WA deer pay to play: what are the options?

[Buzzsaw461]

Do you hunt the late hunt? All the Blacktail Bucks I have taken have been during the late hunt.

[Bullkllr]

So not to turn this thread into a bunch of folks annoyed at me for being a poor hunter but back to the original question: do 'deer leases' exist in WA? I know they're extremely common in the south and midwest, but I haven't heard much about them in WA.
Does anyone know if this is a thing? Being local is valuable to me as I work a lot and I have a young baby so day hunts are usually all I can manage. (the Idaho hunt was done with my wife when she was pregnant - boy, 1 degree temps with morning sickness....I married the right lady...she saw a buck on that hunt but passed on it hoping for something better. I saw a doe but passed for saw reason.)

Rayonier has leases and I believe Weyerhauser has a few too.

I've had a Weyerhauser pass in the past and it paid off - I got my first (only) deer there. Unfortunately due to overwhelming demand, Weyerhauser now sells out within minutes for all drive in leases for all plots in WA. (side note: I used to work with the guy that managed their cloud hosting for their website and the number of people who try to get into their site to get a permit is overwhelming, both numerically and from a cloud architecture point of view).

You may already know this, but the Weyerhaueser 'lease' program is completely different from their 'permit' program. The leases are allocated on a bid system. Some are offered locally, just not what I'd call a lot.

[huntnfmly]

@ljaommer
Look into @Bearpaw (Dale) the owner of this site he has diy maps he sales that give excellent info on places to try
I got one from him a couple years ago and the first place he pointed out on the map we blew deer out of there the wind was wrong everyday.
He shows a few places on the map where they have had success show you were a good blind or bait spot would be and where to park very reasonably priced
If you have more specific questions pm me

[ljsommer]

So not to turn this thread into a bunch of folks annoyed at me for being a poor hunter but back to the original question: do 'deer leases' exist in WA? I know they're extremely common in the south and midwest, but I haven't heard much about them in WA.
Does anyone know if this is a thing? Being local is valuable to me as I work a lot and I have a young baby so day hunts are usually all I can manage. (the Idaho hunt was done with my wife when she was pregnant - boy, 1 degree temps with morning sickness....I married the right lady...she saw a buck on that hunt but passed on it hoping for something better. I saw a doe but passed for saw reason.)

Rayonier has leases and I believe Weyerhauser has a few too.

I've had a Weyerhauser pass in the past and it paid off - I got my first (only) deer there. Unfortunately due to overwhelming demand, Weyerhauser now sells out within minutes for all drive in leases for all plots in WA. (side note: I used to work with the guy that managed their cloud hosting for their website and the number of people who try to get into their site to get a permit is overwhelming, both numerically and from a cloud architecture point of view).

You may already know this, but the Weyerhaueser 'lease' program is completely different from their 'permit' program. The leases are allocated on a bid system. Some are offered locally, just not what I'd call a lot.

Ahh no actually I didn't know about those - I'll check it out! I did not know there was a difference. Thanks for the info!

[huntandjeep]

Isn’t Buck run similiar to what you are looking for.  They used to run adds in the hunting pamphlets.

No . Buckrun is a raffle type draw that gives you 1 day access to some private land .

[vandeman17]

Little late this year but I would highly consider spending a few days in late season over in NE Washington hunting whitetails. The last 3-4 days of the season, especially with a little weather, can get the bucks moving during the day as the rut kicks into gear

[Mtnwalker]

Isn’t Buck run similiar to what you are looking for.  They used to run adds in the hunting pamphlets.

No . Buckrun is a raffle type draw that gives you 1 day access to some private land .

You used to be able to buy their "management" hunts for a decent price but I haven't heard of anybody doing that for some time now

[ljsommer]

Little late this year but I would highly consider spending a few days in late season over in NE Washington hunting whitetails. The last 3-4 days of the season, especially with a little weather, can get the bucks moving during the day as the rut kicks into gear

Thank you! I drew a late buck tag a couple years back for whitetail in the Palouse but the hunt was rough as that unit is almost entirely private land. I did end up finding a "feel free to hunt" spot and then some logging land that allowed walk-in. We had a fun hunt and learned some lessons (a lot of lessons). I'd definitely like to return. That year the bluetongue had really hit the whitetails hard and so there wasn't a lot going on. Have things improved? I think I drew that tag in 2021.
I actually hold whitetail deer in very high regard, to me they're the classic romantic image of a majestic deer. I'd be delighted to harvest a beautiful whitetail.
I had very high hopes for my Idaho whitetail rut hunt but alas.

[hunter399]

Little late this year but I would highly consider spending a few days in late season over in NE Washington hunting whitetails. The last 3-4 days of the season, especially with a little weather, can get the bucks moving during the day as the rut kicks into gear

Thank you! I drew a late buck tag a couple years back for whitetail in the Palouse but the hunt was rough as that unit is almost entirely private land. I did end up finding a "feel free to hunt" spot and then some logging land that allowed walk-in. We had a fun hunt and learned some lessons (a lot of lessons). I'd definitely like to return. That year the bluetongue had really hit the whitetails hard and so there wasn't a lot going on. Have things improved? I think I drew that tag in 2021.
I actually hold whitetail deer in very high regard, to me they're the classic romantic image of a majestic deer. I'd be delighted to harvest a beautiful whitetail.
I had very high hopes for my Idaho whitetail rut hunt but alas.

Ya ,you might have better luck over here.
NE Washington.
I've passed on a few spikes, jumped a few other bucks.
In general if your hunting public land ,you gotta set yourself apart from everyone else. What I mean is,your gonna have to put some work in. Biggest problem is getting away from other hunters.
Then some chunks of land here ,have no doe.
You can't hunt the rut,if there are no doe.
Ya sure some lucky SOB road hunts some beast every year. That's all luck. It was most likely some guy like me beating the brush that pushed it out for him.
The point I'm trying to get at is......
It doesn't matter where you go,you gotta put some work in.
Lots of guys eat tag soup over here too.
Will say you come over here,put the work in. You'll see a horn,but a shot opportunity maybe a different story.

[vandeman17]

Little late this year but I would highly consider spending a few days in late season over in NE Washington hunting whitetails. The last 3-4 days of the season, especially with a little weather, can get the bucks moving during the day as the rut kicks into gear

Thank you! I drew a late buck tag a couple years back for whitetail in the Palouse but the hunt was rough as that unit is almost entirely private land. I did end up finding a "feel free to hunt" spot and then some logging land that allowed walk-in. We had a fun hunt and learned some lessons (a lot of lessons). I'd definitely like to return. That year the bluetongue had really hit the whitetails hard and so there wasn't a lot going on. Have things improved? I think I drew that tag in 2021.
I actually hold whitetail deer in very high regard, to me they're the classic romantic image of a majestic deer. I'd be delighted to harvest a beautiful whitetail.
I had very high hopes for my Idaho whitetail rut hunt but alas.

Head more North like hunter399 said. Tons of public ground and deer to be found. If you can go over there during the summer, it can be fun to just cruise around, take some hikes, do a little fishing and learn the area. Come hunting season, go back over and see what you can turn up based on some of the areas you liked during your summer adventures.

[IslandHunter]

I am sure there are hunting leases around. I have never seen one advertised but I am sure they exist.

I would focus on working on getting access to private property, something as close to home as possible, ideally in a any deer unit. Put out some trail cams and put out some apples or bait before the season starts and you should have no problem seeing deer.

Getting access is the hard part. OnX shows you the land owners name and address. A nice letter and an offer to pay cash will probably go a long ways. Only take 1 land owner to say yes.

[TommyH]

I am sure there are hunting leases around. I have never seen one advertised but I am sure they exist.

I would focus on working on getting access to private property, something as close to home as possible, ideally in a any deer unit. Put out some trail cams and put out some apples or bait before the season starts and you should have no problem seeing deer.

Getting access is the hard part. OnX shows you the land owners name and address. A nice letter and an offer to pay cash will probably go a long ways. Only take 1 land owner to say yes.

This is good advice, the north east deer numbers are horrible and the amount of cars at every gate is more than discouraging.. I would spend the $ for ONX then spend time connecting with land owners.
I couldn’t imagine traveling hours over here with the numbers the way they are..   

[hunter399]

I am sure there are hunting leases around. I have never seen one advertised but I am sure they exist.

I would focus on working on getting access to private property, something as close to home as possible, ideally in a any deer unit. Put out some trail cams and put out some apples or bait before the season starts and you should have no problem seeing deer.

Getting access is the hard part. OnX shows you the land owners name and address. A nice letter and an offer to pay cash will probably go a long ways. Only take 1 land owner to say yes.

This is good advice, the north east deer numbers are horrible and the amount of cars at every gate is more than discouraging.. I would spend the $ for ONX then spend time connecting with land owners.
I couldn’t imagine traveling hours over here with the numbers the way they are..   

Don't worry Tommy,I know a few spots that hold a few deer.
I think you know where.
It might be worth the trouble with a few spots I got in mind.
There might even be pumpkins and alfalfa there.
And more deer than they no what to do with.
I have many spots ,I don't need them all.