Twin Lakes/Swanson BLM Experiences?

[Straight Shooter]

Took a drive out there a few weeks about to take a look.  Very limited road access, but the area looks promising.  Didn't do any walking around because I had my 72 year old father with me.  I heard that it gets pretty busy during modern rifle deer season.  I'm more interested in yotes/bobcats.  Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[jager]

It used to be pretty good....way back when.....

I would stay far away during general deer season.

I'm sure there are bobcats out there, although have never seen any.

Lots of 'yotes, but It seems like they may get shot at by road hunters. Pretty spooky.

[509er]

Lots of people.

[Straight Shooter]

Thanks.  Looks like it may not be worth drive/effort.

[bowhunterforever]

It used to be pretty good....way back when.....

I would stay far away during general deer season.

I'm sure there are bobcats out there, although have never seen any.

Lots of 'yotes, but It seems like they may get shot at by road hunters. Pretty spooky.

I hunt out there all the time. The yotes get very spooky once rifle deer starts and theres getting to be alot of yote hunters out there now.   

[Straight Shooter]

What about Sprague/Revere/Escure?

[shoot-em-dead]

I hunt them all for yotes. Last sunday I went for a drive to Revere in the early am. Spotted a yote and he took off before the truck was in park. I still enjoy getting out and hiking and trying to call them in. Most of the yote hunters are road hunters that I've seen so to get away from the roads is the ticket. I spot yotes all day at Swanson but can't call them in for nothing. I'll keep trying though.

[Straight Shooter]

I hunt them all for yotes. Last sunday I went for a drive to Revere in the early am. Spotted a yote and he took off before the truck was in park. I still enjoy getting out and hiking and trying to call them in. Most of the yote hunters are road hunters that I've seen so to get away from the roads is the ticket. I spot yotes all day at Swanson but can't call them in for nothing. I'll keep trying though.

Great info... thank you.

[ivarhusa]

I visited Swanson Lakes Wed/Thurs this week (yesterday). It was my first visit to the area, and I found it to be most interesting.  I called the managment office on the site at (509) 636-2344 to learn that there is site on BLM land where camping is permitted at the south end of Reiber RD. Otherwise, camping is not permitted on WDFW land.

I managed to meet and converse with all the staff up there, including Julie, the manager.  They were all very helpful and REALLY want to encourage the coyote hunters to come out. Mike (one of the staff) laments that he is not permitted to carry a rifle with him while he is on duty, or he'd have shot many, many, this year.

They showed me the telemetry units they attach to planted birds.  When they get a "no life" signal from one of the birds (no movement for 24 hours) then they go out to fetch the collar.  Too often they are found at coyote dens, hence their interest in having us help harvest the 'yotes.  They are managing  sharptailed grouse and I believe ruffed grouse as well, recently (bringing in birds from other sanctuaries).

The place is huge, relative to the other lands I hunt.  They advertise that it is 21,000 acres. It is roughly 9x11 miles across, contiguously, with other lands nearby.  There is water scattered all over this shrub-steppe environment. No trees, just grass, rocks, and sage.

Much of the northern half has little contour to hunt with (flat sage).  There is one nice drainage on the east side, and rich-looking terrain to the south, that I haven't explored.  There are many 'trails' to hunt from, that are really closed roads. Easy to find and follow, with little risk of any vehicles being on it (though BLM does cruise these roads from time to time).

I suggest taking a GPS to mark your vehicle location, and taking extended hikes through the terrain, calling when the situation looks good.  You could make trips out and back of 2 to 10 miles, as you might wish. There is no organizing ridges or terrain to navigate by. If you get on the highest ground, you can see the foothills to the north, otherwise this is pretty flat.

Main access to the site is along Seven Springs Dairy RD, with additional access along Telford RD in the east.  Lonepine RD in the north was not suitable for my *censored* Intrepid hunting rig (big trunk).

They tell me that the place is a zoo during MF deer season, but that the archers that hunt the area are well rewarded.  I saw perhaps a dozen deer while I was there (one coming to my call!)




Wednesday night I cruised the roads, looking for places to hunt from.  As it got dark, I began howling at intervals, hoping to hear a response. After a dozen or so stops with no response, I got back to my camp site and gave it a try. What do you know!  I got a howl/bark back! It bode well for the morning's hunt.

I got up at 4am, and saw the early-morning twilight in a clear sky.  The moon ad set a few hours earlier. It was dark enough that I had to use my flashlight to get my hunting gear together.  I was being quiet, but even in the darkness I heard a coyote bark nearby.  I suspect "I was busted" right there.

A bit later I was able to leave camp and head upwind. Fortunately, the wind favored hunting towards where I had heard the howl the night before (well, only about 5 hours earlier).  I set up along a closed dirt road, with visibility only along its length (due to terrain and sage).   I called without visible success. It is very likely that coyotes investigated, and busted me before I got sight of them. It was a less than ideal stand.

I am convinced that the coyotes are there, but it will take sharp thinking to find the places to set up that will put them in view for a shot. It is a challenging place to call coyotes, in my novice opinion.

I'll back that up by saying I saw no coyotes on this trip, despite the assurances of the locals that "they are there".  A nearby cattle rancher is reported to have taken 40 coyotes off his property this last year, some at night with lights, and others while just managing his herd.  I did see scat along the roads I hiked, but not in great quantities.

I will go back, that is for sure.  It wasn't all that pleasant in the afternoons with temperatures in the 90's. I'd carry my camo jacket to my stand, before donning it. (Coyotes shouldn't be hunted in the summer.) I pulled a few ticks off, too. Rattlesnakes are common in the south half of the site, and never seen in the north half.  Go figure.

Here is a peek at the terrain in one location (and it varies widely)



The site has other attractions for the curious.  The terrain here is channeled scablands from the ice age floods.  Here is an ice-rafted erratic that is found by Telford RD.

This chunk of granite is 5 feet across, and came from Idaho or Canada.  It is a little out of place, sitting on the basalt! I'll send GPS coordinates if anybody is going that way and wants to see it. (No hiking, as it is roadside.)

I suggested to the site manager that perhaps a coyote-hunting contest would get more hunters out.  Julie said that a tournament run out of Odessa was recently held, but she didn't know how it turned out.  Any of you (dear readers) know what the contest harvest might have been?

Ivar

[Kain]

Wow that was a nice write up on a new area.  You could have kept all that info to yourself but chose to share it with us.  Very cool of you. 

[satchel3006]

did you see any rockchucks looks like a cool area im goin to go have to check it out thanks for the write up

[ivarhusa]

I considered whether to "keep this one under my hat", but decided against it.  We were all invited to hunt the area to preserve what we can of our remaining sharp-tail grouse population. Gentlemen, it is our duty  to kill the coyotes in this area.

It is also a very large area, with many reported coyotes.  It will take a lot of hunters to significantly dent their population, especially given my success with the creatures.  They take some hunting. This area is a fair drive from anywhere, so it isn't getting a lot of attention.  It is over 120 miles from my home, so I won't be up there often (unless I figure something out and start being more successful up there).

Look at the area on Google Earth or Google Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=harrington,+wa&sll=37.579413,-95.712891&sspn=28.158055,67.763672&ie=UTF8&ll=47.617041,-118.506775&spn=0.09396,0.264702&z=12&iwloc=A
This ain't farming country.

Coordinates for the camp location are: (47.557953 N , 118.484902 W).  It was very reassuring to travel to the area, knowing where I could pitch my tent without worry of harassment.

If you visit the area, be sure to put your WDFW auto pass on the dashboard. There are prominent sign warning of the fines to those without.


Ivar

[ICEMAN]

Great write up Ivar.

[Straight Shooter]

Wow!  Thanks Ivar... you went above and beyond in a big way!  You definitely got me interested again.  I'm less then an hour from there.   With all of that hiking and flat terrain, I'll have to set-up a light weight "run and gun" yote rig... probably, in .243.  

[ivarhusa]

Satchel, I didn't see any rock chucks, but then wasn't working the rocky areas very much when I was there.  I did notice significantly more "mole" or "gopher" sign (burrows), then I see in my own neck of the shrub steppe "woods".

I don't really know what rodent makes all these dirt mounds, with no open hole.  I've never see a rodent  coming up out of one.  I often see "trails" where a rodent burrow has disrupted the surface for several lineal feet, without breaking through. Could one of you educate me on what critter makes such dens?

The soil at Swanson Lakes is very fine.  It is the loess that arrived borne by the wind. Ever step right on top of exposed dirt mound (burrow) to "leave a footprint"? I did that once this week and my foot sank in the powdery soil a full 9", down the dirt-filled burrow! The dirt was up my pant leg and over the tops of my boot.   I didn't do that again. "Normally", perhaps after rain, the dirt is quite firm, but not when it is freshly dug!

There is another 'dirt mystery' to be solved at Swanson Lakes. The site manager described "Mima Mounds" to me, at a location off Telford RD. (Adnahoundsman, you know for Mima Mounds, eh?) The true Mima Mounds are located near (where else?) Grand Mound, WA and Rochester.  Their source is unknown to science, but wild theories such as giant rodents have been discounted. For more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mima_mounds

I visited the mounds, and they are perplexing.  It looks as if a dump truck deposited a load of fine soil (no rock or gravel in it) on top of a cobble bed.  Here is a picture to show one, with my rifle in the foreground for scale.



I walked the border of the most obvious collection of these features (there could be more) and collected GPS data which I will plot when I get to work.  It took me 15 minutes to circumnavigate the area, so I'd guess it was about a quarter mile in diameter. There were maybe 50 or 100 mounds? 

It is perplexing that these mounds have such a crisp border with the rocky surroundings.  The rocky areas don't have dirt packed in interstitially.  It is a simple "rock bed", to my amateur eye.  I will share this find with my ice age floods geology buddies. Maybe one day we will understand the phenomenon. Until then, the best we can say is "goddidit". 

Ivar

[DOUBLELUNG]

I did notice significantly more "mole" or "gopher" sign (burrows), then I see in my own neck of the shrub steppe "woods".

I don't really know what rodent makes all these dirt mounds, with no open hole.  I've never see a rodent  coming up out of one.  I often see "trails" where a rodent burrow has disrupted the surface for several lineal feet, without breaking through. Could one of you educate me on what critter makes such dens?

The soil at Swanson Lakes is very fine.  It is the loess that arrived borne by the wind. Ever step right on top of exposed dirt mound (burrow) to "leave a footprint"? I did that once this week and my foot sank in the powdery soil a full 9", down the dirt-filled burrow! The dirt was up my pant leg and over the tops of my boot.   I didn't do that again. "Normally", perhaps after rain, the dirt is quite firm, but not when it is freshly dug!

Ivar, I can't speak to the mounds, but the critter you are inquiring about is the northern pocket gopher, Thomomys talpoides.  They live underground, unlike other rodents that forage on the surface and rest in burrows.  The dirt mounds you see are their diggings from below, they push the excess soil up from below.  The trails are called cores, and are formed in the winter under snow, when they mix up their subterranean lifestyle with a subnivian one.  You will only see the cores in areas with persistent crusted snow in the winter.  Scientists are mixed on whether the subnivian burrows are dug purely as a place to move dirt into, when pushing up mounds from below is precluded by snowcover; or if subnivian burrows are dug for feeding purposes too.

[hunterbuilder]

We hunted the Swanson Lake wildlife area for deer in 2003. We scouted it in September and saw a ton of deer in the wildlife area and thought we had it made come October. We set up camp, and then had to move it  . We had set up on an abandoned skid road and the area manager came by and told us we had to move. We were allowed to camp within so many feet (50-100' i think) of the county road since it's the county right of way. So it wasn't too far of a move. I scouted the day before opener mostly glassing and didn't see any deer. We had permission to hunt some private property up on the breaks to Roosevelt so the rest of the party hunted there on opener. I hunted on the wildlife area all opening day putting on many boot miles and lots of glassing and not one deer. We heard of 1 or 2 bucks taken on opening day from the manager. I hunted on the private property the next day and got a small 4pt about 15minutes after daylight. The only deer we ended up seeing in the wildlife area were a couple of does crossing the headlights at night. We figured most of the deer move out to the winter wheat once it greens up and leave the wildlife area.
The first pic is first camp. Then second camp. Then my buck.

[hunterbuilder]

Sorry, I just noticed this was originally posted in the varmit section. Well, we did see and hear quite a few coyotes as well, and one of the guys in our group got one near camp.

[Straight Shooter]

Great info and thank you for sharing your pics.

[elkaholic]

There can be lots of deer  in that area, however once the Blaze Orange rolls into town, deer dissapear quick.  Tryed it once with Miles and well he was almost shot by some idiot taking 500 yards shots, so we went back to the woods!

[ivarhusa]

Julie, the site manager did say that the modern firearms guys were not nearly as success as the archery crowd.  That's all the deer 411 I have.

[Vrmthntr]

I coyotes hunt out there alot.  There is a lot of coyotes, but they are very call shy.  While home on leave over Christmas, my son and I spent almost every day for two weeks running around out there.  The main roads are somewhat maintained but all the the rest were snowed in, we covered alot of miles on snow shoes.  Lot of tracks in the snow and saw a lot of dogs.  We did manage to kill a couple.  If you can get out during the week you wont see alot of people, on the weekends you will see more as usual.  I've hunted all over the management area and the BLM land to the south. 
I also spend alot of time down by Sprague/Revere area.  There is some BLM land down there but also alot of private land.  Have seen a lot of dogs down in that country also.  Alot of the land down there has the "ask for permission" signs posted.  Did some hunting on private land and have managed a few dogs down there also.  Will be done with this deployment in Sept and will be out there again!!! 

[Straight Shooter]

I coyotes hunt out there alot.  There is a lot of coyotes, but they are very call shy.  While home on leave over Christmas, my son and I spent almost every day for two weeks running around out there.  The main roads are somewhat maintained but all the the rest were snowed in, we covered alot of miles on snow shoes.  Lot of tracks in the snow and saw a lot of dogs.  We did manage to kill a couple.  If you can get out during the week you wont see alot of people, on the weekends you will see more as usual.  I've hunted all over the management area and the BLM land to the south. 
I also spend alot of time down by Sprague/Revere area.  There is some BLM land down there but also alot of private land.  Have seen a lot of dogs down in that country also.  Alot of the land down there has the "ask for permission" signs posted.  Did some hunting on private land and have managed a few dogs down there also.  Will be done with this deployment in Sept and will be out there again!!! 

Thanks for passing on the info.  Thank you for your service and get home safe.

[JB]

I hunted there earlier in the spring. Great area, the staff was very helpful. Got a few coyotes to howl back to me at dusk but they busted out of the area quickly. Camped on the BLM land which was nice. The coyotes were all out that night as it was a full moon. The closest I got to one was 600+ yards. I was glassing a hill about a mile or so away and saw two sitting there looking at our camp. Needless to say I didn't bag anything that weekend. They are definately there, just very shy.

[Blacklab]

Would also like to give thanks to Ivar for the info and right up. Been lookin at gettin out some where out east just didn't know where or when. Sounds like great fun just 5hrs is a good drive so not sure if I'll make anytime soon. But really appriecate your info 

[509er]

My brothers and I used to hunt the area a lot a few years ago.  Had good success on coyotes and took 10 bucks in 4 years.  Quit hunting the area 3 years ago, gets way too crowded and turns into a war zone certain times of the year.  But the guys cutting the fence and riding quads on the BLM land was the deal breaker.     Never had much success calling in coyotes but developed a technique for jump shooting them that worked out well.  A lot of land to hunt, but it gets a lot of pressure.  Dogs are well educated up there.