N.E. Wa. late whitetail hunt

[runningboard]

I imagine that they've had a bad run in with bad hunters that don't ask.

I can relate to that statement, I sought & received permission from a landowner to hunt on his property with my little girl. we had a couple of good scouting trips and were waiting for opening day only to find it full of orange! the landowner's custodian spent most of his time asking them who they were and telling them to get out and in the process they all drove the deer out, couldn't find a one where we could at 'em.

[GOcougsHunter]

Got my buck on morning of day two; 27 yards.  I only saw one other hunting party.

[Palmer]

I enjoyed all the pics.  I'll put some up as soon as my cousin emails them to me.  We had a great time this week.  The Monday night wind storm was especially helpfull in bringing out the bucks.  I suspect this weekend has been exceptional with all the nasty weather.  The three of us harvested 5 bucks and 1 doe.  The biggest was 128 #'s dressed out and had an outside spread of 20".  One of the bucks almost gored my cousin.  They're deep in the rut.

We hunted public land.  Deer are all over but you can't let them smell you or see you move.  If you smell or try to find them they'll usually hide from you before you know they are there.  Just find some trails, rubs, or scrapes like the previous post suggested, then sit on it.  The Whitetail can't see you if you don't move, however, if they are close enough they are known to be spooked by as little movement as a blink of your eye.  I got one of mine from 10 yards off my tree stand during the small snow storm Thursday morning.  The buck looked at me several times but I stayed still and he never really saw me. I had to wait until he walked behind a tree.  Then I put the cross hairs on him as he came out the other side looking at me.

Idaho Panhandle is said to have 200,000 whitetail as quoted out of a newspaper article.  Taxidermist near Newport tells me there are 50,000 whitetail in Washington.

[Buckblaster]

I shot this one today in the Kettle Falls area. Not the biggest but I was even looking for something smaller. I was actually hoping to see a nice tender spike that still had milk on its lips but I saw this one instead.

[billythekidrock]

I was actually hoping to see a nice tender spike that still had milk on its lips but I saw this one instead.

Yeah, but sometimes you have to make do with what shows up...lol
Nice buck.

[runningboard]

I was actually hoping to see a nice tender spike that still had milk on its lips but I saw this one instead.

Darn! now you stuck with horn soup! nice buck and hopefully next time you'll find something smaller.

[elkaholic]

great buck, ill try for a quick hunt before work in the a.m.

[littletoes]

BuckBlaster-My mother-in-law lives in Kettle Falls....I won't ruin your life by telling you whor or where! 

Nice buck by the way!

[Palmer]

More photos

[hunterofelk]

I got my first whitetail on the 10th of November.  New to the area near Colville, I needed some luck and got it when this buck showed himself.  I was hunting an area with a lot of scrapes, but it was very thick and hard to catch deer unawares.  Lots of fat on this buck and is very good eating.



I'm having a local guy in Kettle Falls do a shoulder mount.  Think I might go whitetail hunting more often.

[jackelope]

congrats on a  great first whitey. you got a lot to live up to now.

[boneaddict]

Damn Buckblaster....have fun chewing on that stinky old *censored*.  There isn't anything worse in the kitchen that an old mature rutted up whitey.   All hell...you can make jerky out of saddle leather, so good JOB!

[rippinlips22]

Great pictures guys! It is nice to see some success out there! I will be heading north here in the next couple of days for my late archery hunt. Got my stands up on Sunday in an area that had some great sign with rubs and scrapes. Looks like they are in full swing and the hunting should be good.
I myself hunt public land and got a decent buck last year and hoping to do the same this year. Nice thing is, I have my second deer tag to fill also. So I can spend a little extra time in the field and go for a nice buck. Hopefully I will be posting some pics here in the next few days!!!! Again, great pics!!!!!!

[Buckblaster]

Yup, Boneaddict, it's a stinky *censored*. I've shot those end of the season rutting whitetails before so I knew what I was in for when I pulled the trigger. I cooked up the heart and made a sandwich out of it. It was so frickin tough, I couldn't bite it without pulling it out of the bread. I'll have to take a meat hammer to whats left of that and grind the rest of the critter. I can tell now, I'm in for some pretty tough gravy. Damn, I wish I'd shot a barely legal button buck that was still nursing.

[Buckblaster]

Another thing, Boneaddict, if you noticed the sour look on my face in the pic, there is a reason. As my wife was taking the picture, she took one sniff and said "I AIN'T EATIN ANY OF IT"!  After working so hard to get this nasty smelling buck home, it kinda pissed me off.