas County we are lucky we can spread things out and go where it suits conditions and bird numbers
If you want to hunt this Spring, let’s get a date booked. We have lots of people inquiring on dates and already have quite a few bookings. Just like the deer spots, people want to know they can get out and enjoy the outdoors with us.
Again, this year our primary area of hunting is in SW Oregon again this year. We hunt north, west, some east and south of Roseburg. All of your longtime favorite spots in the vicinity of Oncilla, Sutherlin, Melrose, Days Creek, Oakland, Myrtle Creek, Rice Hill, and Green Valley. And new spots in Oakland, Myrtle Creek and North Umpqua. We have added a big ranch on the North Umpqua and two more farms, one in the Yoncolla area, one in the Lookingglass area near Roseburg. We also have some good access in the Junction City area and building more up in the middle valley. We are fortunate to have that kind of access. We are still headquartered at Rice Hill, but we have now other options to the south of the bird population necessitates an additional headquarters to hunt out of.
We will be adding some guided hunts in North Central Washington near Republic, WA, some lodge based. This is part of the hunt club we are adding in that area, “Northern Lights Hunt Club.” Also working with the K Diamond K Ranch for rooms and lodging, check it out www.kdiamondk.com
We have plenty of good dates available, so still time to book a hunt. Give me a call or an email. Spring is almost here that means “TURKEY TIME!”
Long link but the “TOP 10 MISTAKES MADE TURKEY HUNTING”, Heck never done any of these.
TURKEY TIPS: Always pattern your gun, it is hard to do with the lack of AMMO but use at least lead shot, 6’s work, to make sure you know your point of impact.
https://northwesthunting.com/big-game-washington
BIG GAME WASHINGTON – PROSPECTS AND OPENINGS
ALL OF OUR ADVERTISED HUNTS ARE OVER THE COUNTER TAGS
MODERN RIFLE WASHINGTON GENERAL BUCK SEASON
FIRST HUNT OCTOBER 15TH TO OCTOBER 18TH
SECOND HUNT OCTOBER 22RD TO OCTOBER 25TH
(Further down the newsletter more WA hunts)
Most of our hunts are DIY with a few guided.
DEFINITION OF A DIY HUNT: You will be assigned a scouted parcel of land for the hunt. The parcel is for you or your groups exclusive use during the hunt period. We will be checking in with you and monitoring your progress and overall hunting experience to keep track of your hunt. Upon your harvest of an animal and field dressing, we will haul your animal out. We are a strictly foot hunting operation and that’s why we have 90% success.
We have many spots filled for rifle season, but we do have some open spots at our Washtucna base ranch for both first and second season. We have a couple of spots available for the Starbuck Ranch, first and second season. Ritzville-Odessa-Lind Ranches we have spots available second season. In units and also up Republic, WA, Northern Lights Hunt Club, we have openings see below.
In N. Central WA we have spots available for both rifle seasons with various packages available, and also Bow and Muzzleloader, all OTC tags
https://northernlightshuntclub.com/
General Bow Season in September 1st to the 23rd, same great area, spots available, along with Muzzleloader season in early September 24th to October 2nd.
Late Rut Whitetail Season – Nov. 10 to Dec 15 GMU 101 & 204. This is a great bow hunt, with a number of hunts already sold, so this one need priority if interested. We could be hunting in Snow. It is a 4 day/5-night hunt. We pick up 5 nights at the K Diamond K Ranch /Lodge, with meals. We are hunting relatively small parcels, 60 to 500 acres, and the hunting is really sitting and rattling, grunting etc. We are in great zone for Whitetail, in the San Poi, Kettle River drainages.
It is $2495 per hunter DIY, though we set the blinds, get you to them, and pattern the deer. $2995 for a DIY /Hybrid, we will be more involved in the hunt with making sure you are doing things the right way on a continual basis, fully guided $3995. The License and tag are $434. We aren’t doing a lot of spot and stalk, though some. You have to sit and wait. But with good cell service, most places, and a heater that won’t bother the deer, it can be comfortable and successful. We will haul your deer in after it is field dressed, or help with that, hang it, and help you skin it, or we can do that. Thus, the DIY or Hybrid DIY. Or we do a complete guided hunt.
We put up the blinds, pattern the deer, scout, so that part we help with the DIY. The patience (being in one place for a number of hours, you hear these horror stories from hunters from the West who went somewhere to hunt Whitetail in the Rut, but it is not that bad. In Texas they drop you at 5 or 6AM and don’t comeback until dark, and it can be cold as hell,) the cold (we put heaters in the blinds that don’t bother the deer,) and we don’t have the pressure that all the other areas of the state have, which really is nothing, a few outfitters target Bow Hunting Rutting Whitetail, but definitely a different experience. Over the counter tags are nice.
LAST ROOSTER STANDING SHOOTING PRESERVE-WA
We are doing hunts now, but the pheasant and chukar shortage meant we had to not take any new bookings based on available inventory. We are scouring the country looking for birds and found some. Lots of folks moving back into outdoor pursuits, way better than being bunkered up!!
https://lastroosterstanding.com/
https://northwesthunting.com/dog-training-hunting
SPRING /SUMMER DOG TRAINING
We started training a bit in earnest now as we had 3 feet of snow, but doing fine. Get with me to book space for conditioning and regular training. We will have just few spots available this year. Training has been a challenge for some dogs as being cooped up with your owner near the Pandemic was not good for all parties.
DOG TRAINING TIP OF THE MONTH -FAQS
Quit over feeding your dog! When you look at your dog, nor matter how much exercise they get, treats, addons, like biscuits, are extra calories, low-cal or not so back your dog’s food off if you are going to treat them all day long. It makes us feel good to feed our dog, but overfeeding doesn’t make anybody feel better.
LINK FOR FIRST AID KIT FOR YOUR DOG:
https://projectupland.com/hunting-dogs/12-things-to-add-to-your-canine-first-aid-kit/?mc_cid=e6a27c5736&mc_eid=cf4bea5006 GREAT STUFF!!
DUCK CLUBS: Actively putting rosters together for Goose Hollow Duck Club on Sauvie’s Island, with some changes on blinds and layout ahead. Also setting up two different Bear Creek Duck Clubs near Junction City, one a little more DIY then the other with different price ranges.
If you are getting this and would prefer not to, let us know. We have added many folks to mailing lists and try to maintain them as best we can.