more gamies than deer in handcock

[big wood]

seen 2 different game wardens today ( they were cool) and 1 doe.   hmmm
not much moving in there

[high voltage]

You on the kappas in side......? Don't have access yet but I'll be up there scouting in january

[trophyhunt]

I spent the past two days, half day today, in a walk in area. Yesterday I saw 6 does and a flash of a small 2 point, lots of cows and 2 spike bulls.  Today I saw 1 doe and few cow with a nice 5 point bull, very slow in my opinion. I expected to see more considering where I was, nobody else was back there, I was off the beaten path in the very wet ferns. I'm seeing lots of rubs, just not what I would hope to see as far as deer numbers go.

[high voltage]

Yeah I haven't seen much in my other areas either. But they may just be laying low past couple days. I think they can sense these weather systems moving in.

[MLhunter1]

No bucks for me today.  Watched a couple does for awhile hoping a buck would be falling in love again.  No dice.  And when under armour pants and coats say waterproof they are just flat out lyin.  Soaked.

[trophyhunt]

No bucks for me today.  Watched a couple does for awhile hoping a buck would be falling in love again.  No dice.  And when under armour pants and coats say waterproof they are just flat out lyin.  Soaked.

I know what your saying about the waterproof stuff, I had my Sitka pants and coat on, soaked as well.  My coat pockets had water in them? I also had my phone and wallet in my waterproof jacket, phone is sitting in rice for a day!  I think I'll try the kuiu waterproof jacket and pants after I hit the lottery!  I did put my gear to the test today, besides not ever stop raining, I walked through ferns and reprod from light till noon.  After that it was road hunting time, pretty dead in kapowsin.

[big wood]

was in there Thursday through Sunday. hiked in  all my old spots hoping to find some action and not a lot of deer. I've been in there consistently for 15 years now and the deer are really hurting. I think they have a major predator problem

[jackmaster]

was in there Thursday through Sunday. hiked in  all my old spots hoping to find some action and not a lot of deer. I've been in there consistently for 15 years now and the deer are really hurting. I think they have a major predator problem

definatly a predator problem, i passed on a small spike x 2pt on the friday of extended buck, i was hoping a kid i was taking might be able to get him the next day, well i was up there yesterday dec 1st and i found the little fella dead  it looked like he got taken out by a big cat, i have found so much cougar crap up there its insane. i also went saturday and di some predator calling, i either call in a cougar or a bobcat, when i stood up after an hour and a half of calling i got a flash of brown bellow the road, it wasnt a deer because i could hear all 4 feet softly hittn the ground, i guess thats what i get for not paying attention, sneaky liitle buggers thats for sure

[woodman]

was in there Thursday through Sunday. hiked in  all my old spots hoping to find some action and not a lot of deer. I've been in there consistently for 15 years now and the deer are really hurting. I think they have a major predator problem

definatly a predator problem, i passed on a small spike x 2pt on the friday of extended buck, i was hoping a kid i was taking might be able to get him the next day, well i was up there yesterday dec 1st and i found the little fella dead  it looked like he got taken out by a big cat, i have found so much cougar crap up there its insane. i also went saturday and di some predator calling, i either call in a cougar or a bobcat, when i stood up after an hour and a half of calling i got a flash of brown bellow the road, it wasnt a deer because i could hear all 4 feet softly hittn the ground, i guess thats what i get for not paying attention, sneaky liitle buggers thats for sure

I agree with these posts.

I have been going in there over 40 years and see way less deer. Yes there are deer in there, but I go in there way over a 100 times a year and see way less deer than I used to.

 I have trail cams running all year long and they see what is going on 24 hours a day. Way more bears, coyotes and cats. I saw number 7 bobcat Saturday not counting what I get on camera.

[big wood]

I know you are in there a lot woodman, as am I. What could we do to get the population back? I was reading the game laws on cougar and it looks like  there is a quota of 1 cat. Is it true or did I read it right?

[woodman]

I know you are in there a lot woodman, as am I. What could we do to get the population back? I was reading the game laws on cougar and it looks like  there is a quota of 1 cat. Is it true or did I read it right?

big wood,

Here is my opinion on what is happening, at least partially. Please keep in mind that I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but some things just strike me as obvious.

I find carcasses and they normally are of smaller deer or elk. These carcasses get cleaned up very quickly to the point that after two or three days you would never know that anything occurred there. My opinion on this is as the older animals get hunted out, killed or whatever, the young animals that should be replacing them just aren't there in the numbers that they used to be due to an increase in the predator population.

I can remember when seeing a bear in one of my special areas was a very rare animal to see. Now I really expect to see them and am kind of disappointed not to find them when I am looking for them. Last year just on one of my cameras I identified 11 different bears in one spot that passed in front of my camera. I have seen more coyotes this years than I have in the past few years.

As far as the cougar limit in the regs, I read it the same as you do. It really wouldn't matter if they made the limit 5 as far as I am concerned because they are so elusive. I never head out looking for a cougar, normally a cougar sighting for me is a byproduct of looking for other animals. I have seen a few over the years and have killed a very large one. The one that I killed was just a byproduct of deer hunting. My sightings of bobcats has increased also. I have written about this here in the past.

Where I see these predators is where I used to see tons of deer including plenty of nice bucks. I know that others talk about the great hunting in there, but I can talk with experience that it is nothing like when I was younger.

The biggest change that could be made but probably will not happen is to bring hound hunting back to control these predators. I am sure that others would have other ideas, but this change to stop hound hunting is the one thing that has for sure happened in the past. After that occurred, the predator sightings by myself and partners has greatly increased over time. Another thing, if baiting was allowed, then they could be thinned out also. Looking for bears in here is kind of tough in many areas since the sight distance where they like to hang out is so very limited.

One other thing that is reducing the population is poachers. I have chased some out of there while they were in the act and even have lead the game department to some and watched them get hand cuffed and arrested. I have found large elk with just the heads cut off. I also have found where kills have occurred and the remains covered up with fir branches. I also informed the game dept. of these instances.

I probably went on here too much, but to summarize - allow hound hunting, baiting and stop poaching would be a huge help in the deer and elk population.

Just my opinions, thanks for asking. How about you, your ideas?