Entiat question?????

[Bigshooter]

Last year I had a buddy draw an entiat tag and I went with him on his hunt.  This was the only time that I have been in the entiat unit.  The only area of the unit that we did not go look at while we were hunting it was the north west corner of the unit.  Before we went on the hunt we had heard that there were a lot of gated roads and a lot of trails in the unit.  We did not see but one trail (that bordered the slide ridge unit) and one gate that was open.  So my question is are there many gates and trails in the unit?  Also does anybody do drop camps in the entiat unit?


Thank you ahead of time for the help.

[MichaelJ]

There are a ton of roads up the entiat unit.  Lot of deep canyons that hold some good deer. Good luck getting away from the crowds during the general though and there are some resident deer there but the herd is really hurting for mature bucks...

[Bigshooter]

There are a ton of roads up the entiat unit.  Lot of deep canyons that hold some good deer. Good luck getting away from the crowds during the general though and there are some resident deer there but the herd is really hurting for mature bucks...

We saw all the roads.  But we had heard that there were a lot of gates and trails in the unit.  Are there trails and gates in the unit or were we just misinformed?

Thanks,

P.S.
Bone what do you know about this?

[boneaddict]

I know very little on the Entiat.  VERY little.  I spend most of my time elsewhere.

[Rhinoron247]

There are tons of trails and lots of roads.  We covered more than 2/3rds of the unit on horseback last year and cleared  blow downs off many of the old established game trails from years gone by.  I did however, seem to be a giant pumpkin patch during the general rifle season.  There was a pumpkin sitting on every ridge glassing our horses through their scopes.  CREEPY FEELIN" 

There are still lost of pockets that two hold animals, nothing like the past.

 

[Bigshooter]

There are tons of trails and lots of roads.  We covered more than 2/3rds of the unit on horseback last year and cleared  blow downs off many of the old established game trails from years gone by.  I did however, seem to be a giant pumpkin patch during the general rifle season.  There was a pumpkin sitting on every ridge glassing our horses through their scopes.  CREEPY FEELIN" 

There are still lost of pockets that two hold animals, nothing like the past.

 

Where are all of these trails at?  Do these trails cross roads?  Do these trails get away from the roads?  Do these trails start in the entiat and go in to the slide ridge unit?  Why I ask is because I was in the unit last year and saw one trail and one side of it was the slide ridge unit and the other was the entiat.  You said you covered 2/3 of the unit on horse back.  I bet we cover 3/4 of the unit by truck.  And only saw one trail.  I have also heard there are gates every where we saw one and it was open.  Are there any gates in this unit that stay closed?

Thanks for the help.

[HardCorpsHuntr]

Bigshooter,

Spent 4 years in your area, lived off the Birley Road in Mossyrock.  Bet we've crossed paths.

I know of one trail in the Entiat unit (E/W on top of the main ridge).  Lots of roads and old over-grown logging roads.  There's a few closed roads / gates mainly the private access stuff.

You don't rerally want to come over and joint the crowd for a muley when you have those great blacktails in your backyard do you!!!!  Diesel's $4.19 in Wenatchee anyhow!!!!!

Semper Fi

[muleracks]

I'll support that fact that the Entiat is heavily roaded.  Nearly all of it is public land and ungated.  It is also mostly open country; thanks to the fires of 1970 and 1994.  The pumkin patch on roads and nearby ridges must be waiting for me to chase a deer out of the spots where deer hold up. 

Because of the great browse, some deer do spend the summer in the Entiat.  Mostly though the Entiat is a winter range unit.  The backcountry migrators usually do not arrive until after the General Season has ended.  A good way to hunt the unit is to get dropped off at the top of the highest ridge you can find and hunt down roadless canyons to the Columbia, Lake Chelan or Entiat River.  Be prepared to bone-out and pack it to the road.

[Bigshooter]

Here is what icicleoutfitters told me about the entiat.


Hello Tye,    We do a lot of drop camp in the Entiat Valley but not in the Entiat GMU 247 because it has excellent road access.  We do guide hunters in that unit.  Sometimes we cover some ground on horseback but mostly we hunt down ridges and canyons in areas away from the roads.  The deer tend escape hunting pressure by moving into spots where very few hunters go.  We are pretty successful with our clients in the Entiat.
 
For drop camps we would go into the North Fork of the Entiat River (Slide Ridge GMU 246), up the Entiat River trail from Cottonwood into the Glacier Peak Wilderness (Clark GMU 244) or into the Chiwawa River area (Chiwawa GMU 245).  The exact camp location may not be determined until we see what the weather is doing in October but usually camp is at about 4500 feet and around 7 to 11 miles from the trailhead.  You should expect to hunt in solitude.  We require camps to have at least two hunters; three is better.
www.icicleoutfitters.com/hunting.html   Get back to us if interested and we will fill in more details and provide some "booking" forms.
Dale Wick for Bruce & Sandy 

Bigshooter
            I am looking into doing a drop camp this year or next year.  I see that you do hunts in the entiat unit.  Do you due drop camps in the entiat by horse back?  Why I ask is because I have hunted the entiat and have not seen but one trail that head into the slide ridge unit.  Is there a place in the entiat that has some trails in it and not a bunch of roads.  Every where that I have been in the entiat unit there where roads every where and I did not see any trails.  What unit would you suggest doing a drop camp in?  I would like to do one in the entiat if I can get away from the roads.
 
Thank you for your time.
       Tye




Icicle Outfitters & Guides www.icicleoutfitters.com
Bruce & Sandy Wick
Leavenworth, WA 98826
1-800-497-3912  or (360) 669-1518
Horseback Riding www.icicleoutfitters.com/daytrips.html
Pack Trips www.icicleoutfitters.com/specialtrips.html

[ICEMAN]

BigShooter, what some call a trail, may indeed be a non mapped game trail, or possibly an abandoned logging grade. There are a few hiking trails that criss-cross most of this area.

Are you looking for someone to give you exact trailhead locations or what? 

Just take a drive this summer and spend time comparing maps against what you see, and you will find areas you can hunt, or atleast gain access to more remote areas...

[coastalghost]

I'll support that fact that the Entiat is heavily roaded.  Nearly all of it is public land and ungated.  It is also mostly open country; thanks to the fires of 1970 and 1994.  The pumkin patch on roads and nearby ridges must be waiting for me to chase a deer out of the spots where deer hold up. 

Because of the great browse, some deer do spend the summer in the Entiat.  Mostly though the Entiat is a winter range unit.  The backcountry migrators usually do not arrive until after the General Season has ended.  A good way to hunt the unit is to get dropped off at the top of the highest ridge you can find and hunt down roadless canyons to the Columbia, Lake Chelan or Entiat River.  Be prepared to bone-out and pack it to the road.

+1 muleracks....