gmu 204

[RippinLips]

did anyone else have a hunt as horrible as mine?
7 days of solid hunting. walk 30 minutes sit for 3 hours walk 30 sit 3 every day. silent as a mouse everywhere i went and not a damn thing. had full moon everynight not a cloud in the sky all day the only time i ever ask for sh*tty weather i dont happen  ended up seeing 3 whitie does 4 mulie does and a 2 point mulie a bear and a cow. one guy in our area got 2x3 and thats it. i dont get it. do i just have really bad luck or something? same thing happend last year too. got a few more days left for the west side maybe i can take a shot on something here.

if not lets hear some stories!

[MADMAX]

Winthrop was just as bad
I  personally never saw a legal buck in the woods (plenty in alfalfa) until Sat and the kid killed it (2pt with eyeguards) as his first buck.
Hunted from Harts pass east to Loup Loup areas mostly concentraing on Ramsey and Rendevous

[RippinLips]

ran into republic real quick and talked to a guy who shot a 3x4 and then went to twisp and seen a real nice 31 1/4 wide 4x4 in the back of a guys truck but those are the only deer id seen or heard of. my dad hunted sherman pass and the northport area he said it was the same way there too

[Dmanmastertracker]

 My uncle's group of six went 0-6 and saw a total of three deer in four days. Bio over there said the whitetail have been decimated lately, they generally see more of those in the area they hunt.

[Earshot]

I don't like this report as I have the late modern whitetail tag for 204. rippinlips where were you at? That's a big unit. I've been all over it scouting for the late season but haven't been too impressed with the number of deer that I've seen. I know the late season is different but it always makes you feel a little better knowing there are some nice bucks hanging around.

[missinmt]

winter kill has done a number on a (formerly) wonderful whitetail herd that was a ton of fun to hunt in this gmu. 

[ldjbuff]

First post but been on here a a lurker. I live in Idaho but we have a cabin near republic in the 204 area. I bow hunt up there. We saw between 20-30 deer a day this past September with me missing a big muley 5x5 on video. The deer were all up high. I won't give away my hunting area but each year I have a shot at a 4 point or better. I got a 4x4 whitetail last yr. We saw way more mulies this year than whitetail but some of the bigger bucks we saw were whitetails. I ended up getting a doe this year because the buck I was hunting liked to dodge my arrow.


They are up there. We saw more deer this past year than last year. This is also the first year I have found a ton of sheds in our hunting area, its all public land as well. You just need to find out where they are logging....

Here is my buck from last year


And here are some of the bucks that hang out in republic

[jeepasaurusrex]

A few years ago we had to take a foster kid we had with us to the hospital in Republic while we were hunting. We had been hunting up out of Curlew. As I am sitting there in the parking lot of the hospital, I spot 6 deer, 4 of them were bucks. One was bedded down in the neighbors yard across the street from the hospital.

[ldjbuff]

Yeah that's how it is up there the deer get smart.

[CAMPMEAT]

A few years ago we had to take a foster kid we had with us to the hospital in Republic while we were hunting. We had been hunting up out of Curlew. As I am sitting there in the parking lot of the hospital, I spot 6 deer, 4 of them were bucks. One was bedded down in the neighbors yard across the street from the hospital.

Most of those big deer are now on the rez. Imagine that. They took about 40 deer out of Republic and took 'em south. Should of taken up north so the whiteman could shoot them. WTF !!!

[oldschool]

If they went to the rez they are all dead now

[highmuley]

Been hunting this unit for over 20 years. This is the WORST year I have had. 5 deer in 5 days! One spike mulie seen. No good! No good! Also, 5 times as many people as normal! But hey, someone got busted poaching while I was there! They killed a doe and were suspected of shooting a two point (3 point minimum area) as well. Always a good sign!

[LITTLEBUCK]

Was my first year hunting in 204. I was lucky enough to shoot a nice 4x5 muley on public land. Saw deer every day. More mulie's then white tails where we were. As started before up high my friend up high.

[yelp]

Was my first year hunting in 204. I was lucky enough to shoot a nice 4x5 muley on public land. Saw deer every day. More mulie's then white tails where we were. As started before up high my friend up high.

It varied throughout Okanogan County.  204 however does allow tribal hunting "North Half Agreement"  They can hunt before/after our seasons..but I assume most of the pressure is areas around the northern border.  I also have to say I have only seen tribal hunters on two occasions while up there hunting.  I am sure there is a lot of poaching in parts of 204 throughout the year. 

This year was a very wierd year too IMO Deer were not in the normal spots due to the amount of raind we got at different times of year.  The woods are very green..There were very few wildfires too.  I  think the reason some didn't see deer is that they didn't have to move around as much this year to find what they needed in the way of forage.  This was true in several Eastern WA counties just talking with hunters.

[skier2480]

Went to Winthrop for the last weekend of the season. Saw lots of does and one 2pt. buck. Our camp went 0-5. Weather was just too damn nice.