Predator Hunting in Portland, OR area?

SlowDraw

SlowDraw

New member
I’m looking for any leads on good places in the Portland area to hunt Predators. Not sure how many members here are familiar with the Portland, OR area, but I figure I would give it a shot.
I know there are lots of Coyotes in the area, but most are literally in people’s back yards, and have yet to devise a way of hunting in a suburb. I am originally from Eastern Oregon, but unfortunately am living in the big city of Oregon
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, but still have an itch to scratch. Driving home every time I get that itch (which is often) is expensive and time consuming (but still worth it when I can make it happen). I would love to know of a general area that I can have some success and is within an hour or so driving distance, and more importantly be safe from shooting out the back window of an apt building. I have thought about asking local farms ranches (about an hour drive out), but really have no leads on the area. Would rather hunt public ground, but would be more than happy to rid some yotes for a local farmer/rancher.

Anyone have any ideas
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. Don’t want to know anyone’s secret spots, but a compass bearing would be nice. And please don’t tell me to go to Eastern Oregon, as I am looking for something that is a day trip not a whole weekend.

Thanks in advance, and happy hunting.
 
You could try south of mollala on maple grove rd.Also try the estacada area.I havent tried these areas myself,but plan to when I return to oregon.I will be staying in north wilsonville.
 
ya gotta be kidding me there is endless miles of NF starting just a few miles out of portland east or west. It is loaded with song dogs. The problem is the brush is so thick. Ya need a shotgun or rifle with irons, red dot, or low power scope. would be best to buddy up 1 guy shotgun the other rifle.

I got into a large pack of song dogs west of corvalis up around tum tum tree farms last year.

Alot of the lumber land you can hunt on in the coast range possibly the cascades too. You just have to get a free permit from wherever the company office is. These logging areas are good to hunt because they have clear cuts and forest of different ages making for areas for good stands and to use rifles. Ya might get into some grouse too!

Its upland bird season You should be out on the john day or deschutes hunting rabbit, quail, and chukar! Then howl and listen for song dogs at night if you hear some hunt the area. Also you could be hunting grouse while scouting for coyote on the west side.

eastern oregon around bend is really good. see the giant dog in my avatar? got it with my 22mag by bend in october.

its too freaking rainy to hunt the west side this time of year. basicaly anyplace on the east side is good and dry is the most important thing!

My uncle lives by redland he gets coyote in his yard often.

The closer to town, farms, livestock you can hunt the better. Garbage can support alot of dogs!


I'm moving to portland area in a year or two see ya there!
 
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TripleDeuce660, thanks for the info. I especially like the tip about using iron sites or a red dot for rifle hunting. I have hunted big game in the cascades and know how thick it can get. I have also hunted bear west of Corvallis and know exactly what your talking about when it comes to getting those free permits. All my time in the West Cascades and Coastal Range and I have only saw one coyote...of course I was never really looking for them. I know there is National Forest all around me, but for some reason I am having trouble finding the access roads. Seems I always end up in front of a gate. Just going to have to put a little more mud on the tires and find my entry.

Now I just need to go buy another coyote gun so I can put a red dot sight on it....don't want to mess up my zero on my existing R-15 223.

A Partner at a CPA firm I used to work for lives in Lake Oswego (snobby area of Portland that buts up against farm land) always complained about coyotes coming into their neighborhood and harassing their pets. I tried to talk him into letting me set up on his back porch with some of those low velocity (silent) 22 shells. Not sure if they would have done the trick, but it would have been a kick to hunt in the suburbs.

Thanks for the info...starting to really like this site.
 
A shotgun is probably better then rifle.

How low does the power go on your scope? Your probably ok with a scope that goes down to 3 x especialy if it is AO that will let you focus it at such short range.

Think when I move there I might just get a dedicated shotgun. Or I have a .222 rem 660 I been thinking about fixing it up with either a real low power scope like 1-4x, red dot, or the original factory irons.

I'll probably be moving close to milwaukie. The areas I can afford to buy a house are around oregon city etc. south west side I guess. We'll go blast some song dogs! I'm a serious rabbit hunter i got a beagle and i'm going to build a pack. I know a couple people up there with champion beagles. So if ya want we can blast the bunnies and bird hunt too. I need a hunting partner, 2 weeks ago I was all alone when my dog was attacked by a cougar and then it stalked me. one of these days i'm going to be hunting alone and get hurt.
 
Very hard to hunt Coyotes on the Wet side. They like living in neighborhoods, and we're innundated with Califoria escapees... bad combination.

Hunting the timber is a trick in itself, can be fun, but numbers are very low. Each Coyote in the Green is a trophy, they don't come easy.
 
ya know I was also thinking western oregon is the perfect place to use a ladder when calling. I have seen it on some dvd's. Just get a 6 ft ladder and spray it camo. Sit ontop of it in the woods to see over the brush. That will make soooo many more stands possible.

I wonder if the roads are closed because of the rain? I know the lumber land they close off when it rains to protect the roads.
 
My scope on the R-15 was selected for the open country, Nikon Buckmaster 4.5x14x40 with BDS reticle and AO. Don't think this will work out to well, unless I want to see a giant piece of fur in my scope...haha. I could just use my Benelli Nova, as it is the turkey addition with the shorter barrel on it.

Yeah, I highly recommend the Milwaukie/Oregon-City area if you are moving up here. I lived on the West Side (Beaverton area) for a a few years, and it was nice, but had more of the Soccer Mom feel to it (my opinion). My wife and I ended up moving to Milwaukie for the same reasons you mentioned, only place we could afford to buy a house. I love it so far, as it is an older neighborhood with little new development housing, which means there are usually yards that are bigger then a truck bed. I work in the downtown area, so the commute from Milwaukie is actually better then Beaverton when considering traffic. The people in this are are also more of a down-home type, which I like. The first day driving home to our new house, I noticed 10x the amount of 4x4 trucks on the road. This is a tell-tell sign of a good thing in my opinion, vs the minivans and beemers in Beaverton...haha.

I used to rabbit hunt allot when I was at school in Corvallis with a lady I worked with who had three champion beagles. That was some of the most fun I have ever had. It's amazing watching those dogs work and do what they were bread for. If you ever need a hunting partner for dogs or wabbits let me know. Maybe by the time you move here, I will have some sets locked down for some local yote shooting.
 
If I find time to swing by the store and buy my 2010 license this weekend, I will have to go explore some of those roads and see. I will let you guys know if they are open or closed if I make it.
 
is the person down in corvalis named missy? I know a lady in corvalis with a champion pack we hunted at E.E. wilson game reserve and its like rabbit heaven! Hope to bread my beagle with her champ "ladie" and keep the pups.

How far does your scope AO go down? if its 10 yards it might not be too bad aslong as you bark to stop the dog.

I have a 22mag with mueller 4.5-14x40. Its not ideal but I was able to see the coyote in my avatar at only about 15 yards. I just dial the AO way down and its atleast focused when the dog comes in. My scope with 100 yard objective on my predator rifle is going to be blurry as heck.


beaverton is nice but I like the oregon city area for reason you mentioned. Another reason is the south side means its a shorter distance to E.E. wilson for amazing rabbit hunting. Its also closer to eastern oregon. Figure I'll be on the east side hunting chukar etc anytime I can to get out of the endless west side rain.

when I get there we'll alternate who carries the shotgun and rifle! I'm having some good luck calling in dogs with hand calls.

Do you hand call or E call?
 
If you want to hunt the Tum Tum tree farm, it's owned by Starker and their office is between Corvallis and Philomath (closer to Philomath) on Hwy. 20. You'll see the sign.

Quote:How far does your scope AO go down? if its 10 yards it might not be too bad aslong as you bark to stop the dog.
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Pretty much.
 
Missy Fix....small world. i worked with her at one of my many part time jobs while going to school. [beeep] of a lady. She took me rabbit hunting for the first time out at E.E. Wilson with her dogs. Talk about a good time....and yes that is rabbit hunting if you got dogs. I haven't stayed in touch with her very much since I have graduated and moved up to p-town. Her dogs were very impressive, and I would think they would be a top choice for a breeder. I still can't believe we both know Missy...haha.

I use mouth calls...or should I say my father in law does. I usually always hunt with him down home, and he does most the calling (seasoned vet), and if it aint broke don't fix it. I can mouth call well enough myself, but I haven't had allot of opportunities to put my skills to the test. Only hunted with a e-call once with no success. Even though I haven't given them a fair shake, I like mouth calls much more...more satisfaction knowing you called them in that way.
 
I worked on the wet side for 30 years spent quite a bit of time in the brush looking at potential timber sales. I covered a lot miles on the gravel as well. I seldom saw coyotes, as a matter of fact I would say I easily saw more bear than coyote. There are coyotes on the west side, I have killed a few over the years but I wouldn't say there are alot. I have found more close in to town. There is more to eat there in the fields and subdivisions. I am retired now but went back for a visit. They told me that the there is some kind of moss that grows on coyote poop and that is not very common so they want to protect it. I had to put up with that for 30 years. I should find out where all that moss id maybe i could find the yote that started it. Any way the only place I would see them was in areas that had alot of clear cuts so don't bother looking to much on fedral ground unless you know where a bunch of that moss is.
 
Yeah closer to town the better. No matter where I go I see few coyote. Start calling or stay the night and suddenly there are more coyote then you could ever imagine. Sort of like I have been walking by literaly hundreds of rabbits but with no dog to sniff them out they just hold tight. I'll be packing my 10mm for those dang cougars and bears coming to the call wanting to eat me!

We'll have to get together with missy and jim. Jim is her buddy with a pack he lives up in portland on the north side. I met missy through a guy on a beagle website. I went up to check out oregon last year for a few months and met up with her to hunt! After running with her beagles I have no idea how you didn't end up rabbit crazy like me?! I may end up never hunting coyote again because rabbit season never closes in oregon! now if it would just stop raining!

there are alot of folks on this site up in oregon we should have a predator masters get together!
 
TD660 there is a site dedicated to just he Northwest. Check out NWPHA. They are planning a hunt for February sometime, no date set yet. A lot of the folks here are there also.
I went to school in NY state and ate a lot of rabbit. I had a 13 inch that was about the best you could hope for. She had a litter of pups and I tell you what when it came time for them to leave it was tuff. There is nothing cutier than a beagle pup. We only had four, gave two away and sold two. My wife grilled everyone that came to buy. One lady came to buy the dog for her son. She didn't seem to really like the dogs so my wife wouldn't sell her a dog. Later her son came by and convinced my wife that the dog would be loved and used for hunting so she agreed to sell him one. It was like giving up a member of the faimily.
 
Just curious, Is a bow a legal taking method in OR? If YES, then why not stalk and hunt the in town dogs that way? Stealth and all :)

Tom
 
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Here I am with missy and jim at E.E. Wilson. I'm taking the picture and ya can't see missy she is getting in her truck on the left. My beagle is the one with the purple leash tied to the fence. My dog was just 6 months old then. Now she is a rabbit killer.
 
Is membership fees of $30 for the NWPHA worth it? Looks like a good group, but I am hesitant on dropping money on anything theses days.
 
Did you go to the national predator hunting association or the Northwest predator hunting site. They are two different sites.
 
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