Curlew deer hunting

[Sakko300wsm]

Just bought some property in curlew - and just seeing if there are any local peeps on here? Looks like it’s a good mix of WT and mule deer. Really looking for some info on better directions for mule deer in the area? Not wanting hand outs and pms are all good. Been hunting mule deer for many yrs closure to Winthrop and always hike in miles - so pack in is no problem. Just drove around the Vulcan Mt area - and really did not think much of it. Few other creek drainage roads I wanna check out, but local intel is always best.
TIA
Rob

[KP87]

I was just east of Republic the last couple days for my first time deer hunting and I found more wolf kills than I did live animals. Saw one 3x3 WT jump the logging road and disappear before I was able to get eyes on where he went. Tried tracking him down for a couple hours but no luck. Apparently the wolves are getting really bad up in that area. A friend has property in Curlew and he didn't get eyes on any shooters last year. Idk if there are wolf problems up there as well. Good luck to you!

[HoytHunter24]

Mule deer population has taken a hard hit over the last few years. The area is overrun with bears, cougars and wolves. They had to wipe out a wolf pack up north of curlew last year due to killing too much cattle. The whitetail seem to be everywhere over there though.

[hal]

cougar, bear, yotes and bobcat pops have exploded in ferry and okanagan ctys. we had a fawn taken down by a bobcat a week ago and one taken by a yote the week before. haven't seen any wolves yet.

[buckfvr]

Deer are where you find them.  Get away from other hunters and you find deer.  Best to find them before you hunt them, even finding them the year before.

And yes, we hunt 101 in several places.  There are still plenty of shooter bucks despite predation. 

[DryFlyGuy]

My son and I are in the same boat.  We just bought property along the Kettle River and have just started scouting for deer in the area.  We're along 395 and have found the east side of the Kettle range to be very dense.  We thought there was more potential for spot and stalk on the west side from the limited scouting we've done (more recent burns).

We've also learned a lot from the neighbors.  Do you have a neighbor that might be willing to point you in the right direction?

PS We're also looking for youth hunting opportunities near Spokane if our grand plans up north don't pan out for him.  If anyone has suggestions to help my 14 year old son get his first deer it would be appreciated.

[Weathy30by]

Hunted that area for ten years off and on. Good place to hunt just gotta learn the area. Have seen a rise in predators and decrease in deer but the unit still has lots of bucks to be had. Hunters that I know who hunt the area religiously do well but people new to the area struggle lack of open territory to glass is my guess and they don’t spend the time learning the unit just show up for their hunt and don’t see much. Put your time in you will do fine.

[spin05]

try up around the old wagon trail .  Its a hike in there but a cool area

[Tracker0721]

Hey Rob! I’m born and raised here, just moved back after being gone for the summer again and I found 8 bucks in the last 6 days of archery season. We definitely have em and we have some monsters hidden too. Just a matter of checking the right spots. Vulcan used to be awesome and I dunno what killed it, the deer musta all started eating at the pot farm up there. Between Danville to Orient you’ll find a majority of the wolves but honestly I feel too many people give them too much credit. It’s the cougars that are way over populated here. Used to be a 45-50 cat quota and now it’s like 7? And no one hunts em. But back to deer, the whitetails and muleys intermingle throughout the county, so you can find mule deer in the fields and whitetails on top of the mountains. Just have to go back into the drainages and see what’s living in there. Lately I’ve become hooked on hiking around the kettle crest but we had such a dry year a lot of the springs and wet areas are gone. Find the wet spots and you’ll find the deer. Out towards Bodie gets hammered by road hunters and short hike guys but again, there’s big deer if you get into those narly spots no one else does.

But also with this drought all the farmers fields are full of deer and I’m talking hundreds at night. Maybe next year chase mule deer this year just find a low public spot near a field and hunt it. I found all the deer that last week about a mile from a private field.

[Tikka Bird Dog]

That's a cool buck, I love those backwards 3's!

[nwwanderer]

That report covers for much more than Curlew, thanks

[JSchmitt83]

But back to deer, the whitetails and muleys intermingle throughout the county, so you can find mule deer in the fields and whitetails on top of the mountains.

Don't you have that backwards?

[hunter399]

But back to deer, the whitetails and muleys intermingle throughout the county, so you can find mule deer in the fields and whitetails on top of the mountains.

Don't you have that backwards?

Not really curlew is a unique area ,basically you can find both anywhere ,high or low.

[Tracker0721]

Yeah that was my point. They flip flop ranges here. I just found whitetails yesterday at 6000 feet and a muley buck today at 2600. There’s a 4x4 muley that feeds most nights in curlew