GMU-117 scouting trip report

[eagleeye0024]

So I have been hunting the same area in this GMU for 4 years now and normally it is booming with animals. Just got back from my scouting trip this past weekend and it isn't looking to promising this year.

DRY DRY DRY it is so dry over there...My relatives said nearly no rainfall since June coupled with the smoke from the fires and the fires themselves, there has been very little deer movement over the summer.

Probably going to have to go up real high this year just to see some animals let alone find a buck worth putting in the freezer.

I scouted all weekend and in areas I normally saw heavy traffic, scrapes, rubs, scat etc. it was nearly non-existent. 3-5 day old droppings was the freshest I could find over about a 60 acre area.

[Timberstalker]

Maybe they are outside that 60-acre parcel!
Keep expanding. Good luck!

[eagleeye0024]

Oh I moved around a bit. That 60 acres is just where I consistently hunted and saw activity. I drove into three different State Lands, went to talk with some friends on some private lands in the area..all saying the same thing, lack of rain and the smoke and heat this year has led to not a lot of movement. Hoping to get high this year and see what turns up.

[boneaddict]

THe big bucks dont emerge from the ground until mid november so scouting for them wont show you much.     Wolves have moved into the area pretty good from what I hear, directly behind chewelah, so that also might be having some effect if your parcel is near there.    Whities in that region seem to be doing ok.  There was a pretty decent winterkill but they(northern whities) for the most part survived the black tongue events that happened south of there. 

[Birdguy]

 

Friends between Chewelah and Colville report a significant increase in wolf activity throughout the valley, I imagine the hills are in the same boat. Certainly not the same as it used to be.

[Jimmer]

Wolves... ghost town last two years. Sad for the moose especially, they were everywhere above my property and now old game trails and zero new sign. Whitetails are lower around private land.

[cmiller85]

Wolves... ghost town last two years. Sad for the moose especially, they were everywhere above my property and now old game trails and zero new sign. Whitetails are lower around private land.

I noticed the lack of moose as well. Just a few years ago moose were an annoyance. Always getting in the way and distracting me trying to get a look at them. There would always be a bull or two grunting at dawn and dusk no matter where you went during September. While I did see a couple cows up there in the 6 days I spent a couple weeks ago, I heard no grunts, saw no bulls and saw minimal sign for moose. Wolf sign is pretty darn easy to come by though.

[dmoua]

I could have saved you a scouting trip. Lol 117 has been quite.

[PA BEN]

It's raining right  now.