I ate my Gardner Quality tag

[davew]

I was happily surprised by winning the lottery for a Gardner Quality tag this year with only seven points.  Seven years of trying seemed like a long time to me, but I know it doesn’t compare to the 15+ years other guys have been putting in for it with no luck.  The unit has a long history of producing big bucks and I was excited to put the work into getting one of them.  I live on the west side, but have a cabin in Gardner that I visit at least once a month, so I went into it already being reasonably familiar with the unit. 

I considered this to be a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt big mule deer during the rut in Washington.  I’m in my fifties, so I probably won’t accumulate enough points to win the lottery for another good tag until I hit my 70’s, and who knows what I’ll be physically capable of doing by then.  I’ve killed 30 or 40 deer over my hunting career, but I’ve never taken a really big mulie.  I’m primarily a meat hunter shooting the first legal deer I see - I don’t have a clue how to “score” a buck and am a bit troubled by the whole idea of scoring an animal.  I made my goal for this hunt pretty simple – shoot the biggest buck of my life or nothing.  There’s a 4x4 with a 26” spread on my wall that was the critter to beat. 
One of the coolest things about all this was the response from members of this forum when I posted about getting the tag.  Quite a few past and current tag holders freely shared information and ideas about making my hunt a success.  I won’t mention your names because I don’t have your permission, but you know who you are and I thank you for your help.  Rest assured, the information you shared with me in confidence will not be passed on. 

Despite the unit’s reputation, the hunt was not going to be a slam dunk.  Everything people are saying about the sorry state of the Methow mule deer herd is true.  In five or so years, the number of deer pictures on my monthly backyard trail cam dumps has plummeted from the hundreds to a few dozen.  Most of my favorite hunting spots in the unit have recently burned and it will be many years before the bitterbrush will regrow.  The predator population has boomed.  There’s a lot of deer hair filled scat in the hills. 

Between work and family obligations, I could squeeze in seven days to hunt.  I’m not going to go into day by day details, but I hunted hard for all seven days.  I left my vehicle an hour before dawn and didn’t get back to my cabin until dark.  I focused on the lower elevation sage/bitterbrush areas that I know best.  I got into deer every day, and had shot opportunities most days on bucks that I would be very happy with in the general season.  They just didn’t meet my standards for this hunt.  I almost gave into temptation one morning, staring through my scope at a 4x4 with a spread a little wider than its ears at 100 yards as it fought off a forkhorn and then walked away with a doe.  Looking back on it, that buck would have tasted better this winter than my tag will.   

The warm weather really screwed things up.  In most years, there’d be enough snow up high to push deer down into the areas I was hunting, but I didn’t see a single buck that I’d consider a migrator.  I tried a few higher elevation staging areas looking for migrators, but did not have any success.  That’s probably my fault, as I’m not that familiar with those spots.  In retrospect, I should have switched my focus to the higher elevation, timbered areas.  The deer aren’t the only creatures affected by the weather.  One day, as I walked through some timber, I saw a white shape zipping around a rock pile.  The poor weasel had switched to its white winter coat, but was miles away from any snow.  The poor thing stuck out like a sore thumb against the brown background – easy prey for a hawk or owl. 

What made the Gardner tag fun was hunting unpressured deer in beautiful country with no one around.  The only other hunters I saw were two guys on a ridge a half mile away.  I probably would have run into other tag holders if I stuck closer to the roads, I’m not into hunting from my vehicle.  All in all, I’d recommend the tag to other hunters, with the reminder that it’s a quality experience and not an opportunity to hunt in a big buck petting zoo. 

My goal was to go big or go home.  I ended up going home, but that sometimes happens in hunting, and I’m OK with it. 

[7mmfan]

Good write up and great attitude. I've yearned for that tag for a long time, but am glad that I didn't draw this year. It sounds like you made the most of it and enjoyed your time in the woods.

Like you, my favorite part of these tags is hunting unpressured deer that are doing their thing, not being run all over the country side by a sea of hunters.

Keep putting in for those tags, you never know when you'll draw! I have a friend that's drawn 2 quality mule deer tags inside of 10 years. It can happen!

[grade-creek-rd]

Great write up! It's the hunt, not the harvest (though the harvest is the end goal...). And all I will say is this, regarding ALL quality mule deer permits this year, tough year for the hunters with this warm weather, but GREAT year for the deer!  A mild winter so far, a week away from December and only 3 months until the Spring thaw. I am hoping we are starting the uptick of increasing the mule deer numbers again.

Grade

[X-Force]

Good write up.

Even without a harvest it sounded like a good time in the woods.

[throttlejocky20]

As i said with my quality tag its not all about the kill or the size of the animal (even though with these tags we are not hoping for average) Its about the hunt, the memories, the time spent in the woods with friends and family. Glad you had a good hunt!!!!

[Birdguy]

Holding up to your goal speaks volumes! Sounds like a great week in the hills, yes, I think we all think the permits will be easier and better quality and for the most part they are. By all means keep putting in for the permits, anything can happen! Thanks for the report and best of luck in the future.

[WaltAlpine]

Thank you for sharing your story


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[boneaddict]

Great report and thank you for not shooting something just to shoot it.  The only way the deer population will rebound and the  bucks will get better is if folks let them walk.   I’m glad you had a great hunt and a great perspective of it.   Thank you for sharing.

[Duckhunter14]

Thanks for the write up. I really appreciate your attitude. Good for you for setting a goal and sticking to it! That can be difficult to do.

[Falcon]

Nice job and a great attitude.  I just got back from helping buddy up north on a any buck late Hunt.
Nice weather and extremely low deer numbers.   My friend ended up taking a 3x4 muley on the last day. 
He was happy buts it’s a different game out there with mule deer numbers.   No regrets on the hunt. 

[huntnphool]

 Well done Dave, you gave it a good effort and didn't just "punch the tag".

[Calvin Rayborn]

Son of a biscuit!

[DOUBLELUNG]

Sounds like a great hunt to me!

[snake]

Sounds like a successful hunt to me.