Crowded during modern season?

[fishingnut71]

you cant tell me that 95percent. yes I said 95 percent, of the the folks in the entiat are people who reside here. come on your a coastie.

[hollymaster]

Can someone post a picture of a pumpkin patch?  I'd like to see a good example of what this looks like.   

 

[Soady]

After hunting the last few years with a muzzle loader I am switching to modern rifles this year. My reasons for the switch is I am getting my wife into hunting as she will become my new hunting partner. She is very excited and ready to take down a buck. We went an purchased 2 tikka t3's with scopes and are getting all the gear for the early modern season. My question is what my subject is about. Is it super crowded during modern season? I have bumped into a few muzzle loader hunters but nothing to bad, useually we are able to work with the other group and perhaps push something into one another. But most times we do not run into many people. So for those hunting in mason and kitsap counties will I expect big crowds? Maybe a few suggestions on how to avoid this.

Best advice is to stay in the locations you know best, take more stands and let others work for you pushing animals. Get your wife into enjoying the moment of being outdoors, let her develop the instinct to recognize and discern the little things in the woods. Sometimes we as husbands push too hard on the ones we desire to teach how to hunt and develop the skills to hunt by being all about the harvest aspect. Give her time let, her develop on her own and you will have done your job of introducing her to your mistress.

Now if you want to sell your muzzleloader I could be persuaded to take a look at it!

[smittyJ]

Oh okay! Just curious, thought you might have some special technique for differentiating between coastie and non-coastie vehicles. I know on my truck I don't have a license plate frame from a dealer or anything else to identify it as such.

I was told that license plates are made in lots, and certain lots get shipped out to different areas.  So, if he knew which plates went where, he could tell you.  I know that the last three letters on the plate on my old car were the same last three as probably 50 cars (that I saw) in the same area.

2005 and newer, west side. 1990 and older east side! 

[netcoyote]

Can someone post a picture of a pumpkin patch?  I'd like to see a good example of what this looks like.   

About 5 years ago I made the mistake of going into Taneum with my bird dog on the first weekend of spike elk season. Now THAT was my first and only experience with a true "pumpkin patch". Wished I'd have taken a picture. There were rigs parked literally bumper to bumper for as far as I cared to drive. I figured all I had to do was just keep driving and I would get away from the orange. Never happened. You could look out from any vantage point and see a pumpkin behind every stump or rock. Freakin' ridiculous. I ALWAYS check the calendar and the reg book before venturing out again.
The best blacktail day I've had was the last day of a late season and crappiest weather I had ever considered hunting in. Never saw a soul the whole morning. Not even another rig. It was an area new to me so I really didn't have a clue of the animal population or habits. By 8:00am I bagged a nice blackie about 100 yds from the truck and by 10:30 I had him hanging in the barn.
Such is hunting...

[netcoyote]

Can someone post a picture of a pumpkin patch?  I'd like to see a good example of what this looks like.   

About 5 years ago I made the mistake of going into Taneum with my bird dog on the first weekend of spike elk season. Now THAT was my first and only experience with a true "pumpkin patch". Wished I'd have taken a picture. There were rigs parked literally bumper to bumper for as far as I cared to drive. I figured all I had to do was just keep driving and I would get away from the orange. Never happened. You could look out from any vantage point and see a pumpkin behind every stump or rock. Freakin' ridiculous. I ALWAYS check the calendar and the reg book before venturing out again.
The best blacktail day I've had was the last day of a late season and crappiest weather I had ever considered hunting in. Never saw a soul the whole morning. Not even another rig. It was an area new to me so I really didn't have a clue of the animal population or habits. By 8:00am I bagged a nice blackie about 100 yds from the truck and by 10:30 I had him hanging in the barn.
Such is hunting...

[fishingnut71]

YEP. its a big mistake. Every westsider is on this side on the mountain. It really sucks. Its pushing me to another state for good.

[Toptwo]

YEP. its a big mistake. Every westsider is on this side on the mountain. It really sucks. Its pushing me to another state for good.

  Really? Every one? Then why is it that EVERY gate I went to yesterday had 3-8 vehicles at it and I am on the Westside. Please, head for another state and take a few with you...more room for me

[jtw]

I was out saturday afternoon to sunday night and only saw one other hunter. Granted I walked in behind a gate. I was surprised to see so few on opening weekend.

[RadSav]

Oh okay! Just curious, thought you might have some special technique for differentiating between coastie and non-coastie vehicles. I know on my truck I don't have a license plate frame from a dealer or anything else to identify it as such.

I was told that license plates are made in lots, and certain lots get shipped out to different areas.  So, if he knew which plates went where, he could tell you.  I know that the last three letters on the plate on my old car were the same last three as probably 50 cars (that I saw) in the same area.

2005 and newer, west side. 1990 and older east side! 

So what you are telling me is, next time I go over to the dry side I should put a "Ron Paul" bumper sticker on the old truck?  Then I will fit right in?

[206]

Been MF hunting the same sage brush coulee's for the most part of 30+ years and this year almost nobody was there.  I took the last 2 years off and when I drove in Saturday morning I questioned if it was opening day.  Didn't understand.  There was a total of 2 other trucks in the area over the weekend.  I figure most MF hunters switched to ML over the years and shot all the legals outta there a couple weeks prior.

[h2ofowlr]

I have the multi-season tag.  Didn't see a soul mid week during muzzy.  Went up this weekend and had groups of 3-4 in every direction.  I bet from where I was at, I saw 70 + hunters.  It was nuts I pulled out by 8:00 am opening morning to look else where.

[huntingbaldguy]

Oh okay! Just curious, thought you might have some special technique for differentiating between coastie and non-coastie vehicles. I know on my truck I don't have a license plate frame from a dealer or anything else to identify it as such.

I was told that license plates are made in lots, and certain lots get shipped out to different areas.  So, if he knew which plates went where, he could tell you.  I know that the last three letters on the plate on my old car were the same last three as probably 50 cars (that I saw) in the same area.

2005 and newer, west side. 1990 and older east side! 

So what you are telling me is, next time I go over to the dry side I should put a "Ron Paul" bumper sticker on the old truck?  Then I will fit right in?

Why don't you have one anyways?   

[Natas5150]

Well....it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. Myself and my wife were at the gate ready to hunt at about 5:15 am. We saw another truck parked at a gate next to the one we parked at. They saw us and decided to move in to there area during the dark. As we were getting ready another truck pulled up and parked and I figure we better move on and be ready for daylight. We hiked about a mile and half in before legal shooting light and then stopped and waitied for daylight to come. At this point I was getting frusterated I figured the area would be crawling with hunters. Daylight came and we heard 2 shots which I was assuming to be the group that went in before we did. Anyways we hunted for about 2-3 hours and didn't see anyone and of course heard a few shots in the distance. We decided to call it on the account of my boots which were falling apart soles were coming off and my foot was getting wet. As we came out we saw 2 hunters about 300 yards or so from the gat sitting on a ridge over looking a clearcut. No deer for us but the season is not over. I just expected the see a bunch of people and really didn't.

I decided to take a drive after we packed up and check out a few different areas. We saw one gate with 9 cars at it talk about combat hunting. What was strange was there were gates with no one at them or maybe one truck. We will be back at this coming weekend probabley not going to same area just going to change it up because we didn't see much of any sign or anyhting. Too much pressure in the area maybe.

[KDB]

I hunt modern on the westside and I never hunt the first week of the season.  People thin out after the first week.