2016 Entiat Late Buck Hunt

[Arteman]

I have already posted some photos to another thread that was started but figured I would start my own.  When I drew this tag back when the results first came out I spent a lot of time on here using the search engine to find out as much as I could about this hunt, or looking at photos to have a better idea of what to expect of this hunt.  This site has been a great resource for me and feel that its my turn to contribute so the lucky tag holders in the future might take something from my experience to help with theirs.  Also want to thank the few guys I had conversation with about this hunt and appreciate the info shared by them as I'm not big on asking for help and more about doing my own research and scouting for myself.  Mostly what was shared to me is what to expect as far as quality in Bucks in the area and never really asked about areas or spots so the info I'll share is what I've learned on my own and not info given to me that I am passing on.  This year I was one of the fortunate 25 late Entiat Buck tag holders for the modern season.  I spent quite a bit of time going over this past Summer scouting to mostly learn the road systems which seemed fairly easy to me to figure out in little time.  I spent most my time entering the unit from the Entiat River side of the unit as there are many access areas from that side.  I did go in off the Chelan side of the unit a few times too but I seemed to like the river side better for no other reason than the country looked better to me.  Most the Entiat I seen is basically big open rolling hills that stretch from the crest up around Stormy Mountain down to the lake.  The hills are dotted with Pine forests the higher you get in the hills with a lot of it being Jack Pine, open grassy hillsides, and rocky cliffs.  The farther you get down towards the lake the more open the terrain became and for me the less desirable it looked as well.  During the Summer in the actual area of Entiat all I ever seen was Does and Fawns and the occasional smaller branched Bucks.  I seen small legal Bucks but nothing that wowed me at all.  Understanding fully this hunt is mostly a migration rut hunt it didn't bother me I wasn't seeing the quality of Bucks I envisioned seeing.  Wanting to see bigger Bucks I decided to scout high as well, hoping maybe to see what the country had for potential so I poked around in the Slide Ridge area some too.  I seen much more Deer up there and the country even looked a lot better for hunting and for holding big Bucks with the amount of cover in it.  In fact I think when I start applying again it will be be for Slide Ridge instead knowing that even if there was a heavy drop of snow there are still areas you could hunt lower in that unit as well.  We scouted all Summer long and filmed all we could of everything we could capture on our trips, eventually scouting turned to hunting when I went over with my hunt partner who decided to give the area a try for archery on his multi-season tag.  We seen quite a few Deer and still only smaller Bucks, we did see one decent Buck though and a few small Bucks that other hunters killed and had hanging.  My buddy passed up on a small 3 point that he didn't want to end his season on as well.  There was a good amount of hunters in the area but not so much that you felt overwhelmed with pressure.  Eventually archery turned in to general modern season and that was a whole new ball game.  I can only assume people think they need to hunt Entiat during the general season based off the success of its late hunt fame.  I have no doubts there are people that know how to hunt it well and probably do well every year during general Deer season but it is an absolute joke how many people hunt that area during this season.  It was a straight up pumpkin patch with people around every corner from one end to the other.  People need to explore a bit because there are other places in this state they could hunt that I know are better and would increase their odds of taking a Buck dramatically, don't know why people will subject themselves to that type of torture but once again I can only assume a lot of people hunt it because the name "Entiat."  This in fact changed my whole outlook on the hunt, I wanted nothing to do with that lowland wide open country because how could a Buck grow to be a mature age year after year avoiding that many hunters.  I knew my only chance of a good Buck was a migrator and I began to pray a little for snow, and we got snow during the general season and things were looking up for my hunt!  When my hunt date finally arrived however there was no snow, in fact it was T shirt weather!  I made it over for my hunt on the weekend of the 5th & 6th and finally after all the scouting and work I put in to this hunt I was going have a chance to see if it paid off.  We started up high hanging below the Devils Backbone trying to get as remote in the unit as possible hoping to find a Buck missed by the general season hunters.  That weekend was wet and rainy but warm out, we were starting to see rut action but every Buck I seen was just a fork.  We watched Bucks chasing Does all over the place and nothing big, of all the Deer we seen one was a small 2x3 that the third point was so small you could only see it with the spotter, general guys missed that one!  I seen one Buck up high that had a great frame, big, heavy, and wide but he was just a giant 2x3 as well.  I left after that weekend back for home with lots of doubts in my mind if this hunt was going to be everything I thought it would be.  Up to this point I had done numerous scouting trips, seen the unit during both archery and modern season and still hadn't seen a bigger Buck than the Blacktail we have here on the west side other than the one giant 2x3.  A week went by and I found myself heading back the weekend of the 12th & 13th.  I had enough time off work that I could stay till the 20th but funds were short and my 4wheel drive was out in my truck.  Luckily for me there was still no snow and no snow in the forecast so I was going to gamble it with my truck.  I also had my daughters along this weekend as well as my buddy who spent all this time scouting and hunting with me over there, they all had to be gone by Sunday and if need be I was going to stay and hunt the remainder of the season alone.  We arrived Friday night and going up the river in the dark I finally seen a Buck that got my attention, didn't get a good look but big is all a seen.  I also took a drive up one of the roads I scouted on before knowing I would have cell service to call my buddy to let him know I arrived and a big 3 point about ran into the side of my truck.  I went to bed that night with a whole new level of excitement for this hunt!  We decided to hunt straight from camp at first light that morning and before I could put my truck in gear I glassed up a big 3 point using a doe right up from our camp.  Since I was filming this whole hunt I wanted to finally get some good Buck footage so we set up on him and began filming.  As we sat there watching that guy my buddy looked to the left of the ridge and to much excitement there was the first good 4 point I seen over there pushing another Doe.  He was a great Buck!  He was heavy looking, about as wide as his ears, and pretty tall but didn't have very deep forks.  I turned the camera to him and began filming him now and kept asking myself should I shoot??  I haven't even left camp yet and already was wanting to shoot a Buck!  If it weren't for my Buddy dragging me away I probably would have but not even a half hour in to good light we already seen two good Bucks, what else was I missing??  I left the biggest Buck I ever had an opportunity to shoot and drove down the road, we went up high and wasn't seeing the amount of Deer up there that we did the weekend before, in fact we seen none.  I was really kicking myself in the ass for leaving that Buck, had I been seeing good Bucks scouting it would have been easy to leave him but he was by far the best Buck we had seen yet.  After some time I convinced my bud that we should go back down and rethink taking that Buck.  On the way back to camp we seen a couple smaller Bucks pushing Does but nothing like that 4 point.  We get back to camp and he's gone from view but we knew where to get to him and started planning.  As we were sitting there my buddy looks way up the road canyon on top of one of those bald ridges and catches a glimpse of a good buck he says so I get the spotter set up.  When I look through all I could see was a big fork n horn and a bunch of Does on the ridge and told him he must be mistaking big, he looks through and agrees with me that he must have seen it wrong.  I was about to break down the spotter when all of a sudden I see this big rack come up from behind the ridge hot behind a Doe and knew I wanted to kill this Buck.  He had great forks in the skyline and looked wider than his ears, all I could think was he looked much bigger than the Buck I just passed up on and that Buck I was ready to shoot a minute ago.  Just as I was able to get filming this Buck he dipped back behind the ridge and out of sight, we had to figure something out and quick so we jumped in the truck and flew up the road about a half mile till we got to where we could see the backside of the ridge he went down.  I jumped out and spotted him immediately, I was setting up the spotter to film the Buck as my buddy was getting a range on him and we watched this Buck walk the skyline about to dip out of sight again and maybe for good this time.  I grabbed the gun and dialed it in for a 600 yard straight uphill shot and found a resting place and took aim, my buddy in the background saying if you are going to shoot you better do it now and BOOM!!  It was a clean miss, he takes another range and gets 537 yards this time and I adjust and settle in for another shot as the Buck stood there looking back and I let one fly this time dumping the Buck on his face, he took a nose dive and appeared to stay down as the whole hillside erupted with Deer bouncing everywhere.  Too much relief I get up and wanted to replay the footage, we watch the vaper trail from the first shot fly right over his back, and the second shot look to take him right through the neck and dropped him like a sack of rocks.  We geared up for the long hike up and set off to check this guy out, now mind you I still have my daughters 13 an 10 hiking up with us and after some time we make it to where the Buck should be only to find a blood trail that we began to slowly pick apart.  We found where he crashed a couple times but blood began to thin up and I began to get sick to my stomach, this was nothing like what I wanted this hunt to end up being like.  We looked and looked and the trail kept getting weaker and weaker as we crossed over two ridges tracking this guy.  Finally I asked my buddy to stay on the trail and I would hike up and either try to find a dead Deer or him bedded sick.  When I crest over to where it was flat I began to get in some smaller thick jack pine and I felt it was a good place a sick Deer might like to bed so I kept through slowly, right away I see some Does up ahead and then some smaller Bucks, perhaps one was the small fork that was with this big guy early on.  As I watched I began to see more and more Deer, there ended up being like 7 or 8 Does and like 5 other Bucks and the Bucks were chasing the Does around all over the place but still no big Buck.  I knew these had to be the same Deer so I knew my Buck was either with them or dead somewhere close by, as I watched I seen one more Doe come up out of a small draw and hot on her butt was the Buck I had just shot, I pull up and took aim and dropped him for good to much relief.  When I finally reached the Buck I seen I hit him in the neck the first shot but hit no vitals or bone and this Buck was still up there rutting and chasing Does with a hole I could put my arm through in his neck, unbelievable how tough these animals are.  I was so relieved and glad we stuck with this Buck and was able to find him, he surely would have died had I not and I couldn't have felt right doing the rest of the hunt knowing I might have killed this Buck and would have spent my days looking for a dead Deer.  I wouldn't have taken the shot if I wasn't comfortable with it and have made long shots many times before.  We spent the rest of the short hours in the day we had left boning out the Buck and packed him off the mountain after dark.  My Buck had a bit of ground shrinkage though I am very happy with him, I think I misjudged his mass and therefore misjudged his size and no matter how many times I replay the video he still looks big at 550 yards sky lining.  I probably could have stayed the rest of the week combing the hills searching for the trophy of a lifetime but I wouldn't have had my daughters there to experience the hunt, and my buddy who put so much time and effort in to this hunt with me got to be there and see it to its end.  It was one of the greatest hunts I have ever had the privilege to partake in and already miss going over and seeing that beautiful country.  My advice to anybody that ever draws this tag is aside from going over to learn the road systems your scouting will probably give you no insight to the type of Bucks you'll be hunting, and also plan to hunt later in the season.  If I ever draw it again I won't even go over till the last half of the hunt if there is no snow, I wish I could have seen it in all its glory with snow and all the big boys pushed down but unfortunately I didn't get to see that.  I ended up taking the biggest Buck I seen in all the scouting and hunting I did on this whole adventure so I feel that all my effort paid off.  The Mule Deer rut is something to behold, and to be able to hunt it is an absolute wonderful thing!  Hope you enjoyed this long story and photos as well as the entire hunt on film once I can get around to editing it all up, I have one more tag to notch in Spokane on a Cow Moose before the end of November and then I'll have some time to work on it.

[Arteman]

Please share other photos of Bucks taken in Entiat this year on this thread, I would love to see what else was taken and read the stories.  I'll also share photos of the other good Buck I passed up on later when I get it downloaded.  Thanks!

[ELKBURGER]

Great buck! You did that tag justice!!

[Timberstalker]

Nice buck. Thanks for sharing your story.

[lewy]

  Nice work!

[Falcon]

Awesome job resulting in a great buck.  Huge congrats

[blackveltbowhunter]

Scouting always pays!  Way to put all in the hunt and come away with a great buck!

[C-Money]

Congrats on a wonderful buck!

[PlateauNDN]

Having your kids with you make it the trophy congrats Doc.

[Antlershed]

Great buck! 

[elkrack]

Great buck and memories 

[BLDtraLR]

 

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

 

[DOUBLELUNG]

That's a great buck, be proud.  Most years, conditions are like this year, fog, no snow cover and deer are scattered - and only a small percentage of the late Chelan County rifle tag holders kill jaw dropper bucks.  Other years, there's too much snow and the only ones who get in have snow machines, and only a small percentage kill jaw dropper bucks.  Maybe once in a decade, by mid November we get 20"+ snow above 4,000', and 10" or less below 2,500', followed by blue sky sunny days, and guys with 4wd and chains can both drive to nearly all the winter range areas with deer, the bucks are running around on snow because so many does are ready to breed, and at least half of the hunters can see half of the deer, and a bunch of great bucks hit the snow.

Even then, I remember one such magical day with another member on here, it was around 9am, we were in a burned area and had seen around 35 bucks so far.  We ran into another vehicle on the same road in the same area, they had yet to see a deer, much less a buck.  The interwebs definitely create an unrealistic expectation that the hardest part of killing a giant buck during a November rifle permit hunt is the drive to the GMU, but the fact is they are rarely standing patiently in the borrow ditch waiting for permittees to drive up and decide if they are worthy of the tag.  Killing a buck is easy, killing a dominant mature buck requires research, effort and luck.

[huntnphool]

 Congrats again!