First time hunting - heading to 101

[BernerPop]

Hi all,

This will be my first season hunting and in an attempt to avoid the crowds, I'm heading up to GMU 101.  I'm somewhat familiar with the area as I've taken several scouting trips this year, but unfamiliar with what kind of weather I can expect. 

I'm hoping to always stay below the snow line, and from the weather forecast it looks like this might be around 4,500 feet.  Anyone with experience up in the area care to chime in on whether or not this is correct and if there are any areas in specific I'm better off avoiding?

I'm planning on being north of Storm King / South of Bamber; just north of Vulcan; or somewhere up Boulder Creek.

[ne kid]

Avoiding the orange army could be a little tough, and I am praying for snow.

[LOlson45]

If you are hunting October you will very rarely have to worry about snow at any elevation. Sometimes you may need to be down to a shirt while hiking as it can get warm like September during the day. I would plan for dressing warm in the mornings and evenings.

[KFhunter]

There's big dead areas nearly devoid of game, so really pay attention to tracks and sign.

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[BernerPop]

Avoiding the orange army could be a little tough, and I am praying for snow.

It can't possibly be as bad as Ellensburg area, can it?

[MADMAX]

everywhere

if theres animals, theres people

[7mmfan]

Avoiding the orange army could be a little tough, and I am praying for snow.

It can't possibly be as bad as Ellensburg area, can it?

It's that way pretty much everywhere during modern deer season, especially opening weekend. If you can hint during the week it will be significantly better.

[h20hunter]

My meager advice is to do a few things.  Be neighborly....drop off whiskey at any camps you see. Get up early early and cover ground in the dark......get out and ahead of the pack well away from roads.  Don't be shy about hunting late morning. Good luck and shoot straight.

[bhawley76]

There's always lots of people in 101

[KFhunter]

There's always lots of people in 101

And 1/2 mile of walking will get you away from 99% of them

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[highcountry_hunter]

Good luck to you but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. I’ve hunted 101 my entire life and the deer numbers are very very low. I’m not saying it can’t be done, if you hunt hard you can get into some deer and you never know when you might luck out and find a nice buck in a weird place.
As mentioned earlier there’s a lot of county that is nearly devoid of life. A technique I’ve started using is find an area that looks like it will hold some deer, preferably near a wide spot on a road. By looking at the lay of the land find what looks like the best escape route for game, usually down a draw or canyon. Then on opening morning park your pickup a good distance away, stay well away from the good looking area, and with the cover of darkness sneak into a good vantage point of the escape route.
With any luck just after sunrise someone wearing 900$ worth of Sitka gear camo with an orange vest over the top of it will go tromping through the good looking area like a herd of elephants. He’ll never even see the buck that he pushed to you and you’ll have meat in the freezer!

[Mossy]

I’ve only ran into 2 hunters in that unit but then again, I’m nowhere near roads.  3 years ago I saw more wolves than people on foot.  As far as snow, one light dusting in 7 years.

[MooseZ25]

Good luck to you but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. I’ve hunted 101 my entire life and the deer numbers are very very low. I’m not saying it can’t be done, if you hunt hard you can get into some deer and you never know when you might luck out and find a nice buck in a weird place.
As mentioned earlier there’s a lot of county that is nearly devoid of life. A technique I’ve started using is find an area that looks like it will hold some deer, preferably near a wide spot on a road. By looking at the lay of the land find what looks like the best escape route for game, usually down a draw or canyon. Then on opening morning park your pickup a good distance away, stay well away from the good looking area, and with the cover of darkness sneak into a good vantage point of the escape route.
With any luck just after sunrise someone wearing 900$ worth of Sitka gear camo with an orange vest over the top of it will go tromping through the good looking area like a herd of elephants. He’ll never even see the buck that he pushed to you and you’ll have meat in the freezer!

Such a true story...but I wear first Lite gear

[BernerPop]

With any luck just after sunrise someone wearing 900$ worth of Sitka gear camo with an orange vest over the top

I never understood this. What is the point of having camo everything when you're just going to cover it up with bright orange?

[BernerPop]

Avoiding the orange army could be a little tough, and I am praying for snow.

It can't possibly be as bad as Ellensburg area, can it?

It's that way pretty much everywhere during modern deer season, especially opening weekend. If you can hint during the week it will be significantly better.

I'll be there for the full season!  Actually not setting up camp until Saturday, so I'll miss out on most of the first day.

[Miles]

If you actually hunt, you won’t see many people.   With that said, you better capitalize on every good opportunity you get.  They aren’t frequent in that region, but I always enjoyed quality over quantity anyway.   Good luck.

[Bucks2Ducks]

With any luck just after sunrise someone wearing 900$ worth of Sitka gear camo with an orange vest over the top

I never understood this. What is the point of having camo everything when you're just going to cover it up with bright orange?

My best clothing I have bought is for hunting, the majority of it was only available in camo. I also wear the same stuff for archery elk as I do for modern deer. That being said far too many people put too much importance on having the newest pattern, or making sure it all matches.

[SpicyTacos]

I was there last year for muzzleloader. Not many people. There was a huge snowstorm that dropped a lot of snow. I thought surely some animals would get pushed down. But it was my first time there. I checked out Bamber and Vulcan. I only saw two super nice wide muley forks on Vulcan.
I ran into a guy cutting firewood he said his buddy hunts Bamber and does well. Fire wood cutter said he does not do a deer camp anymore just shoots whitetail from his property. Maybe find a private property to hunt?
Beating the crowds will be tough. You can however use other hunters to push animals to you. There’s most likely bucks in there just gonna be hard to get to them.Good luck!

[highcountry_hunter]

Good luck to you but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. I’ve hunted 101 my entire life and the deer numbers are very very low. I’m not saying it can’t be done, if you hunt hard you can get into some deer and you never know when you might luck out and find a nice buck in a weird place.
As mentioned earlier there’s a lot of county that is nearly devoid of life. A technique I’ve started using is find an area that looks like it will hold some deer, preferably near a wide spot on a road. By looking at the lay of the land find what looks like the best escape route for game, usually down a draw or canyon. Then on opening morning park your pickup a good distance away, stay well away from the good looking area, and with the cover of darkness sneak into a good vantage point of the escape route.
With any luck just after sunrise someone wearing 900$ worth of Sitka gear camo with an orange vest over the top of it will go tromping through the good looking area like a herd of elephants. He’ll never even see the buck that he pushed to you and you’ll have meat in the freezer!

Such a true story...but I wear first Lite gear

Is that the key to the Wyoming mule bucks?

[Mossy]

Looks like you may have lucked out. Sherman pass got some snow yesterday.

[trophyhunt]

Can be cold has hell in the mornings, one year it was 18 degrees and all our water was frozen.  quit hunting there years ago, miss that place but it will never be like it was in the past.  Good luck.

[ctwiggs1]

Put some miles on the boots before dark, and then some hours behind the glass after that.  With all the other guys staying near the roads, you're bound to see some animals moving around at first light.

[highmuley]

There's snow in the higher elevations.

[BernerPop]

Thank you all for the sound advice! Start safe out there, good luck, and have a great season!

[Tracker0721]

This guys alive along with his 3 equal sized buddies

These 2 are both alive too

And this guy

And this trickster

As well as a bunch more that I’ve jumped or just didn’t get pictures of. Deer numbers are lower than 20 years ago but they’re still high. Those were also just on the other side of a hill from a road or in the draw below them. Don’t need to get far off road. And there’s a lot of nice deer this year too. It’s been freezing and then getting decent during the afternoon so dress warm and layer. Vulcan had a couple nice deer but with that fire I dunno if any got pushed out to Canada or down towards goosmus. Go a couple miles up the river from curlew in the evening to see a real nice potential display in the fields before tonata rd. I drove by a couple weeks ago and there had to be a hundred mulies and some huge bucks. No hunting but it’s fun to just watch and get amped up. Imagine what’s hiding back in some basin.

Good luck and reach out if you need any help!

[MooseZ25]

Good luck to you but I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. I’ve hunted 101 my entire life and the deer numbers are very very low. I’m not saying it can’t be done, if you hunt hard you can get into some deer and you never know when you might luck out and find a nice buck in a weird place.
As mentioned earlier there’s a lot of county that is nearly devoid of life. A technique I’ve started using is find an area that looks like it will hold some deer, preferably near a wide spot on a road. By looking at the lay of the land find what looks like the best escape route for game, usually down a draw or canyon. Then on opening morning park your pickup a good distance away, stay well away from the good looking area, and with the cover of darkness sneak into a good vantage point of the escape route.
With any luck just after sunrise someone wearing 900$ worth of Sitka gear camo with an orange vest over the top of it will go tromping through the good looking area like a herd of elephants. He’ll never even see the buck that he pushed to you and you’ll have meat in the freezer!

Such a true story...but I wear first Lite gear

Is that the key to the Wyoming mule bucks?

I will admit I was very impressed with First Lite gear on this hunt.  I will continue to put it to the test during Washington deer hunt and hope it keeps my luck going. 

[KFhunter]

101

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[BernerPop]

Getting completely skunked so far, but having an amazing time. My buddy and I have only seen a couple 2 point mulies, and not much of anything else. I'm currently sitting on the north side of Bamber Mountain, soaking in the beautiful landscape.

2 days to go, fingers crossed!

[ctwiggs1]

Seeing bucks on your first WA hunt is already a victory.  Just gotta grow that 3rd point 

[Mossy]

Snow tomorrow should help as long as you are out and about all day.

[BernerPop]

Heading out at 0-dark30!

[Tracker0721]

Shoot me a PM with your number if you want some onX spots! Stay safe with the weather tomorrow and if you get stuck or anything shoot me a message and I can come help.