White Tails in the Yakima River Canyon?

[WonkyWapiti]

Tonight my buddy and I decided to check out the sheep in along the Yakima River and entered the canyon from the Ellensburg side.  Very close to the Ellensburg side we came across a group of 4 does.  Three were mule deer and I kid you not, the fourth was a whitetail.  Both of us looked at each other at the same time and had a puzzled look.  I did not realize there were white tails in this area.  Has anyone else been seeing these out there?

[sako223]

First I've heard that but sounds good to me. Would like to see pics.

[rudedawg1085]

yea there are, very few though, iv seen pics of a nice 4x4 that was limping around from a leg shot a couple years back

[WAmuleyHunter]

i saw a decent whitetail buck in the fields right before you get in the canyon on the eburg side my last year of college which was 05.

[lokidog]

From what I understand the thing that has kept WTs from expanding west is that there is a tick that carries a disease which effects WTs more than mulies.  This tick does not live to the east of the gorge as it is colder on average. 

[banannaclip]

bad news there goes the gene pool

[rougheye]

seen several around here but not for awhile   

[HHPro]

There are 4 whitetail does in Cle Elum and South Cle Elum as of februrary

[270Shooter]

I hate whitetails

[klickriverchromer]

I see 2-4 everyday!! I have seen a buck with no head gear and 3 does!!  Here's one of the does..

[lablover]

I've lived in Kittitas County my entire life and have never seen, or had friends/family that have seen, a WT in the area. I remember rumors when I was younger that they were around, but nobody was ever able to get proof. The fact that they are seen in regularly by several people is interesting. Just think how many are out there that we don't see.

[300wsm]

I saw a number of whitetails along the river just west of e-burg, not surprised to hear about them in the canyon.

[bankwalker]

seen a couple WT's run across the west nelson siding road just out of easton last year. i had to turn around and take a better look and sure enough 2 WT does were sitting about 30 yards off the road. with thier butts facing me. so i got a good look at the tails.

 

[Gobble]

Saw a nice 4 pt whitetail buck 10 mins after shooting light in the Taneum area about 20 years ago. Stood right in the rd in front of my truck at about 30 yrds

[Skyvalhunter]

time to take a few down

[boneaddict]

I've seen them there for two years now.  THey are most certainly there just on the Eburg side of the canyon.  I also hear of them in the gap, down here but haven't seen them yet.

[banannaclip]

they breed like rats,carry deaseses easy

[30.06]

Can't stand whitetails, state needs to have a limit of two per person, month season, ten dollar tags. They are going to ruin what is left of the mule deer herds.

[antlerbolic_bearoids]

I've heard of them being seen along the river behind the water treatment plant in Yakima.  A former baseball coach of mine has several pictures of a doe and twin fawns from three or four years ago.  I haven't seen or heard of them in the canyon though. 

[CSOUTFITTERS]

I hope more show up!!!!!!     (i hear the pot stirring)   The muleys are in such bad shape south of I-90 (e burg to yak)  that F&W shouldnt allow a season to hunt the does or bucks.   Units 340 and 342 get hammered during all general seasons and every small 3 pt gets smoked before they can mature.  The only hope of getting good genetics in the yak canyon are the bucks coming over from the firing center or the bucks coming down from the higher country. 

Whitetails in the ellenburg area would thrive.  With the private land and farm fields it wouldnt take long to produce some 150 class whitetail bucks.  They would also populate like crazy!    I agree with trying to keep them out of the trophy muley units, but in a place where the muleys are struggling someting needs to be done to either bring them back or introduce something else that might do better (whiteys).


 

[Austrian Hunter]

I have seen WT in Union Gap, driving on I-82 right by the mall exit in that field. 

[bankwalker]

seen 7 deer just south of ellensburg today. one of which looked very much like a whitetail doe. didnt good a good look at the tail though. but the head and body shape was completely different then the other 6...

[klickriverchromer]

I hope more show up!!!!!!     (i hear the pot stirring)   The muleys are in such bad shape south of I-90 (e burg to yak)  that F&W shouldnt allow a season to hunt the does or bucks.   Units 340 and 342 get hammered during all general seasons and every small 3 pt gets smoked before they can mature.  The only hope of getting good genetics in the yak canyon are the bucks coming over from the firing center or the bucks coming down from the higher country.
 

They really screwed up like always changing the L.T. to general..  No surprise there though, the game dept. is a big joke in this state.. Not new news to any

[buckmaster_wa]

I hope more show up!!!!!!     (i hear the pot stirring)   The muleys are in such bad shape south of I-90 (e burg to yak)  that F&W shouldnt allow a season to hunt the does or bucks.   Units 340 and 342 get hammered during all general seasons and every small 3 pt gets smoked before they can mature.  The only hope of getting good genetics in the yak canyon are the bucks coming over from the firing center or the bucks coming down from the higher country.
 

They really screwed up like always changing the L.T. to general..  No surprise there though, the game dept. is a big joke in this state.. Not new news to any

Yeah back when 342 was permit only there were quite a few really nice bucks up in the L.T Murray. Theres still a few up there but they are few and far between. When it was permit only though you could go see 10-20 good bucks in a day. Thats the WDFW for you though. They gotta screw everything up.

[colockumelk]

It's not the WDFW fault that they re-opened up GMU 342.  Alot of times they actually DO listen to us and do bow to public pressure.  This is one of those instances.  Unfortunately what is popular isn't alway the right thing to do.  The WDFW got a ton of hate mail from the masses complaining about taking opportunity away, can't road hunt anymore blah, blah, blah so the WDFW did what the majority wanted which was to keep GMU 342 general season.  I'm telling you sometimes we are our own worse enemy.   

[banannaclip]

yeah they put 5.00 dollar tags out no limit on a seasons take for those lousey white tails that way the hounds will eat well and we can make pipes out of the antlers

[luvtohnt]

I hope more show up!!!!!!     (i hear the pot stirring)   The muleys are in such bad shape south of I-90 (e burg to yak)  that F&W shouldnt allow a season to hunt the does or bucks.   Units 340 and 342 get hammered during all general seasons and every small 3 pt gets smoked before they can mature.  The only hope of getting good genetics in the yak canyon are the bucks coming over from the firing center or the bucks coming down from the higher country. 

White tails being in the LT Murray would totally eliminate the mule deer population. 342 needs to go back to permit only, but untill people quite being selfish and start thinking about the wildlife nothing is going to change. We already have great white tail spots in this state, with plenty of deer, what we need is to better manage the mule deer populations in this state. That would include a bounty on white tails in Kittitas county!!

It's not the WDFW fault that they re-opened up GMU 342.  Alot of times they actually DO listen to us and do bow to public pressure.  This is one of those instances.  Unfortunately what is popular isn't alway the right thing to do.  The WDFW got a ton of hate mail from the masses complaining about taking opportunity away, can't road hunt anymore blah, blah, blah so the WDFW did what the majority wanted which was to keep GMU 342 general season.  I'm telling you sometimes we are our own worse enemy.

Great point.

Brandon

[colockumelk]

It's not the WDFW fault that they re-opened up GMU 342.  Alot of times they actually DO listen to us and do bow to public pressure.  This is one of those instances.  Unfortunately what is popular isn't alway the right thing to do.  The WDFW got a ton of hate mail from the masses complaining about taking opportunity away, can't road hunt anymore blah, blah, blah so the WDFW did what the majority wanted which was to keep GMU 342 general season.  I'm telling you sometimes we are our own worse enemy.   

Actually I guess in a way it is the WDFW fault. Since they are the leadership its their responsibility to manage the herds.  Hunters will always want more opportunity and hunters will usually be biased and selfish. You can't expect all hunters to know the situation and the "bigger picture."  That's the job of the WDFW.  I just wish sometimes the WDFW in instances like the Mule Deer herds of Yakima and Kittitas would tell us all to F'ck OFF!!!  They are going to do right by the Mule Deer herds and build them back up.  But then again the right thing to do isn't always popular and in this case wont sell as many tags.  In regards to GMU 342 once again we shot ourselves in the foot. 

[sako223]

WDFW bios admitted that three point minimum in wide open units like 342 was not as effective because they can be spotted naked eye and pursued heavily.  It was closed for a while.
Three things have saved it from wipeout, steep ground(yakima canyon), private property, fencing.
Clemen was set up as a trophy unit for several years and attracted poachers plus tribal hunting. They reopened it for basically one good year and now it is poor again. Essentially years of wasted time on experimental seasons.
I think in the open units the whitetails will stay around the brushy bottoms.
A recent study shows cougar predation on muley fawns increases with whitetails present. Haven't figured out how they got that but remember reading it.
Still don't have the recipe for disaster at YTC

[ribka]

I guess I am biased because I live on 342. I personally think this unit has the potential to put out some really nice bucks. I see 1-2 bruisers every year. But, too many roads and too many lazy road hunters. There is poaching year round because all of of the road access throughout the unit and 346 too. I really wish they would gate all of the roads of and have walk-in only and change back to a permit only or make it an archery only unit. The tribe is up here every weekend shooting elk and deer too. This state will never learn.

I saw a WT by Wenas Lake last Oct. 

[Sneaky]

The Northwestern Whitetail is not native to Yakima area and should be kept out at all costs. In fisheries management, the state has finally admitted non-native trout and other species harm native populations. Whitetails are weeds of the west, carry disease, push out mule deer descended from the same gene pool my grandpa hunted years ago. They also breed mule deer does as they are more aggressive, especially if muley buck numbers are low. Fawn rearing success drops when WT are in the area as it causes Mule Deer does to drop fawns in higher country where there is less nutrition and more predation. These weeds of the west would make great target practice for US Army, Airforce, Etc. Good dog food also.

Dog food? Whitetails eat up better than most any other deer.

[CSOUTFITTERS]

So should we exterminate the Elk in the area because they arent native or Bighorn Sheep?   WDF&W better switch gears and look into other means of mule deer predervation.  Soon to follow the Manashtash and Umptanum deer herds will be the Teanaway Unit.  They need to do some control burns or selective logging. 

Something needs to be done to change things but i really dont care if i shoot a 160 class muley or a 160 whitetail.   

[sako223]

The Northwestern Whitetail is not native to Yakima area and should be kept out at all costs. In fisheries management, the state has finally admitted non-native trout and other species harm native populations. Whitetails are weeds of the west, carry disease, push out mule deer descended from the same gene pool my grandpa hunted years ago. They also breed mule deer does as they are more aggressive, especially if muley buck numbers are low. Fawn rearing success drops when WT are in the area as it causes Mule Deer does to drop fawns in higher country where there is less nutrition and more predation. These weeds of the west would make great target practice for US Army, Airforce, Etc. Good dog food also.

Apparently Elk and Whitemen are not either, but we spend a lot staying here.
What has been done to keep the Blacktails out?
How far back do we want to go?
We have bird species first arriving here too now. A neighbor reported to the Audobon society a few years ago. It came to our place and nested so I looked it up in the book.
Pelicans are returning for the first time in 60-80 years and moving into areas they have not been seen before eating a lot of salmon.
Cormorants are moving in.
What about Non native plants and especially the ones WDFW planted.
So I understand your point but find many examples that diminish it.

[banannaclip]

where did the whitetail deer start from?

[colockumelk]

Still don't have the recipe for disaster at YTC

I could tell you from personal experience but it is not politically correct to do so on a public forum.  It would just hijack this thread. 

[pat2bear]

I saw a WT by Wenas Lake last Oct.

I had a buddy of mine say that he saw a WT up by the lake also a year or two ago. I laughed at him and told him he was  . Maybe I owe him an apology.

[Wanttohuntmore]

Heck, I saw a couple whitetails in Moses Coulee about 10 yrs ago.  I didn't believe myself until I read this post. 

[colockumelk]

I see 2-4 everyday!! I have seen a buck with no head gear and 3 does!!  Here's one of the does..

Where was this picture taken.  In the Yakima Canyon??

[CSOUTFITTERS]

A couple years back a friend of mine who lives in south Cle Elum was told by his neighbor that he saw a whitetail in their back yards.  My friend thought he was full of it until the neighbor brought over a pic of a whitetail doe.  A F&W officer said that there were a few in the area off of Hwy 10 and 970, just outside Cle Elum and you would think that they could tell the difference.  Maybe its the same group just moving south.   

[Kowsrule30]

Call me crazy but I saw a 2 point wt and wt doe with twins that looked as though they were part mule deer... They sure didn't have a whitetail.... This was in Southeast Cowichie..... If you look in the regs it says any whitetail is legal in 368 and several other units that aren't known as holding wt.....

[jdb]

Call me crazy but I saw a 2 point wt and wt doe with twins that looked as though they were part mule deer... They sure didn't have a whitetail.... This was in Southeast Cowichie..... If you look in the regs it says any whitetail is legal in 368 and several other units that aren't known as holding wt.....

yea and our game dept. never makes a mistake :dunno:I spend 30 or 40 days a year in that unit and have for almost 30 years and have never seen a whitetail in there

[270Shooter]

Call me crazy but I saw a 2 point wt and wt doe with twins that looked as though they were part mule deer... They sure didn't have a whitetail.... This was in Southeast Cowichie..... If you look in the regs it says any whitetail is legal in 368 and several other units that aren't known as holding wt.....

yea and our game dept. never makes a mistake :dunno:I spend 30 or 40 days a year in that unit and have for almost 30 years and have never seen a whitetail in there

Its like that in all of the 300 units to keep the whitetails out of those units, because these areas are managed for mule deer.

[colockumelk]

I kind of find it hard to believe that if that many different guys have seen that many different white tails in the 300GMU's that NOONE has any pics of these whitetails.  I'd like to see a pic of a white tail in the Yakima canyon.