methow observations

[bigmacc]

im new to the forum as far as contributions and promise i will post up some pics of past hunts with friends and family as soon as i get a little better at this..1st time posting anything on any forum but i have enjoyed "lurking"on here for awhile reading stories and looking at some of the fine animals many of you have harvested. as for myself,i have hunted the methow for over 40 years and my family has hunted it since the early 1920,s. my great grandparents were good friends of the sullivans(who sullivans pond is named after)they hunted his property years ago before he sold it(or donated a lot of it) to the game dept. my self and family have enjoyed some great hunting,great memories and been thru the ups and downs of great hunting years and the not so good "rebuilding" years after bad winters. we are hard hunters,do our homework with scouting during migrations in both fall and spring. weve hunted the valley from the canadian border to pateros and i must say our latest scouting trip that lasted 3 days was nothing short of dismall. we concentrated mostly on the north part of the valley(from winthrop  north, and east and west of the chewuch river up to about 2 to 6 thousand ft elavation. there is alot of feed and browse available i know because of some mild wet springs and the deer are spread out but i have seen those years before in the past but have allways found a lot of deer still. in 3 days in the areas we were in we saw about 15 deer lots of yotes,2 bears,1cougar and wolf tracks but did not see a wolf. predetors have and will continue to "eat away"at this once mighty heard.i remember the winter of 1968 when winthrop washington was for one day the coldest spot in the continental u.s(i believe it was 67 below 0) a freak, flash freeze came down from canada and the temp dropped from about 20 above to 60 something below zero in a matter of hours. we have 8 mil footage of  livestock and deer that locals had bulldozed into piles,dumped diesel on them and set them on fire,it was a bad,bad deal and thousands of animals froze or starved.it put a big dent in the heard but within years it bounced back.the mule deer are a hearty,proud animal(thats why my great grandma would come unglued if she saw someone hang them with their head down) she would always say to "hang him head up,hes a proud animal and he deserves respect". in my opinion the methow herd may never bounce back from this predetor issue,as they have the bad winters and other problems of the past. it will only continue to get worse i believe.its a sad time for such a proud animal. just my observations...

[hillbillyhunting]

WOW... thanks for sharing your experiences.  Good luck on the fresh 2013 season.  We wait all year for this time... enjoy it!

[mkcj]

Welcome! The summer of 68 was the year we built our cabin and when we went up in the spring of 69 every window in the cabin was broken from the cold and even though I was 5 I remember all the animals laying dead in the fields. Then to make things worse they issued I think 1000 doe tag's in 224 and close to that in 218 for a couple years and that was the first nail in the coffin for that herd. This summer I have been working a lot of OT, my last day off was labor day so I am short on deer number's in the hills this year.

[Boss .300 winmag]

Welcome to the forum bigmacc. Unfortunately the tree huggers have won one the wolf issue and we all are paying the price for their agenda. Hopefully we can turn the tide in the near future, but things look bleak if you ask me.

[mkcj]

Does anyone else have a bad feeling about the way the season is starting, meaning with this early snow it's going to start moving the herd down which will be great for hunting. There is the problem though can the herd sustain many more migrating buck's that might be taken than on a normal year, Then including the ever growing predator problem we have . I hope I'm wrong

[bigmacc]

thanks for the "welcomes" everyone. once i get better at this i,ll post up some "good ole days"pics. have lots going back to the 30,s of our camps and hunting trips. no "honey hole" info tho

[Boss .300 winmag]

Does anyone else have a bad feeling about the way the season is starting, meaning with this early snow it's going to start moving the herd down which will be great for hunting. There is the problem though can the herd sustain many more migrating buck's that might be taken than on a normal year, Then including the ever growing predator problem we have . I hope I'm wrong

I get the same feeling a lot less deer same amount of hunters plus this wether if it stays this way will push the herds lower earlier than I have ever seen. Well at least some people will get some nice bucks and bulls before the wolves eat them.

[Ridgerunner]

Can't wait for the stories and old time pics.

[Skyvalhunter]

First of all bigmacc welcome. I must say your comments confirm what many of us have witnessed and experienced in the Methow Valley. I have hunted, hiked the area most of my life. The days of going out and seeing 35+ deer on an evening stroll are a thing of the past. Yet they continue to increase the once precious, and coveted special permits.
I have sent comments to the WDFW conveying my displeasure for how the area is handled but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Then there is the local wildlife biologist who consistently suggests that the deer population is more than adequate for the region. Everyone knows he is just buying his time until he retires. My suggestion to you is to email the WDFW and state your observations. Everyone knows the area is one of the most impacted by the growth in the wolf population.  Again thanks for conveying your observations. The days of the mighty Methow herd are a thing of the past.

[mkcj]

They get away with the inflated number's I think because if you stay around town or at the state park the deer are all over the place, A lot different story when you get out of town and up into the hills so most people assume there has to be deer all over the place

[MADMAX]

swell !
I checked the 10 day forecast , sounds like the snow level going back up

[MtnMuley]

The WDFW report at the recent meeting over here was that there was a 34:100 buck  to doe ratio during their counts last year.  What they forgot to mention was how many overall deer to get this ratio.  "They didn't have the exact numbers" LOL.  I'm betting 100 .  Again, these studies are ridiculous, bacause they are done when all the deer are down, making them easier to see from the air.  Lot's of country for those deer to disperse in during hunting seasons.  Also, they said there was a 25% harvest rate last year and that the numbers were high for a successful season.  Really?  No way.  Again, what they failed to mention is that these were the numbers for the whole state including second deer tags and antlerless tags throughout all the seasons.  Good luck to everybody hunting north central WA this year, and don't expect a banner year like they're predicting.  Reality is, I've seen FAR less deer this year, then I've ever seen before.   

[bigmacc]

The WDFW report at the recent meeting over here was that there was a 34:100 buck  to doe ratio during their counts last year.  What they forgot to mention was how many overall deer to get this ratio.  "They didn't have the exact numbers" LOL.  I'm betting 100 .  Again, these studies are ridiculous, bacause they are done when all the deer are down, making them easier to see from the air.  Lot's of country for those deer to disperse in during hunting seasons.  Also, they said there was a 25% harvest rate last year and that the numbers were high for a successful season.  Really?  No way.  Again, what they failed to mention is that these were the numbers for the whole state including second deer tags and antlerless tags throughout all the seasons.  Good luck to everybody hunting north central WA this year, and don't expect a banner year like they're predicting.  Reality is, I've seen FAR less deer this year, then I've ever seen before. 

I agree...as far as their buck to doe ratios for the area,ive often wondered if they if maybe they just take a drive thru the state park or drive from one end of town to the other and count the deer in peoples yards ..Some of the years weve been the most succesful were years the ratio was 8 or 9 per 100 and bucks were everywhere ...before he retired years ago,Jim Mountjoy(the warden at the time)would come to our camp a few times during the season,sit around the fire and b.s with us,we would pick his brain and sometimes hed pick ours to find out where the deer were.hes a good man and one of the last ones i myself could really believe.

[buckfvr]

I think they are already running damage control.....trying to avert the panic, hoping to keep tag sales as high as possible right up until the problem is slap your face obvious to everyone............I cant believe anyone can take wdfws word on anything.........

[MtnMuley]

The WDFW report at the recent meeting over here was that there was a 34:100 buck  to doe ratio during their counts last year.  What they forgot to mention was how many overall deer to get this ratio.  "They didn't have the exact numbers" LOL.  I'm betting 100 .  Again, these studies are ridiculous, bacause they are done when all the deer are down, making them easier to see from the air.  Lot's of country for those deer to disperse in during hunting seasons.  Also, they said there was a 25% harvest rate last year and that the numbers were high for a successful season.  Really?  No way.  Again, what they failed to mention is that these were the numbers for the whole state including second deer tags and antlerless tags throughout all the seasons.  Good luck to everybody hunting north central WA this year, and don't expect a banner year like they're predicting.  Reality is, I've seen FAR less deer this year, then I've ever seen before. 

I agree...as far as their buck to doe ratios for the area,ive often wondered if they if maybe they just take a drive thru the state park or drive from one end of town to the other and count the deer in peoples yards ..Some of the years weve been the most succesful were years the ratio was 8 or 9 per 100 and bucks were everywhere ...before he retired years ago,Jim Mountjoy(the warden at the time)would come to our camp a few times during the season,sit around the fire and b.s with us,we would pick his brain and sometimes hed pick ours to find out where the deer were.hes a good man and one of the last ones i myself could really believe.

Jim wasn't the warden, but the lands manager up there.  Great guy.  Pat Heenan probably was the warden up there at that time.  Cal Treser is the Warden up there now, and he's the only WDFW guy in that area I'd believe a word out of.