Head East for the late season?

[mjp]

Hello all,

I just started hunting this season and am looking on some advice for this weekend. I live close to Seattle and hunted mostly blacktail on the west side for the general season. Since it's closer to home I could get out more and scout some areas on public land to hunt. I've been trying to read up online and put some miles in out in the woods but so far haven't come up with much. I've found some areas with some deer sign but haven't been able to see any while hunting. I'll probably try the west side again for next weekend but to increase my chances at getting one I'm thinking about heading east.

As the late deer season opens I'm considering trying to either get an Inland Empire Paper Company permit for 124 or go somewhere on national forest land in 105, 108, 111, 113. I was thinking not 117/121 as they are 4pt limit and I'm mainly trying to get some meat(not concerned with a trophy).

In another thread on this site it sounded like the IEP land was pretty swamped with hunters, should I just rule that out and focus on other places? Ideally, I'm think I'm looking for an access point where I can hike in a ways to get away from the crowds and have a chance at a deer. I'll try to scout on google maps for a location that looks good, but I thought I'd reach out on this forum as well.

I'm just starting out as a hunter and no one I know hunts so any advice/info appreciated!

[BIGMIKE]

 Welcome to the forum! 

[iusmc2002]

I think one of your best bets is open fields, private lands.  I haven't seen many deer the last 2 weeks in the NF near me.  Granted, I'm typically on a quad, but excluding the last couple weeks, I normally see deer.  They've been hunted pretty hard the last few months, and they know they're fairly safe on private lands.  Good luck.  Stay out of 117 completely.  The deer are small and taste bad   

[skeeter 20i]

Welcome 

[ElkFeaver]

Im from the west side heading to hunt 117 and 121. I have never hunted or been in those g.m.u's but going to give it a go. Is private land hard to get access? I was also wondering if they clear cut national forest or if there are any good areas to glass?

[Reaper4]

I am hunting 105 next Thursday through Sunday where I got one last year 

[baldopepper]

Unless you know your way around 121, it's a tough area.  Real patchwork of private and public land and a lot of hunters I run into over here spend their time just trying to find a place to hunt.  Compound that with the 4 point rule and it's a challenge at best.  I wouldn't recommend trying to hunt it unless you've done some pre scouting and have knocked on a few doors for permission (which isn't real easy to get for the deer hunt)  Remember it's whitetail only and there are a lot of mule deer intermixed in the area.  Make sure you know what you're shooting at on the late hunt.

[mjp]

Thanks for the welcome/info!

I just got back from hunting all day Saturday and half a day on Sunday. I decided to head to Little Pend Oreille in 117 as that had the most info(maps, camping, etc) available online.

Didn't end up connecting on a buck, but had a lot of fun with some exciting moments. While hunting I saw 8 deer in total - a new record for me(don't laugh but its up from my previous high of zero). I even had a spike buck in my sights at a super short range I feel comfortable nailing - too bad there is the 4pt limit there.

I like to get out in the woods and stalk around or post up and inspect areas for awhile. However, I saw a lot of people just slowly cruising the roads looking out onto either side. I assume they would stop/get out and shoot if they saw something. Is that an effective strategy? I guess you could cover more ground but it seems it would scare the deer away.

[superdown]

This is a legal 4pt shed from very close to hwy 395 on the border of 117/121 certainly looks like a hard tag to fill to me

[buckfvr]

Not as hard to hunt as some have said, but forget private land EXCEPT timber company holdings, some timber companies are open to the public, but not all.......and DNR or BLM.....

Lots of cuts to glass, and I think there are much better methods than roading around making noise.  Dont have to walk very far to see things not visible from the road.......sit and glass.....find some does and sit on them til dark......