Which hunt should I settle on?

[Mossyhorn]

I live in woodland, new resident looking to get out and hunt deer this fall. Primarily archery hunter but not opposed to rifle if pressure isn't too great.

1. Buy a Weyerhaeuser St. Helens permit and either rifle or archery hunt blacktails. Wondering what the pressure might be like with the permit? Advantage is doing day hunts from home.

2. Drive up to the Sinlahekin for mule deer archery. I'll only have 3, maybe 4 days to hunt. Would really like to hunt mule deer.

3. Swakane... I've read a lot about this hunt and understand it can be a mess but sounds like good chance at a Muley. Have a 4 wheel f-150 but no mud tires. Also probably only have 3-4 days to hunt.

4. Look more into the late units north of the Yakima Indian reservation, ie rim rock, taneum, Umtanum, etc.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated. I don't know what really is available in most these units as I'm pretty new to the state.

Thanks

[coachcw]

late archery in the okanogan would be my pick .

[bobcat]

 I would plan on a 3 to 4 day hunt in Swakane or Sinlahekin and also buy a Weyerhaeuser pass so you can get in more hunting close to home. Avoid the units around Yakima for deer- populations are very low.

[Bill W]

parts of the sinlahekin could be a little... dry.

[shanevg]

Not even a tough choice for me.  I'd take blacktail hunting over muley any day of the week!  There's something about those gray ghosts of the forest!

[bracer40]

I dont know what the Sinlahekin will look like this year due to the fires, but one of the benefits of that area over your other choices are you can hunt whitetails too (and i've seen some dandies up there!)

[Mossyhorn]

Good to know, I didn't know there'd been a fire there. I love hunting blacktails, grew up doing it in Oregon. But have never had the chance to hunt Muleys in the late season, or whitetails for that matter. That's a good thought on doing both the permit for blacktails and hunt the Swakane.

Can I find areas to get into, in the Swakane, if the roads are in bad shape? I have two legs that work good and a good pack frame so I'm not afraid of walking/climbing.

[Birdguy]

parts of the sinlahekin could be a little... dry.

  There are certainly parts that are dry right now and parts that are very much blackened by the flames of this summer. As mentioned there are both mule and whitetail and with a little weather that late season hunt could see a ton of deer even if they are just moving through to find a place to winter.

[predatorG]

Not even a tough choice for me.  I'd take blacktail hunting over muley any day of the week!  There's something about those gray ghosts of the forest!

Yah but not all of us are hiking miles into mountains and shooting massive trophy blacktails with our bow    That's gonna be my strategy for the next couple years 

[tgomez]

Not even a tough choice for me.  I'd take blacktail hunting over muley any day of the week!  There's something about those gray ghosts of the forest!

Sorry Shane, Id shoot a big mule deer over a big blactail buck. Bigger bodies- more meat, bigger antlers-less wall space!