What happened to pearrygin and okanogan deer hunting

[Birdman668]

Recently got back from a late tag in pearrygin and was unsuccessful. Only ran into a handful of deer both muley and whitetail. Kind of disappointing to say the least and even put in a good effort. What the hell happened to the hunting up there? Did the banner year of 2015 really make the hunting that bad or is it really the wolves running around up there

[Jonathan_S]

Recently got back from a late tag in pearrygin and was unsuccessful. Only ran into a handful of deer both muley and whitetail. Kind of disappointing to say the least and even put in a good effort. What the hell happened to the hunting up there? Did the banner year of 2015 really make the hunting that bad or is it really the wolves running around up there

2015 killed a super high percentage of a herd that was already fraught with struggles. Predators, lack of winter range, OTC hunting have all taken their toll.

[NOCK NOCK]

 

[7mmfan]

Theres a lot of threads on here covering this topic. The general consensus is 2015 killed a ton of mature bucks and tons of does. Winter range and some summer range has been ravaged by fires and hadn't quite recovered yet, some probably never will. A lot of the rest of the winter range is being developed. Predators are out of control. Not just wolves which really make up a fairly small percentage of predators in the valley. Cougar and bear numbers have never been higher, and bears are shown to be particularly hard on fans in the spring.

 All of this together equals a struggling herd that's being continuously hammered on all sides by predators, nature, and man, not allowing it to get its feet back under it. Some day, hopefully.

This used to be the only place we hunted deer. We stopped after 2016. Fogured the 2-3 bucks a year we killed could be better used for making babies. Probably just left them for cougar food though.

[boneaddict]

Pretty much sums it up.    Might add poor game management in there as well.   Lack of acknowledgement and response to the decline anyways.



sidenote, I dont lay too much blame on the bear.  I have seen little fluctuation in the population in the last 4 decades.  Yes, they are a nail in the coffin, but wolves and cats are through the roof. 

[boneaddict]

This hunt should not be happening!   There also should be ZERO doe tags.   

[bigmacc]

Just my opinion and ....... I agree with what most have said, 2015 was a slaughter but the herd had already been hurting starting at about 20 years prior, when "2015" happened it was just another huge blow amongst many that have been layed on this herd for a few decades. I know sometimes I sound like a broken record when it comes to the Methow but this herd started going down hill when we lost the Department of Game. The herd now is just another rung on a very tall ladder and that rung is no where even close to the top, many, many other priorities have moved up the ladder and have surpassed this once thriving and healthy mule deer herd. I,m old enough to remember how at one time this herd was put on a pedestal, it was an important part of the valley and was a source of pride. It was (at one time) the largest migrating deer herd in the country and I was around to actually see it, my dad and I would sit on hillsides in different migration routes back in the 50,s and 60,s in November and literally count thousands of deer move through in a days time. Even into the 70.s and 80,s we were seeing 500,600,or 700 in a day moving through some areas, herds containing 150-200 deer moving down a draw with 40-50 of those being bucks were common on a November morning in a draw in the valley, then an hour or two later another couple hundred head would move through, it was truly something to see and I feel very fortunate to have experienced this herd during its hay-days of being the "darling" of the Department of Game. I remember seeing over 500 deer during 8 days during hunting season in the 80,s and 90,s, it was nothing to see 50,60 or more deer a day. I have told many stories on here about what this herd was once like, there are a few of us left around that are old enough to have experienced it first hand and to have family that even go back farther with their history. Just in my lifetime and personal history I have seen many devastating winter kills, fires etc. that have devastated this herd but it was always "managed" back into shape and carried on. The one thing nowadays that this herd did not have to contend with(at least in my history and my familys going back to 1917) that it does now is exploding predator numbers along with a new one thats territory and numbers are expanding and growing as we speak. As a young boy back in the 50,s and 60,s going all the way into the 90,s I personally seen probably 3 or 4 bears and a couple cougars over those 40 or so years and 0 wolves or wolf sign, now since 1995 I have seen over 25 bears, 15 cougars 1 wolf and have seen wolf sign and heard wolves in more and more areas every year, not to mention growing coyote numbers that seem to breed like rabbits, the more you kill the more you seem to see. Unlike boneaddict (who I respect very much and have had great conversations with) I do think bears are a big problem, not the only problem but I do think they are a big problem, along with cougars and wolves who are at the top. I have seen more than 3 of them(bears) over the last 10-15 years attack and kill fawns in the spring(I have told a couple of those stories here), I have found dozens and dozens of fawn carcasses surrounded by bear sign over the last 20 years and seem to be finding more and more each year. I remember talking with my cousin a couple years before he passed(he was with Idaho FandG) about all these predators in an area like the Methow, he said the bears and coyotes would hit the fawns hard in the spring, cougars and wolves will relentlessly trail and kill year round."in a Valley like the Methow, its a perfect storm of predation" he said. Now I finally get what he was saying.  Deer are the number one prey for these predators, cougar and wolf, sure they will eat other things if need be, but the Methow does not have an abundance of other animals like other parts of the west, the Methow doesn't have herds of Elk roaming the valley, caribou or an abundance of moose, its the deer herd that is target #1 and when bears crave protein after waking in the spring, its deer fawns that are targeted with a vengeance and for coyotes, young fawns are easy pickens, then growing numbers of cougars and wolves are chasing the young AND older deer around 24/7/365, now picture this scenario playing out in a "big box" for instance, the Methow Valley, guess whats going to suffer and has been for a couple decades now. I have always said and will continue to say its the growing predator numbers AND the MIS-MANAGEMENT of these predators that are the 2 biggest issues concerning the downfall of the Methow herd, its simple, more new and growing numbers of predators in a "certain space" are going to effect in a negative way the prey numbers within that "space" and when deer are THE ones in that space, well, you get what we got, IMHO, until these predators are  managed more aggressively by the state and numbers reduced then what we have now as far as deer numbers in the Methow is the new normal and will probably get worse.  Fires, storms, harsh winters etc. have messed with this herd in the past and will into the future, now, starting around 25 years ago the deck had been shuffled, management was changed, more and more predators are on the scene and the herd is not even close to the priority it once was. Just my opinion, that recipe has resulted in what some are seeing as far as the demise of this herd.

[OutHouse]

Does anyone think the whitetail up there are doing okay? They seem to be doing fine, but I completely agree the mule deer herd is in shambles.

[bigmacc]

Does anyone think the whitetail up there are doing okay? They seem to be doing fine, but I completely agree the mule deer herd is in shambles.

I agree, but they basically live and thrive on private stuff and closer to civilization than a migrating mule deer herd does, I also think thats why we are seeing more and more of the "local" mule deer population living closer to people, they are trying to stay clear of predators, just my opinion

[KP-Skagit]

Saw 5 coyotes cruising the field in the Big Valley Unit south of 20 between Winthrop and Twisp on Saturday. Saw two more up Goat Creek Road. Can't shoot at Big Valley and the ones on the hill didn't give me a chance. 7 coyotes in 20 minutes.

[bigmacc]

Saw 5 coyotes cruising the field in the Big Valley Unit south of 20 between Winthrop and Twisp on Saturday. Saw two more up Goat Creek Road. Can't shoot at Big Valley and the ones on the hill didn't give me a chance. 7 coyotes in 20 minutes.

My dad remembered when there was a bounty on these things, kept them in check and it would earn him enough to fund his deer hunting trip every year, once again, management AND politics have changed in this state, unfortunately.

[2MANY]

You guys need to calm down and look the other way just like WDFW does.

[dvolmer]

Its just like the rest of the deer hunting in our state, Going to Hell in a handbasket!!!

[archerykraze]

Till the hounds are brought back into action and the wolf management plan gets squashed I don't see a change in the current trend. Fish and Game has admitted the litigation for hounds is too deep and the governor wants no more wolves killed. The future of hunting is not looking good in my eyes. This state is run on emotions now and fish and game has forgotten they are there to manage not be wildlife activists.

Had this odd hope that with Seattle/King County creating a lawsuit to overturn the 30 dollar car tabs since it was voted out by their region and they feel the rest of the state shouldn't decide how to run their region that other counties would follow suite and vote in hounds and wolf management playing the same card. Just a thought. No reason why the coast should dictate how eastern counties are managed, it's not like they are living with the predators in their backyard.

[2MANY]

Till the hounds are brought back into action and the wolf management plan gets squashed I don't see a change in the current trend. Fish and Game has admitted the litigation for hounds is too deep and the governor wants no more wolves killed. The future of hunting is not looking good in my eyes. This state is run on emotions now and fish and game has forgotten they are there to manage not be wildlife activists.

Had this odd hope that with Seattle/King County creating a lawsuit to overturn the 30 dollar car tabs since it was voted out by their region and they feel the rest of the state shouldn't decide how to run their region that other counties would follow suite and vote in hounds and wolf management playing the same card. Just a thought. No reason why the coast should dictate how eastern counties are managed, it's not like they are living with the predators in their backyard.

Yup couldn't agree more.