Predator Hunting in Portland, OR area?

I wnt to the NWPHA, which as you mentioned is different then the NPHA. Either way, I will be joining both. The NWPHA does cost money ($30), but after talking with their founder (RustyDog), I feel it is worth it, not to mention you get a sweet hat and sticker. God knows I am a sucker for a camo hat.

As for the NPHA, it looks like a greet forum to gather some good info, and to share my knowledge with a grain of salt.

Thanks again for your original tip, as it lead me to two great sites.
 
SlowDraw: You mentioned not wanting to screw up the dope on your R15 by yank'n it off and putting on a Red Dot. I went thru the same situation lately with stands in thicker terrain requiring rapid target acquisition. I solved my dilemma. Went with a Larue Tactical scope mount for my AR. Of course I had to zero it again. I now switch between my Eotech 512 and my Nikon Buckmaster scope based on the terrain I'm hunting. I carry both with me and making the switch in the field is easy. I've had no problems with missed shots due to the dope. Best of both scenarios - have a dedicated weapon with each setup - but the wife has said "NO" to that solution. Just a suggestion. Good luck!
 
Water4545, thanks for the tip. I looked up the Larue Tactical scope mount, and it looks pretty slick. I haven't priced it out yet, but I am sure it would be cheaper then buying another rifle, and easier to justify to the wife. To bad this wasn't on my Christmas list, now I'm going to have to scrape up some cash to make it happen. Really like this idea, and as you mentioned, carrying both scopes in the field. This thing can make a person a one man army against those yotes.
 
seems that a used gun or maybe a stevens would be pretty dang cheap so you could have a short and long distance rig.

Of course a cz 527 is only about 600 bucks and that would be a serious yote zapper.

I'll probably carry around 3 or 4 guns I already have and pick which one for each stand depending how far I can see.
 
So just a quick update on what I found this weekend. I ventured out east of Estacada, and took the NF 4610 rd North off of Hwy 224. I brought a few friends with me, who wanted to get out of the city and shoot some skeet as well (this might have been a bad idea). My buddy was driving (another bad idea), and we covered a decent amount of ground. I even used Google Earth to scout out some potential clear cuts or Meadows off of the NF road system. However, all I found was 5+ year old reprod units. Way to thick to call in. Long story short, I found absolutely no good ground to call. I know there has to be some good meadows/ clear cuts out there, but I have yet to find them. I plan on driving out there myself and spending some more time driving the roads, but would love to know if anyone has a specific road i should be looking for.

All in all, it was still a good trip, just to get out of town and into some woods. On a second disappointing note....I saw no critters what so ever (just a handful of tweets). Not sure if it was due to the weather, or what. Might be a bad sign for Coyote populations.
 
Welcome to the wet side. Nothing you said surprises me.

Call in the timber... 60 yards is a Looooooooong shot around here in lots of cases!
 
There really are not many clearcuts out there on public land that I found.Even over the crest it thins out a little but still ALOT of trees. They pretty much put an end to it in the clinton days. The clear cuts are coming back. The lumber land has more clear cuts. Calling right on the dirt roads may be an option. you just need to get them to step onto the road. They tend to travel on roads so you could get lucky. sitting up on a hill can be good even if the brush is real thick you just need it to step into an open spot and the path of least resistance is the most likely path. You can use the brush to your advantage by forcing them through the open areas or onto the roads.
 
Last edited:
Never thought of using the roads as y shooting lanes, but a great idea. Although I have always been familiar with the terrain of the Cascades through big game hunting, I have never really applied that knowledge to Predator hunting and how much one has to change their eastern Oregon tactics. Going to be pretty exciting when I get my first yote busting through the brush and on to my lap.
 
Originally Posted By: stmcelroyHead over towards The Dalles, you'll spend 1-1/2 hours driving but be in prime coyote country.


That is what I say! plus there is a bunch of upland game and less rain out there too!

A guy here on PM that lives in oregon said he uses a shotgun and calls right on the roads in western oregon that is where I got the idea. Another cool thing is you only need to park your truck just out of site. I don't like walking when I predator hunt. Downside is you could be in the middle of a stand and someone drives by and ruins it. This time of year I doubt many people are on the backroads in the rain.Those gated off roads are great you can just walk up them or even better MTN Bike up them. Then you don't have to worry about a truck driving by.
 
Last edited:
Nope. Its going to be tough I can promise you that. Its already hard and this thick cover situation makes it worse.

Hey maybe you should check out byron south coming to the call volume three "calling in the thick stuff".

 
Last edited:
Thanks for the tip on the video. I went ahead and ordered it this morning, as well as another one for East Coast hunters from another outfit. Hopefully I can master the Willamette Valley hunting techniques and become a star...haha. Keep you posted on that dream, as their is a steep learning curve ahead. Starting to realize it might be more worth my time to drive up and over the mountains to the east side, but I am bothered by the thick cover challenge and want to beet it. Got a tentative invite to go duck hunting this weekend, but if that falls through, I'm hitting the high roads again to unlock some success.
 
Don't worry when I get there we'll take turns driving to the east side!

Good luck! keep us posted I'm dieing to find out if you have success. Even if you don't make a kill I think its pretty much a great day if you get one coming in and see it or hear its close. You will learn from it and do better the next time.
 
Well, I headed back out to the Estacada area on Sunday. This time I did not have any friends with me to slow me down. I took some of the advice from last week, and looked for open timber instead of just big clearings. I found a couple of decent places. I even found a gated road that was open, and had two decent clearcuts. I try calling there and a few other places with no luck. The weather was so bad, that i wasn't really expecting much. I took a side road that climbed in elevation fast, and went from down pore to blizzard conditions in a blink of an eye. I found my truck in about 2 ft of snow before i turned around. Looking for tracks in the snow, but since it was coming down so fast, the only tracks I would of found would have been made within two minutes. No tracks. No luck, but enjoying my excuse to get out of the house and just drive around with a gun.
 
I went out this weekend west of Salem, exploring a bit. Every single gate that could be closed was closed this weekend. Even gates I didn't know existed or never saw closed were closed. It was really odd. Weyerhaeuser gates were all closed, odd because they made a 180 on the pay to enter decision.

I think I drove about 150 miles and never did find a spot where I would park and hunt. (a few places to park and walk in a mile or so but the wife was with me and cant go "hiking" (MS)

I did call on the side of a couple fields around NW-W Dallas and pulled a couple out, but nothing I could do anything about, tempting as it was. There are loads around the city limits but no one will let you hunt. I also saw a about a dozen blacktail....where they heck were they during season lol.

I should have taken the boat out and hit the greenways. hint-o-the-day In Oregon the rivers are public on most navigable rivers up to the high water mark and yotes love running the river edges. (you can't shoot from the boat if its under power, some locations are limited to shotguns)
 
If you take the boat out, anchor and call right out of the boat. I see deer all the time when fishing, and they don't make the connection that it's people. That might work pretty well.
If you're calling the clearcuts, keep your eye open for bobcats (get a furtaker license. It comes with 15 bobcat tags.) You're as likely to call a bobcat as a coyote (maybe more likely). It's tough hunting, no doubt. Check the electrical line cuts, those can be good.
 
Last edited:
Yet another twist to coyote hunting tactics for the valley....hunting out of a boat. Love the idea...you could almost multi task....throw a hook over the side and start calling. Might come home with a pelt and a fish!

I hear you on the gates. I could see some prime open areas way up on some skylines, but the roads were gated with no hunting signs...ugh!
 
This has been a fun read,I grew up in Milwaukie & know of a lot of the areas your talking about. Brings back alot of memories,The Clackamas river, Estacada & all, my old stompin grounds. I don't know how much snow you have up in the hills this year with it being so mild, but I used to hunt up in the High rock area up by Timothy Lk. can't remember the rd # but the area had some coyotes & the timber was on the thinner side which made hunting a little easier, I don't know maybe to far maybe to much snow for this time of year? could try it next Sept/Oct. Dave
 
Back
Top