Poll-Which deer tag in Wa is the best.

[skywalker253]

I have a friend that has 14 deer points and I'm trying to figure out which one he should try for. I feel all the hunts listed above are great hunts, I just wonder because of the wolves and winter kills if one of them shine a bit more than the rest. I personally put in for the late desert. He is a really good bow hunter and I also love bow hunting but if I could pick one of those tags and wanted an 180+ deer, I would have to go with rifle. What do you guys think? I know these tags are no secret to anyone.

If he has been hunting archery season for 14 years odds are he has not even seen a legit 180 class buck during the season, and would likely shoot the first 160 class buck he saw with a late rifle tag. Odds are, even with a late rifle tag in those units in your poll, he won't see a 180 class buck and had better put the hammer down on the first 170 he sees.

Of course there will be a couple legit 180's dropped around the state this year, and its always good to have a goal, but very few have the will to "go big or go home" and I would advise him to not pass a 170 class buck in this state.

Here we go again....
You the man bro!

[throttlejocky20]

All late mule deer hunts are decent hunts in fact any hunt around a rut is a good hunt. Me personally i focus on hunts that have migratory bucks. This is hard because you never know what the snow is going to do and where these bucks are going to hang. With some good boots and a liitle beast mode its bound to be an exiting hunt!

[HoofsandWings]

The best units are the ones that produce in all weather.
If you can predict the weather during the permit season, that is a big help.
Some units are really hot when there is early snow. Others require rain. Others cold.
And then some are not weather dependant.

[trophyelk6x6]

which ones require rain?

[skywalker253]

which ones require rain?

Anything on the Westside. The animals don't even know what good weather is. There is rain....then there is pouring rain....then there is pouring rain with the wind blowing it sideways....then there is SW WA rain. Anyone who lives here, knows what I am talking about. Most the animals are harvested then-LOL

[throttlejocky20]

which ones require rain?

Anything on the Westside. The animals don't even know what good weather is. There is rain....then there is pouring rain....then there is pouring rain with the wind blowing it sideways....then there is SW WA rain. Anyone who lives here, knows what I am talking about. Most the animals are harvested then-LOL

The crappier the weather the better the hunting!

[HoofsandWings]

What you are saying is the permit areas you are talking about are only good if there is bad weather.

[Karl Blanchard]

Colorado is a good tag if you want a 180" buck!   Seriously though I would def take the L.T. off your list!  A guy can't hardly find a 4pt out there let alone a 180"!  I spend a LOT of time out there and there isn't much for age class.

[JLS]

which ones require rain?

Anything on the Westside. The animals don't even know what good weather is. There is rain....then there is pouring rain....then there is pouring rain with the wind blowing it sideways....then there is SW WA rain. Anyone who lives here, knows what I am talking about. Most the animals are harvested then-LOL

Lived in Grays Harbor as a kid, I know exactly what you're talking about

[Karl Blanchard]

Colorado is a good tag if you want a 180" buck!   Seriously though I would def take the L.T. off your list!  A guy can't hardly find a 4pt out there let alone a 180"!  I spend a LOT of time out there and there isn't much for age class.

   never seen a 4 point out there  .
seriously  I know of a few 180" bucks still alive. 

   Well your idea of a 180 and my idea of a 180 must be different.  If I knew of a few 180 bucks still alive in a unit that was open for general season one of them would be dead and I would post pictures. Knowone was killing 180 bucks before when it was permit and there definetly isn't anyone killing them now.  The L.T. is my backyard and I spend a heck of a lot more time out there then most guys,  and thats not riding quads out there thats hiking the canyons, sage flats and breaks of the yakima calling coyotes.  We might also have a different definition of L.T. murray.  When I say L.T. I mean sagebrush from selah to eburg with the river to the east and Wenas road to the west for boundarys.

[buglebuster]

 

[buckfvr]

20-25 yrs ago, that was a favorite haunt of mine  ( Lt. Murray ), and I can assure you, there were some great looking bucks back then........but 180 class bucks were few and far between even then.  A guy could see some dandies if there was an early snow especially in and around Black Canyon, and again over at the old feed station off s. fork manastash creek. 

And yes, there were some fine bucks in the Yak river breaks as well......and the back side of the old wheat fields......when they were still growing winter wheat in there, and if you had permission to be in there, it was a great hunt. 

My input is nothing more than very fond memories......

SPeaking of fond memories....pheasant hunting in the Wenas almost all the way back into Selah was the finest you could immagine back in the early 70s'  All the way up the Wenas, where some of you guys no doubt live now....before there was anything but a few farms and loads of alfalfa and everyone let you hunt and you never ran into other hunters......looking back, seems like a dream.....and now I know it was a dream hunt long gone.

[Karl Blanchard]

20-25 yrs ago, that was a favorite haunt of mine  ( Lt. Murray ), and I can assure you, there were some great looking bucks back then........but 180 class bucks were few and far between even then.  A guy could see some dandies if there was an early snow especially in and around Black Canyon, and again over at the old feed station off s. fork manastash creek. 

And yes, there were some fine bucks in the Yak river breaks as well......and the back side of the old wheat fields......when they were still growing winter wheat in there, and if you had permission to be in there, it was a great hunt. 

My input is nothing more than very fond memories......

SPeaking of fond memories....pheasant hunting in the Wenas almost all the way back into Selah was the finest you could immagine back in the early 70s'  All the way up the Wenas, where some of you guys no doubt live now....before there was anything but a few farms and loads of alfalfa and everyone let you hunt and you never ran into other hunters......looking back, seems like a dream.....and now I know it was a dream hunt long gone.

  Oh how times have changed!  I'm not that old and most of the brush I used to beat for birds is all houses now.  I used to park at save on foods in selah and walk back to the river!  Try walking across that parking lot with a shotgun now!   Its scares me to think about what my kids will be able to hunt in the next ten years!

[skywalker253]

20-25 yrs ago, that was a favorite haunt of mine  ( Lt. Murray ), and I can assure you, there were some great looking bucks back then........but 180 class bucks were few and far between even then.  A guy could see some dandies if there was an early snow especially in and around Black Canyon, and again over at the old feed station off s. fork manastash creek. 

And yes, there were some fine bucks in the Yak river breaks as well......and the back side of the old wheat fields......when they were still growing winter wheat in there, and if you had permission to be in there, it was a great hunt. 

My input is nothing more than very fond memories......

SPeaking of fond memories....pheasant hunting in the Wenas almost all the way back into Selah was the finest you could immagine back in the early 70s'  All the way up the Wenas, where some of you guys no doubt live now....before there was anything but a few farms and loads of alfalfa and everyone let you hunt and you never ran into other hunters......looking back, seems like a dream.....and now I know it was a dream hunt long gone.

  Oh how times have changed!  I'm not that old and most of the brush I used to beat for birds is all houses now.  I used to park at save on foods in selah and walk back to the river!  Try walking across that parking lot with a shotgun now!   Its scares me to think about what my kids will be able to hunt in the next ten years!

IMO- Once an abundance of wolves are a known thing in each GMU, we are going to see some serious changes. I'm thinking the hunting will go down hill fast across Wa and the land owners will keep what little game they have left for their own families to harvest (less land of the public to hunt). Most the state will be by written permission or posted. The state land is going to have so many hunters on it, that the entire state will become draw only. I give it another 10 years; then it will be a draw only state and we will have a wolf season like ID, MT, etc.

[skywalker253]

Then we will have polls on here titled "Which deer tag is the WORST in Wa to Draw? All the units we talk about now, which have an abundance of game will be nearly forgotten. I can think of some once great areas in ID, which have been destoryed by wolves. Same thing will happen here...