Desert Quality(GMU 290) early rifle.

[Todd6117]

I got drawn for the quality Desert early rifle tag (10-19 to 10-27) (and White river bull elk tag by the way).  I would appreciate any general information anyone can provide me. I'm not looking to steal anyone's spots.  I just want general advice on the hunt.

[slowhand]

Good tags
Your a very lucky man
I'm also from the MV
good luck this season

[Bullkllr]

Sounds like a not so great overlap if both hunts start on 10/19. At least the bull tag runs until 11/13. At least you know what order to plan them in.

[X-Force]

Hard to steal someone’s spot when those are draw only units 


Good luck. Great tags

[Todd6117]

The deer tag will be first priority and then the elk. I have had a good two year run. I got the Mt Spokane moose tag last year.

[highside74]

You can learn everything you need to know about 290 in a weekend. So just go over there and look around. 653 you can make it as hard or easy as you want. You can hunt the ski resort but don't go to high. Stay middle 2/3. The elk get hiking and biking pressure in the bottom and the top so they tend to stay in between. You can hike up on the left side of the mountain before the parking lots and glass over to the ski resort side and see pretty much everything. You can hike in and hunt around the lakes by corral pass. You can buy the Hancock pass. You can drive over the pass and drive back through peaches ridge and hunt the edge of the trail. I would probably find the burn and look around.

[Todd6117]

Thanks. I plan on making some trips to scout 290. The Hancock permit came in the mail today already. Thanks again for the assistance.

[Ace]

I also got drawn for the early desert tag. 18 years. Any help would be very appreciated

[Ace]

Does anyone know if there’s outhouse at the trailhead at the Desert unit. Can I camp there overnight

[Mfowl]

Does anyone know if there’s outhouse at the trailhead at the Desert unit. Can I camp there overnight

You can camp overnight in several areas of 290/Desert WA but I do not recall if there are bathrooms anywhere. The State Park has them for sure.

[ScottE]

There's pit toilets on the north  and west sides and the state park on the south side.

[full choke]

Does anyone know if there’s outhouse at the trailhead at the Desert unit. Can I camp there overnight

There used to be toilets at the trail heads on the southside access points. I remember at one point in time there were two side by side. I went in to one, only to notice a massive (and active) wasp nest in the corner. I quickly exited and tried the other- only to see black widows. I dug a hole out in the sage...

[hunterednate]

Desert unit in October can be a tough hunt. I spent most of the early season in 290 with my dad a few years ago and he never ended up notching his tag (passed on a couple nice bucks on opening weekend we later came to regret). We jumped one monster non-typical out of the cattails later in Oct. but my dad never got a good look at him. They can disappear fast in that thick stuff.

I'd focus my efforts near the state park if I had the tag - that's where we saw the most deer. And it's not a bad idea to do soft-drives through the thicker cover with some buddies if you're not seeing bucks. They're good at staying out of sight in October.

Beautiful area, though, and cool to have a deer tag in your pocket. This is definitely a pre-rut tag, though, so just keep your expectations measured and the old maxim applies: "don't pass on the first day what you'd be willing to shoot on the last day."

And post up some buck pics once you get 'em on the ground!

Congrats

[Bullkllr]

Does anyone know if there’s outhouse at the trailhead at the Desert unit. Can I camp there overnight

You can camp overnight in several areas of 290/Desert WA but I do not recall if there are bathrooms anywhere. The State Park has them for sure.

C Road has one, but I wouldn't recommend actually using it.

[Piscatory_5]

Does anyone know if there’s outhouse at the trailhead at the Desert unit. Can I camp there overnight

There used to be toilets at the trail heads on the southside access points. I remember at one point in time there were two side by side. I went in to one, only to notice a massive (and active) wasp nest in the corner. I quickly exited and tried the other- only to see black widows. I dug a hole out in the sage...

😂🤣

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