Holden Village

[Romulus1297]

Lucerne and Holden is open this year. Rio Tinto will never be finished working here but you can hunt a "couple of bucks" and eat with the special people from this village.  Good Luck 

[Skyvalhunter]

Its too bad to hear about that nice older gentleman that was out in the middle of the lake and watched his cabin burn up.

[grade-creek-rd]

Sky...the older gentleman is Sid, he took over the Domke Lake cabins after Gordon Stuart passed away, those cabins were build by Gordon a long time ago...

For everyone else thinking they are going to get some "prime" hunting in an area that hasn't been hunted in a few years, you might want to keep in mind most of it burned up just 2 years ago (little feed/forage for the long haul, just mostly light vegetation as the fire burned really hot, creating deep ash/no soil) and as of last weekend my dad's cabin at Lucerne had 39 inches of snow on it...39 inches in mid-February...he saw two does (doe & a fawn) at twin harbors, both were just skin and bones, and the doe was trying to reach up and eat pine needles off of the tree (that is a last resort food source for mule deer that often leads to death).

Just being real here and letting everyone know before they rush out and think they will find the big bucks up there...no food, harsh winter...it will take some time for it to get good again.

Grade

[Bushcraft]

Yep.  The mule deer populations are getting hammered this winter.  This might be the first time in years we decide to do something besides High Buck.  Give 'em a rest before the state, in their infinite wisdom, let's wolf populations get totally out of control. 

[KLR_Carl]

Just tried to reserve the schoolbus taxi ride from Holden and they send me the following unpleasant info:

Firearms: Holden does not allow firearms, including hunting rifles, in the Village or on our transportation. For hunters, please note that Holden also does not transport or store game.

I checked the archive of their website from last year (2017) and their FAQ only said they prohibited firearms. Looks like they have increased the prohibition recently.

*&^%

Looks like, if we want to hunt the areas around Holden, we'd need to
1) Somehow conceal rifles for the schoolbus ride up from Lucerne. Unsure if just putting them in cases would be good enough for the drivers to overlook.
2) Figure out a way to get the game back down to Lucerne. On a hot day, getting the game back to a store in Chelan where one can buy ice is critical. 1 hr to gut, 2 hrs to pack and hike down to the Village. 1.5 hr bus ride, then 2 hr boat ride then car to store. Could be tight.

I wonder if they had some negative experiences with hunters and thus the increased prohibition? What a pain.

Any suggestions?

[Skyvalhunter]

I talked to a young gentleman named Chet that was planning to go up there with his dad for the high hunt. Hope he checks into it first.

[jstone]

What is up with that??

[grade-creek-rd]

KLR_Carl...not to try and stoke the fire, but I've hunted up there a bit, and for game care the best thing to do is to de-bone the animal (deer or bear) and hang the bags of meat overnight up off the ground where the air can get to it. Up there it is getting cold at night and the meat will get nice and cold. It is more than a 2 hour boat ride, unless your boat can go 30mph in those afternoon waves! One "trick" is if you have two cars is to park one at either 25 mile creek or fields point and drop off your deer where that person can drive it to Navarre Coulee (about 10 minutes away) to the meat cutter who has a cold room. As far as the bus goes, that really sucks, however, I would check to see if the road through Holden is public (I believe it is a forest service road) and therefore they can't tell you that you can't bring your firearm "through town" (village) but you might have to stay on the road with it...the wilderness boundary is literally at the end of the road. If you have a boat that you can load a dirt bike into then you can haul it up there and use it since it looks like the bus might not be an option anymore...

Grade

[jstone]

Are the people nice up there OR Deliverance?

[grade-creek-rd]

they at very nice...it is owned and run by the Luthern Church. but it seems they might have turned a bit "green" as they usually want you to shoot the bears that terrorize the village! There are a lot of "tame" deer, including some nice bucks, and the staff that lives there turn over every few years so it sounds like some of them are anti-gun/hunters...but they are nice people. They have a dinning hall that was open to the public and a bowling alley that served ice cream to the public...(I hated off loading those ice cream drums from the lady of the lake when I worked on it...) but I have no idea if they still are open to the public or not. there is a camp ground at the far end of the village that leads to the trail to Lyman Lakes and up over Cloudy Pass into the Suiattle...

I guess you could hike the 11 miles of road?...or go to the Lake Chelan Boat Club grounds and ask around for a ride (several club members have vehicles up there) and offer some gas money.

Grade

[jstone]

That’s where cash money in the pocket would come in handy. I always carry extra cash just incase I need to pay off someone with horses or something

[KLR_Carl]

Hi all. Anyone interested in hiking up and hunting Holden Lake above Holden Village this weekend? My two buddies just canceled on me due to health issues so looking for some "backup". I don't want to bushwhack so far afield without anyone else.

PM me if interested.

Cheers!

Carl

[CAMPMEAT]

It's on FEDERAL LAND..........OUR  LAND..

[Utah]

They don't own the road but they own the bus... 

[CAMPMEAT]

I think Holden used to be the largest Copper mine in the world. USDA-USFS owns it now.

[grade-creek-rd]

Campmeat...Holden itself is private...the mine sold it to the Luthern church for $1...and that is why Rio-Tinto had to pay for the mine clean-up. If the Fed's owned it then the Fed's would have had to pay for the clean-up. The road is public, but the buildings are not under a FS lease, they are on private land...just like the cabin's at Lucerne (Lake Chelan Boat Club) is on private land (it's the old Lucerne town site)...a good read on the whole area is "Mountain Air, the life story of Gordon Stuart".


Besides, the bus is private and so now, it's a matter of "how does someone go up 11 miles to the trailheads?"...find an old Honda trail 90 and throw it in your boat! That's the best solution.


Grade

[Boss .300 winmag]

Campmeat...Holden itself is private...the mine sold it to the Luthern church for $1...and that is why Rio-Tinto had to pay for the mine clean-up. If the Fed's owned it then the Fed's would have had to pay for the clean-up. The road is public, but the buildings are not under a FS lease, they are on private land...just like the cabin's at Lucerne (Lake Chelan Boat Club) is on private land (it's the old Lucerne town site)...a good read on the whole area is "Mountain Air, the life story of Gordon Stuart".


Besides, the bus is private and so now, it's a matter of "how does someone go up 11 miles to the trailheads?"...find an old Honda trail 90 and throw it in your boat! That's the best solution.


Grade

Probably a great read, but not cheap to buy.

[muleracks]

Domkey Lake has had a long history with A.L. Cool followed by Gordon Stuart; both spent the winters in the Entiat trapping martin (mostly).  Gordon built his new home on the lake in the early 80s died and Sid took over.  The Wolverine fire not only took the Domkey Lake home but also burned Gordon Stuart's trapping cabin in the Entiat valley.  Photos of the cabin as it was in 2006 and how it was protected from the Tinpan fire.  No protection was put on in 2015 when it burned.  Sad to lose both parts of history.

[MtnMuley]

Some very cool history Losses that can't be re
placed.

[CAMPMEAT]

Campmeat...Holden itself is private...the mine sold it to the Luthern church for $1...and that is why Rio-Tinto had to pay for the mine clean-up. If the Fed's owned it then the Fed's would have had to pay for the clean-up. The road is public, but the buildings are not under a FS lease, they are on private land...just like the cabin's at Lucerne (Lake Chelan Boat Club) is on private land (it's the old Lucerne town site)...a good read on the whole area is "Mountain Air, the life story of Gordon Stuart".


Besides, the bus is private and so now, it's a matter of "how does someone go up 11 miles to the trailheads?"...find an old Honda trail 90 and throw it in your boat! That's the best solution.


Grade

Thanks. I already knew that after I read it before I posted. It sounded like it was under FS control to me from reading about it..

[muleracks]

Most Lutherans are not Vegans so healthy meat is not off the table.
Seems like they could just have a one mile NO SHOOTING ban.
The deer around "town" do become pets so I can understand why many would want to ban shooting (guns).
Suppose tears are shed when a big trophy buck is packed down to the Honda 90 parked at the upper end of town.
High Hunt starts Saturday and is open season a quarter mile from the Holden Campground.

[jstone]

So, how did this workout getting up there with a rifle?

Anyone Go?