High Hunt around the corner

[Skyvalhunter]

Well its high hunt time and with all the area closures this will force some Twisp River, Entiat and other high hunt area hunters out of their usual areas. The GPW Bolder Pass area will surely see more activity with Little Giant being closed. Would be nice to get a break in the weather to quiet the woods some but that remains to be seen.

[teanawayslayer]

Well its high hunt time and with all the area closures this will force some Twisp River, Entiat and other high hunt area hunters out of their usual areas. The GPW Bolder Pass area will surely see more activity with Little Giant being closed. Would be nice to get a break in the weather to quiet the woods some but that remains to be seen.

chiwawa and little giant opened Friday

[Highhuntin]

Plan A is somewhere up Chiawana and Plan B is somewhere near boulder pass... sure am glad that fire closure has lifted!

[Skyvalhunter]

Well that might give some relief on some of the areas for sure.

[teanawayslayer]

Well that might give some relief on some of the areas for sure.

it will be just alike last year. People at the trailhead asking where they should go. I pointed a guy in the right direction last year and he just kept saying “I don’t want to screw up your hunt”.  Like I was going to give him info on where I was going. Took a dump at the bathroom at the trail head 30 min later before we started hiking in. Here comes the same guy saying the same thing. He was pretty certain that he was going to run into me and ruin my hunt. Had to ask him if he was going to follow me in. Got a pretty good laugh for sure.

[Skyvalhunter]

lol now that's funny. Well I am sure the popular places will once again be popular. Its good for first timers to find out that the high hunt is not a gimmie and those secret spots are not so secret. Everyone has the internet or some app these days.

[ljsommer]

My mom always talked about how my grandpa loved the high-hunt, but I don't really know what that means. What do people mean when they say "High-hunt" (in the context of WA hunting)

[Bushcraft]

The High Hunt is probably the single best opportunity one has to go on an armed backpacking trip in this state and see a lot of people and no deer.

 

[Mtnwalker]

My mom always talked about how my grandpa loved the high-hunt, but I don't really know what that means. What do people mean when they say "High-hunt" (in the context of WA hunting)

They're referring to the early general deer season in certain wilderness areas. I have a couple uncles who used to do it back in the day and it sounds like it used to be amazing for the ones willing to do the work, basically had the place to themselves. Last time I went up was 2015 and I counted 33 rigs at the trail head. Guess I picked the wrong trailhead 

[jackelope]

The High Hunt is probably the single best opportunity one has to go on an armed backpacking trip in this state and see a lot of people and no deer.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^ This.

[yakimanoob]

Sure, but bring it on!     I can't wait. 

[boneaddict]

A bunch more dry lightning. That should “fire things up”.

[teanawayslayer]

A bunch more dry lightning. That should “fire things up”.

you had to say it!

[Bushcraft]

The weather forecast indicates that we are probably in for some wet & snowy weather in the high country.  Anything to keep the fire closures down and the riff-raff out.

[muleracks]

How much snow do you need on your tent before the burn ban is void?  Below 5000 feet in the ALW of course.
Last I heard, the burn ban is still in effect Statewide including the wet and snowy Wilderness.

At least most of the roads to trail heads are open.  Happy hunting.

[boneaddict]

I’ve used common sense and ignored it in the past when conditions dictated it.

[horsehunter509]

Im still blocked out by fires from my spot. Wonder if i will be able to at least get in for cameras before winter.

[Knocker of rocks]

Well its high hunt time and with all the area closures this will force some Twisp River, Entiat and other high hunt area hunters out of their usual areas. The GPW Bolder Pass area will surely see more activity with Little Giant being closed. Would be nice to get a break in the weather to quiet the woods some but that remains to be seen.

chiwawa and little giant opened Friday

Another fire blew up near Buck Creek Pass, so I would expect the closure area to evolve further

[teanawayslayer]

Well its high hunt time and with all the area closures this will force some Twisp River, Entiat and other high hunt area hunters out of their usual areas. The GPW Bolder Pass area will surely see more activity with Little Giant being closed. Would be nice to get a break in the weather to quiet the woods some but that remains to be seen.

chiwawa and little giant opened Friday

Another fire blew up near Buck Creek Pass, so I would expect the closure area to evolve further

haven’t seen or heard any info to support this. Do you have a link?

[Knocker of rocks]

Well its high hunt time and with all the area closures this will force some Twisp River, Entiat and other high hunt area hunters out of their usual areas. The GPW Bolder Pass area will surely see more activity with Little Giant being closed. Would be nice to get a break in the weather to quiet the woods some but that remains to be seen.

chiwawa and little giant opened Friday

Another fire blew up near Buck Creek Pass, so I would expect the closure area to evolve further

haven’t seen or heard any info to support this. Do you have a link?

Just this

http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8028149

[ljsommer]

My mom always talked about how my grandpa loved the high-hunt, but I don't really know what that means. What do people mean when they say "High-hunt" (in the context of WA hunting)

They're referring to the early general deer season in certain wilderness areas. I have a couple uncles who used to do it back in the day and it sounds like it used to be amazing for the ones willing to do the work, basically had the place to themselves. Last time I went up was 2015 and I counted 33 rigs at the trail head. Guess I picked the wrong trailhead 

Ok so I have a somewhat obvious question: If hunter numbers are down so significantly and continue to fall, how is this possible? Is the reduction in public land really so severe that even with plummeting numbers our few remaining areas are packed?

[Knocker of rocks]

Is  the reduction in public land really so severe that even with plummeting numbers our few remaining areas are packed?

No reduction in land at all except for fire closures and an increase of other users. Many want to use pack horses, and that has always been self limiting to likely areas. Take out chunks of the Entiat and Pasayten, and the remaining areas have more users.

[ljsommer]

Is  the reduction in public land really so severe that even with plummeting numbers our few remaining areas are packed?

No reduction in land at all except for fire closures and an increase of other users. Many want to use pack horses, and that has always been self limiting to likely areas. Take out chunks of the Entiat and Pasayten, and the remaining areas have more users.

Ok so you're saying that this is largely due to other users (equestrian, REI, etc) getting in the mix as well? That still seems like a mighty big gap to cover.

[Knocker of rocks]

Is  the reduction in public land really so severe that even with plummeting numbers our few remaining areas are packed?

No reduction in land at all except for fire closures and an increase of other users. Many want to use pack horses, and that has always been self limiting to likely areas. Take out chunks of the Entiat and Pasayten, and the remaining areas have more users.

Ok so you're saying that this is largely due to other users (equestrian, REI, etc) getting in the mix as well? That still seems like a mighty big gap to cover.

What else could it be?  When was grandpa doing his high hunts?  There hasn’t been a concievable loss of high hunt land for half a century. In that period of time the population of Washington has increased by four million people.

[jackelope]

The advent of the internet and forums such as this and the Facebook have increased high Hunt hunter numbers significantly if you ask me.

[Mtnwalker]

The advent of the internet and forums such as this and the Facebook have increased high Hunt hunter numbers significantly if you ask me.

Exactly. Backcountry and backpack hunting have gotten hugely popular over the last decade. The backcountry athlete thing is all the rage on instagram these days and the wilderness is the obvious destination for a backcountry guy in Washington

[teanawayslayer]

The advent of the internet and forums such as this and the Facebook have increased high Hunt hunter numbers significantly if you ask me.

google earth, onx maps. Easy to scout, easy to know where the boundaries are, don’t have to burn any boot leather. Ran into a guy elk hunting last year from the Seattle area. Asked him why he chose this imperticular spot? He said to me that it looked good on google earth. Not an easy spot to get into either. The internet is the beginning of the end. 

[ljsommer]

As a new hunter (last year first season) I almost feel like part of the problem. Hunting skipped a generation for me - grandpa hunted, no dad around. I got into it after age 30 and am enjoying myself so far but I definitely want to 'earn' my kill when and if it happens, so I don't want easy. I want it to be hard, and the wilderness appeals to me for that reason.
Apologies for being yet another warm body out there.

[Skyvalhunter]

Don't apologize you have as much right to be out there as anyone. Just put in the hard work and don't get discouraged. Learn from past experiences.

[teanawayslayer]

 

Don't apologize you have as much right to be out there as anyone. Just put in the hard work and don't get discouraged. Learn from past experiences.

. Dude don’t worry about it. Learn your spots and hunt them accordingly. Only way your going to learn.