A wife and her Desert Tag

[GHETTO GUIDE]

First off Im not a guide, It was the name of my first boat.  It was a POS but caught as much as the guides.

My wife drew the Desert Buck Tag. 

Actually she had drawn Entiat but WDFW screwd up and now she has the Desert.

Here goes,

Were a hard working faimly from the Wet side.  We hunt and fish as much as possible. We have 2 teenage boys in Hs and sports.  We are BUSY AF!! This means Im behind on scouting and info gathering for her.  But Im grinding on it now. 

She has shot a few animals in the past (does and cows)  and has been on a bunch of successful hunts.  She has never shot anything with horns. Needless to say , this is going to be an adventure.  Shes is not afraid of hard pack ins or back country hunts. We are in good physical shape so thats not a concern.   But like all women she gets cold easy so Ill be up against that.  If I tell her there is snakes and spiders there will be lots of concern but not a deal braker.  Im not going to give her that info untill I need to or she sees something. Im hoping they are all gone in Nov.

We were going scouting this weekend but now plans changed.  We rehabed a wild animal that was orphaned and is now big enough to go into a litter of others.  This is now taking place tomorrow. So no scouting this weekend. Were hoping to head over soon but my MZ season in now upon us.  I may have to for go my season for some scouting for her.  But like all of us , giving up your season is hard to comprehend, after waiting all year.

Ill be reaching out to some land owners over there for possible access.  Im not sure if this is welcome?  If its necessary? I do see some ground thats public so thats encouraging.

We have a travel trailer so Ill be looking for a camping spot to call home for the season.  Any recommendations?

We do not have Mule deer bucks strolling around on our side so this make me a terrible judge of size.  Ill be watching scoring vids online to learn how to better score Mulies and hope to not end her hunt with a bad judgement call.

I have read the other thread on the Desert hunt and holly $h(*t, What a great story and wonderful animal!! Ill plan to reach out to those members as well for some possible intel.

If anyone is up for trading some intel or access I can always express our appreciatoin with some salmon or free fishing trips/ crabbing ect, when the season gets here.

Ill end this now, I could go on but its a start. 

Aaron and Amy.

[WildBear]

Best wishes for a fun successful hunt!
I personally wouldn’t get too caught up on score… Just look for a nice frame 4x4.

Had a doe tag there few years ago. Saw good numbers of deer from Dodson rd. Not sure there’s much secret to this unit. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Just hit it early and glass n creep. Find an area and utilize those last min of the day.

[fishngamereaper]

If it looks like a really big blacktail then you'll probably shoot it.   no shame in that.

Enjoy the hunt. You'll see lots of animals. Lots of public land. Find a "high" spot and glass.

[GHETTO GUIDE]

Thanks for the input and the best wishes. 

She will be atp to shoot the first thing that looks big to her.  I will end up being the judge of what she should pass on or shoot.  That feels like alot of pressure not being a great judge of size and what the area holds. 

Im understanding there is a risk of burglary in the area and not to leave anything in your truck you dont want stolen.  That makes me Leary on camping locations also.  Maybe one should put a trail cam on their truck and camp?

Were hoping for a scouting trip this week.

[hunterednate]

Hey, have fun! I've been on this rifle hunt before and you should see a lot of bucks. She should pull the trigger on anything that makes her happy. The true giants are in there, but hard to find - even during the rut. I was too picky while "guiding" my dad on this hunt back in 2012 and he ended up eating tag soup. He passed on a real solid buck on Day 1 that, in hindsight, I'm pretty sure I under-judged (these deer have BIG bodies).

As far as camping goes, if I had this hunt, I'd do it from a motel in Moses Lake (not camping). Especially if I was with my wife. Long nights this time of year and not the camping experience most people are looking for.

[GHETTO GUIDE]

I was too picky while "guiding" my dad on this hunt back in 2012 and he ended up eating tag soup.

Thats what Im hoping not to do.  Trying to judge will be the challenge.

We have a travel trailer so thats better than tent camping. The hope was to trailer it to save some $$ on hotel costs but if it comes to that then yes a motel would work.  or VRBO?

Aaron

[Klickitatsteelie]

O Sullivan rv park is where we stayed. Safe and quiet for the most part. Water sewer power hook ups and the place has bathrooms and showers to boot. Todd is a great dude that knows the desert pretty well as well

[Ridgerunner]

Find a buck with some character, I think if you are just after a 4x4 it might be a shorter hunt.  Don't focus on score. Make some good memories and be sure to come back and show us a great buck!

[kirkl]

Mardon has nice camp spots. some spots have sewer to.

[finnman]

It pays to find the tallest dunes out there and glass like crazy!
Enjoy the hunt and just kill the one that makes you all happy!

Congrats on the great tag!!

[blindluck]

24” buck should be pretty easy just past their ears a touch.  30” not so easy, only have ever seen one of that caliber out there and it was more like 36”. Quite a few 26-28” though. Good luck and have fun.

[nwwanderer]

Read Karl's thread!!  No frost there yet.  Tiny critters and dust abound.  Good luck

[DeerThug]

Stay at Mardon.  The little restaurant makes the best hamburgers. Just west of there is a potato shed - I think it is road C - but it is the only potato shed go north to end of road.  From there you can hunt to the west or cross the bridge.  If you cross any bridges mark where they are as the trees that grow along the canals can make it hard to find them to get back out.

There lots of places to access. It is pretty flat and if it is a sunny day plan your hunt in the morning to go west so the sun is to your back. Makes glassing better.

[GHETTO GUIDE]

What a great community of people here.  I have been a member for along time and have helped others in the past but when your on the receiving end its great. We have received some good info from people here.

She has made it over to scout the Desert for two weekends.  We have found good access points and got to know some of the area. 

As far as camping goes , we met a farmer who offered up his potato shed for us to park at and plug into, which happens to be near one of the main points were focused on.

Bucks that have been spotted are not big and not shooters but still fun to watch.  There seems to be about 30,000 does in the unit and a billion mosquitoes per sq mile.  Hoping they are gone during the hunt.  The guys who hunt this in the warm seasons are animals.

We would have got more glassing done but my wife has a new found addiciton with road produce.  She feels the need to stop and pick up every onion or potato thats on the side of the road or farm fields.  But it was fun.

Thanks to all who have replied.  Shes stoked for this hunt.

[Mfowl]

Lol! Road produce, I like that. Hopefully you get some venison to go with all of that.