Are there just not any deer in Western Wa?

[deerslyr]

Strange I've seen more BTs this year than any other that I can remember!

[furiouzgeorge]

I found a TON of cougar sign in 437 during the snow. I can't tell you if it's all the same cat or not but there was plenty of tracks as well as kittens with a few of them. I've seen sign in 448 as well. Let's hit em!

[Skyvalhunter]

Yep no deer on the wewst side and certainly none down by Shelton

[bullcanyon]

My personal goal this winter is to rid my old honey holes of predators. One of them had 2 different cats on trail cams this fall. Another had more Coyote sign than I've seen in awhile.

[hntrspud]

 

Have three spots for sure that need cats taken care of. All private, but also a ridiculous amount of coyote. One spot has 2 or 3 cats. 2 for sure. Looking for help on those cats I am.

[furiouzgeorge]

Where?

[reagansquad]

Have three spots for sure that need cats taken care of. All private, but also a ridiculous amount of coyote. One spot has 2 or 3 cats. 2 for sure. Looking for help on those cats I am.

Yeah where?

[Buckmark]

Are you hunting in GMU448? If so the harvest report shows sucess rates right about 15%, so 15 out of 100 hunters  fill there tags, so 85 eat tag soup...Maybe you are just destined to be one of the 85..

[WSU]

A lot of it is that they are just hard to find and very good at not being seen.  I hunt a piece of private property close to my house.  Some times you can hunt for 2 days and see nothing.  Some days I will see 20 deer.  I can't believe those deer are leaving entirely.  They are just making themselves scarce.

[Mike450r]

If weather and conditions are right I am seeing just as many deer as I ever did.  The buck to doe ration is a bit out of whack in places which is my main concern.

[Special T]

If your not seeing the Black tails your not doing it right. Read Boyd Iverson "Blacktail Trophy tactics2"  Wind,& Scouting pay a larger role in BT hunting than Mule deer hunting IMO. Partially because of the species difference, mainly the kind of ground you cover. I would bet you move WAY to fast through good BT county and there were there you just blew it. 

[bobcat]

I'm not sure what to think of the buck to doe ratio in the area I hunt (501, 663, 672). I saw three bucks during hunting season. Zero does.

Not that there weren't any does, because my hunting partners did see does while we were hunting together. Four does if I remember correctly.

So that makes four does, three bucks. I'd sure like to be seeing a whole lot more does!

[montana archer]

saw lots of does and bucks in kitsap county gmu in early archery.  as for late archery end up getting pneumonia and only could go out for 1 day which was 2 hours and shot a 2x2 with my bow and my hunting buddy shot a spike in the same area.  they seem to like the thick stuff.  they will not show themselves in the day in the open except for the nastiest gnarliest stuff out there.  have one more buddy with archery deer permit hope he can fill in the same area.  just keep looking and be really patient.  it does pay off at the end.  joe us navy

[MTMule]

Ive been in a lot of places with a lot of deer, places in Oregon with a lot of blacktail deer too. If there is a lot of deer you see a lot of deer. I don't buy the non sense that western wa deer are any different then other deer.

There are not a lot of deer in western washington when compared to other areas where there are lots of deer. It's very simple.

[Tbar]

I agree with special t, there is still good bt hunting to be had. I  dee almost everywhere I go in 407/437. The times I don't it is just a long walk out. Our area up here is locked up tight and most of my hunting starts 2-3 miles behind a gate. In the 80s and 90s I don't remember any locked gates (where I was hunting), you could also access all of crown land. I'm a big believer in the predator problems, but still have had zero issues locating deer.