2025 Quality Chewuch Tag

[Schmalzfam]

Your PM inbox is full .Call me Bob (360)303-9516

Hello Bob,

I cleaned up my inbox. I had no idea it was full. Sorry about that.

[no.cen.wa]

Good for you on your Chewuck tag. Our group has hunted that area since 2007, mostly the northern portion. We moved form Perrygin to Chewuck after the Tripod fire. It was a great move, many times tagging out for our group. Just like you said though, not as good as it used to be. But, should be a great late tag area. We hunted mostly from Thirty mile area to Corral Butte, Longswamp, Hikey Hump, and a few times to Windy Peak. Of course many more areas up there.
Sadly with the the Department.of Wildlife favorites, wolves, cougars and anything that can screw up deer hunting has  changed it all.
I would caution you that weather can really change fast. We camped at 5600 feet and were  run out a few times with snow, 2 feet of snow can change everything. as I said we were in the northern end of Chewuck.
One thing that surprised us was the amount of moose we saw in the first 10 years up there. They were everywhere. That changed over time and see very few now. Mostly none.
Good luck on your hunt, best time to be there for sure!

[Schmalzfam]

Good for you on your Chewuck tag. Our group has hunted that area since 2007, mostly the northern portion. We moved form Perrygin to Chewuck after the Tripod fire. It was a great move, many times tagging out for our group. Just like you said though, not as good as it used to be. But, should be a great late tag area. We hunted mostly from Thirty mile area to Corral Butte, Longswamp, Hikey Hump, and a few times to Windy Peak. Of course many more areas up there.
Sadly with the the Department.of Wildlife favorites, wolves, cougars and anything that can screw up deer hunting has  changed it all.
I would caution you that weather can really change fast. We camped at 5600 feet and were  run out a few times with snow, 2 feet of snow can change everything. as I said we were in the northern end of Chewuck.
One thing that surprised us was the amount of moose we saw in the first 10 years up there. They were everywhere. That changed over time and see very few now. Mostly none.
Good luck on your hunt, best time to be there for sure!

Thank you! I love that area. It is a place the weather does turn quick. I had the queer creek area in mind. I haven't been to that exact location, but near there up wild horse creek. I have a feeling though, that those places will be hard to reach in November. The deer in that location aren't as plentiful, in our experience. The ones you do find are usually nice bucks though. The country there is beautiful!
I am hoping to put my hands on a map with the four migration routes, for the Chewuch. If anyone has one, I would appreciate it.

I'm very surprised nobody else on here has spoke up about drawing too.
I agree about the wolves and cougar numbers. I haven't seen a wolf yet there, but I have seen sign. I saw a lot of sign in an area we were in a few weeks back. It's not a good feeling.

I am excited to have the opportunity and I know regardless of the outcome, I will have an amazing time.
Thank you again.

[no.cen.wa]

Ok yes, Queer Creek! We took some real big bucks out of there a few years back. My Brother-in-law got one, on the west side of Queer Creek, 35 inches wide that scored 206, best part was it was all down hill to the road, he got his truck, came back down the road, backed up to the bank where I pulled it down into the back of the truck and we got outa there before anyone saw it.(my son got a 30" one up behind Coral Butte the year before and people saw us bring up out of a hell hole to the truck. for the rest of the season it looked like a Seattle freeway with all the rigs and hunters in that area. I got one on the east side of Queer Creek toward Hicky Hump. It had huge thick horns, but only 4x3,,, with some stickers, 25". it weighed in at just over 300 lbs,
I went up Queer Creek last year,(east side) trying to get where I shot the 300 pounder. I couldn't get there. all the trees that where left after the Tri Pod fire where on the ground. It was impossible to get though it. I don't know how you could get a deer out. I was walking on downed trees 3-4 deep and 3-4 feet off the ground.
Hope you can find a way in there. The late hunt may be the ticket! Good luck!

[Schmalzfam]

Ok yes, Queer Creek! We took some real big bucks out of there a few years back. My Brother-in-law got one, on the west side of Queer Creek, 35 inches wide that scored 206, best part was it was all down hill to the road, he got his truck, came back down the road, backed up to the bank where I pulled it down into the back of the truck and we got outa there before anyone saw it.(my son got a 30" one up behind Coral Butte the year before and people saw us bring up out of a hell hole to the truck. for the rest of the season it looked like a Seattle freeway with all the rigs and hunters in that area. I got one on the east side of Queer Creek toward Hicky Hump. It had huge thick horns, but only 4x3,,, with some stickers, 25". it weighed in at just over 300 lbs,
I went up Queer Creek last year,(east side) trying to get where I shot the 300 pounder. I couldn't get there. all the trees that where left after the Tri Pod fire where on the ground. It was impossible to get though it. I don't know how you could get a deer out. I was walking on downed trees 3-4 deep and 3-4 feet off the ground.
Hope you can find a way in there. The late hunt may be the ticket! Good luck!

Sounds like you guys have had some good seasons up there. Those deer were hogs. Fallen trees make things very hard for sure. That has happened to us a lot! We have found it to be very beneficial to use our backpacks and quarter deer up. Stinks, because you can't hang it whole or get every scrap, like if you were to process it at home/camp.
Even, backcountry camping with our packs on can be a challenge with the downed trees. I will admit, I have found myself in the turtle position a couple times. Help, I've fallen moments. 😁
But, makes for some good stories, just like you have. Have a great season. Maybe, we will see you up there!

[doubledroptinedreamer]

Good for you on your Chewuck tag. Our group has hunted that area since 2007, mostly the northern portion. We moved form Perrygin to Chewuck after the Tripod fire. It was a great move, many times tagging out for our group. Just like you said though, not as good as it used to be. But, should be a great late tag area. We hunted mostly from Thirty mile area to Corral Butte, Longswamp, Hikey Hump, and a few times to Windy Peak. Of course many more areas up there.
Sadly with the the Department.of Wildlife favorites, wolves, cougars and anything that can screw up deer hunting has  changed it all.
I would caution you that weather can really change fast. We camped at 5600 feet and were  run out a few times with snow, 2 feet of snow can change everything. as I said we were in the northern end of Chewuck.
One thing that surprised us was the amount of moose we saw in the first 10 years up there. They were everywhere. That changed over time and see very few now. Mostly none.
Good luck on your hunt, best time to be there for sure!

Thank you! I love that area. It is a place the weather does turn quick. I had the queer creek area in mind. I haven't been to that exact location, but near there up wild horse creek. I have a feeling though, that those places will be hard to reach in November. The deer in that location aren't as plentiful, in our experience. The ones you do find are usually nice bucks though. The country there is beautiful!
I am hoping to put my hands on a map with the four migration routes, for the Chewuch. If anyone has one, I would appreciate it.

I'm very surprised nobody else on here has spoke up about drawing too.
I agree about the wolves and cougar numbers. I haven't seen a wolf yet there, but I have seen sign. I saw a lot of sign in an area we were in a few weeks back. It's not a good feeling.

I am excited to have the opportunity and I know regardless of the outcome, I will have an amazing time.
Thank you again.

I guess you didn't see my response from August 14th, but I did say that my dad and I also drew the 2025 Chewuch Quality Tag. 
Sounds like you're getting lots of good scouting in.

[OutHouse]

Ok yes, Queer Creek! We took some real big bucks out of there a few years back. My Brother-in-law got one, on the west side of Queer Creek, 35 inches wide that scored 206, best part was it was all down hill to the road, he got his truck, came back down the road, backed up to the bank where I pulled it down into the back of the truck and we got outa there before anyone saw it.(my son got a 30" one up behind Coral Butte the year before and people saw us bring up out of a hell hole to the truck. for the rest of the season it looked like a Seattle freeway with all the rigs and hunters in that area. I got one on the east side of Queer Creek toward Hicky Hump. It had huge thick horns, but only 4x3,,, with some stickers, 25". it weighed in at just over 300 lbs,
I went up Queer Creek last year,(east side) trying to get where I shot the 300 pounder. I couldn't get there. all the trees that where left after the Tri Pod fire where on the ground. It was impossible to get though it. I don't know how you could get a deer out. I was walking on downed trees 3-4 deep and 3-4 feet off the ground.
Hope you can find a way in there. The late hunt may be the ticket! Good luck!

Post pics of these bucks to get Shmalzfam and the rest of us excited!!!

[Schmalzfam]

My dad and I were also lucky enough to draw the Chewuch quality tag this year!  My fiancé had the buck tag last year, and my dad and I had the buck tag in 2016, so we are familiar with the area.  We saw a few nice muley bucks last year and weren't really looking very hard.  Snow seems to help push the deer down.

I see it now. 😂 Sorry about that. I'm not sure how I missed it. Sounds like you have spent a lot of time there. I'm glad some other knowledgeable people will be there! 😁 I'm excited. We have been over just checking out roads etc. Things will be different come late October - the end of the tag. Best of luck to you. I hope we run into you and you're dragging out a nice buck! Are you staying the entire time?

[bigmacc]

………… carefully folks. PMs are not a bad thing. Just saying.

Or at least be vague . If you have a………hole or “an area” keep it close.

[doubledroptinedreamer]

My dad and I were also lucky enough to draw the Chewuch quality tag this year!  My fiancé had the buck tag last year, and my dad and I had the buck tag in 2016, so we are familiar with the area.  We saw a few nice muley bucks last year and weren't really looking very hard.  Snow seems to help push the deer down.

I see it now. 😂 Sorry about that. I'm not sure how I missed it. Sounds like you have spent a lot of time there. I'm glad some other knowledgeable people will be there! 😁 I'm excited. We have been over just checking out roads etc. Things will be different come late October - the end of the tag. Best of luck to you. I hope we run into you and you're dragging out a nice buck! Are you staying the entire time?

No worries! Due to other hunts that we have planned in November, we are only hunting the first 10 days of the tag. I’d love to hunt the last half but oh well. I think we should be able to tag out in that amount of time.

I haven’t got to spend much time in the northern part of the Unit since we had been hunting whitetail when we were there before. We saw a lot of fresh wolf sign up Eight Mile last year.

[2MANY]

………… carefully folks. PMs are not a bad thing. Just saying.

Or at least be vague . If you have a………hole or “an area” keep it close.

Times have changed.
Unbelievable.

[no.cen.wa]

One thing I can say for sure, I won't be going up to the areas I talked about. Maybe a late hunt will be good but regular season absolutely not. Besides all the crap on the ground, the reprod is 8 to 20 feet high and you can't see much. when the tripod fire was moving, the forest service started back burns 200 yards or so on the north side of the road. the fire never got there. it turned another way. Besides that the deer harvest is dismal at best.
we tried everything up there.
I hope the late tag will be good, but even our hikes up to Windy Peak have netted nothing in the last 6-8 years and we see hardly a deer up there.
So, we are packing up and heading back down to the methow. We are some of the last that have hunted there since 2007 to bail out.
I hope it changes

[Schmalzfam]

One thing I can say for sure, I won't be going up to the areas I talked about. Maybe a late hunt will be good but regular season absolutely not. Besides all the crap on the ground, the reprod is 8 to 20 feet high and you can't see much. when the tripod fire was moving, the forest service started back burns 200 yards or so on the north side of the road. the fire never got there. it turned another way. Besides that the deer harvest is dismal at best.
we tried everything up there.
I hope the late tag will be good, but even our hikes up to Windy Peak have netted nothing in the last 6-8 years and we see hardly a deer up there.
So, we are packing up and heading back down to the methow. We are some of the last that have hunted there since 2007 to bail out.
I hope it changes

We have found some clear paths here and there. If we can't get through that stuff, odds are the deer can't either or they have a pretty beaten down trail you can follow. Obstacles will obviously make them change their path a bit.
I have heard mixed reviews on the type of winter we will have. The Chewuch is a big unit. There will be deer somewhere. Maybe not the caliber or numbers there once was, but there will be deer!
I'm sorry to see you leave the area it sound like you love so much.
Have.a memorable season with a deer(I hope) and some more stories.

[wilywin]

Watch the weather and get out of your truck!   Drew that tag in 2019!  Got a pretty nice 6x4 on Nov14th in about a foot of snow!   Key word is " get out of your truck "    Good luck! 

[O. Nerka]

Watch the weather and get out of your truck!   Drew that tag in 2019!  Got a pretty nice 6x4 on Nov14th in about a foot of snow!   Key word is " get out of your truck "    Good luck!

And be ready to function in bad weather and snow. A buddy has a late tag in 2022 and was hunting in 2+ feet of snow. We hiked his buck out to the road and another tag holder drove past and stopped to chat. They were in soaking wet blue jeans and were limited to hunting within 1/4 mile of the truck while postholing around.