I'll be getting the paperwork done this week to hunt on base. I really never planned on registering any gun I own but I guess 1 Rifle and Muzzleloader won't hurt. I drove all the way down to Gilford Pinot national forest today to try some elk hunting and didn't see any deer sign mixed in with the elk. Do deer and elk avoid sharing habitat?
Not necessarily, but when elk are present....
JBLM is as good as any blacktail habitat anywhere on most Training Areas. JBLM administrated under Norman Schwarzkopf was a sportsman's dream. It will be again, on and off. But you have to treat the "property owner" with respect and when the winds blow unfavorably, just take what they have to offer. And do so graciously, because it is still they who are accommodating you.
Are there TAs that are not open that are better? Yes usually. But there is not a TA that doesn't have a masher buck on it as well as a huntable number of other legal deer.
I could go on for a "War and Peace" about the frustrations that come with hunting JBLM, but the reservation is absolutely going to always offer the average individual an opportunity to score on a decent blacktail more often that any other access they have available does.