What are some must do and must haves for hunting SE WA?

[Pete112288]

I have the points and am hoping to get drawn for a quality tag this year in the SE region of the state. I am born and bread western WA, thick brush and timber, soaking wet, sub 100 yard shot, any buck or any deer as a norm. It will be a few years till I get the time and money to spend much time on the east side pre season so the hunts I was going to put in for are 4-O ranch and ZMI ranch, that way I know the land I can hunt and have someone to point me in the right direction at least. I am not overly concerned with getting a MASSIVE buck, just a respectable 3 point+. My deffinition of "trophy buck" for myself is a bit lower than most haha. My question is if I were to be drawn for one of these hunts, what are the things that are must haves or must do before going? I have a spotting scope, good binos, rangefinder, and my 30-06. Anything else besides the basics?

[Bob33]

Strong legs and shooting practice. You have the rest.

[AlpineMuley]

How many points do you have?  Is this for whitetail or mule deer.

[bobcat]

Sun glasses, Chapstick, and boots with good ankle support. A bipod on the rifle might help, a good rangefinder, and a GPS.

[bare.hunter]

hunting license and the rut.

[Pete112288]

How many points do you have?  Is this for whitetail or mule deer.

I will have 5 or 6 points this year. Figured I would put the ZMI ranch as my first choice and thats any 3 pt mule or whitetail. If I did the 4-O I would probably put in for the whitetail hunt.

I have a GPS too, forgot about that one. Boots are something I need before this fall anyway, mine finally gave out this last year.

[pd]

Pete, I second all of the posts above me (yeah, you will need your license...).  This might just be true for me, but western WA and the Blues are quite different in another respect: Temperature swings.  I don't see huge daily swings on the westside, but the Blues can be really cold in the morning, and blazing hot the same day in the afternoon.  I suffer badly from the cold, so I wear a lot of clothes.  But strangely, I also overheat, too, so I need to shed clothes.  Thus, I would add 1 item to your list: A backpack (you have to carry those clothes somehow).

[bobcat]

You also need to realize that your odds of drawing any of those permits is very low. Five or six points doesn't help much. You're looking at odds of 1 in 100, or at best 1 in 25, depending on the permit. The ZMI would be your best odds because it has 2 permits, instead of only one like the others.

[Pete112288]

All the tips and info are much appreciated 

[jackelope]

Personally I wouldn't use my quality deer points again for mule  deer in the southeast corner of the state. Very few mule deer. Your odds of drawing either of those permits is very slim either way. I'd do the whitetail "buck deer" permits all day every day, but not mule deer quality permits.

[mtman]

You should just go even if you dont draw. Plenty of deer get shot during the general seasons over there. you will need some good lightwieght boots and a strong heart to keep the blood pumping to those legs. Couple days of hard hunting over there can make a guy tired.

[JODakota]

Personally I wouldn't use my quality deer points again for mule  deer in the southeast corner of the state. Very few mule deer. Your odds of drawing either of those permits is very slim either way. I'd do the whitetail "buck deer" permits all day every day, but not mule deer quality permits.

Very few mule deer?! Ha right.

[jackelope]

Maybe I should say very few quality bucks. You can't argue that one, JODakota.

[JODakota]

Maybe I should say very few quality bucks. You can't argue that one, JODakota.

We'll, depends on if it's public vs. private. Definitely some pigs taken off of private this year. Public, your 100% correct.

[jackelope]

;-)