wahluke??

[jackelope]

anybody care to share any dirt on gmu 278 wahluke? otc early archery... seems like an interesting area, but i never heard anybody mention it.
now that i got a bow of course...

[GOcougsHunter]

Jackelope,
I have done some upland bird and duck hunting in the area.  The area is wide open .  Best to put yourself in a position higher than the surrounding areas and glass.  There are not tons of deer in here but, I've seen lots of tracks.
Try this link to get you some information regarding some of the public access areas.

http://huntwashingtonstate.com/HWS/200_series.htm

[jackelope]

thanks...i was just bored at work looking at maps and got curious.

[GOcougsHunter]

I would be interested to see if anyone has hunted the area for deer.  Those orchards look like they would hold some nice deer, but, there's no fencing so I assume the landowners don't have much of a problem with deer.  Unlike Wenatchee orchards which have fences all over the place.  WDFW posted 25 deer harvested in 2005, big area for so few deer.

[Fletch]

I would be interested too... given the fact there isnt alot of pressure and its some wide open ground and an added bonus its close to home...maybe I should find a map and get to work out there before you guys do!

[wannahunt]

I thought the same thing about the Wahluke unit a few years ago. With those orchards and all the deer next door in the Desert unit I put two of my kids in for does tags. When they got drawn I called up the biologist for the area to see if he had any names of farmers with crop damage and got the equivalent of the blank stare over the phone. When he did answer it was basically that there just ain't many deer in the unit. He did steer us towards the north end of the Crab Creek Wildlife Area. We scouted a couple times and did hunt one day but the lack of deer was unbelievable. I've never been anywere on the eastside and seen so few or no deer the day we actually hunted. I'm sure there must be some pockets of deer in there somewhere but I wouldn't waste my time in there again.

[jackelope]

With those orchards and all the deer next door in the Desert unit

thats what i was thinking, almost had to be a good unit. i'm surprised at the reports on here, but hey, thats why ii posted...thanks for the info. i'll look elsewhere to hunt.

[wackmaster]

My friend hunted there he said they saw a ton of deer and alot of bucks. I do not know where they hunted in the unit but he said it was awsome. iIt was also during archery.

[kbyers]

Hi everyone. I am new to this sit ebut thought I would post my 2 cents.  I was out there bird hunting around that big lake east of the White Bluffs boat launch.  As I started hiking in an older gentleman was hiking out with a 4x4 muley with great mass.  He wouldn't give any specifics, but said that he took it in the thick brush around the lake, with a muzzleloader.  Lots of marsh and russian olive trees.  this was a couple years ago, but I hope this helps.

[woodywsu]

the deer in the wahluke area are unbelievable. if you want to spend some long days hunting and scouting it will pay off big. i live in the area and i have seen some studs come out of there. all of those deer migrate so much and they come right out of the famous desert a area. basically, those timothy, alfalfa fields, and orchards produce some very large mulies with a lot of mass and nice drop tines.

[Fletch]

Isnt part of that around white bluffs firearm restricted...or is the whole unit?

[kbyers]

I didn't see anything in the regs about any restrictions.  Do some scouting in the area between the White Bluffs boat launch and Mountain Vista Road.  I bet you could take a nice buck with a bow around the lake.  I have seen alot of tracks and game trails.  The last time I was out there the BLM was in the process of removing alot of the trees and brush, but I don't know why.  Anyone know why they would do this?

[boneaddict]

Fire prevention 

[caseyv21]

about a mile west of the white bluffs road there's a fence. from that fence west it is restricted to hunting. the white bluffs area is only open to hunting with a bow or a muzzleloader.

[Cougar]

I've been hunting that unit near Royal City for the past 2-3 years.  The deer over there prefer to be in the Russian Olive trees (they are thick).  I've heard about some big bucks and a lot of deer that are over there on a place called "dry island".  It's a good place to hunt if your going on horseback to help pack the deer out seeing that it's a good mile or two into the desert.

But I would suggest hitting the Russian Olive trees near Royal City.  That's where I've gone to hunt before and have seen deer 2 out of the 3 times.
 
I shot a 2 point buck there 2 years ago when I put the round through him he was about 10 yards away from me (he was being pushed by pheasant hunters) while I was sitting against a tree.  So they are over there... if you can find them.