New guy here. Interested in Chelan and Stehekin deer

[DanielMac]

Hey all,

New to the forum and the area. Lots of good information on here! I moved to Chelan about 4 years ago from Colorado so it feels like I'm finally settled in. Love it here.

I have been doing a ton of reading on the difference in hunting regulations and hunting seasons here in Washington vs Colorado. Seems to be a lot more regulations here and a shorter rifle season.

I have never been a bow hunter but I will definitely need to get one in order to maximize my hunting time here. The rifle seasons on the Washington Fish and Game website seem pretty short to me.

Anyway I was just looking for some general in-sight about Deer hunting in Chelan. I have seen some mule and white tail on both sides of the lake. There seems to be black bears just about every where though lol . I was thinking about scouting the south shore first. Any good trails? I manage a property all the way up the south shore where the road ends so I could always park up there as well. 

Thanks in advance for any Info and Feel free to reach out here or PM.

Thank you

[vandeman17]

welcome to the site and the area. Chelan and the whole valley is a pretty great place to live. You are correct that we have short seasons, especially for rifle and even more so for rifle mule deer. I have never really hunted up there but with your access, just spend the hours during the summer exploring and seeing what is out there. Tons of areas that you can get into and probably find a good deer

[Sutherland]

Welcome to the site. Great area we have around here. I've always been Interested in Colorado archery hunts. Willing to share the info for around here and sounds like you have a great location to start off. It's beautiful up there. Scout as much as you can. As the migration gets under way you will be seeing more and more deer down by the lake. I've done alot of service calls out on that side of the lake fixing heaters and heatpumps during this time of year and it seems like I always run into mule deer. Let me know if you have any other questions. I'm always willing to help other members

[heavyhorned]

well were to start. stehekin valley is mostly privet property. you will not get a very warm welcome hunting up there either. the locals like to see the wild life and frown upon those who hunt up there. you can however hunt up higher above the valley. i believe the buss are no longer running this time of year so you will need to barge up a motorbike or a bicycle to get up valley. also unless you own a boat you will need to take the lady of the lake up.now with that said there are deer up there and i have seem some big ones taken from up there of the 40 plus years of living here. they mostly find a trail and hike up during the summer months and scout. it is rugged area though. Chelan valley always seems to be on everyone's map for the deer seasons. i know the game biologist always says Chelan hurds are looking good and there are plenty of quality bucks to be found, but lets really some it up. a fair part of this hurd is low local deer. hanging out all summer and winter in the same locations. near orchards or vineyards. Chelan used to be known as having a very large migrating hurd and was known for some of the best late season hunting, but that was quite a while ago. there are deer up high and in the back country but they have more predators now (ie the wolf) and this makes them fewer than in years past. Chelan valley is still a good place to hunt but the best opportunities you can have is one go around asking for permission to hunt the orchards and vineyards. there are quite a few land owners that will gladly give you permission. second it to get out well before season. start at those higher areas and work to mid level. look for tracks and then start following. most of the deer we have taken were due to getting out on the forest service roads and enjoying the late summer days up high and cool looking at whats out there. hope this helps. if you have more questions or a specific question give a PM.