Professional, competent and honest blacktail deer outfitters in southwestern Oregon are about as rare as hen's teeth. Years ago, Perry Allen qualified, but he left the outfitting business to mine gold. Since then, I have been closely watching another outfit and now feel comfortable recommending it. This outfit hunts an area that has produced a number of the top trophies in the record books. I took a great buck with Allen in this same area years ago and have hunted it often since. I can assure you that there are big bucks there!

The outfitter I'm talking about is Doug Gattis and his wife, Janet, of Southern Oregon Game Busters (Tel. 541-770-5050. Web site: www.blacktails.net). In the late 1990's, they produced a monster buck, scoring over 158 points for fellow writer, Bob Robb, who hunted with a muzzleloader. That certainly caught my attention. Then this last fall, Robb his second B and C-class buck with a preliminary score of over 140 points while hunting with Game Busters. Obviously, it's time to take a closer look at this operation.

When it got light enough to see, Gattis and I were glassing a deep timbered draw where we had seen some good deer earlier, as well as one doe that was ready to breed. When we didn’t see anything there at first glance, we decided to move and check another timbered saddle, an area where we’d seen lots of deer earlier as well as some overly-large buck tracks. We were, as always, wired tight with anticipation.

The Gattises live close to the area they hunt and therefore are able to scout heavily - one of the keys for consistently producing big bucks. Their main hunting area is the Applegate Unit. But they also use the Rogue and Evans Creek units, when seasons and scouting dictates. They hunt both public and private land. Because of the area's reputation for producing big bucks, hunter pressure on public ground here can be high, especially early in the rifle season. However, I killed my buck here on public ground, so it is possible to beat the odds.

This outfit offers 5-day deer hunts for rifle, muzzleloader and bow hunters priced at $2,750 on public ground. For private-ground hunts, the base price is $2,900 with a $1,000 trophy fee. Bear can be added on all deer hunts for an additional $500. Blackpowder hunters and bow hunters have the definite advantage of a late-season rut hunt. Game Busters also offer an early 10-day combo hunt for blacktail, bear and Roosevelt elk at a cost of $3,500. This year, Game Busters produced seven bucks for 10 clients. While Bob Robb's buck was the largest, several other bucks scored in the 120s.

Clients fly into the Medford airport, where they are picked up for the 20-minute drive to the lodge. The headquarters includes a comfortable bunkhouse for clients and a walk-in cooler. There is even a herd of "pet" deer around the lodge that provides great camera fare. Non-hunters are welcome in camp at a cost of $150 per day, and there is plenty to do and see in the surrounding area to keep them busy.

If you are looking for a reasonably priced hunt for blacktails, this outfit is a good selection. Just keep in mind that although Game Busters has developed a reputation for working hard to produce bucks for clients, these deer are difficult trophies to kill. The terrain is largely timbered, with intermittent clear cuts. The topography can be steep, and the foliage is dense. Additionally, blacktail are quite elusive. An Oregon Fish and Wildlife study found that less then 20 percent of all bucks move during legal shooting hours, with the prime buck movement occurring between 10 pm and 5 am. Obviously, bucks are most vulnerable during the rut, which is why the late seasons offer the best chances for an outsized trophy.

As for licenses, a nonresident hunting license costs $58.50 and the deer tag $191.50 this year. Bow hunters can hunt with a general permit early (Aug. 24 to Sept. 22 last fall) or late (Nov. 9 to Dec. 1 last season) in the Rogue and Evans Creek units. The buck centerfire (rifle) blacktail permit (Coast buck area with a season running from Sept. 28 to Nov. 6 last fall) is available over the counter, while the late season muzzleloader permits (Nov. 9 to Dec. 1 this last fall) are issued in controlled drawings under a preference-point program. In the drawings, 75 percent of first-choice tags are allocated to applicants with existing preference-points, with the balance drawn from the remaining pool of applicants. The odds of drawing a muzzleloader permit for the last two years in the Applegate Unit were around 50 percent. The application deadline is May 15. If all else fails, there are also permits available through a Landowner Preference system, as well as special outfitter tags, which Gattis uses to his advantage. If you hunt with a muzzleloader be aware that Oregon has some tight regulations. For example, only open sights and open ignition firearms that shoot bullets without sabots are allowed. Blackpowder pellets are banned.

While bow hunters and blackpowder hunters have the advantage of hunting during the rut, rifle hunters should not despair. I killed my biggest buck with a rifle on opening day, and the last week of the general season in late October and early November allows a crack at the beginning of the rut. Still, a mature, heavy, three-pointed buck is a "shooter" for all but those hunters who have taken multiple bucks. That said, of the 13 buck mounts shown on Game Busters web site, all but one were taken on public land, and at least five beat the B and C minimum of 135 points!