Explain this to the next generation

I love to take my family up in the mountains for a drive and if lucks on our side we might see the glimpse of a deer or maybe an elk. I recall doing this with my grandfather many years ago he would takes us kids up into the mountains deer hunting and about noon he would sputter out and take a nap then let us kids loose. I always waited for noon. I loved being able to be on my own out in the wild with my brother and cousins. I always dreamed about being old enough to go camping and hunting without the need for adult supervision. Now all those dreams have came true and soon I will be setting my daughter loose so she can enjoy the passion that I was gifted so many years ago. A couple of years ago I took my daughter up to a landing to shoot firearms as we pulled up we saw a dishwasher,refrigerator,and a freezer on the landing. My daughter asked me what they were doing there and I told her the only person that could answer that was the person that left them there. We shot guns and left. A couple of weeks later I returned to see that all three of the appliances had been dragged up and down the road leaving a large trail of debris for a half mile. I have seen these similar situations over and over and I find myself seeing gates everywhere. Having access to privately owned land is becoming a thing of the past. Once they gate one place these trash tossers move onto the next opened area and create there wrath. Its hard to find a place to drive and enjoy the outdoors and if you do it's trash ridden and soon to be gated. The privilege of being allowed to hunt on other peoples property is being tainted by a few. We have the obligation to see that our children will be able to be let loose once their grandfathers have fallen asleep and that their future dreams will be filled like mine were. Please come back soon to- http:/willhuntforanything.blogspot.com/

Antelope Hunting

If you are lucky enough to draw an Antelope tag for the Steens Mountains in Oregon not only will the beauty of the mountains leave you breath taken so will all the wildlife you will see. The antelope hunting is so remote it's best to take everything you will need for the time your there. Burns Oregon is the closest town for any reasonable resources needed at 60 miles away. There's Frenchglen at the northwest edge of Steens Mountain Wilderness area, but you better bring your loan officer to get an advancement to pay for the fuel and goods. We saw close to 75 wild horses the three days we were there. Above are the first wild horses that we saw on our hunting trip. You want to arrive a few days early to scout for the antelope herds because by opening day they have been scattered and are more difficult to find. Opening day at Steens Mountain becomes a highway, but by Monday it's nice and quiet and most of the hunters have cleared out. Antelope here like to hang out in the open which makes it difficult to get withing 500 yard of them. They feed in the grassy areas that are just a tint greener than all the surrounding areas. You will notice the difference of color once you see the antelope feeding. Make sure if you see a herd you are the only hunters advancing on them. I could see a herd from camp and watched two separate groups of hunters stalking this herd. They were on the opposite side of the field from each other and didn't see each other until the herd was running away. Both groups had to walk 4 miles to get to the remote herd. About an hour after the hunters left the herd came right back to where they were feeding. The antelope were so far in I didn't even attempt to hunt that particular group of antelope. I took my antelope on Monday two days after opening day at 10:30 am. The pictures above are the animals and the surrounding area that I took while I was at Steens Mountain. Steens Mountain has camping,fishing,hiking,horse trails and at night the stars are countless. If you are ever looking for adventure take a drive to the Steens Mountains in Oregon you wont be disappointed.

Fishing for Shad at Sawyers Rapids, Elkton Oregon

If you like to catch fish that put up a serious fight then go to Sawyers Rapids, 10 minutes west of Elkton, Oregon and catch some Shad weighing 2 to 4 pounds on average. The time of year to fish is March through May, May is the best time. Check to see how the fishing is before you go by calling Sawyers Rapids RV park(541)584-2226 (there is camping) they always give me the latest information. You have to have a drift boat to get to the rock on the other side of the river and you have to pay to launch your drift boat. I don't recommend trying wade out to fish the rapids I had to pull a fisherman out of the river that tried this once and he was very lucky to be alive. Once you get to the rock park your boat on the west side and get out. I use an ultralight with 4lb line. You want to add as many split shot weights it takes to get to the bottom quickly. I use two to five medium split shots whatever it takes the river could be high or low. Then you want to add a pumpkin seed glitter color(pictured above) 1.5 inch curly tail jig with a bullet jig head weight with a gold hook (pictured below). Make sure there is 12 inches between your weights and hook. Tie the hook directly to your line, no swivel. Pumpkin seed jig is the only color you will need . When you cast, cast across the rapids to the middle of where the two rapids come together the center of the calm part. Let your line out until it hits the bottom then reel up keeping you line tight. On windy days it's impossible to feel them bite. Let the weights bounce the bottom slowly until it comes back into the main stream of the river. You will snag a lot so take plenty of tackle. If you get a bite and you miss setting the hook let it sit for a few seconds before reeling in a lot of times they will hit again. The challenge with these fish is their mouths are so thin and they tear easy you cant give them any slack in your line or you will loose the fish. We catch anywhere from 20 to 75 fish every time we go at the peak of the fish run. Setting the hook can be tricky but, once you get it you will have a blast. I hope you like this article. Come back soon to- http://willhuntforanything.blogspot.com/

Better Deer Hunting

Every time I go into the field I see hunters drive up and stop they get out slam their doors then they glass the area for five minutes and get back in and move on to the next area. The odds of bagging a deer this way are slim. This is one of the systems I use to raise my hunting success that I use with great results. First what you need is quality, high power, optics. Spend the extra money and you will be pleasantly surprised. Make sure you have binoculars,spotting scope and rangefinder, all top quality. Make sure the optics have good eye relieve or your eyes will be bugging out of your head by the end of the day. Field of view is important as well the more field of view your optics have the more you will see when you look through your optics. Now that you have your optics. You need a gun that shoots 1" groups at 100 yards. If you can't shoot 1" groups, practice until you can. Get a rifle scope with high power that will allow you to class your deer, my scope is a Nikon 6.5-20x44. The rangefinder is a must it leaves out the guessing and margin of error. Now let's go into the field. When your driving to the area you plan to hunt there are those areas you think to yourself that would be a good place to hunt, but you don't stop. You keep driving as far back into the forest as you can possibly get because that's where hunters think the most deer are. Most people think this same way and these areas that are passed up have little pressure. How many time have you seen someone bag an animal at the beginning of the forest. Don't stop where other's hunters stop deer know what you can see from where your standing and will position themselves according to where you are standing so you can't see them. I once saw a buck through my spotting scope and watched a hunter pull up and the buck walked into the brush the hunter got out looked around and when the hunter left he came right back out and started feeding again. Fool the deer enter a unit where no one else will. Park a half mile from where you want to look at and walk in making no noise. Another trick I use is sitting on the tail gate and the driver slows down to a crawl so I can step down on the road while the truck keeps going then you duck behind some cover until you cant here the truck anymore. (The truck can't stop at all) Be sure your off the road before the noise of the trucks is gone. Use this tip at your own risk it can be dangerous if you step off a moving vehicle. If you stand on a landing that's a dead giveaway that's the first place deer look when they hear noise. Walk a ways down the ridge line and mask your outline with a tree or bush. Ask yourself is there food there? is it green with foliage that deer would eat. Your not going to see to many deer where the area foliage is dead and grey. 90% of all hunters think the same and deer pattern to the way people hunt. Glass these areas until you are 100% sure there are no deer in the area . They could be bedded down, in a draw, behind a bush. I sometimes spend my whole day in one area that I'm looking at. Patients = success. Hunt all day a lot of hunters leave for lunch or just hunt in the morning. 10 am to 2pm is the time a lot of deer move they hear less vehicles running up and down the roads so they move from their feeding areas to there bedding areas. The middle of the day is also a good time to catch deer going to their watering holes. Who you hunt with also can make or break your hunting success. They hunt one way because his daddy hunted that way and it's the right way. Wrong! deer have evolved over the years and hunters have educated them. I remember 30 years ago when it wasn't uncommon for deer or elk to bed and feed along side the roads and hang out there all day long. It's not like it used to be. They have learned the pattern of humans and have adjusted to our movements in the field. Adjust your hunting to better your success and not to be directed by others who fail year after year. To sum it up 1)Quality,High power optics 2) A quality shooting firearm. 3) Stealth,no noise 4)Hunt the units you usually pass up (The first areas you pass). 5) Glass the area with patients, I can't stress this enough 6) Adjust your hunting to better your success not to be directed by others who fail year after year. Tell your friend about my site and we can all chat about the outdoors. If you like this article please return for more great articles in the future here at http://willhuntforanything.blogspot.com/

Fishing tips and secrets

Kokanee are very picky when it comes to using the right set up. If you use these techniques I'm about to show you I guarantee you will catch more fish in much less time. My favorite and most productive setup is a trolling rig using down riggers. This is a list of what you will need for the first rig (1) 1/8 inch surgical tubing cut to 8 inches long (2) double Dee's micro flashers any color (3) one #5 snap swivel and #5 barrel swivel (4) #6 red wedding ring with silver blade (5) 3 feet 6lb leader. Now that your ready grab the surgical tubing and the snap and barrel swivels. Put the barrel swivel loop inside the surgical tubing-Be sure not to let the surgical tubing touch the barrel swivel or the swivel wont work-second put the barrel swivel loop in the other end of the surgical tubing. Now what you want to do is tie the tubing onto the swivels with square knots. I usually tie them three times ( Picture #1). Make sure the knots are tight so the tubing wont come off the swivel. A lot of people put a string through the tubing , I don't recommend this because the fish can feel it when they bite and will let go at the strike. Picture #1

Now that your tubing is ready attach it to the end of the Dee's micro flashers. Picture #2


Attach the main line to your fishing pole. Then put a wedding ring spinner #6 hammered silver blade/red beads on the barrel swivel. Make sure your leader is cut to 34inches.Picture #3

Now that your ready to go you need to go to your local grocery store and get one can of white shoe peg corn and two cans of tuna in oil. Drain the water out of the white shoe peg corn, not yellow it wont work. Then squeeze all the oil out of the tuna can in a container then add the corn and stir it up. Mix this the morning you go fishing. Put two pieces on your hook. Dip your lure in the oil. Don't get the oil on your line it will eat it. Picture #4


Now connect the line to your down rigger 25 feet up your main line. When driving the boat zigzag back and forth smoothly. Look for the schools of fish on your fish finder they stick to the thermocline. This is a specific water temp where kokanee like to feed. Change your speed fast and then slow to trolling speed do this every so often it triggers strikes and allows your bait to reach different depths. Check with your states regulation for bait and tackle before you use this. That's all their is to it use it and let us know how you did. Come back often for more hunting and fishing tips. http://willhuntforanything.blogspot.com/

New 2010 Oregon Angling License Regulations.

Two-Rod License A license which allows an angler with a current resident or non-resident fishing license to angle with two rods or lines when angling on standing water bodies which include lakes, ponds, and reservoirs including Snake River impoundments above Hell’s Canyon Dam but excludes the Columbia River and its impoundments.




Two-Rod Angling License $17.00 • Adult and juvenile anglers (14-17 years of age) must possess a valid Angling License in order to purchase a Two-Rod validation. Anglers under age 14 may use two rods where allowed without a Two-Rod validation.

Umpqua River- Elkton, Oregon at Sawyers Rapids

This is shad we caught on the umpqua river last year. A good day's fishing

is when your arm hurts the next day. It's the best crab bait ever and when it is smoked, pressure cooked and canned I think it tastes better than smoked salmon. Chuck's seafood in charleston, Or. does a great job of canning shad. Try it sometime it will surprise you....

Welcome to Hunting and Fishing Highlights!!

Welcome to Hunting Highlights, I will be sharing my detailed adventures in Oregon with you. I will be sharing hunting and fishing  hotspots  in Western Oregon. Hunting and fishing techniques that have taken me 36 years hone. Come back often so we can chat and discuss the outdoors. Theres much we can learn from each another.