The outfitter I'm talking about is Doug Gattis and his wife, Janet, of Southern Oregon Game Busters. In the late 1990s, they produced a monster buck, scoring over 158 points for fellow writer, Bob Robb, who hunted with a muzzleloader. That certainly caught my attention. Then this last fall, Robb arrowed his second B & C-class buck with a preliminary score of over 140 points while hunting with Game Busters. Obviously, it's time to take a closer look at this operation.
The Gattises live close to the area they hunt and therefore are able to scout heavily - one of the keys for consistently producing big bucks. Their main hunting area is the Applegate Unit, but they also use the Rogue and Evans Creek units, when seasons and scouting dictate. They hunt both public and private land. Because of the area's reputation for producing big bucks, hunter pressure on public ground here can be high, especially early in the rifle season. However, I killed my buck here on public ground, so it is possible to beat the odds.
This outfit offers five-day deer hunts for rifle, muzzleloader and bow hunters priced at $2,750 on public ground. For private-ground hunts, the base price is $2,900 with a $1,000 trophy fee. Bear can be added on all deer hunts for an additional $500. Blackpowder hunters and bow hunters have the definite advantage of a late-season rut hunt. Game Busters also offer an early 10-day combo hunt for blacktail, bear and Roosevelt elk at........(continued)
