Can someone explain to me the mule deer strategy in NE WA?

[huntnnw]

 I grew up and have spent a very big part of my life hunting in unit 105 for 30+ years and have watched the mule deer numbers just plummet. I remember when I was 10 years old the first year I hunted we saw lots of muleys and saw them for years to come... my 3rd year hunting I killed a small muley up there. Saw people who had them hanging in their camps and backs of trucks. Fast forward to present day and I spend even more time hunting and scouting the area than I had ever done when I was younger. I have cams up,spend time during spring bear now and camp more with family in the summer and I cant remember the last mule deer I saw . Why is the WDFW allowing OTC mule deer hunting in these units? years ago all you heard was kill the whitetail to help protect the mule deer herds. I dont think mule deer hunting should be OTC in any of the units in NE WA, but maybe 101 and I still would like to see hunter numbers controlled. There is awesome terrain up there for muleys that once had herds on them are void now.

[Todd_ID]

Good question. I have no experience in that part of the state,  but I know the businesses up there are happy that people come up there for whitetails. I'd be very surprised to hear that hunters would flock up there for muleys if it isn't a whopper-quality area like you've got for whitetails. Money talks in politics.  You'll have to ask the bios for the last 30 years this question.

[coachcw]

I would have to think a couple bad winters really hurt them up there ?

[CAMPMEAT]

I'd say the biggest deal with low deer in the 105 is WOLVES. I know here in the 101, I see mule deer all the time. They have skyrocketed in numbers since I moved here, but, we have a ton of whitetails too and not a lot of wolves, YET. The wolves are here and I hear of them being spotted all the time. They are not reported because the WDFW WON'T do anything about the wolves..

[bobcat]

My guess is that the decrease in mule deer in the NE is due to the suppression of forest fires over the last several decades.

Or in one word- habitat.

[buglebrush]

My guess is that the decrease in mule deer in the NE is due to the suppression of forest fires over the last several decades.

Or in one word- habitat.

Definitely a jungle up there.  We may get too much fire this year though.  Pretty dry this year, and there is way too much fuel!    

I think we don't give enough credit to the damage mountain lions / wolves do to Mule Deer.   And we all know that the spineless WDFW has refused to address the predator issue. 

[CAMPMEAT]

My guess is that the decrease in mule deer in the NE is due to the suppression of forest fires over the last several decades.

Or in one word- habitat.

You wanna hear something funny bobcat. The forest circus posted in our little paper that this spring is going to be good for prescribed fires...
Doesn't make sense, since it's nearly 70 degrees right now and dry....

[MooseZ25]

It is defiantly the lack of predator control.  No hounds have been used since 2010 and wolves have been taking over. 

[vandeman17]

My guess is that the decrease in mule deer in the NE is due to the suppression of forest fires over the last several decades.

Or in one word- habitat.

My thoughts as well. A lot of the area up there isn't conducive for mule deer to thrive and now with all the predators, they are fighting an uphill battle. We used to see a handful of mulies in the fields and bordering little hills but its been a while since I have seen one up that way. 

[CAMPMEAT]

I think you guys must be in a different state. We have a lot of muleys up here. My wife saw nearly 30 in one group 2 weeks ago coming home from work. I saw about a dozen today going to Republic..... They do disappear for hunting season though.

[Colville]

It's also that almost all the original old growth in the region has been cut and replaced with denser younger forest.  Some real old codgers who hunt near us have a land locked piece in the middle of NF.  They've hunted there since their teens.  They say they used to hunt Mule deer all over the area and took some great ones. Before the logging and reprod growth.  You still see em way up on the tops and in the high clear cuts. Not many though.  You can stop hunting them and I don't think it'll do much for their population.  Note too that the "wedge" whitetail suppression tags put out a few years back was an attempt to see if they could improve mule deer numbers by supressing whitetail.  I remember the WDFW remarking that the cats in the area also preferred mule deer and have an outsized impact on them.

[bobcat]

I think you guys must be in a different state. We have a lot of muleys up here. My wife saw nearly 30 in one group 2 weeks ago coming home from work. I saw about a dozen today going to Republic..... They do disappear for hunting season though.

You're talking unit 101, this thread was mostly in reference to the units east of there.

[CAMPMEAT]

I think you guys must be in a different state. We have a lot of muleys up here. My wife saw nearly 30 in one group 2 weeks ago coming home from work. I saw about a dozen today going to Republic..... They do disappear for hunting season though.

You're talking unit 101, this thread was mostly in reference to the units east of there.

I know that. Most people stay with a certain area and don't look elsewhere. Look at all the guys that say they've hunted someplace for 30 years and don't expand. The 105 is a hop, skip and a jump from here. If you read the topic line only, it says nothing about the 105, until you read what the op wrote. So, it's open game.

[Miles]

Everyone knows there are no mule deer in the NE corner...

[WAcoyotehunter]

habitat.  The high country hasn't burned in years.  The "good ol' days" for mule deer were a result of the huge 1910 fire.   

[2labs]

I think you guys must be in a different state. We have a lot of muleys up here. My wife saw nearly 30 in one group 2 weeks ago coming home from work. I saw about a dozen today going to Republic..... They do disappear for hunting season though.

You're talking unit 101, this thread was mostly in reference to the units east of there.

I know that. Most people stay with a certain area and don't look elsewhere. Look at all the guys that say they've hunted someplace for 30 years and don't expand. The 105 is a hop, skip and a jump from here. If you read the topic line only, it says nothing about the 105, until you read what the op wrote. So, it's open game.

Yep. And 204 is a desert! Don't go their.

[browney5er]

habitat.  The high country hasn't burned in years.  The "good ol' days" for mule deer were a result of the huge 1910 fire.

Amen, My dad hunted parts of gmu 111 starting in the late 50's and continued into the eighties when my brother and I started hunting with them. When you look at pictures of the high country from the sixties and even the seventies, It was wide open all the way to the bottom. That same country now is almost completely choked out with new growth. There are still meadows on top but now with the lack of habitat, they also have wolves to deal with. I know in that part of the state the decline in mule deer started as the habitat disappeared. The introduction of wolves has just enhanced it.

[huntnnw]

Its probably a combo of everything mentioned. Cats in the area I hunt are a big deal and there are lots! plus a ton of bears..wolves have been in this area for alot longer than the big talk of recent.

[mfswallace]

Its probably a combo of everything mentioned. Cats in the area I hunt are a big deal and there are lots! plus a ton of bears..wolves have been in this area for alot longer than the big talk of recent.

   Mostly predators though 99% Mules' unlike Whiteys can thrive almost anywhere if not decimated by predators

[WAcoyotehunter]

Its probably a combo of everything mentioned. Cats in the area I hunt are a big deal and there are lots! plus a ton of bears..wolves have been in this area for alot longer than the big talk of recent.

   Mostly predators though 99% Mules' unlike Whiteys can thrive almost anywhere if not decimated by predators

It's not only happening in NE Washington.  Mule deer decline is occurring across the west.  It is not "mostly predators".  Deer numbers are declining in areas where there is serious hound pressure on cats and wolves are not recovering.  It's a habitat issue.

[bobcat]

I'd say more like 10% predators, 90% habitat.

[huntnnw]

As many have stated with the lack of logging..the area I spend my time is not lacking in logging extensive logging miles and miles of forest cleared

[WAcoyotehunter]

I'd say more like 10% predators, 90% habitat.

that's probably fair.

[andrew_in_idaho]

Its probably a combo of everything mentioned. Cats in the area I hunt are a big deal and there are lots! plus a ton of bears..wolves have been in this area for alot longer than the big talk of recent.

   Mostly predators though 99% Mules' unlike Whiteys can thrive almost anywhere if not decimated by predators

So you're saying mule deer are more adaptable than whitetails. I think you've got that one backwards. Whitetail deer have been expanding range into traditional mule deer range for years not the other way around. Mule Deer are declining throughout the west and it is always blamed on predators because no one wants to admit that human encroachment on winter range as well as lack of logging and burning has lessened the carrying capacity of most mule deer habitat

[huntnnw]

the one thing about the predator issue is we were still seeing a fair number muleys till hound hunting ended and thats when it got really bad to what it is today. The last time I rifle hunted the area in Nov of 97 if I remember correctly we were hunting whitetails and we were seeing on avg 40-60 mulies a day! I then started bowhunting the late season and took quite a few years off from being up there in Nov and it was a shock when I returned to see the hills void of mule deer. In 4 days of glassing and hunting I turned up a herd of 5 does.

[boneaddict]

As stated.

I think the predators are having a bigger impact on recovery from the big winters, but you can also blame that on habitat.