Roosevelt elk are an animal of the coastal rain forests, while Rocky Mountain elk are found in the Cascade mountains of western Oregon and in the mountain ranges of eastern Oregon. The hunt I want to tell you about is for the Rocky Mountain elk and the region I want to focus on is the Cascade region. Yes, there are some very good hunt units in eastern Oregon and you may want to study up on them, but be aware that most allow controlled elk hunting only - both residents and non-residents must draw a tag to participate. In contrast, the Cascade bull elk season is a general hunt, and tags can be purchased over the counter for the October 16 to 22, 1999 hunt. A non-resident hunting license will cost you $53 and the tag only $291. The area in question is roughly bordered on the west by Interstate 5 and on the east by State Highway 97. According to the Boone & Crockett record book, any elk harvested east of Interstate 5 is scored in the Rocky Mountain category while elk harvested west of Interstate 5 are scored in the Roosevelt category.
Within the Cascade zone, public land is widespread and includes many thousands of acres of US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. Additionally, and while technically private, several timber companies allow hunting on their holdings. The real problem here, in a unit that averages nearly a 100 miles wide and stretches from the Washington border south to the California state line, is deciding where to........(continued)
