Tuesday, August 18, 2026  |  Oregon's Outdoor Journal
Cummins Creek Wilderness: Backpacking Oregon's Old-Growth Coast Range Above Cape Perpetua

Cummins Creek Wilderness: Backpacking Oregon's Old-Growth Coast Range Above Cape Perpetua

The Cummins Creek Wilderness is 9,000 acres of old-growth Sitka spruce above Cape Perpetua — and almost nobody goes there. Here's how to do a 1-night backpacking trip into one of Oregon's most atmospheric and overlooked wilderness areas.

By HFR Staff  ·  August 17, 2026
Precision Load Development from Scratch: Ladder Tests, OCW, and Confirming Your Hunting Load
Shooting

Precision Load Development from Scratch: Ladder Tests, OCW, and Confirming Your Hunting Load

Working up a hunting load is more than picking the middle of the data range. A systematic approach — ladder tests, OCW groups, and field confirmation — produces a load you can trust when it counts.

August 17, 2026
Reloading the .350 Remington Magnum: Oregon's Forgotten Short-Action Big-Bore Elk Round
Reloading

Reloading the .350 Remington Magnum: Oregon's Forgotten Short-Action Big-Bore Elk Round

The .350 Remington Magnum squeezes .35-caliber magnum performance into a short action and hits elk as hard as anything in its class. Here's how to handload it right.

August 17, 2026
Keeping Your Bull from Spoiling: Elk Meat Care for Oregon's August Archery Season
Hunting

Keeping Your Bull from Spoiling: Elk Meat Care for Oregon's August Archery Season

August archery elk hunting in Oregon means summer heat — and heat spoils meat fast. Here's how to handle your bull from the shot to the cooler before the high desert works against you.

August 17, 2026
Cultus Lake Summer Fishing: Kokanee Trolling and Trophy Rainbows in Oregon's High Cascades
Fishing

Cultus Lake Summer Fishing: Kokanee Trolling and Trophy Rainbows in Oregon's High Cascades

Cultus Lake sits at 4,700 feet in the Deschutes National Forest and delivers some of Central Oregon's best summer fishing for kokanee salmon, rainbow trout, and largemouth bass. Here's everything you need to hit the water.

August 17, 2026
Lostine River Canyon: Backpacking Into the Eagle Cap Wilderness on the Wallowas' Best Kept Secret
Backpacking

Lostine River Canyon: Backpacking Into the Eagle Cap Wilderness on the Wallowas' Best Kept Secret

The Lostine River drainage is the Wallowa Mountains' most underrated backpacking corridor — less crowded than the main Lakes Basin, just as dramatic, and home to some of the highest country in Oregon's Alps.

August 16, 2026
Reloading the 6mm PRC: Long-Range Precision Loads for Open-Country Deer and Elk
Reloading

Reloading the 6mm PRC: Long-Range Precision Loads for Open-Country Deer and Elk

The 6mm PRC delivers 6.5 Creedmoor-class precision with a flatter, faster trajectory — and it handloads beautifully. Here's everything you need to build match-grade hunting loads for Oregon's open country.

August 16, 2026
Archery Blacktail on Oregon's Siuslaw Unit: Public Land Bucks in the Coast Range Fog and Timber
Hunting

Archery Blacktail on Oregon's Siuslaw Unit: Public Land Bucks in the Coast Range Fog and Timber

The Siuslaw unit archery blacktail opener is one of Oregon's most overlooked deer hunting opportunities — dense timber, coastal fog, and educated deer that will test every archery skill you have.

August 16, 2026
Umatilla River Fall Chinook Salmon: Bank Fishing Tactics for Oregon's Most Remarkable Columbia Tributary Comeback
Fishing

Umatilla River Fall Chinook Salmon: Bank Fishing Tactics for Oregon's Most Remarkable Columbia Tributary Comeback

The Umatilla River's fall Chinook run is one of Oregon's great conservation success stories — and one of its most overlooked bank fisheries. Here's how to fish it.

August 16, 2026
North Fork Malheur Wilderness: Backpacking Eastern Oregon's Remote River Canyon
Backpacking

North Fork Malheur Wilderness: Backpacking Eastern Oregon's Remote River Canyon

Tucked into the Malheur National Forest in Grant and Harney counties, the North Fork Malheur Wilderness offers 65,000 acres of remote canyon country, a wild redband trout river, and some of the least-trafficked trails in the entire state.

August 15, 2026