Colton south of pullman deer

[mkcj]

Has anyone hunted over in this area? My son went to high school with a girl who's grand parents are wheat farmer's there and we have permission to hunt there property. All I know is the wheat Fields go to the breaks of the snake and we can hunt all the way down to the river which I think is aways down

[GEARHEAD]

consider your tags filled. good luck, you will have fun. be sure to have shooting stix out there, it's open.

[jackelope]

x2.

you can't go wrong with that kind of access.
plan on long shots and nothing to hide behind. bring your bino's. there can be some nice bucks in that snake river breaks country.

[X-Force]

  Private land on the palouse should be a heck of an experience. Good luck

[mkcj]

long range like 300 yards plus?

[high country]

long range, like as far as you can see. the palouse is packed with both whiteys and mulies. the hard part will be waiting for a deer that fits your desires. I would STRONGLY recemmend finding a draw or eyebrow and either glassing it till you can see through it or pushing it if you want to see deer. the breaks themselves are epic hunting, but you can expect absolutely no flat groung.....not that the palouse is flat.

ask if they are planted in winter wheat or stubble, never drive on planted ground, never step foot on the neighbors place w/o asking first and be polite and say thanks........you have a gold mine right there.

I have seen shots available down there from archery range to a few miles.....depends on how you play.

[mlgunkel]

The mule deer will be bedding in the breaks about 1/2 way to the river during the days and will follow the shadows up late in the afternoon / evening & feed / bed in the wheat fields all night.  As the sun comes up in the morning they will start making their way back down for the day.  The whitetail will stay up on top & bed in the fence rows & eyebrows.  Every ridge you come over on the breaks sit & glass.  You should be able to glass dozens if not hundreds of deer.  You've got a goldmine!!!  I would personally thank the grandparents with a card & gift certificate to Red Lobster in Lewiston or some other nice restaurant.

Good Luck & have fun.
Mark

[Little Fish]

I hunted over that way when I went to Wazzu. I saw literally a 100+ animals a day. If you are even the slightest bit stealth when you sneak over the top into a new break you should be able to glass something nice up.

Regarding shooting distance...you should be able to use the terrain to your advantage to cut down the shooting distances in most situations, but be prepared for a long steep pack uphill if you hit something at the bottom of a break down by the river.

[wastickslinger]

Dial in the rifle for 300 and make room in the freezer. I hunted that area for 4 years, archery.  Not fun. I saw more deer than I had time to blow stalks on. Kinda tough to belly crawl in 12" stubble, even harder to come to full draw once your have done it.

Oh and shoot that bobcat I missed with my bow. Sucker ducked my arrow at 40 yards. Should have had a Mathews back then. 

Good luck

[jackelope]

i've killed a palouse buck every year since 2002 and my longest poke was 294 last year. bipod or sticks are a must have because there are no trees to rest against, and bring yer lungs with you cuz a lot of those hills are reaaaallllll steep.

[wastickslinger]

Those hills look little but they never end!!!

[jjhunter]

You should have a good hunt.  Success is not guaranteed as it appears in the majority of this thread and not every ranch/farm is teaming with deer.  There are a lot of deer in the Palouse and it is very good hunting if you get on the right piece of property.  Deer, especially big deer, tend to like the same places every year and these are places that have little to no hunting pressure.  A lot of the private ground gets pounded pretty hard by locals/non-locals/trespassers.  The Snake is generally a good area and chances are you will see several legal bucks.  I have taken a buck in the Palouse every year since I was 13 - that makes 13 bucks- and I have never used a bi-pod or shooting sticks.  Try not to make things too complicated, spend extra time concentrating on the shot.  Shots will vary - I shot a 29" buck at 490 yards on the run and shot a 27" buck from 60 yards in its bed.  I have also taken deer from mere feet with a bow.  Use the contour of the land as cover and use your glasses instead of your legs.  Good luck and show us some pics, I will be right down river!

[mkcj]

My son gets home on Monday and I think we will try to get over there for a couple days to look the ranch over talk to the owner and see if we can use a quad to get deer out things like that. Thanks for all the help everyone will have picture's for sure....And we wont be shooting 490

[wastickslinger]

"490 on the run" Alot of luck or is that common practice?

[jackelope]

no time for a bipod or sticks with shots like that.

 

[jjhunter]

"490 on the run" Alot of luck or is that common practice?

LOL.  Obviously a LOT of luck.  Although I have killed several 'yotes on the run at 450+ - longest at 585.  Don't kid yourself, I have missed a lot of those shots too!  I killed a deer in idaho at 540 yards, but that was with a rangefinder and the deer was standing broadside.  This big mule deer at 490 was a reaction shot - huge deer running over hill....boom, dead buck.   Probably shouldn't have taken the shot but it is led to my widest WA buck.

[wastickslinger]

That wasnt meant to be an attack by the way. I was just curious if you could shoot the lights out. Some guys can. Sounds like you sure can! I cannot and I know it. 

I have scared coyotes at 500 but that is it. 

[jjhunter]

Yeah, didn't want to sound like a blowhard.  I grew up in Whitman County and shot 4-5 days/week my whole life growing up.  I remember the first day that it "clicked" with running shots - it was a great feeling.  A lot of my buddies will ask "where were you holding?"  I always say "I can't remember?".  I equate it to shooting a basketball or throwing a football.  You don't have a rangefinder, you "see" and "feel" the shot.    With coyotes, I will usually let them run through the cross hairs once and practice or get a feel for the shot, the second time around I depress the trigger and more times than not, kill the dog.  I also always shoot on 16x.  I am able to find animals quickly from 50-xxx yards and it provides a range estimation based on how the deer/yote looks in the scope and gives me more confindence with longer shots.  JJ

[zackmioli]

Ill be about 10 miles from the breaks in the union flat creek area going after whities. the occassional muley will wander into the area when they get pushed too hard. last year we also had a couple elk run onto the property we were hunting.

i was pushing a thick brush patch and all of a sudden it looked and sounded like a bomb went off! scared the hell outta me i thought i had stumbled onto the biggest deer ever at first!!! then i got a glimpse and realized they were F#^@*N elk! haha

[Moosehunt]

Been hunting the Palouse and Snake River breaks for 19 years.  Have usually taken whitetails with an occasional mulie over the years.  Worried about bluetongue this year from earlier reports on a different post.  Biggest Whitey to date is a 19 inch non-typical 5x3 in the rut when you had a late season.  Started hunting there when it was any buck while at Wazzu.  Be patient, glass a ton and you will see deer and have opportunities. 

Is your property around Rimrock Rd?  Perhaps Steptoe Canyon or Nisqually John....don't forget that there is a road at the bottom from Wawaii Canyon down to Lewiston.......which encompasses the colton area breaks.

[mkcj]

I noticed the road below on google earth so there is the option of dragging down right? I really hope it works out my 13 y/o really wants to get a deer this year.