Well I'm coming down to the last few days of my spring season. I have to head to Central Oregon tomorrow for a job interview my wife has with the county tax department so I'll miss two days but when i get back I'll still have Wed and Thurs. I have been busy and dealing with more medical crap so I haven't been out much this year but the past few days have grounded me again and reminded me why we do what we do. My first day back out was Tuesday and it was more like fall than spring. The temps were in the 40's and it was raining with low clouds. I am hunting the coastal mountains which only go up to about 3000ft where I'm at but they are a vertical rainforest. I normally hunt by driving and glassing clear cuts as OR outlawed baiting and dogs about 15yrs ago when it was put up for a vote and the anti's ran non stop ads making it look cruel to use dogs and they threw baiting in for good measure because they knew it would reduce success rates. I had just topped the mountain when out of nowhere a nice bear blew out about 30yds in front of me and ran down the old logging road I was on. The only problem was visibility was only about 30yds because I was in the clouds but none the less it was a promising sight. I've seen 7 or 8 bears in the past 5 years which is alot if you'd seen the country. This isn't like eastern OR or ID where you can spot them on open hillsides. I've only had a clean shot at one of the bears and I choked and missed. Anyways after seeing the bear I meandered across the mountain in the same area we deer hunt in but it's the same story, it's so thick you normally don't see anything during hunting season and with my physical limitations I can get up and down the mountains very well anymore. The nice thing is this time of year the animals aren't spooked. I ended up seeing 12 blacktails 5 of which were definite bucks with their horns just starting to come up, out of the other 7, 5 were definite does and 2 I couldn't get a look at their heads. All of these deer were within recurve bow range and would have been a chip shot with my iron sighted 45 not to mention my 454 with the red dot. The next day I went up and in the same spot I'd seen two does the day before there were two Roosevelt cows at about 30yds and it was the same thing, either could have been dropped easily. I had only gone a mile or so when I saw a huge cow come off the side of the hill, I knew immediately she was the lead cow. When your dealing with Roosevelts it's a little more obvious because an old lead cow doesn't give up anything to a Quarter horse standing 15 hands. As I watched her another half dozen or so came across. I pulled up and watched them from 30-40 yds when they trotted off, they split around a small knob and came back together. As I watched the two small groups come back together that's when I saw the rest of the herd. The lead cow had taken her place at the front of a line strung out two to four wide for over 100yds with about 50 in the herd and the furthest was under 150yds from me. I kept on my trek and ended up running into several more deer and a cow and yearling. I missed Thurs and Fri but got back out today, unfortunately the area had been over run with atv's and dirt bikes for the holiday weekend but none the less I still was able to enjoy the peace that comes with being in the western mountains. I strongly urge any of you that have never experienced the west to make it a priority, whether your chasing mulies, rocky mtn elk, roosevelt elk, blacktails, or columbian whitetails the western mountains are something else and even within them there is such a contrast from the rockies to the cascades to the coastal ranges of WA and OR. I guess I'll see what Wed and Thursday will bring and since I drive through the coastal range on my way to central OR I'll have my 454 in the truck just in case.

Sounds beautiful....definately different from Florida!!! Good luck to your wife on her interview and to you on the bear hunt.

Good luck and God Bless Rod!!

Rod,that sounds exciting!!Good luck to you both!!

Reading your post got my heart thumping! I was right there with you!

Have fun my friend & good luck with the rest of your season!

Good luck on your future outings! I've never further west than CO, WY or MT. Maybe someday.

Good luck Rod. Hope a nice one crosses your path and luck shines down on you. Good luck to your wife as well.

Sounds like a lot of fun, I wish you the best luck!

Good luck! I hope you wop one of those black suckers

. I am not hunting, but just got back in from a drive around the Grand Mesa in CO and had about 12 elk trot past me at about 50 yards. looked like 4 bulls in the back of the herd. I was too slow with the camera

Good Luck Rod, hope you get to drop the hammer.

I may have got a lead on a big boar that is harrassing wildlife and livestock on a farm about 45 minutes from my house so I plan to go up there tomorrow evening.

Don't forget the camera. I always do.

Rod I wish you all the luck in the world. Let us know how it turns out.

I just talked with the property owner and things have taken an interesting turn. The bear sounds like it's gone rogue it has killed a couple fawns and some small domestic animals as well as becoming aggressive with the property owner. He's going to take me to where the bear has been hanging out which is apparently some pretty steep and thick country. The owner is a doubter of handguns and is really concerned about the bear so I've agreed to carry a long gun because although I'm a handgun hunter I'm first and foremost a hunter. I'll be carrying my 1895 Marlin with 350gr Hornady RNSP and I haven't decided on a handgun yet. If it weren't for weight considerations, especially with me still being out of condition from all the surgeries I'd pack either the 500 or 454 with the red dots but right now I'm considering either my 45 Bisley but it's sighted in with 250gr XTP's which should get the job done but it's still quite a bit heavier than my 3 screw 44spcl with 255gr WFNPB's at just over 1000fps. The 44 is light and with the 3" barrel it's quick handling and it's very accurate. I'll let you know how it turns out as I only have two days left to get it done.

Have fun, good luck, stay safe!!

yeah, I'd probably push the handgun thing harder but being that I'll basicly be responsible for another persons well being I'll just do what has to be done.

Wish you the best, keep us posted.

Good luck to you Rod. Keep us posted!

Went up there yesterday and got a little bit of the lay of the land but really hit it off with the property owner so I'll be packing my short barrels today. I just wish I'd gotten the info before the last two days of the season. The good news is he has bears on his property constantly in the fall because of his apple orchard and he hates them as they destroy his trees. His brother owns several hundred acres around him on three sides which are all tree farms with firs and the fourth side is forest service. His brother has had problems with the bears tearing up his trees so he's no fan of them either so it looks like I'll have a new area to bear hunt this fall.

Sounds like it has potential! I don't have to tell you to take lots of pictures! LOL

Sounds great Rod good luck.

Well the season is over and I don't know if switching boats in midstream was smart or not but I've made a new friend and hunting contact so come fall when the bears are in his orchard and tearing up his brothers tree farm I should have a good chance at a good bear. with the set up he has in his orchards I'll probably go with the 300 Win in the Encore as shots could push 200-300yds which is different since normally you would have to shoot across a canyon to get that kind of range. Like I was saying his brother is a logger and has him surrounded on three sides with reprod and then forest service on the back of his property which is 17acres. Next time I go up I'll take pics as it's one of the most beautifull pieces of property I've seen. I'ts a super nice farm carved out of the middle of midgrowth evergreens and backed up by old growth. I haven't talked to him about deer yet but he also gets some monster sized blacktails in on a regular basis and although he hasn't caught up with one yet he has a bobcat and cougar problem.

Hey Rod.. Do you have to get drawn for spring bear in Oregon? I think the spring weather has it all over the fall. Cool nights and days..dont really have to worry about meat spoiling, like in August. The rain isnt quite as heavy as in October or November.A couple times here in Western Washington Ive gone in to hunt before dawn on a bicycle on my return had the road washed out between me and my truck..Spring sounds good to me..

you do have to get drawn but the Western Oregon tags are normally 100% draw, the East side of the state where the hunting is easier is harder to draw because quota's are filled faster.

I too hunt the coastal range. Some public lands, but I like the timber companys properties. They are often gated and it keeps out the competition. No pumpkin patches for this guy. I havent really hunted since last spring I had back surgery this last September. Im getting prepared for this year just loaded up 40 rounds for the 44 mag ruger hunter.

There is alot of timber company property where I'm at although in the spring the gates are usually open but this year I didn't see another bear hunter. I just can't walk as much as used too although it's getting a little better. I lost the use of my right leg for quite a while but the last two surgeries have progressively improved it but it's still probably only 80% of what the left one is. I'm still getting strength back in both of them from 8 years of constantly being down from surgeries.

The bears should be grazing along the logging roads this time of year. Ive nearly run a few over on my mountain bike coasting on downhill corners moving from clearcut to clearcut. Imagine both the bear and my surprise.

was it back related injury

yep, I've had 7 surgeries since 04 with L3-S1 fused and T4-T6 fused. During the same time I also had 6 tears in my right shoulder fixed and three wrist surgery with the last one being on the right side and they removed three bones, tightened and reconnected the ligaments and removed half the nerves in the right hand. The joys of shooting big bores

Maybe Ill stick to the little bigbores

I am tempted by those 400 grain bullets. been thinking about a 454 casull or 480 ruger

I wouldnt need to push them over 1200fps

I can't blame the big bores for all of it, I was an auto tech for 22yrs and that played a part but I was shooting heavy hitters alot to the tune of 200-400rds a week. I still shoot big bores and the 454 is my primary gun and is much easier on the wrists than the 475's and 500's. I'm running 240 and 300gr XTP Mags at roughly 1750 and 1500fps and it's accurate and has plenty of power.