Having spent more than 40 years in this unit, I have a couple of opinion on the elk situation.
1. There was a higher percentage of big bulls throughout the 60's and 70's, but far fewer elk. Large areas had no elk some years, a few others. Some areas, such as Cottonwood Creek and Black Canyon were a little more consistent.
2. The best hunting for big bulls was probably in the mid to late 80's. Herd numbers were increasing rapidly, hunting pressure was low, and there were a lot of nice bulls.
3. As is typical in Oregon, tag numbers continued to increase, and there is no question the mature bull component of the herd was overshot in the early 90's. Can't remember which year it was, but rifle tags topped out at 1,900 during that period, and harvest approached 500 bulls all methods a couple of times.
4. Biologist started cutting back tags in mid 90's, and mature bull component has slowly improved. Big bull hunting on some of the larger private ranches, Guiterrez, Twin Buttes, Antone, etc. is probably as good as any elk hunt in Oregon, and was rated as the number one hunt in Oregon for several years by the Huntin Fool Magazine.
5. Over the last few years, we are starting to see a few 320 plus bulls on public land. During hunting season, they are sometimes on public, a lot of times on private. Hunting can be spectacular, or awful, depending on where th elk have herded up, and what hunting pressure there is on the private land.
6. Two years ago, we had four tags, went four for four, all decent bulls, no monsters, but were after a couple of 320+ bulls in large herds, just could not get the shot. Two years before that we went 0-3, but screwed up a chance at a monster, and one partner missed a 5 point. Two years before that, very few elk in our area, my son and i never saw an elk during the season. One of my partners found a small bunch 30 miles from where we usually hunt, and killed a nice bull that scored aroudn 315.
7. Last year, I was in the unit for three days during 1st and 2nd season, and talked to a number of hunters. Not a lot of elk in our area until it snowed second season, then a bunch came out of the private, and they killed several bulls.
From what I have experienced, I think Pisbah, Rock Creek, Lookout Mountain, and Bridge Creek Wilderness are more reliable as far as having good elk populations every year. Heavy road densities and human activity on the south and east ends put a lot of the elk onto private land, and you just have to hope they come back during your season.
The bad news, the elk herd has been slowly decreasing over the last several years, and the calf ratio is also down. I am concerned that we are at the front end of what has happened in Starkey, Desolation, Ukiah, etc, where calf ratios are consistently in the 20's. My opinion is that the lack of deer is forcing cougar predation onto the elk herd, and the decline is the result.
If I were a bowhunter, I would be all over ODFW about extending the Rager road closure to the start of antelope season. Nothing would improve the elk hunt on public land as much as limiting motor vehicle access would.
One final thought, anyone younger than 45 has no clue what truly great deer hunting on the Ochoco unit was like. By the late 70's, deer numbers were down considerably, and the over harvest of mature bucks on the unit was obvious. If I can find someone with a scanner, I will try to post some pictures from the late 50's and 50's. Unfortunately, nobody thought about taking pictues of live bucks, Actually, nobody went scouting much, so maybe that is why.
If I were a bowhunter, I would be all over ODFW about extending the Rager road closure to the start of antelope season. Nothing would improve the elk hunt
