High Buck - Some Observations

[Skyvalhunter]

That's some good looking country One. I wish you the best of luck, hoping you put your tag on one.

[stlusn30-06]

I was asked about this the other day, so I figured I'd post my opinion(s) for those in the planning stages that are pouring over topo and aerial maps and Google Earth trying to find a place to go that won't have other hunters.

First...It's important to remember that you live in a state with ~7,500,000 residents.  You're not only vying for a place that holds deer and no other hunters, but also isn't overrun by hikers.

• If there is a trail system that you can use to access the general area, you will definitely not be alone, especially if they are livestock accessible. (this includes basins you'll have to bushwhack into)
• Big mileage and tons of elevation gain/loss from a trailhead are irrelevant filters. In fact they might be the worst filters since that's exactly what everyone else thinks, or has thought about and found out the hard way.
• The more difficult it looks like to get into an area where you want to hunt...and then haul out a heavy load if you get one, the more hardcore your competition will likely be with guys that have been hunting it for many years and know the area like the back of their hands.
• The true crazies that think about this hunt every day of the year (like me) have been training all year and don't care how much blood, sweat and tears they have to put in.  They relish a Fine & Pleasant Misery.  That's who you're up against.

Secondly...The Mountain Doesn't Care.

Use solid, proven, bombproof gear.  Crampons AND an ice axe or whippets are a damn good idea.  Keeping your feet healthy is everything. The weather can be awesome.  It can also really suck and try to kill you every minute of every day...for days on end. If you're the type that might go batcrap crazy from being forced to lay inside a snare drum (tarp, bivy or tent) in heavy wind, fog, rain, sleet, and snow for days and nights on end...then this hunt might not be for you.

Time isn't on your side since weather and travel will eat up a bunch of it. If you don't have 7-10 days, you're setting yourself up.

Deer are not behind every tree and rock. Alpine opulations densities are low. You might not even see a deer, much less a legal buck, much less a legal buck worth shooting many miles and lots of elevation gain/loss from the nearest trailhead. Huge bucks are EXTREMELY rare at altitude since they just don't have the same easy living as farm & ranch deer.  Success odds are in the low single digits and I'd bet it's the same guys every year that are responsible for most of those filled tags.

If you're the type of guy that is going to just barely stagger into some far flung basin and get upset after you put a long difficult stalk on a buck (if you can find one!) only to watch it drop right in front of your eyes to a friggin' predator that's scouted it and has been sitting on it for several days before the opener...then finding some private property you can access with a road might be a better option for you.

Regardless...good luck!

Meanwhile some 17 year old granola kid is punching 20miles and 10,000 vertical feet on the PCT, day in and day out for weeks in a pair Brooks Cascadias. Don't get me wrong, I know it isn't the same thing, but it isn't the first assault on K2. If you're used to sitting on clear cuts, or scouting from a truck window it's going to be tougher. If you're used to living out of backpack for a week, it isn't the end of the world. Get out there, enjoy yourself, take in some insane views, be safe, hopefully take some meat home.

[jstone]

Take a fishing pole

[etrah5]

Hey maybe you should join us in the upper Napeequa one of the guys in our group might be backing out after he heard that someone was trying dissuade us from hunting there. But we are a pretty determined group and we will have some supplies stashed up there ahead of our hunt. 

Haha! Are you sure the stash is still there? 

100% sure, I was just in there scouting my 3rd trip in. I wanted to catch the bucks before they lost their velvet as they will stay out of the brush then. The valley is choked with slide alder but you can get a feel for whats there when they are in velvet. Totally jacked about hunting there. Know of some guys that have done pretty good there in the past. There's always Stans group that stumble around in there.

Stans never been in there but good luck. there will be drop camps in that camp at the north end 13-19 then a second one back in on 19.

[Colville]

Take a fishing pole

if you are responding to these most recent LG posts, I suggest a review of the closed waters in the fishing regs.

[Bill W]

chiwawa should be closed downstream of Buck Creek.  Little Giant should be in the close area

[Onewhohikes]

It's nice to have someone chime in for their first post. Another one that thinks they own the area and try to keep hunters out.

[CGDucksandDeer]

This has been a great thread. The OP was pretty spot on, well worth heeding for the most part (a whippet and microspikes can be nice in wet, steep avy fields, I take them to AK, but in drier areas I wouldnt bother)

This will be my 8th High Hunt, I got into it coming mostly from the mountaineering and backpacking world. My first High Hunt I had just run the Seattle Marathon and figured I'd cruise on up to the Wilderness and run down a deer no problem, heck, I could hike further and higher than anyone.

Boy was I wrong! 4 years later I finally notched a tag during the High Hunt on a nice 4 pt, and have had encounters every year since.

Take it slow, use your glass more than your feet, scout (further is NOT always better!), make a plan and then make a new plan when you inevitably have to. The Cascades are steep, with more small cliffs and obstacles than most mtn ranges, think about how you would get to the areas you're glassing: if it will take hours to get to that far ridge, don't expect to find the buck again when you get there. Smaller avy slopes, cirque basins or burns can be better than expansive ridgelines.

Treat it like a backpacking trip and if your gear is dialed and you see deer, that's a successful trip. If you take one home, even better.

You will be around other people, be patient, be nice, communicate and work with them if you can. I've had Icicle outfiiters drop clients 30 feet from my tent, that pissed me off, but they turned out to be nice older guys enjoying what may have been a last hunt. Was glad to have met them.

Plan your gear and fitness with the understanding that you may need to take your camp and whole buck out all at once (it's very doable if you're prepared), but plan your trip schedule with an extra day near the end so you don't have to, and can take two trips if needed.

Enjoy the high country, at the worst it's a shakedown drill for October. At best, there are some great bucks and bears up there.

One added thought: it has snowed at least 4 of the last 7 years on this hunt. Dont plan for nice August backpacking weather. I've done tarps, UL shelters, everything, and I now carry in a solid 3+ season tent and enjoy it. If it does snow or storm, hunt all the harder. That 4 pt I mentioned was shot at 11 am through a snow flurry. 

[actionshooter]

The entertainment value on this one has been great...   

[idaho guy]

The entertainment value on this one has been great...   

  I can’t quit checking for new posts    it’s either the most humbling bad ass experience you will ever have (if you don’t die) or just a typical mountain hunt where you actually have to leave your truck. I have to check it out

[Onewhohikes]

The original poster is the guy that thinks he owns the forest. His idle PM threats have no backbone like him

[bankwalker]

I hiked up a ridge once in a pair of nikes and slept under the stars on a blanket. Imagine how easy it would be with some qualified boots and a tent.

[Jonathan_S]

When I had no money, I remember going up on the high hunt in Georgia work boots and jeans and a blue tarp.

Fun? No
Did I die? No

It's not like I was dropped off at some remote airfield in the Frank Church or Interior Alaska. Worst case scenario, put a foot in front of the other and walk out 

[Aginor]

This really has been a good read does anyone have any good high hunt pictures?

This is still at the trailhead. I need to work on my camo.

Holy *censored* this is the funniest thing I’ve seen in awhile


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[ctwiggs1]

All the Kifaru guys say that I'm dead meat with my Exo.

Probably shouldn't have bought a Tikka.  Would have been better off with a Sako.

Dang, why did I go Sitka?  I should be "running" a Kuiu or Firstlite "system".

Pretty sure I'm just going to stay home now