Hillbilly Wildlife survey

[jasnt]

Only game that seems to be doing good is turkey

[jstone]

I played the snowshoe softball tournament a few weeks ago in Winthrop. Took an afternoon drive to look for deer. The only deer we saw where in peoples yards.

[Ridgeratt]

Last weekend I saw a few deer tracks on the ice at the state park on curlew lake. Didn't see any of them Ice Fishing. 

[bigmacc]

I played the snowshoe softball tournament a few weeks ago in Winthrop. Took an afternoon drive to look for deer. The only deer we saw where in peoples yards.

 ...absolute worst deer numbers I,ve ever seen in the Methow this winter, the absolute WORST!.....predators are wiping this herd out, a real shame.

[bigmacc]

As far as a "survey" in the Methow goes, just talked with a buddy over there, not many deer at all, he said numbers were "in the toilet", the least amount of deer he has seen wintering in the valley in over 60 years! I,ve been back and forth a few times this winter and I will verify that fact and statement,  something needs to be done about the predators, or there is not going to be hunting in this valley worth a crap in the future.  He said he has been finding numerous cat kills from the Twisp area into areas north of Winthrop. Spots he was seeing deer in last year(which were way down in numbers the last few years) are null and void this year, he seen zero! This is not good folks

[Ridgeratt]

In an update this last week I have had the pair of does with the fawns show back up. But they are the yard pets. Instead of having numerous these are the total all last fall.

And the dawg recovering from ACL surgery wasn't happy that they are in her yard!   

[eliandsky]

Low deer numbers are from over harvest from hunting and last winter and Not from cougars not from wolves. You don’t have to be a biologist to look up the harvest stats and come to a conclusion that hunters are the number one cause of deer decline. Go look it up and see for yourself.

That being said saw 150 deer in two drainages yesterday in Entiat and one herd was 50 strong alone. Road hunters will continue to struggle and continue to leave the Methow.


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[mfswallace]

Low deer numbers are from over harvest from hunting and last winter and Not from cougars not from wolves. You don’t have to be a biologist to look up the harvest stats and come to a conclusion that hunters are the number one cause of deer decline. Go look it up and see for yourself.

That being said saw 150 deer in two drainages yesterday in Entiat and one herd was 50 strong alone. Road hunters will continue to struggle and continue to leave the Methow.


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This must be sarcasm 

[Skyvalhunter]

 

Low deer numbers are from over harvest from hunting and last winter and Not from cougars not from wolves. You don’t have to be a biologist to look up the harvest stats and come to a conclusion that hunters are the number one cause of deer decline. Go look it up and see for yourself.

That being said saw 150 deer in two drainages yesterday in Entiat and one herd was 50 strong alone. Road hunters will continue to struggle and continue to leave the Methow.


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[eliandsky]

Have you ever looked up the harvest stats for the Methow for the last four years and compared them to the previous.... say 10-12 years?  When a unit take an extra 1500-2000 deer annually over 4 years and add the extra doe tags etc it’s a pretty simple equation for even a hillbilly.

But hell let’s blame FnG wolves and cougars. Lmao. The problems in the mirror not in the woods.

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[boneaddict]

Not sure why it has to be pinpointed to one or the other.  It’s a hot mess up there.  Worst I have seen it in 40 years.  Idabooner has been there 80 plus.  I always get a kick out of people who see 50 deer in a spot and think oh it’s not bad at all.  Of course 10 years ago there might have been 500 deer in that basin. 

I told my wife yesterday that I was glad I got most of my hunting done, because as I see it, it’s coming to an end fast.   I noticed 4 more houses on a ridge I used to find a backpack full of antlers. 

[bigmacc]

Have you ever looked up the harvest stats for the Methow for the last four years and compared them to the previous.... say 10-12 years?  When a unit take an extra 1500-2000 deer annually over 4 years and add the extra doe tags etc it’s a pretty simple equation for even a hillbilly.

But hell let’s blame FnG wolves and cougars. Lmao. The problems in the mirror not in the woods.

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Well I know that there wasn't many deer taken in the Methow last year(hardly anything hanging), but then there are the "harvest reports", I don't know how much stock I put in those anymore, over the last 15-20 years I think a lot of us are a little skeptical of WDFW deer harvest reports and forecasts and even about predator numbers for that matter at least in the Methow. The Methow herd has been one of the states "cash cows" for selling deer tags over many decades, it was once the largest mule deer herd in the state and about 20 years ago things started to change. I agree that in some years there were slaughters, more and more people, doe tags etc. etc. Some folks including myself have thrown out ideas of helping out this herd and releiving some of the pressure thats being put on it. This herd was once around 35 thousand(give or take a few k in either direction) and now is estimated by WDFW at around half that, as I and others that know this herd and valley have stated, its a lot less than what WDFW is estimating, A WHOLE LOT LESS! This herd is in a death spiral plane and simple, yes predators are playing a HUGE role in it, old predators who's populations have exploded and a new apex predator who is now on the scene. I have said before that I myself have seen more cougars in the last 5 years than my family has saw TOTAL in the last 100! Just this last hunting season, in a couple small areas we hunted we found over 2 dozen cached cougar kills! People are seeing cats and bear in the yards, pastures, hay fields, under bridges and about anywhere else for that matter, are deer numbers dwindling in the Methow? yes, absolutely, have more people started hunting the Methow in the last 20 years? yes absolutely, are predator numbers up in the Methow? yes absolutely. I agree 100 percent when bone says when someone spots 50 deer in an area and what they may not know is that 25 or so years ago that 50 was 500. When I was younger it was nothing to see bunches of 20-30 head during hunting season, sometimes herds of 50 or more moving down draws, now days its a big deal to see 5 or 6 in a bunch during hunting season. There is absolutely no doubt this herd is a mere shadow of what it once was and is tailspinning as predator numbers are exploding, if things continue as is this herd will go down the path of the Lolo elk herd, its already well on its way. I and others have said many times, we need a separate Fish and Game department that will actually look after our game herds,hunters, fisherman and sportsman, the WDFW we have now has to many special interest groups to cater to who may be and are in direct conflict with us as hunters but they still need our money and there in lies the mistrust about "numbers" and "harvest reports"...my

[bigmacc]

Not sure why it has to be pinpointed to one or the other.  It’s a hot mess up there.  Worst I have seen it in 40 years.  Idabooner has been there 80 plus.  I always get a kick out of people who see 50 deer in a spot and think oh it’s not bad at all.  Of course 10 years ago there might have been 500 deer in that basin. 

I told my wife yesterday that I was glad I got most of my hunting done, because as I see it, it’s coming to an end fast.   I noticed 4 more houses on a ridge I used to find a backpack full of antlers.

Absolutely right bone . Heck I remember as a kid sitting on a bluff at 4 o'clock in the morning waiting for the sun to come up and looking down the valley and just seeing a few twinkling lights here and there, sit on that same bluff now and the lights go forever down the bottom of the valley and up the slopes of both sides

[bigmacc]

Saw 80-100 deer Saturday. Saw 80-100 Sunday. All East side. Been watching hundreds around Wenatchee all winter. A drive or two over a pass can’t tell you much. Especially during a winter with no snow. They’re already moving up n out. I’m no biologist but there seems to be a lot more then “non” around here. Herds are down. Not gone


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Here are some observations,  back in the 60,s 70,s and 80,s my dad, brother and I would hit the Entiat and Swakane (about this time of year)to check out spring migration numbers, late march/early april the deer would start bunching up to start their migration back to the summer range, we would see hundreds of deer staging in areas. Then we would head to the Methow where my family has been kicking around since 1917, needless to say we know where a few staging areas are in the Methow. We would see groups of 7-8 hundred in some of these staging areas, there was a spot we took an old retired Game agent friend of my grandparents, he was from Alaska and was visiting the family, he wanted to see some mule deer so we took him to a spot in the Methow where we knew they would be bunching up for the spring migration. We entered into the canyon, sat on a couple stumps with our binos, ate some sandwiches and spent about an hour there as we counted around 1,100 deer, yep eleven hundred! There were springs that we would count 3 to 5 thousand deer in a 4 day period. Now, all that time my family and myself have spent in that valley it was a rarity to see a bear, a yote or a cougar, they were few and far between.   A lot has changed folks

[RB]

I agree with the numbers being down. I started hunting GMU 101 in the early 90's and would see herds of Mule deer 15-20 plus at times 5-10 quite often. Now if a guys sees 3-4 together thats a lot! Used to be well worn trails in areas that was full of sign, and bachelor herds of bucks. Last year the most deer I saw together was three, one being a barely legal buck that walked. Had the late Entiat tag in 2016 saw about 10 deer the day I shot my buck, when I went back to get the rest of him the next day didn't see a single deer.