Sunday, August 23, 2026  |  Oregon's Outdoor Journal
Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge: A 3-Day Backpacking Loop Through Southeast Oregon's High Desert

Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge: A 3-Day Backpacking Loop Through Southeast Oregon's High Desert

Hart Mountain is one of Oregon's most remote and rewarding backpacking destinations — a massive fault-block escarpment rising 3,600 feet above the Warner Valley floor, surrounded by sagebrush sea and wild pronghorn. Here's how to do it right.

By HFR Staff  ·  August 23, 2026
Reloading 28-Gauge Shotshells for Oregon Upland Bird Hunters: Components, Load Data, and Why the Little Gauge Is Worth the Effort
Reloading

Reloading 28-Gauge Shotshells for Oregon Upland Bird Hunters: Components, Load Data, and Why the Little Gauge Is Worth the Effort

The 28 gauge is the most refined upland shotgun gauge ever made — light, balanced, and lethal on birds inside 35 yards. Here's how to reload it right and why it's worth the effort over factory ammo.

August 23, 2026
Oregon Duck Season Opener 2026: Decoy Spreads, Blind Setup, and Pacific Flyway Strategy for Opening Day
Hunting

Oregon Duck Season Opener 2026: Decoy Spreads, Blind Setup, and Pacific Flyway Strategy for Opening Day

Oregon's general duck season opener is six weeks out. Here's how to get your blind, decoys, and calling dialed so you're not scrambling the night before.

August 23, 2026
Trask River Fall Chinook Salmon: Tillamook County's Premier September Bank Fishing Guide
Fishing

Trask River Fall Chinook Salmon: Tillamook County's Premier September Bank Fishing Guide

The Trask River is one of Oregon's most productive north coast Chinook rivers, and the fall run is the main event. Here's how to target big kings from the bank before the rain blows it out.

August 23, 2026
Paper Tuning Your Compound Bow: A Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect Arrow Flight Before Oregon's Season
Archery

Paper Tuning Your Compound Bow: A Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect Arrow Flight Before Oregon's Season

Paper tuning is the fastest, most reliable way to confirm your compound bow is launching arrows with a clean nock-high bullet hole. Here's how to do it right before Oregon's August archery opener.

August 22, 2026
Reloading the .416 Rigby: Big-Bore Precision for Oregon Black Bear and Dangerous Game
Reloading

Reloading the .416 Rigby: Big-Bore Precision for Oregon Black Bear and Dangerous Game

The .416 Rigby is one of the great dangerous game cartridges — a 400-grain bullet at 2,400 fps in a package that feeds reliably and hits like a freight train. Here's how to handload it for both safari applications and close-range Pacific Northwest black bear hunting.

August 22, 2026
Oregon's Ochocos Unit Archery Elk: DIY Tactics for Public Land Bulls in the Ochoco National Forest
Hunting

Oregon's Ochocos Unit Archery Elk: DIY Tactics for Public Land Bulls in the Ochoco National Forest

The Ochocos Unit doesn't get the press of the Chesnimnus or Silvies, but it holds a solid population of Roosevelt-Rocky Mountain hybrid bulls on accessible public land. Here's a complete DIY guide to hunting archery elk in central Oregon's ponderosa highlands.

August 22, 2026
Dorena Reservoir Summer Largemouth Bass: Eugene's Best Backyard Bass Fishery
Fishing

Dorena Reservoir Summer Largemouth Bass: Eugene's Best Backyard Bass Fishery

Tucked into the forested hills southeast of Cottage Grove, Dorena Reservoir offers Eugene-area bass anglers one of the most productive and overlooked largemouth fisheries in the Willamette Valley. Here's how to fish it in August.

August 22, 2026
Oregon Badlands Wilderness: A 2-Day Desert Backpacking Loop Through the High Lava Plains Near Bend
Backpacking

Oregon Badlands Wilderness: A 2-Day Desert Backpacking Loop Through the High Lava Plains Near Bend

Twenty minutes east of Bend, the Oregon Badlands Wilderness offers some of the strangest and most rewarding desert backpacking in the state — ancient juniper forests, lava tubes, rimrock, and total solitude.

August 21, 2026
Arrow Speed vs. Arrow Weight for Bowhunters: The Trade-Off and Why Heavy Arrows Win in Timber Country
Archery

Arrow Speed vs. Arrow Weight for Bowhunters: The Trade-Off and Why Heavy Arrows Win in Timber Country

Every bowhunter faces this choice: shoot fast and light, or slow and heavy. The physics are settled. The right answer depends on where you hunt — and for most Pacific Northwest elk and deer hunters, heavy is right.

August 21, 2026