Early archery GMU 520

[NAVYGUNNER]

Anyone know how the crowds are during early archery in the Winston Unit?

[Curly]

It is the most heavily hunted unit in W. Washington.

[520backyard]

Take a number and get in line.

[400out]

YEP and they can have it! 

[spottedhand]

Find yerself a gated road or steep rugged area where most guys are passing by.  Scout, scout and scout !  Then be reeeal early....  There are alot of elk in the winston and alot of hunters.  I would look at areas that border the margret and packwood and get away from the roads and you'll probably get away from 70% of the crowd.

[Alan K]

Winston is one of the funnest units to hunt simply because of the sheer number of animals. There are tons of people but in general that just keeps the animals moving and there are more than enough to go around.  As with all weyehauser ground, fire danger may screw things up.

[NAVYGUNNER]

I saw that Deer will be open as well as elk.  Are there good oppertunities for blacktail as well as elk?

[Little Fish]

yes

[sirchman]

you will have many opportunities to shoot a doe, small bucks are around but I rarely see them and I have only seen one monster. Be careful as in the last year my hunting partner and I have spotted five whitetail does in that area.

[Curly]

you will have many opportunities to shoot a doe, small bucks are around but I rarely see them and I have only seen one monster. Be careful as in the last year my hunting partner and I have spotted five whitetail does in that area.

Why "be careful"?  If you actually do see a whitetail (which I doubt) I don't see why you couldn't shoot it.

[Mike450r]

you will have many opportunities to shoot a doe, small bucks are around but I rarely see them and I have only seen one monster. Be careful as in the last year my hunting partner and I have spotted five whitetail does in that area.

Why "be careful"?  If you actually do see a whitetail (which I doubt) I don't see why you couldn't shoot it.

Because the only whitetail that would have a chance (very slim chance) to be in the Winston would be a Columbia Whitetail and they are protected. 

[HntnFsh]

Lived here all my life and never seen a white tail in the Winston.Possibly in the south western part of Ryderwood.But thats iffy to me.

[bowhuntersd]

The Winston is probably one of the most hunted areas for Western Archery, but it is a very large unit. You will still seen hunters but not like you do in smaller units. Another thing is that as far as I know Weyerhauser has closed the woods for due to "FIRE DANGER" . So check out some of the state land in the Winston. It will get crowded but if you get in early and off the beaten path that will deffinantely cut the numbers down. good luck

[sirchman]

Lived here all my life and never seen a white tail in the Winston.Possibly in the south western part of Ryderwood.But thats iffy to me.

it was pretty strange to us also, last year during early archery for elk i shot a doe up off of 550, our hunting buddy saw two whitetail does as he was coming over to help haul it out, and during late season last year while walking in one evening we had three bound across in front of us at like 40 yards or so.

[Cedarcreekkid]

I agree, Been huntin the winston for 25 yrs and I live in the heart of it, have never seen anything that even resembled a whitetail in the winston. Colombian white tail on the islands and lowland further down river but would feel pretty darn safe shooting any buck you came across. As for pressure, haven't seen any closure signs yet but radio is saying closure of all longview held timberland. Unless you have some private land available the few places that are state owned will probably look like a parking lot