05 October 2013, 18:41
Aaron NeilsonCalifornia & Oregon - Sept/Oct 2013!
Hunter: Aaron NeilsonCameraman: Jeremiah Bennett
Location: Northern CA / Southern OR
Dates: Sept. 28 - Oct. 4, 2013
Species: Roosevelt Elk, Columbia Black tail, Black bear, Columbia Whitetail
Weapon: Ruger M77 stainless in .300 Win Mag, with Hornady 150gr. GMX bullets, topped with a Trijicon 2.5 - 10 x 56mm
Optics: Leica Geovid 10x42's / Leica 65mm spotting scope
Folks, this one will be short/sweet - but thought I would share some of our most recent success. I've never hunted in this part of the country, but I was pleasantly surprised with both the game and the scenery.
We started off in Northern California, hunting with Gordon Long on a beautiful ranch for Roosevelt elk, Blacktail and black bear. This spectacular property bordered onto the Redwood National Park, making it a game rich area. The evening we arrived at the ranch, we took a little time to look around and see what we could find. It didn't take us long to locate a very good bull, one that I was gonna be very happy with - could we find him again in the morning. Afterwards, we went back to the cabin and got ready for the next day's hunt.
Day 1 - Frankly, it only took us about 45 min to locate the big bull from the night before. We were up high, glassing the big bowl shaped mountain in front of us when we located the bull and his group of cows.
After a quick plan, and a fairly easy/brief stalk - by 8am my first Roosevelt elk was down for the count!
Day 2 - Was completely different than the day before. We awoke to pouring rain, winds and heavy fog by the time the sun was up. No worries - it was Sunday, so we drove to town and watched football all day.
Day 3 - Some better weather, so it was back to hunting. We were still looking for a blacktail, and I would happily take another black bear if the opportunity was available. We had twice seen a buck that we figured to be 130" plus, but getting a crack at him proved more difficult that one would hope. But as evening approached, we got a chance to stalk on a black bear - so show time it was. We approached to with 130 yards, and let the shooting being. Below was the result.
Day 4 - I still had a blacktail tag burning a hole in my pocket, so the search continued. The morning proved fruitless, with fog socking us in until about 10:30am. But that afternoon we did manage to find a respectable 3x3 buck, and my search for the Columbia blacktail was over.
Day 5 - Found us driving up the coast into Southern Oregon, with our final destination set for Roseburg, OR. The drive was pretty spectacular, as we took the PCH for awhile - right along the coastline.
Arriving in Roseburg at 1pm, we hurried and got ready - and headed out to the ranch by 2:30pm. There we met Pat Fisher from Hawaii. He had been scouting two particular bucks for us over the past 3 days, and felt confident we would find one of them asap.
Well, no sooner did we get set-up on a hill over-looking the valley below, when it started to pour rain. Luckily we had our rain gear, and for the next 1.5 hrs we got drenched. But about 5:30 it lifted, and the deer quickly started moving. 15 minutes later we were trying to lay out a plan for the big Columbia whitetail we were looking at 700 yards away. We made a great sliding, crawling, muddy, wet stalk - to within 160 yards of the buck that had now laid down in the grass. As if on the payroll, just as we had gotten set up - the buck stood up, walked directly at us for another 30 yards and turned quartering broadside towards me. Boom, at that was that!
As I understand it, Oregon only gives about 50 permits per year for the Columbia Whitetail - so I was very fortunate to get this opportunity. Now I'm no Columbia whitetail expert, but apparently this one is huge. Regardless, they are neat little critters - and the hunt although short, was very cool!!!
I also gotta say thank you to my friend Wade Derby - Crosshair Consulting. He was a huge help in getting this Columbia whitetail hunt arranged for me, and now he's working on our 2014 Tule Elk hunt. Thanks buddy!!!
Now its time to head to eastern Colorado and start guiding deer hunters - gotta go!!!!
Thank you,
Congrats! 
