[Jeff Higgins]

Getting started in hunting in middle age has got to be one of the toughest things a guy can set out to do. There are so many nuances to it that are only picked up through experience. I would very strongly encourage you to find some one that hunts that would be willing to take you under his wing; without such a mentor, you are likely to get discouraged and quit.

You have one big strike against you right out of the gate. Living in Oregon. Oregon and Washington have some of the lowest success rates on deer (and elk) in the country. Some one mentioned "armed hiking"; that's really not too far from the truth in many areas in both states. Both states do offer decent hunting in select areas; I can fill you in on Washington, but I know little about Oregon. One constant between the two states are their west sides; the "wet" side of the Cascade range. Rain forest like undergrowth and predominantly private, both are to be avoided, especially for a new hunter. You can go for years and never see game in that kind of environment.

Stick to the east side, in the more open, high desert sort of areas. You will see more game, even if you cannot get close enough to shoot. Seeing game, and knowing it is around, is very encouraging for a new hunter. Add to your chances of success in this kind of country by hunting where others have actually been successful. Get a harvest report from your game department; it gives numbers of animals harvested by unit for a several year period of time. Tap that same game department for information on private vs. public land in these units; some very high success rate units may be entirely private. If you cannot get access, it won't matter how many others have been successful.

Start getting ready now for next year. Do your homework as outlined above, and get a rough idea of where you would like to go. If you are lucky enough to get together with an experienced (successful) hunter, you will obviously go where he goes. If not, narrow your choices down to a few and start scouting. Get out and check out those areas. Grab a day pack and some binoculars, and start "hunting" now. You should try to narrow down your choice of areas in the first couple of months of next year. You are basing your choice on success rate and access (much of this is done before you leave the house, with that info from the game department) and finally your scouting.

You should know where you are going to be hunting by no later than spring. You should know where you will camp, or which hotel you will stay in, and you should have a camp ground or hotel reservation by summer. By the end of summer you should have walked the very ridge, river bottom, or wherever you intend to hunt. Several times, until you know them quite well.

If Oregon assigns tags by unit in a drawing, you obviously will not know ahead of time where you are going to be hunting. You should know which areas you will apply for, however, so that will still give you the opportunity to scout those areas. We are luck in Washington; we can hunt wherever we want, with no area specific drawing. That allows me to know from year to year exactly where I will hunt in that year.

This might be starting to sound like a great deal of work, and a fairly serious commitment of time and resources. It is. Succesful hunting is a great deal of work. Shooting the animal and packing it out is actually the easy part. It is the time and effort you put in prior to the actual season that will make or break you. Sure, you could buy a rifle and just hit the woods blind on opening day, and still probably have a lot of fun. You need to realize, though, that that reduces you to just another "armed hiker". There is one hell of a lot of work involved in becoming a hunter; your approach will be vastly different.