Wits end for a blacktail location

[crackfox]

Hi all,

The short: Looking for areas to hunt blacktail where I'm not shoulder-to-shoulder with folks w/in a three hour drive from King Co.

The long:
I live in the King Co area, but used to hunt with my dad out on in Jefferson Co and in Little Naches when I first passed my Hunter's Ed around 15 years ago. After college, I started getting the itch again and have been out in the field the last three years. I've hunted up in Jefferson Co out by Fat Smitty's, as well as out by Concrete last year and the year before. The problem I'm running in to that balance between getting out of combat hunting without having to pack a kill five miles back to the truck (not that I've had any luck killing anything). My buddy and I were just up at Spider Meadow yesterday and found the hike to be too long for us to pack an animal out. My dad's a retired Senior Chief. Him and all of his fellow Chief's have been out of the hunting game for a while, and the locations they're telling me to scout out are either private (and I don't have access), Weyerhauser, or combat hunting zones.

Any ideas on areas, roads, access points would be greatly appreciated. I'm not asking for the GPS to your honey-hole. Just looking for some general direction

Best regards to you all,

Spencer

[singleshot12]

Good luck with that! Seems everybody wants a blacktail these days. With the booming populace growth and all, the ever elusive blacktail has become even more elusive.

[bobcat]

It's tough with most timber company lands now being closed unless you buy an access permit. Most National Forest land has not been logged for decades and therefore is not real productive for blacktail deer. DNR land can be good but is likely to have lots of hunters. If you can afford it I would suggest buying a Weyerhaeuser access permit, at least for this year. The only ones left are for St. Helens, which has 49 permits left, and then there is Aberdeen North which only has 4 available. St. Helens is a huge area and with the limited number of permits it shouldn't be too crowded, especially since many of the people who bought a permit for that area will likely only be using it for elk hunting.

[biggfish]

Getting out in the middle of the week helps. Too many weekend warriors out. I've found places that look like a pumpkin patch on Saturday are pretty dead Wednesday morning. Only other thing I know that discourages people more is walk in only areas, good luck, if you ever find such a place don't speak of it as it will then become another pumpkin patch.

[crackfox]

We had looked at getting permits, but as a grad student I can't justify the cost ATM. Possibly next year after graduation and some actual employment. Thanks for the info though!

[konradcountry]

I talked to a Weyerhauser guy recently who said to not bother with the permits. They're just not seeing a lot of blacktail this year.

[GBoyd]

I talked to a Weyerhauser guy recently who said to not bother with the permits. They're just not seeing a lot of blacktail this year.

Yeah, that's exactly what I tell everybody about my spots too!

I don't think your wish list is achievable. No hike, no crowds, no access fee, w/i three hours of Seattle? Hard to imagine. And those spots aren't likely to be shared on a forum.

My only suggestion is to have the most charming member of your party start driving areas with small farms and ask for permission. Don't forget the islands! You might find a few places that would let you hunt.

[Da stump]

there hiding

[wooltie]

PM sent

[JDHasty]

You are not going to have that problem Saturday.  The weather will keep pressure down.