So what's the whitetail deer scene like here in Washington?

[slowhand]

Lived in Washington all My life.
Never tried for a whitetail. I would like to some day, bit to far of a drive to scout, hunt, and give it 100%. maybe some day.
Mule Deer hunting used to be so great. We hunted them every year in Cle elum. Now the herd is in such bad shape I look down on the people that still chase the few remaining ones around. Maybe in the future it will be good again.
Been after the Blacktail for years now. When the guys here say it's difficult it is no exaggeration. They are a true challenge, but I enjoy it that much more. My preferred method is to get way way back in the hills to hunt them. You know they are around You and by the end of day You have likely been in the presents of a giant with out even knowing He was there. Every once in a while one slips up and give You a chance.
That is the moment every Blacktail hunter lives for. I love it!
FYI You can rattle them in like a white tail also. not sure if Your into that. I know many whitetail guys are. Good luck and share Your adventures with us.

[brew]

I know this thread started with whitetails so I’ll start with what I know.  A couple years ago we booked a DIY hunt with Craig  at YJ outfitters in Davenport. We all 3 shot nice bucks and the whitetail I shot was not only the biggest deer I’ve ever taken but was also the tastiest.  I hear a lot of people on here talking about blacktails and how hard they are to hunt.  This year we were 6/7 for our group. 5 of the 7 tagged out archery with 2 bucks and we were 1/2 with modern.  I took a real nice 2x3 and my son in law had a chance at a masher buck during late modern but didn’t get a shot.  The last deer we took was a blacktail doe that my wife shot in our backyard about 25 yards behind our greenhouse.  Honestly I don’t understand people saying that blacktails are hard to hunt.  Yes if you are waiting for a trophy but if you just want to kill a deer you should be able to do that with a little effort.  Gonna try to post some pics of the whitetail I shot in Davenport on the third day of hunting, along with the blackie buck I shot this year after hunting about 3 days along with the doe the wife shot in our backyard…

[brew]

don't know why the first pic of the whitetail came out crooked...if someone can figure out how to rotate it i would appreciate it...thanks

[brew]

i know that looking at the head on that doe looks funny.  I can tell you that is how we drag them out.  if you make a horizontal cut about their ears and another horizontal cut above their eyes and then just fillet the skin between the two cuts it makes a great drag handle.....

[ljsommer]

Brew that's incredible - 6/7 blacktails? Insane. I finished the season hard, gave it 100%. My 100% wasn't anywhere near good enough

[Redbeard]

Parasite,

I caught this thread late. Where at in So. IL?  I hunt Hamilton Co there. This year I Had a bruiser walk under me but I only had a doe tag. Hunting is alright here but I do miss the hardwoods.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Brew that's incredible - 6/7 blacktails? Insane. I finished the season hard, gave it 100%. My 100% wasn't anywhere near good enough

Sure if you shoot does it increase the chance of harvesting.
I got Blacktail deer in my yard, finding them is not the issue.
Bucks though...
You went 3/7 counting the bucks, still better than average.
But most hunters take a few years to figure out an area before they get a chance at a buck, and few can consistently harvest mature blacktail bucks on public land.

[Parasite]

Parasite,

I caught this thread late. Where at in So. IL?  I hunt Hamilton Co there. This year I Had a bruiser walk under me but I only had a doe tag. Hunting is alright here but I do miss the hardwoods.

Redbeard,

I lived in St. Clair county, but hunted a lot in Jefferson and Franklin counties. Almost all public land. I'd see up to 70 deer some nights depending where I hunted. Screwed up several opportunities at large bucks over the years. Wish I would have gotten back into hunting there sooner. I do have one trophy for the wall though. I'll probably go back for 2019, but that will be it. I'd like to start hunting Kansas again. How very, if Eastern Washington or Idaho works out, I'll just hunt here.

[Redbeard]

I have been here 4 yrs now. I mostly hunted Ten Mile Creek and private land in Hamilton Co. The whitetail here is good but different from our old area. For instance I'm hunting Mt Spokane area and everything I hunt is up hill down hill and finding a good tree for a tree stand is tougher than back east. The seasons had me frustrated until I decided to drop the money and get the multi season tag. I do miss the ability to hunt Oct 1 to Jan 15.  I still use my 12 ga. here. I haven't mastered my 30-06 yet. Too busy trying to learn fishing here.  And lets face it their really 8 pointers or 10 pointers not 4x4's or 6x6's  LOL!!!! I still go back every year for the hunting buddies an the BBQ.  Good luck and welcome.

[Tradhunter]

It will take some work to learn our mountain whitetails unless you fall into some low-land private acreage. You can do really well on our whitetails if you have patience. You will not ever see 70 deer in a sit of ten hours though haha. At least I never have and it seems like I find the bigger bucks in deep dark holes where your sits will be lonely. I had a spot I called the Desolation stand where I was there for one buck and one buck only. Hunted this buck for 4 years until last year he didn't show. Im pretty sure he was around 8 1/2 yrs old last year so maybe he didn't make it I don't know. A lot of wolves up there. Anyway I would see anywhere from 0-3 deer a day for ten hour sits. Pretty boring when you know how many cord wood or board feet is standing around you haha. Not all spots are like that though. It is fun I must admit but can be a little brutal in the late season if you don't have the gear. You can usually wait til the last day to kill a basket buck for the meat if you choose to do so.

[fishnfur]

I hear a lot of people on here talking about blacktails and how hard they are to hunt.   

Location, location, location.     You go down to the Longbeach Peninsula (if you could find access) and your group would probably all tag out.  Take 'em all to Ryderwood, and you'd be lucky to see anything bigger than a spike.   BTW - No one says BT does are hard to hunt.  6/7 is a great season though.  Great job!


Parasite - Looking forward to a couple pics on the success thread next fall.  We'll find out then what you decided to do.  Happy New Year!

[ljsommer]

I hear a lot of people on here talking about blacktails and how hard they are to hunt.   

Location, location, location.     You go down to the Longbeach Peninsula (if you could find access) and your group would probably all tag out.  Take 'em all to Ryderwood, and you'd be lucky to see anything bigger than a spike.   BTW - No one says BT does are hard to hunt.  6/7 is a great season though.  Great job!


Parasite - Looking forward to a couple pics on the success thread next fall.  We'll find out then what you decided to do.  Happy New Year!

Uhh, I think I am gonna say that "blacktail does are hard to hunt" - I saw exactly as many does as I did bucks this season: a whopping zero.

[Bango skank]

There is good whitetail hunting to be found in washington if you put the time and effort in scouting.  That might be a tall order living where you do.

[MerriamMagician]

I'm originally from Michigan, but lived the last 6 years in Southern Illinois. I'll miss the whitetails in Illinois, but that's it. I also lived in Kansas for 3 years and miss hunting for whitetail and Rio Grande turkeys. Now I'm living in Olympia.

I plan on going after steelhead, salmon, cutthroat, elk, and whitetail mostly. However, I do plan on applying for other hunts for moose, sheep, goats, etc plus hunting and fishing out of state. I just need to figure things out, plus also get to know people to hunt and fish with.

Since I'll just be concentrating on public land hunting (ideally), how is the public land hunting for whitetails? I'll be primarily archery hunting. I got guns, just prefer archery. Also, is there any situations like I've heard of like the pay-to-access tree farms or whatever? I'd rather not pay, but if it's reasonable and that's my only option, I'll do it.

If you liked turkeys we have lots of them here too, so plan on spring turkey for sure!  If you hunt Merriams in the NE corner you will be seeing what the whitetail deer habitat looks like. We also have Rios and Easterns. If you manage to take one of each, they call it the Washington mini-slam. I've done it 5 years in a row.

[Parasite]

Merriam's this spring will probably be my first Washington hunt. I love hunting Rios, but don't care for Easterns. I better look at the regs here soon. Hope I didn't miss an application date.