Hunter’s Rendezvous outfits and guides in some of the best Mule Deer habitat and gene pools anywhere in the west. Check you’re Pope & Young and Boone & Crockett record books and see how many bucks have come from Grant County, Oregon. We hunt a huge area of private and public ground within Grant County. Our leases encompass several thousand acres of private ranch property and we operate under special use permits administered by the Prineville District BLM and the Malheur National Forest.
We offer a variety of Mule Deer hunts with a Bow or Rifle
PRIVATE LAND – BOW - MULE DEER TROPHY HUNT
We hunt Mule Deer with a bow the last week of August and first few days of September. The season runs through to the tail end of September, but early in the season bucks are still in their summer bachelor groups and are using some very open country. This makes them fairly easy to find compared to later in September when they have went into heavier cover. Bucks are normally still in the velvet the first few days of the hunt, but rub off by the end of the first week of September. We hunt these bucks primarily by spotting and stalking, but we do use ground blinds when we can get bucks patterned good enough to make use of them feasible. It is common to glass up over 20 bucks a day, and find bucks over 170, with a few exceptional bucks around or over the 200 inch mark seen during the hunt. To hunt this hunt successfully, you must be very proficient out to 60 yards with your bow. This is a private land fully outfitted 7 day hunt. We use our Cottonwood ranch house and bunk houses as a base. The hunts are guided 1 on 1, all of my guides live in this area, and we watch these old bucks most of the summer. So you will start out from day one after a buck we have located. The following is also furnished on these hunts; all transportation after arrival, meals, lodging, care of killed game (field dressing, quartering, boning, packing, skinning, capeing, hanging in our cooler, preparation of antlers and cape for shipping).
Contact us for references, dates, prices and available openings.
PRIVATE LAND – RIFLE – MULE DEER TROPHY HUNT
The rifle Mule Deer season generally opens around the first of October and is only open for twelve days. This is after the old bucks have split up from their bachelor groups and before they start rutting. They are fat and lazy as pigs, to say they don’t move much during the daylight hours would be an understatement. They are tuff to locate, but hours upon hours of glassing and brushing out a few draws to guys setting at natural crossings produces some exceptional bucks. This is an honest hunt for 180+ Mule Deer, with an opportunity to have a chance at a 190+ buck. This time of year we won’t see the numbers of bucks that we see during the bow hunt, but you will be hunting the same areas. Finding 10-15 bucks a day is about the norm, if you put in the time and effort you will get to see a 180 or better buck on this hunt. I split this hunt into two 5 day hunts, success and quality of bucks has been parallel between the two. These hunts are full service hunts; which means we provide: guides, (2 on 1 or 1 on 1, your choice when booking the hunt), all transportation after arrival, meals, lodging, care of killed game (field dressing, quartering, boning, packing, skinning, capeing, hanging in our cooler, preparation of antlers and cape for shipping). We will be using our Cottonwood ranch house and bunkhouses for a base on these hunts.
Contact us for references, dates, prices and available openings.
Mule Deer – Private Land – Management Hunts
These hunts are for old massive bucks that won’t bust the 180 B & C mark. Antlers on these bucks can have some impressive mass and a few of them can get wide, they just won’t have 4 long tines to a side or enough extras to gross score 180 or better. We target bucks that are in their prime, but don’t have the genetic potential to get to the 180 or better mark. We don’t shoot young bucks on this hunt………most of the bucks we harvest are 7+ years old.
Contact us for references, dates, prices and available openings.
NATIONAL FOREST MULE DEER HUNTS 
My son Cody Cole is also a licensed, bonded and insured Outfitter in the state of Oregon. He Outfits and Guides most of our National Forest hunts. We hunt the Murderer’s Creek and Northside Units on the Malheur National Forest. Our guide area encompasses several thousand acres of road less and road closure Mule Deer habitat. The areas we hunt have a limited number of tags available each year through a controlled hunt drawing. We apply and draw guaranteed Outfitter tags for these areas. These tags can only be sold to nonresidents of Oregon. They have an April 1st deadline for purchasing.
We use horses and mules to access and hunt areas away from the crowds. A drive to tent camp, is used a base on these hunts. Camp consist of wall tents with carpeted floors framed beds with mattresses and wood heating stoves, shower tent and cook tent. The area hold’s a good population of deer and some mature bucks. This is not a hunt for guys that are looking to see 10 bucks a day and have a chance at a Booner. It’s a high quality economical backcountry horseback hunt for bucks in the 20" - 24" range with the chance of finding a real bruiser.
We offer several different hunt packages in these areas; ranging from fully outfitted and guided 1 on 1 hunts to semi – guided hunts where you use our camps, bring your own groceries, do your own cooking, with a guide and horses and mules provided.
Contact us for references, dates, prices and available openings.
