Stormking Unit

[smitty8202]

My dad and i have hunted the stormking unit just south of mineral lake by Murrys Logging together for the last two seasons, but he has hunted it for the last 5+ years and has seen i drop in the deer pop. Has anyone noticed this as well? Anyone have any other good places to go out in that area?

[Red Leg]

I've been in there, and I also think the pop. has dropped. Not sure why. I have seen a few big cats in there.

[carpsniperg2]

don't know the area. but if the cats are in there. then you have your answer.

[Crunchy]

I agree with the drop in deer.  I have hunted that same area, about a mile or so south of Carlson for last six or seven years.  The drop has been at least fifty percent from what it used to be.

[jason4429]

I grew up hunting the stormking unit. There seems to be alot more cats and hunters then there use to be.My dad and i hunted the same spot for years and we never seen another person about four years ago on opening day of late buck .I went in to that spot and their was people every where.

[cougkilr]

I believe cats and bears are the problem, I worked for Murray and have hunted the storm king on the tree farm for the past 8 years and the deer population is horrible.  The bear population is crazy as well as the cougar population.  I killed a cat up there a couple years ago as well did six other people in the same year.  Not much we can do until we can hound hunt again.

[smitty8202]

I have yet to see cats but i have seen some bear droppings. So besides murrys where are the better areas to hunt out there?

[bullcanyon]

Poached out is what murray is. Cougars and that hair slip haven't helped. We used to see 35 to 40 deer a day in there. Lived in the area for 31 years and the deer population is in the dumps around mineral. Still a few deer, but not a huntable population imho. I've written the wdfw hoping they will do something. Need to trim our seasons. Maybe a point restriction.

[WDFW-SUX]

Its poaching without a doubt.

[Winchester670]

Used to see tons of deer here in storming but not anymore. would like to get up there after some of the bears or cougars any tips on what areas i should head to?

[Red Leg]

And this is one of the those units that the WDFW has a Special Permit "Shoot a 2nd Deer Tag", Wonder how that is determined, must be again $.

[bobcat]

There shouldn't be any 2nd deer tags in most of Western Washington. They should also eliminate doe harvest from most of the archery and muzzleloader units. I just don't see a need for killing any does right now. Let the population come back up to what it was 20 years ago, then start taking out some does. What the hell is wrong with the WDFW? It's not like there is a shortage of feed around here.

[Curly]

There shouldn't be any 2nd deer tags in most of Western Washington. They should also eliminate doe harvest from most of the archery and muzzleloader units. I just don't see a need for killing any does right now. Let the population come back up to what it was 20 years ago, then start taking out some does. What the hell is wrong with the WDFW? It's not like there is a shortage of feed around here.

I agree.  WDFW likes to throw the word "opportunity" around.  They say that they like to give X user group opportunity.......opportunity this and opportunity that.  It was like a broken record listening to the WDFW biologist talk at a Commission mtg a while back.  I figured out that "opportunity" was really a code word for "more money" to WDFW.............

[bullcanyon]

I woudn't mind if they made it 3-point min for all weapons and eliminated late buck on the wet side for a few years.  Still need to bring hounds back though. Let youths harvest spikes or 2-points.

[deerslyr]

ive seen the numbers drop in all areas of western washington since i first started hunting 8 years ago. I wish they would make it at least 2 pt min and drop a good amount of doe permits but still have some

[cem3434]

I have seen 2 different cats cruising the Stormking unit near the 70 road of highway seven this year.  The trail cameras dont lie, so I think the real problem is the cats and WDFW's ability to manage wildlife.  There is probably some poaching going on as well, but a couple of mature cats will kill far more animals per year than all of the poachers combined.  Thats just my  !

[haus]

how many fawns are you seeing?

I hunt some timber land in 652, no fawns made it past July. I mean NONE!

It's a walkin only area and the timber co never provides access for brush pickers so I'd rule out poaching of fawns being the cause  

Never saw any of the deer in this area impacted by DHLS since it became a general concern throughout blacktail range.

Put trail cameras back there for the first time this year. 4+ bears. One is dead already. 180lb. Have another on the camera thats pushing 300lb.
Few of the locals have seen cats in the area too.

Noticed this year that the elk don't have many calves either. Typical amount of bulls have shown up in the area, but the cow numbers are much lower.

In general I would say that several factors are impacting blacktail populations. In some areas its a combination of several factors, in others like where I hunt the cause is specific imho.