hunting season

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
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retired jerry
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hunting season

Post by retired jerry » October 19th, 2014, 9:17 pm

I think hunting season started October 4, two weeks ago

Does hunting slack off at some date?

Lumpy
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Re: hunting season

Post by Lumpy » October 19th, 2014, 9:25 pm

When everything has been shot.

Just kidding. Hunting seasons are easy to find for the various states on line.
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pdxgene
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Re: hunting season

Post by pdxgene » October 20th, 2014, 4:28 am

How do mushroom pickers not get accidentally shot more often? They are almost all offtrail and they all seem to wear dark clothing.

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retired jerry
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Re: hunting season

Post by retired jerry » October 20th, 2014, 6:41 am

whenever I go to their websites it's very confusing - like I think deer season with regular firearms is what I should be worried about, but I don't see when the season ends

I believe it started October 4. I think after a few weeks things calm down. Maybe the less experienced people go out enthusiastically early so that's the worst time.

I know mushroom pickers go out in Old Maid Flats area, and I've seen hunters there also. I talked to a couple that were figuring out where to go. Maybe mushroom hunters stay more in flat areas and hunters go uo in steeper areas?

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drm
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Re: hunting season

Post by drm » October 20th, 2014, 7:24 am

Elk season seems to be the most intense to me. In this area it is usually only 9 or 10 days long, so elk hunters all have to get out there at the same time. Around here it is in early November typically.

Lumpy
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Re: hunting season

Post by Lumpy » October 20th, 2014, 10:19 am

retired jerry wrote:Maybe the less experienced people go out enthusiastically early so that's the worst time.
Damn near everyone that can gets out in the woods on opening day. Animals are moving, folks want a chance at the best animals, and after a few days of rifle shot noise in the woods, the deer will be extremely wary, or will have moved to nearly inaccessible areas (read: gotta be in good physical shape and super dedicated to getting away from roads and other hunting camps to find an animal.)

The unlucky or least experienced or poor hunters are out right up until closing day, as everyone else has filled their tag and their freezer already.

Jerry, tell me an area you are interested in and I'll see if I can act as your game season language interpreter. ;)
"Why are you always chasing women?"
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maryannpdx
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Re: hunting season

Post by maryannpdx » October 20th, 2014, 10:41 am

Where are hunters allowed to go? I've always been confused about this. I figured since I tend to hike the popular trails in state parks, wilderness areas, national forests, etc., I was safe.
But, I was out on the Catherine Creek trails on Sunday and came across this guy hiking the trails and walking on the road:
Image
MaryannPDX

pdxgene
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Re: hunting season

Post by pdxgene » October 20th, 2014, 11:02 am

Don't forget there are target shooters out there too. Here's the rules for the Mt Hood Natl Forest.... http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/mthood/re ... rdb5422894

This just came up when we saw a couple guys with their guns headed up the Burnt Lake Trail when we got back down to the lot the other day. There were people scattered throughout the trail by then. It seemed like an incredibly dangerous place to shoot a gun considering it's a pretty narrow area between the two creeks where the trail is. I was very happy to have finished my hike. That seems like an absolutely horrible place to hunt/shoot and shows complete disregard for anyone else on the trails. They were wearing just regular clothes and had no packs or gear so they most likely were not even going to the lake much less beyond it where the people would be gone.

And even with what few rules there are there is virtually zero enforcement. In who knows how many years of hiking in the Mt Hood NF I still have yet to see one ranger on a trail. I've seen more bears(1) and found --ok, stumbled across, I wasn't specifically looking for them- more lost climbers(2) that SAR was looking for in a completely different area than I've seen rangers.

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retired jerry
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Re: hunting season

Post by retired jerry » October 20th, 2014, 11:19 am

Looks like a rainy trend. Maybe Trinity Alps will be better. Might have to fall back to Badger Lake, Deschutes River, Metolius River,....

It'd be nice to do a last trip in Mt Hood area like Zigzag or even Yocum Ridge but I don't like all this rain.

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texasbb
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Re: hunting season

Post by texasbb » October 20th, 2014, 4:27 pm

maryannpdx wrote:Where are hunters allowed to go? I've always been confused about this. I figured since I tend to hike the popular trails in state parks, wilderness areas, national forests, etc., I was safe.
But, I was out on the Catherine Creek trails on Sunday and came across this guy hiking the trails and walking on the road:
Image
And...you were still safe. :)

Not picking on maryannpdx, but why do people worry so much about a few hunters? Aren't we the same people who school folks scared of bears, solo hiking, light packs, and off-trail travel on the comparatively nasty dangers of driving to trailheads?

There are only something like 80 U.S. accidental hunting deaths per year and only a minority of those (15%? 30%? I forget...just google it, the stats are not hard to find) are due to "hunter judgment" errors (the rest due to careless gun handling, are frequently self inflicted, etc). Just wear your blaze orange, have a good time, and don't fret. I'd be glad to suggest some better worries if you need them. :lol:

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