Deer hunting field reports

[gr8whthunter]

thought it would be cool to start a topic about how everyones hunting day went, what you saw, where you hiked or hunted (or not if its secret) or even what you got just somethin to tell everyone how your season or days are goin and what youve been seeing.

heres how my first day went -
     got out yesterday afternoon after work at about 3pm and went to this years honey hole, no tracks driven in to it so i was the only one there all day and saw 3 doe and a mystery deer right off the bat, couldnt track the mystery deer sadly though, went up a ways farther and was glassing a unit and spotted 2 deer about 1000yds out, spotting scope was left at home and the rain didnt help the binos spot bone on top of there heads or not, so it was time to get my stalk on. hiked across valley and through a creek and back up the other side just on the back side of a hog back ridge and when i popped up on the top i was about 100yds away from....2 doe  .... really good size doe but started the hike back to the truck and i gotta tell you this new job i got is really working me outta shape.. slept like a baby though

[Pathfinder101]

Too hot.  Too dry.  Bad moon phase... pretty much sums it up.  Rough year down here in the SE corner.  I killed a young, thin horned 3x4, because that's all I could find.  A quick census of the camps in our area showed that no one was doing any better than I did.
  PathfinderJR hunted 13 hours Sunday.  Walked over 9 miles, looked in every conceivable draw and hole on the property we hunt.  He's still empty handed.  Praying for rain this week...  

[boneaddict]

Looks pretty lean here in the Yakima, though those that always seem to get it done seem to be notching their tags and filling their freezers.   Looks like temps are about to plummet, so that might move things along.   I think hairloss is putting a hurt on the local deer herd. 

[Toptwo]

I have been hunting Coyle for the last few days...am heading out for a afternoon/evening hunt later today even. Have not seen a single deer yet. Plenty of sign, and a lot of it fresh, but I think they are feeding all night, and deep in the brush during the day. It has still been pretty warm, and with this moon phase I was able to see my shadow as I hiked in at 5am yesterday 

[Hilltop123]

Looks pretty lean here in the Yakima, though those that always seem to get it done seem to be notching their tags and filling their freezers.   Looks like temps are about to plummet, so that might move things along.   I think hairloss is putting a hurt on the local deer herd. 

 
I think it's beyond a hurting. I don't think the deer numbers are coming back, as hoped. I seem to see fewer and fewer deer every year. Granted these are just my observations, nothing scientific about it. Young buck numbers almost none, not like years past even after hair loss hit. Just my observations.

[James]

In the wheat fields of SE wa it was the worst season my deer camp has ever seen.  First time ever not only did no one tag a deer, but not a single buck was even seen.  Average 15+ bucks seen on opening day.

Also hit the San Juan’s and it was the worst I had ever seen. Tons of predator scat, and saw about 1/12 the number of deer and deer sign.

Rough year, glad I was able to get a tag punched early.

[swanny]

We had 1 down Saturday and it was full of 2pts of all sizes the rest of the weekend through yesterday morning. Had a text on my phone of 1 more down last night, and just heard another down this morning. So guess things calmed down and the legal bucks stepped out. So as far as I know now 3 for 5.

Weather on Saturday on the east side was crazy!!

[silverdalesauer]

Spoke to a farmer who's lived in SE Washington his whole life. Said he's never seen so few deer and so many cougars. Said that he's seen 10 cats this fall. He thinks the WDFW is telling us there's less cats and plenty of deer, but thinks they're telling a backwards story. He was also saying that the wolves in the Blues are most likely impacting deer herds there. And, in terms of pheasants - he's shocked at how few there are left.

[jackelope]

I'm in Pomeroy right now. I saw literally 15 pheasants yesterday.  Saw bucks every day. I have had hundreds of deer on my trail cameras all summer. I've had 4-5 cats on the camera also. I talk to the wdfw bio a lot and he's never told me the deer numbers were great. Opposite in fact. 4 bucks killed on the land we hunt along with 4-5 opportunities on legal bucks in my crew. I've got kids hunting with me and they're not taking 300 yard shots. I had a 10 year old 147 yards from a nice 3x mulie last night and he wouldn't shoot because he couldn't et steady on the sticks and the CRP was too tall for him to use the bipod. The wind blew really hard most of the weekend here. I think that's what's kept the deer down. Wind died down yesterday and the deer were out in force last night. We saw 30 deer in about 2 hours last night.

[silverdalesauer]

Jackelope - glad to hear. I think this farmer must be basing his thoughts off of what he sees on his land. Glad to hear it's not true where you're at. Have fun hunting.

[rtspring]

Been hitting it hard since the opener! Tried like heck to put Whitpirates FIL on a buck close to the road that I had seen several times.  Im seeing great numbers of deer in my area, they are coming back after some bad years! 

I passed on a long 400 yard shot at dark on sunday on a huge two point with what I am sure was a legal eyeguard.  Being late I passed on the shot and will be back in there friday..  Weather was horrible most of the weekend.  They bedded up and fed all night long.. 

Rtspring

[Snakeriver10]

Mule deer numbers seem to be up for the Snake River Breaks this year, white tail numbers seem to be down.  The amount of hunters also seem to be down, with even fewer willing to step foot out of there cars.  Real rise in spikes and two points this year, deer was down by 9 30 am on opening day.

[Rainier10]

Been hitting it hard since the opener! Tried like heck to put Whitpirates FIL on a buck close to the road that I had seen several times.  Im seeing great numbers of deer in my area, they are coming back after some bad years! 

I passed on a long 400 yard shot at dark on sunday on a huge two point with what I am sure was a legal eyeguard.  Being late I passed on the shot and will be back in there friday..  Weather was horrible most of the weekend.  They bedded up and fed all night long.. 

Rtspring

That right there is funny, even funnier if it is true. 

[ELKBURGER]

I'm in Pomeroy right now. I saw literally 15 pheasants yesterday.  Saw bucks every day. I have had hundreds of deer on my trail cameras all summer. I've had 4-5 cats on the camera also. I talk to the wdfw bio a lot and he's never told me the deer numbers were great. Opposite in fact. 4 bucks killed on the land we hunt along with 4-5 opportunities on legal bucks in my crew. I've got kids hunting with me and they're not taking 300 yard shots. I had a 10 year old 147 yards from a nice 3x mulie last night and he wouldn't shoot because he couldn't et steady on the sticks and the CRP was too tall for him to use the bipod. The wind blew really hard most of the weekend here. I think that's what's kept the deer down. Wind died down yesterday and the deer were out in force last night. We saw 30 deer in about 2 hours last night.

Im hoping to get back overthere on the private I had access to. Will you be there through the weekend??

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Were not rifle hunting but seems to be pretty good here. We all where our hunter orange when out of doors and toot on our whistles to be heard. The area is and has been swarmed by rifle hunters with hunter orange on and rifles being fired all day long in all directions! Might install bullet proof glass in the place for added safety for the family.......   Yes have heard some deer's have been harvested. Mostly on private hunting grounds.

[de0827]

In the Umtanum on public ground my son had seen 12 deer by 8:00 Saturday morning including the 3x3 he shot, and by 9:30 I had seen 15 deer including the 2x3 I shot.  Sounds like we were just in the right place at the right time!

[steeleywhopper]

In the wheat fields of SE wa it was the worst season my deer camp has ever seen.  First time ever not only did no one tag a deer, but not a single buck was even seen.  Average 15+ bucks seen on opening day.

Also hit the San Juan’s and it was the worst I had ever seen. Tons of predator scat, and saw about 1/12 the number of deer and deer sign.

Rough year, glad I was able to get a tag punched early.

What kind of predator scat do you see on San Juan? The only thing that eats deer there are Eagles, people, and car bumpers. No coyotes on the island only foxes.

[longrangehunter338]

Hit 560 over the weekend, no deer just elk and tons of sign. Anyone see any deer or do I need to hit mt adams or st helens area?

[Sumpnneedskillin]

I've been out of town all weekend so I don't know if these guys survived.  My son said a lot of his friends were posting a lot of 4x4's on FB. 

3 different groups and one individual in different parts of the county.

[KDB]

Didn't hunt the opener, but as a Manager for a 90,000 acre tree farm it was a pretty typical opener.  Signs torn down, trespassers, several small fires from unattended camp fires.  And people wonder why lands are being closed down.  Most of our lands are open to the public.  Most of it is walk-in only. I thought I saw more hunters than usual, which may be a result of Weyco charging on their lands.

[jackelope]

I'm in Pomeroy right now. I saw literally 15 pheasants yesterday.  Saw bucks every day. I have had hundreds of deer on my trail cameras all summer. I've had 4-5 cats on the camera also. I talk to the wdfw bio a lot and he's never told me the deer numbers were great. Opposite in fact. 4 bucks killed on the land we hunt along with 4-5 opportunities on legal bucks in my crew. I've got kids hunting with me and they're not taking 300 yard shots. I had a 10 year old 147 yards from a nice 3x mulie last night and he wouldn't shoot because he couldn't et steady on the sticks and the CRP was too tall for him to use the bipod. The wind blew really hard most of the weekend here. I think that's what's kept the deer down. Wind died down yesterday and the deer were out in force last night. We saw 30 deer in about 2 hours last night.

Im hoping to get back overthere on the private I had access to. Will you be there through the weekend??

No unfortunately we're westbound now almost home.

[yakimarcher]

Tons of does, and a dinky 2 pt in rimrock

[steen]

Hunted the opener on the Westside and was shocked I had the spot I was hunting to myself till midmorning.  If there would have been a buck out it would have been done but I only saw 2 does. Not disappointed because I didn't have time to deal with a deer cause I was leaving Thurs. for the Eastside. I saw 8 bucks in the same spot in Aug. but no real large bucks, 4 spikes, 1 1X2, 1 2X2 all still in velvet. Lots of neat sunset pictures on all my sits!

[Turner89]

I was out all day Saturday, and Sunday, dark to dark. Saw a 2point, and a bear on the first day, and nothing Sunday. I'm not very concerned, I think the moon had a little to do with that.
 Tonight when I pulled in the driveway, there were 3 does, and a small 3 point in the pasture. The buck was chasing the does all over the field.( we don't mess with the deer around the house) I can't wait till this weekend 

[Rainstorm Hunter]

Hunted the Westside on Saturday, hunted from dawn until dusk, and only saw 1 doe. Hardly any sign either. The least amount of sign I have ever seen in my areas, so bad in fact I opted to go fishing on Sunday. Got the day off of work tomorrow, hopefully the rainy and breezy conditions will get them moving around a little bit.

[gr8whthunter]

      went out monday and tuesday and saw a total of 4 doe and 1 fawn, hunted from dawn till dusk monday and dawn till around 3 tuesday because i had to get some work done on the samurai, went to this years new spot i found and had a ton of deer sign but only saw 1 doe in there but on my way out there was a truck stopped in the middle of the road door wide open and a big loud *BOOM* look over and saw a guy hootin and haulerin and then i proceeded to help him pack out a big heavy horned 2x3 with eye guards that i spotted earlier this year scouting 

    so then i went to a spot from last year where i saw a few spikes but didnt see anything except alot of cat sign so that spot is pretty much off the deer list, ended up trying to go to an old honey hole but there has been a truck there since opening day same truck, the guy must be hunting it pretty hard and not gotten anything, i know there is alot of deer in there from earlier this year and last years hunting. and heard of a couple guys getting some good bucks and my partner watched a kid get his first deer nice little forked horn and he ended up having to gut it for the kid, and teach him how to and all that.

[Rainier10]

Didn't hunt the opener, but as a Manager for a 90,000 acre tree farm it was a pretty typical opener.  Signs torn down, trespassers, several small fires from unattended camp fires.  And people wonder why lands are being closed down.  Most of our lands are open to the public.  Most of it is walk-in only. I thought I saw more hunters than usual, which may be a result of Weyco charging on their lands.

Very disappointing to hear this.  Sorry that a few bad apples ruin it for others.

[troyspinetar]

Hunted the NE corner of 218 Saturday and Sunday. Friday I prayed for rain since it was so dry. It actually dumped rain overnight, and opening morning was clear and frosty. Over two days we saw 4 doe and heard only two distant shots. There was sign...but not super fresh. Upon leaving we only saw one deer at someones camp. We hiked our tails off, we hunted between 5800 and 6200'.
Before heading home we stopped and hunted the sage outside of Okanogan. We saw 8 mulie doe, 2 WT doe and 1 WT buck. Never had a shot at the buck.
Disappointing 

[James]

In the wheat fields of SE wa it was the worst season my deer camp has ever seen.  First time ever not only did no one tag a deer, but not a single buck was even seen.  Average 15+ bucks seen on opening day.

Also hit the San Juan’s and it was the worst I had ever seen. Tons of predator scat, and saw about 1/12 the number of deer and deer sign.

Rough year, glad I was able to get a tag punched early.

What kind of predator scat do you see on San Juan? The only thing that eats deer there are Eagles, people, and car bumpers. No coyotes on the island only foxes.

Bobcat and coyote mostly. Also found two bobcat and one coyote skull this year hunting and scouting.

Last year I only saw one pile, this year I saw a pile every 3 feet, it was insane. Some had deer hair in them, and one had half of a fawn hoof.

[silverdalesauer]

Hunted hard yesterday morning - watched a herd of 21 deer over a ridge that had 2 spikes, 1 two point and a mess of does. Then a massive 2x2 jumped by a buddy hunting on the other side of the ridge. Then, in the afternoon, tried a new spot and met a few guys who'd just shot a nice chocolate colored bear. On the way home for the night, saw another 7-10 deer.

Upon our arrival back to our lodging, met a guy that had been putting the stalk on a deer. He was in position to shoot when he heard a noise behind him... COUGAR! It was crouched in a stalking position 10 yards away from him. He turned and shot it in the face.

It's pouring rain here today - hope to get out and see some movement tonight.

[lokidog]

Spoke to a farmer who's lived in SE Washington his whole life. Said he's never seen so few deer and so many cougars. Said that he's seen 10 cats this fall. He thinks the WDFW is telling us there's less cats and plenty of deer, but thinks they're telling a backwards story. He was also saying that the wolves in the Blues are most likely impacting deer herds there. And, in terms of pheasants - he's shocked at how few there are left.

Heard that the cats are taking a lot of deer out where we hunted near Davenport as well.  Got invited back to the 3+ square miles of private land later this winter.     We saw only one small WT buck during daylight and about two dozen other does, mostly mulies, in three days of covering a lot of ground.  I have not hunted this before so cannot speak to any trends other than what the locals told me.

In the wheat fields of SE wa it was the worst season my deer camp has ever seen.  First time ever not only did no one tag a deer, but not a single buck was even seen.  Average 15+ bucks seen on opening day.

Also hit the San Juan’s and it was the worst I had ever seen. Tons of predator scat, and saw about 1/12 the number of deer and deer sign.

Rough year, glad I was able to get a tag punched early.

What kind of predator scat do you see on San Juan? The only thing that eats deer there are Eagles, people, and car bumpers. No coyotes on the island only foxes.

I was wondering the same thing.  I've heard some coyotes have been seen on Cypress, but it is technically not one of the San Juans.   

[kenjo]

If you got out to hunt at all this fall, count your blessings! Back injury in mid August, surgery in early October so no hunting for me this year. The surgery was 100% successful, but the healing process put too many restrictions on me to permit the usual physical activity of setting up camp, cutting and hauling firewood and strenuous hiking in the steep hills of the Entiat. I'll be back to my old spot next year, though; I've been hunting the Entiat for 40+ years, even though there are no deer there  . Many fond memories of deer camp and hunting pals. Thanks for all the good stories about your 2014 season!