Weyerhaeuser access

[Jharstad7182]

If u had to choose one to buy for deer hunting would u buy pe ell south, pe ell north, Longview,  or vail. I have a Hancock Kapowsin access now, but only buy it for a slim chance at getting permission to hunt elk. but the deer numbers are not there. so I’m lookin for new gated access and after some research these areas tickle my fancy but still not sure at which ones to try to purchase any thoughts would be much appreciated

[Skyvalhunter]

Don't let them tickle your fancy too much because you will only be disappointed. Ever think of hunting out of state?

[Jharstad7182]

Yup go to Idaho every year for white tail but my 12 year old has to stay home cause of school trying to get him on a deer here in Washington

[fishnfur]

Tough question.  Glad I don't do that.  I'd read up on past posts for each unit and evaluate harvest numbers, then attempt to make an informed decision.  It's a tough time of year to get good feedback here, as many of the members are off in pursuit of other activities, so the responses you get now will likely not be the same as if you posed the question in Oct.

From what I've read here, I think Vail is far and away the top choice.  Skookumchuck is at the top BT harvest numbers, and I'd guess that most of that success occurs in the Weyco Vail unit.  It seemed like everyone was complaining about the poor hunting there last season, but it was a tough year everywhere.  That is probably where I would choose, just based on the numbers.  Living in Longview, I hear about a lot of success in the St. Helens Tree farm and DNR areas every year, but I know nothing specific about the Weyco units.  That's just where the locals go.

I've come to the conclusion (perhaps incorrectly) that if a unit is considered a great elk unit, then it will be tough finding deer there.  Finding a place to hunt close to home makes more sense to me.  Then I can get out for a three-hour morning/evening assault if that's all the time I can manage.

[chester]

Pe ell north or Vail. Vail might be a shorter commute and a better choice.

[W_Ellison2011]

The deer were in the Kapowsin area. Just have to get out of the truck and push through some of the thicker stuff to find older growth and hunt the trails. The deer were still being sighted from the road but with all of the 1200 permit holders up there during early archery scouting for modern or ml it made it difficult unless you got on an old skidder and walked a couple miles. I'm going for Vail this year. Yes I would love a shot at a bull elk in the Kapowsin area but its just not worth it with that many people up there running around scaring everything. Fewer permits for Vail. If I don't get a Vail permit then the Kapowsin permits will be left over just like last year. I don't like paying to hunt land.. but there is too much pressure up in my normal hunting woods anymore. If I was you. Go for Vail or Pe Ell North like the others have said and if you don't get a permit then grab Kapowsin and hoof it back into areas that others aren't. Sorry if I rambled but figured I would give out some extra info for you.

[Jharstad7182]

Thanks for all the advice.

[PWill33]

I would not waste $350.00 on Pe Ell permits (north or south) for deer unless you have A LOT of time.

[Jharstad7182]

Really? By what I see from game harvest reports a decent amount of bucks are shot in there every year. That’s y I’m courious about thanks for heads up thou

[Harbor_hunter]

I would also vouch for not buying the Pe Ell south if you are looking for good deer hunting.

[N7XW]

Don't want to derail this, but any input on Aberdeen permit area deer numbers?

[chester]

Really? By what I see from game harvest reports a decent amount of bucks are shot in there every year. That’s y I’m courious about thanks for heads up thou

Most of those harvests are locals who are in there every single day of season looking for a meat buck. And a good chunk of those deer aren’t on the weyco ground.

[Jharstad7182]

 

[grundy53]

I would also vouch for not buying the Pe Ell south if you are looking for good deer hunting.

Same here

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[ruttnbuck]

I would not waste $350.00 on Pe Ell permits (north or south) for deer unless you have A LOT of time.

I totally agree , I had the permit last year and seemed like I was driving all day long looking  at same thick reprod mess and not reprod where you cansee the ground.... this stuff was thicker then snot . Seemed like everytime I found a patch of timber to hunt everyone else had same idea.  If a guy could camp up there for a week it might be worth it during late buck. 

[SkookumHntr]

What tree farm is minot peak? I'm sure I could figure it out easy enough too lol

[Hanapaa]

What tree farm is minot peak? I'm sure I could figure it out easy enough too lol

Believe its the Aberdeen unit.  I camped out there for elk season, you just have to register your rig with Weyco.   

[BigBuckBandit]

I wouldn't bother buying a Pe Ell South permit if I was you. I ponied up last year and bought one as I am getting into hunting as a young adult and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to be successful. I spent a lot of time behind those gates and trying to get away from the crowds and biking into neighboring land owners. Saw a bunch of does and a few elk here and there but literally didn't turn up a single buck. Now I'm not saying there isn't any deer in that unit, I'm just saying it might not be worth the money of paying for the access. You have to remember everybody and their dog is gonna be back there with you and driving the roads constantly. Felt like driving around the city at times. Just my two cents!

[WSU]

Don't want to derail this, but any input on Aberdeen permit area deer numbers?

I wouldn’t buy that for deer either.  There maybe portions I haven’t hunted that are decent but I have had the permit and hunted deer elsewhere.

[MonstroMuley]

Biggest Deer saw @ Kapowsin was a 4 pt just past the main gate entrance standing in the attendants front lawn on opening day 2016.  Drove and hiked back all over on many of the side and skid roads and saw alot of Deer sign and plenty of Big Bulls during the season, but no Blacktails.  One guy shot a Bobcat.

Thing about Hancock Kapowsin Area (aside from High Permit Fee) is there are posted signs in the re-prod areas where they list the herbicide chemicals (like Element 4 [Triclopyr ButoOxy-"Yada-Yada" Ester]) and recent application dates they used to spray to suppress weed growth and brush vegetation around the sapling Doug Fir Trees to give 'em a chance to grow faster (Sustained-Yield Forestry Practices ... I guess?).  We ran into alot of areas like that in Kapowsin.  That got us to thinking about what the Deer and Elk are eating in those same areas?  That opened up a whole can of worms  ... if they're spraying re-prod in Western WA where else are they spraying across the state? Gets you thinking and researching Forestry Practices in the areas you're hunting.  So what do the Livers of those Kapowsin Deer and Elk look like?  Makes one wonder if you have a successful hunt, what are you really eating?  Would be interesting to hear from a WDFW Bio to get an opinion?
Switched back to EWA Hunting after seeing that!     

Used to hunt the Cowlitz WildLife Area and be-friended the local Morton Guyz who knew all the back roads and prime hunting areas ... they spoke highly of the Vail Unit and applied most years ...

[BigGoonTuna]

i had pretty lousy luck in vail.  i had never hunted it before last year, and bought the permit because i knew i wouldn't be able to make it to the east side.  i'm only 5 minutes from some walk in areas, but it's about a 20 minute drive to the closest drive-in gate.

i think my luck was probably due to not knowing how to hunt that type of timberland.  the area i primarily hunt in in the 501 unit is a sort of overgrown clearcut that was never replanted, and a bunch of swampy maple timber.  there isn't anything much like that in vail, it's mostly thick doghair with some clearcuts that are pretty much devoid of any kind of life because they've been sprayed.

it's also pretty frustrating, parking at the start of a short dead end spur, hiking up into a cut, then having some *censored* come ripping up the road with a noisy diesel just to glass the area 100 yards from where you're standing.  that was something i definitely wasn't used to(i mostly hunt behind locked gates, there aren't many in vail).  lots of rude behavior out there, the saturday of late buck was a mess, guys passing you doing 50+ miles per hour(speed limit is 25) etc.

that said, some nice deer do get taken out of there, but i'm really on the fence about buying the permit again.  it's just tempting because it's close and it's a 40+ minute drive to the nearest state land that isn't really great hunting(capital forest).

[Skyvalhunter]

Sounds like some bad experiences!!!

[MADMAX]

sounds like most of the state
aholes abound

[Alan K]

the area i primarily hunt in in the 501 unit is a sort of overgrown clearcut that was never replanted, and a bunch of swampy maple timber.  there isn't anything much like that in vail, it's mostly thick doghair with some clearcuts that are pretty much devoid of any kind of life because they've been sprayed.

You've actually got it backwards. The brushy hardwood areas were the ones that weren't sprayed. Everything is replanted by law, but without a spray, conifer seedlings are quickly outcompeted by hardwoods etc.

Dog hair is typically a result of hemlock ingrowth.  Nobody is replanting at doghair levels. Typically its a 10×10' spacing, which will later get PCTd to a 12x12 or 13x13. Dog hair is actually usually a result of a lighter spray, which didnt kill the hemlock seedbed that was already in the soil.

The lack of brush at the ground level in dog hair is due to the lack of sunlight making it through the canopy. Hemlock, with its density and thick needles close it out pretty fast.

Sprayed harvest units go their first 2-3 years without intense vegetation competition, by year 3 when they've got their root systems established there is a ton of vegetation back.

Lots of misconceptions about herbicides out there running wild.

On topic though, I've hunted Vail since I was probably 8 years old or so. Been buying the permit the last 3 or 4, and Pe Ell before that.  The deer are there, but last year in my opinion was weird with the lack of a widespread rut. We'd still see deer, just didn't see the bucks. Typically lots of spikes and forkies, with the occassional nice buck coming out.

[W_Ellison2011]

Biggest Deer saw @ Kapowsin was a 4 pt just past the main gate entrance standing in the attendants front lawn on opening day 2016.  Drove and hiked back all over on many of the side and skid roads and saw alot of Deer sign and plenty of Big Bulls during the season, but no Blacktails.  One guy shot a Bobcat.

Thing about Hancock Kapowsin Area (aside from High Permit Fee) is there are posted signs in the re-prod areas where they list the herbicide chemicals (like Element 4 [Triclopyr ButoOxy-"Yada-Yada" Ester]) and recent application dates they used to spray to suppress weed growth and brush vegetation around the sapling Doug Fir Trees to give 'em a chance to grow faster (Sustained-Yield Forestry Practices ... I guess?).  We ran into alot of areas like that in Kapowsin.  That got us to thinking about what the Deer and Elk are eating in those same areas?  That opened up a whole can of worms  ... if they're spraying re-prod in Western WA where else are they spraying across the state? Gets you thinking and researching Forestry Practices in the areas you're hunting.  So what do the Livers of those Kapowsin Deer and Elk look like?  Makes one wonder if you have a successful hunt, what are you really eating?  Would be interesting to hear from a WDFW Bio to get an opinion?
Switched back to EWA Hunting after seeing that!     

Used to hunt the Cowlitz WildLife Area and be-friended the local Morton Guyz who knew all the back roads and prime hunting areas ... they spoke highly of the Vail Unit and applied most years ...

Liver on my deer from Kapowsin last year looked fine and tasted fine.  All other organs looked normal as well except for the heart and lungs... they had an arrow hole through them  I'm definitely going to try for Vail permit this year and if I don't get it then I guess its back to buying a kapowsin permit and hunting hard.

[MonstroMuley]

...All other organs looked normal as well except for the heart and lungs... they had an arrow hole through them 

Good One!

[SkookumHntr]

I'm kinda interested in the Aberdeen south key, does anybody know if this sells out in 5 minutes like vail does or can you purchase it say after the hunting draws in june. 

[bobcat]

Aberdeen hasn't been selling out very fast. I believe this year there is not a North and South. It's all by been combined into one.

[257 Wby Mag]

Any word on vail price increase?

[Blacktail Sniper]

Any word on vail price increase?

It shows $350.00 for motorized and $100.00 for walk-in and a sale date of May 17th so far

[SkookumHntr]

does anybody know if you have a youth that draws a youth tag if they let you in or let you purchase the key still? Theres the new youth tags in multiple Weyerhaeuser areas, we hunt vail but if we draw the wynoochee or satsop early hunt and if there sold out were screwed! Any info on this?

[Blacktail Sniper]

does anybody know if you have a youth that draws a youth tag if they let you in or let you purchase the key still? Theres the new youth tags in multiple Weyerhaeuser areas, we hunt vail but if we draw the wynoochee or satsop early hunt and if there sold out were screwed! Any info on this?

Probably get that answered right here, then just to be safe, you will have it in writting from them instead of a bunch of internet opinions...

https://wyrecreation.com/contact_us

[SkookumHntr]

I sent an email on that same link already, no response. 

[chester]

does anybody know if you have a youth that draws a youth tag if they let you in or let you purchase the key still? Theres the new youth tags in multiple Weyerhaeuser areas, we hunt vail but if we draw the wynoochee or satsop early hunt and if there sold out were screwed! Any info on this?

They will let youth in if the parent already has a permit.

[Blacktail Sniper]

does anybody know if you have a youth that draws a youth tag if they let you in or let you purchase the key still? Theres the new youth tags in multiple Weyerhaeuser areas, we hunt vail but if we draw the wynoochee or satsop early hunt and if there sold out were screwed! Any info on this?

They will let youth in if the parent already has a permit.

What he is asking about is, as in years past, they would allow youth hunters in the Vail area with a parent for the special youth deer permit hunt without having to buy the regular annual pass, and it sounds like he is wondering if any of the other areas are or will be doing that as well.

But if not, then as has been the case, the youth would be allowed in under the parent's pass.

[chester]

If they are sold out when he decides to buy he’s SOL . They have a cap on permits ,if they are gone they are gone for the year to my understanding.
Maybe people will get lucky and draw results will be posted before the access permits are sold out , but I’d doubt it.

[Mudman]

As far as I know its all about the Benjamins.  PERMIT!  Don't think they care about our youth. 

[Big6bull]

Has anyone on here bought yacolt Perot on here?

[Blacktail Sniper]

As far as I know its all about the Benjamins.  PERMIT!  Don't think they care about our youth.

They have let youth in free at Vail with a parent, without an access permit if the youth had drawn an antlerless permit regularly in years past.

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,201850.msg2679057.html#msg2679057

Hoping that Skookumhntr gets an answer to his email from Weyerhaeuser to see if they are continuing this and if so, if it applies to areas other than Vail.

[SkookumHntr]

still no reply.. it sure would be nice if Weyerhaeuser would sell these after the permit draws so we knew which one to buy or clarify if the lucky youth tag applicants can still buy a key! They go on sale next week