Olympic 621

[salmon]

Hoping for some help from you guys. Taking grandson,son-in-law to this unit hunting. We have a doe tag and hope to fill it as they have very little experience and hope to get them hooked on the outdoors more. Anybody willing to share any info if north end or sound end of unit is better? Any other info would be great. Thanks in advance.  PM me if you want.

[MADMAX]

Big unit
Rifle doe tag ?
I like the Hamma Hamma, MT Jupiter and MT Townsend areas
Seen more down low than up high
Tag a shotgun and go grouse hunt it now
Look around

[salmon]

Yes rifle tag. Planning on going to look around next weekend, trying to find areas to do so. Thanks

[MADMAX]

Good luck bud
Deer numbers ain’t what they used to be
Take a bear tag and cougar tag

[rainshadow1]

Running the FS roads early in the morning for grouse and bunnies is some of the best kid "hunting" (not really hunting, but hey...) I've experienced with my kids, in 621, they still talk about it. 90% of the time we saw deer too.

Less during the big season openers because of traffic, but still.

(Let the road hunting discussion begin!)

There are WAY more deer low than high there, but door knocking is very low percentage in those neighborhoods.

If you're into the hiking, then by all means, go high and glass, you'll see deer. But packing and camping can be a lot of work for a kid.

There are clearcut deer to be had too, doe tag makes that a lot more realistic, but lots more cover and competition too. 

Lots of country, and not a bad population of deer, horrible visibility.

My first suggestion is the crack of dawn for grouse and bunnies and be ready for a blacktail to bolt up a cut bank. 

[salmon]

Thanks guys for your insight. Anybody else?

[Lapua338]

Hunt the state land east of lake cushman, prices lake gate. 1 day hunt guaranteed on a wet day.

[salmon]

Lapua338, Sent a PM

[GASoline71]

The largest 4x4 Blacktail buck I've ever seen in my life was in 621.  Just East of Mt Zion off of an old skid road in some reprod at about 2,500 feet elevation.  That was nearly 25 years ago though.  Great but large area to hunt with a lot of different habitat.

Gary

[Ed T]

Thank you for starting this thread. I recently bought a place near Brinnon and hope to hunt the area with my youngest son this year. I suspect we will be doing a lot od driving to learn the general area this year. I would welcome any recommendations. Our house is on the western edge of the canal tracts and we can also walk through the no shooting zone into the Olympic Forest. Any thoughts/ advise welcome
 

[barnaclebill]

I will also be hunting blacktail (bucks) in 621 next week and would like some advice from more experienced hunters.
I would like to explore the Mount Baldy/Mount Tyler region. There are two ways to get there. One is from the southeast, where I can go straight up (4000 feet or so) a 2-mile trail to the timberline and hike around the two peaks close to the timberline. The other way is to start from the north and hike about 5 miles up and down lower elevations along the Gray Wolf River, then climb the north side of the two peaks to the timberline.
I'm wondering which one might be more productive. There may be a bit of snow near the top. Will that force deer lower? If it's clear, will deer tend to bed for the day in the open (where they can see predators like me), or in the trees, then come up to feed?
The Gray Wolf trail seems like it has more people traffic, but it eventually goes up the mountain in a more heavily forested area along a creek, so that might be a better way to climb.
I consider it more of a scouting trip where I will be carrying my rifle than anything else, since I haven't been there before.
Thanks!

[JimmyHoffa]

The Baldy/Tyler Peak trail is easiest off the spur from FS Rd 2780 (Upper Dungeness).  More people too.  Gray Wolf doesn't really get that much traffic once the weather cools and gets wet.  It gets day hikers that want to be close to town, but not many off trail or crossing the river.  Most of the hunters go in on the Slab Camp/Deer Ridge or the Tyler Peak trails.  There are usually a couple camps up at the trail head and the guys scoot up to the top each morning before daylight and watch along the ridges/timber.  Kind of steep, but not too long.  The other option is the old stock trail that branches off the Royal Creek trail.  Snow/rut activity brings a lot of the high country bucks through there later in the year.  Sometimes they overlap and you get the migration. 

[barnaclebill]

Thanks, Jimmy. By camps up at the trailhead, do you mean at Slide Camp, or at the top end of the spur trail along Slide Creek? I'm favoring the north option because it doesn't look like too many places to camp on the Baldy/Tyler Peak side unless you want to camp at the top of Baldy. No water that side either.

[JimmyHoffa]

The camps I'm thinking of are about three or four trucks with campers, maybe a travel trailer, sometimes a tent too.  They are usually in the parking lot at the Tyler Peak trail head (off the spur).  I think they've been going there for at least 30 years.  They're pretty fast hikers.

[RB]

The camps I'm thinking of are about three or four trucks with campers, maybe a travel trailer, sometimes a tent too.  They are usually in the parking lot at the Tyler Peak trail head (off the spur).  I think they've been going there for at least 30 years.  They're pretty fast hikers.

Really cool area up there my family hunted up there as far back as the 1920's. My great grandfather would pack in with horses and stay for weeks at a time up there. When they logged it in the 50's and 60's they moved further up river and would only have to use one or two horses to get camp in. My old man will still day hunt sometimes up there and my uncle pulls his fifth wheel up there too. As with all areas of the state it is not what it used to be, but very cool country, have fun!

[bbalkid3]

I was in the area today. Spooked one up while walking a small road but didn't get to see it. Any tips on how to hunt the area (or more broadly, west side)? New to hunting over here and had a hard time figuring out how to hike/pursue animals in the WALL of brush. Thanks!

[fishnfur]

Too much to type out.  Better to read old threads I think.

Just below your avatar in the upper L. corner of this page, there is a search option available.  Click on that, type in Blacktail Tips and/or blacktail help or Blacktail tactics.  There are 3 pages of threads for Blacktail Tips.  Grab a beer and read everything you can find.  Skip the stuff that doesn't seem to apply.  You'll quickly get a feel for the job at hand. 

Good luck!

[JimmyHoffa]

When dealing with the overgrown, unmanaged jungle, I would look for the areas they like to feed and travel through.  Then just move slowly or wait quietly.  There are spots near roads, especially with a fork or spur road, with lots of shrubs and heavy low growth.  The long straight sections, tend to have less of the shrubs and more of the overplanted conifers.  Seems like they like to hang back in the overgrown timber where they have some sight distance and then sneak into the little feeding areas.  Also, if possible on you walks, look for alders with ferns that might be off to the side of the roads you're stalking.

[Axle]

Grab a beer and read everything you can find.

What kind of beer would you recommend? 

[Aginor]

I’m confused - I’ve hiked several hundred miles in The Buckhorn and even considered hunting the north side of Baldy (summitting and bushwacking down to the Gray Wolf), but i don’t know of any trail that goes from the Slab Creek side up to Baldy. Does anyone have a map of the trail?

[Aginor]

To expand: I’ve also attempted to bushwack the Divide Creek valley, but that area is nasty. I’ve never tried climbing the ridge to Peak 4335 yet, but that’s probably the easiest way to get up from that side. Still though, I’ve never seen a designated trail over there up to Baldy


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