Deer hunting field reports

[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.