No deer in 113

[packerfan66]

Hunted late muzzle with a buddy from opening day until yesterday in the Selkirk unit.  Saw 2 does, 3 sets of wolf tracks, and a few moose tracks in the total amount of time.  With fresh snow, there was little sign of deer low and high. Tried rattling, grunting etc. with no luck. Talked with one guy who had only seen 1 deer during the week and he believed that they are done rutting.  Anyone else have any ideas of what's going on up there?

[CAMPMEAT]

Wolves = no deer.

[Heredoggydoggy]

Wolves = no deer.

Exactly....I didn't hunt 113 this year, but where I coyote hunted last year and saw lots of deer, coyote, and elk tracks, this year after the wolves moved in, NOTHING!  All I saw was a pile of elk droppings that looked 4 months old.  A friend of mine and his daughter went a bit higher earlier to look for mushrooms, and he said behind every elk track he saw there was a wolf track.  Even on the road 5 to 6 miles in, I always saw tracks where game crossed the road.  This year, after a 3-day old snow, NADA!

Wolves = no nothing! 

[10thmountainarcher]

113 is a rather large unit.  I was up at the north end and we saw a 2x2, possibly 3x3 on Tuesday that was stinking real bad.  I haven't seen a lot of deer, but they are there.  The wolves have not wiped out the whole herd though.  I'll be back up next thurs-saturday to try again.

[boneaddict]

The unit is down a lot.  I saw way fewer whitetails.  On a good note I found a few more muleys.  I think even the moose might be taking some hits.

[CAMPMEAT]

I was up in Nordman for 4 days this year and saw nothing. We rode our ATV's all over and in Washington and didn't see anything, except 1 moose in Nordman when we were leaving to go home.

[Selkirk]

113 is a big unit. When I fail to see much sign, I will break camp and try another area.  It's a pain in the butt, but I hate wasting my time in unproductive areas.  We saw more bucks than does this year during our hunt in 113. 

[packerfan66]

Walked probably a combined 15 miles and sat for a combined 12 hours. Weren't even seeing deer in the fields.

[buckfvr]

peak rut activity here is over.......wolves = everything they cant catch, packin up and movin on...........not all dead, just no longer where they were.  Wolves will push the animals all over the place.....as the wolf moves about, so does everything else.......

[10thmountainarcher]

Packerfan, sent you a PM

[CAMPMEAT]

My friend just sent this to me. He was shot across the 113 line in Priest Lake...........

[huntnnw]

 

[mdbuck5x5]

Just talked to a buddy that is up in 113 hunting with a friend. He said yesterday he saw 2 does and no bucks and then today saw 7 does and 1 spike that he passed up on. They are hunting the timber! He told me the activity was a little slow. He did talk to another guy that said his party shot a 5x4 yesterday. I think with this cold weather front coming in things will pick up a little again!

[huntnnw]

my buddy spent considerable time in the unit chasing moose this year...nothing good to say about the unit..very few deer...moose wasnt very good

[mdbuck5x5]

my buddy spent considerable time in the unit chasing moose this year...nothing good to say about the unit..very few deer...moose wasnt very good

Not knocking your buddy at all and maybe its just me but I'm not sure he was looking in the right places for moose then. I saw more moose this year than any I can remember in recent memory.

[10thmountainarcher]

I've seen loads of moose sign this year...

[huntnnw]

They covered alot of ground over 17 days... they saw 0 calves! they saw small bulls..nothing big or even near it. They ran into a local on the mt that said the moose is plumeting...wolves everywhere

[mdbuck5x5]

They covered alot of ground over 17 days... they saw 0 calves! they saw small bulls..nothing big or even near it. They ran into a local on the mt that said the moose is plumeting...wolves everywhere

The wolves are for sure running crazy up there. The moose may be taking a hit in some areas but not everywhere. That's just my observation though.

[WAcoyotehunter]

I still see 100+ (probably 1000+) deer to every wolf. 

[Heredoggydoggy]

My friend just sent this to me. He was shot across the 113 line in Priest Lake...........

Lucky him--he got the last one....

[CAMPMEAT]

My friend just sent this to me. He was shot across the 113 line in Priest Lake...........

Lucky him--he got the last one....

Breeder is now gone.....

[pendoreilleadventures]

peak rut activity here is over.......wolves = everything they cant catch, packin up and movin on...........not all dead, just no longer where they were.  Wolves will push the animals all over the place.....as the wolf moves about, so does everything else.......

 

[Elkbow33]

In my 22 days hunting moose in the unit I saw lots of cow and calf pairs in southern end saw less moose in the north end and cows that I did see most did not have calves(Harvey bunchgrass area) saw very few deer, but did see quite a few tracks. More mule deer than whitetail. The whitetail were mostly on private. Saw one wolf and heard a few. 

[packerfan66]

Thanks for all the responses.  I've hunted the unit for about 8 years and never have seen it this slow.  Needless to say, Ill be headed back up this weekend to give it another shot!

[runningboard]

seen a ginormous 5 point @ 8pm crossing Leclerc while driving home and a friend said he saw a 6 point @ midnight, they're there but not stupid is as stupid does. good luck to you packerfan66

[Heredoggydoggy]

A few years ago, two deep snow winters in a row in 113 decimated the deer herds so badly that the Game Dept. put on the "Bucks Only" law that is probably still in effect to this day.  I didn't deer hunt this year, but even after the bad winters, there were still lots of deer in 113.  Now that the wolves are there, who knows.  But I do know that around here, since the wolves moved in, there are no coyotes or deer, and probably no elk in one of the places that used to be crowded with them.

[packerfan66]

seen a ginormous 5 point @ 8pm crossing Leclerc while driving home and a friend said he saw a 6 point @ midnight, they're there but not stupid is as stupid does. good luck to you packerfan66

thank you

[10thmountainarcher]

Makes no sense to keep the late hunt in the 113 where the herd is hurting.  They should bump it to 111 where the herd is thriving...

[mdbuck5x5]

Makes no sense to keep the late hunt in the 113 where the herd is hurting.

Sorry but that's subjective!

[10thmountainarcher]

Makes no sense to keep the late hunt in the 113 where the herd is hurting.

Sorry but that's subjective!

 I'm not saying it's way down but I have been hunting there for 15 years and have lived there for 21... The herd is not what it once was .

[mdbuck5x5]

Makes no sense to keep the late hunt in the 113 where the herd is hurting.

Sorry but that's subjective!

 I'm not saying it's way down but I have been hunting there for 15 years and have lived there for 21... The herd is not what it once was .

I completely 100% agree with you there. I also have hunted up there for 20+ years and yes its not like it used to be!

[oldleclercrd]

 

[10thmountainarcher]

Makes no sense to keep the late hunt in the 113 where the herd is hurting.

Sorry but that's subjective!

 I'm not saying it's way down but I have been hunting there for 15 years and have lived there for 21... The herd is not what it once was .

I completely 100% agree with you there. I also have hunted up there for 20+ years and yes its not like it used to be!

And thanks to u there is one less buck haha. I'm hoping after the end of this week I'll help reduce the numbers too.

[mdbuck5x5]

Lol very true...good luck bud I hope it happens for you. Just talked to my buddy up there and he said it snowed like hell for a bit today. Saw a few does but no bucks. He did say he saw 15 head of elk together.

[10thmountainarcher]

I know of a good one taken today. Not sure if it was archery or ml. Wish I could post a pic. Bonekellekter from the sites brother was the one who got it. I hafta go to federal way for a few more tests so I can be a working man otherwise I'd be up there now. The temps will be downnnn Thursday Friday and Saturday when I'm up.

[Moe the Sleaze]

I just returned after 6 days hunting 113 with my muzzleloader.  Saw a couple of does every day, but the deer were definitely not "thick" in any manner of speaking.  It's easy to blame the wolves, but I'm not convinced. Whitetails, of all the deer species, can usually hold their own against the wolves.  Look it up; there are studies and studies.

In a very general sense, I would say the deer in the area I hunt are definitely recovering from the tough winters.  They seem to be more dispersed, however.

A little snow would have helped my hunt. True every year!

[oldleclercrd]

The deer population still hasn't recovered from the 96/97 winter. Now that hunters can't take does that will help a little. In my opinion there needs to be a 4pt minimum there, but that's a whole different thread.

[10thmountainarcher]

Two bucks today... didn't get either because I was an idiot, hope tomorrow is the day!

[mdbuck5x5]

Two bucks today... didn't get either because I was an idiot, hope tomorrow is the day!

Good luck...I hope it works out for you! 

[Hangfire]

Unit 113 has been on a long time decline. I hunted that unit since 1962. It used to have a lot of mule deer. The white tail slowly were taking over the mule deer area. Prior to the severe 1968/69 winter most of Le Cleric creek was mule deer and some very large ones. After that hard winter, the mule did not recover as fast as the white tail. Periodic hard winters, increased hunting pressure and changes to logging have reduced the Le Cleric creek and Mill creek areas to a fraction of what they once were.  I have only hunted it once since the last two back to back hard winters. Friends still hunt it and while there are deer, not like prior to the last two bad winters.  A example to show what it once was. In 1965 my dad and I were dropped off at the saddle between Monumental and Molybdenite mountains at daylight. We hiked the trail west to the old look out site  on Molybdenite and down  the old trail between white man and Red man creek to the road. It took all day. We were bear hunting about 2-3 weeks before deer season. By 8am we had seen 42 deer and 8 bear (all the bear we had a chance at had cubs). After that time we saw about 4 more bear and a few deer including the largest Mule deer I ever saw. The bucks horns were about 6 inches beyond the ears and so tall they did not look wide. He had about 20 points per side. Never saw him again. I was looking at him with a spotting scope at only 100 yards. There were no motor cycle tracks on the trail and no other hunters. I hunted that area until  almost exclusively until 1971 and then every couple years until about 1998. the 1968/69 winter destroyed it. I  muzzle loaded the southern end of the unit for white tail in the early 2000's and could usually find deer but it also hasn't recovered from the last hard winters. In those early years we only saw a elk one time and no moose. Any time there was snow on the ground you could find a cougar track.