Western Oregon Outdoors

11/17/2025

Izzie’s 2025 Blacktail
So proud…

My alarm went off and as always I pressed snooze a few times… then comes the scary part, the moment I dread, now it’s time to wake up the wifey and daughter😂
They scrambled to get ready as I warmed up the truck, and we managed to idle up the hill just as the sun popped out. As always, we stuck to the same routine, we hit all of our normal glassing spots where we can typically glass up deer from a distance and make a game plan. I glassed everything as efficiently as I could and was not able to turn up a single deer. At this point I knew I had to go with plan B! I had a feeling they were just to far down towards the creek bottom that we couldn’t see from our angle. I told the wife and kiddo, it was time for a hike.
As we arrived to our glassing spot, I quickly started scanning the steep burnt timber patch just above the creek knowing this is a nice hidden bedding area. After about 10 minutes of glassing, I finally found a doe feeding in the burnt timber at about 300 yards away. She kept looking to her right in between bites, this gave me hope a buck was present. Another couple minutes picking apart the thick dead fall and bracken ferns, bam, the white face of a buck appeared, while he laid just below his doe! I knew he was big just by his stature! In a panic, I loudly whispered to the girls to get down and come over to me. I got the rifle all set up and pointed in the right direction, and then things got crazy. The buck then stood up and imeaditly started do***ng his doe all over the hillside and would not give Izzie a good shot. After 20-30 minutes of torture, and thinking that he could slip away at anytime, he finally made a mistake by stepping into a slight opening at 277 yards. Izzie was way calmer than me at this moment and was able to settle in and take the shot! Crack…💥 He was hit but moved behind some brush and somehow was still showing interest in his doe, then he moved and presented her with another shot, boom 💥 another hit, he fell and then tried to move again, I told her if we can, we need to shoot him again, crack💥 she finished him! He rolled down the steep hill, I lost track for a second, and she says dad, I think I see him, here look through the scope… so I look through the scope and seen him expire while all tangled up in a bush on the steep hillside (pictured below)! After a family hug, high fives and more hugs, we called for some help with the pack out. When help arrived, we then embraced the “not so easy” hike to recover what is Izzie’s biggest buck to date!

I will hold on to this memory for ever…❤️

Special thanks to Darwin, Mason and Brendon for making the trek up river to help…

05/06/2025

The morning started off with a phone call from my dad saying that he had seen some birds close to an area we hunt, so I called my buddy Steve and asked him if he cared if I made a pit stop on my way to the river! The stop paid off quickly as I was able to call in 2 big Tom’s, 6 Jake’s and a hen from about 200 yards away and right into to the decoy for a 20 yard shot.

I snuck back to my truck without spooking the birds and decided to go join my buddy for a few cast! As we fished hard for about 45 minutes, I tried to talk him into going turkey hunting where I had shot my bird just about 1.5 hours earlier, He said, well all I have is my waders and no extra shoes, he said heck with it, lets do it!

A short drive later, we pulled up and took off hiking up the hill hoping to locate the birds close by. After covering a bunch of area and not getting any response, I said, I’m pretty sure I have an idea of where they could be. So we hiked about a 1/2 mile in the opposite direction to a hidden clear cut that has a little cat road on the edge of the timber line. Once we reached the cat road, I went over the edge a bit and let out a few soft yelps and they sounded off! I knew they weren’t far, so I quickly set up the decoy. We ran back about 15 yards and set up in the shadows just off the side of the logging road. About 15 minutes later Steve was able to make a perfect shot on the big tom we were after! 💥 🦃

What a day to remember! Not sure how many people have pictures of them posing with a turkey while wearing waders? 🤷‍♂️ but if you do please post a picture in the comments!

05/06/2025

Quick solo hunt this morning! 👊 🦃




Randy Tolle

04/19/2025

😎Another fun day! 🦃
We had an opportunity at an easy one after getting our butts whooped all morning, so Devin decided to burn one of his tags for some fresh turkey for the freezer!

04/16/2025

Amazing morning in the Turkey woods! 🦃👊
I had to work hard to pull these dudes away from their hens, but when they decided to commit, they quickly came in for a nice 10 yard double for Steve and I 💥




Randy Tolle

04/06/2025

Had a fun day filming for Archer’s Reel Adventures 🎥

04/02/2025

11/17/2024

Super proud dad moment 👊🦌

I told Izabelle that she needed to hold out for another stud buck, but after watching her turn down two smaller bucks this morning, I changed my mind when I spotted this guy! 🤷‍♂️
Big body, double throat patch, beautiful setting, and with all the right people along for the journey!

She kept her composure so well as I got her set up on the gun, she made quick work of this dude with a perfectly placed 354 yard shot! 💥😊

10/18/2024

(2024 Blacktail)

Feeling very grateful for this buck! 😊🍻🙏

I injured my back a few weeks ago and was really wondering if It would even heal enough for me to get out in the woods this season. Well it healed just enough for me to try… I have put on some “taking it easy” miles the past couple of days and only seen a dozen doe or so and had one opportunity at a smaller buck that I didn’t want to shoot.

So, I have this little rule that has worked well for me over the years, and that’s to hunt or fish 3 days in a row if you can, and what don’t happen on day one or two, typically happens on day 3.

Well today I almost pressed snooze on my Alarm for the 3rd time, 😴 and just then I heard that little voice in my head. 😂🤔

I got my ass out of bed, and it paid off!