scouting

[forest cat]

Good AM to all. New to this forum, I like it here as many of you are rich in ideas and info. As a relatively newbie to hunting deer, my question is this: I and my son are interested in hunting the Sinlahekin area, what is the best time to scout? We are from the west side, and as gas now is an important consideration as to when and how often to go, we want to maximize are time. Mule deer is our primary game animal, and given that they are migratory, I am a bit confused as to when to qualify a particular area or region. Any thoughts would be helpfull. TIA!

[coonhound]

When do you plan on hunting?  I spend a lot of time up there in the late archery season and at that time I am hunting a lot of migratory deer so scouting isn't all that relevant.  If you're willing to put some miles of steep ground under your boots there are also plenty of local deer.  If you're looking for a relatively easy hunt during the rifle season you can compare it to combat fishing on some of our Western stealhead rivers.  If you want to get into some quality deer get yourself a good map and search out some the bigger roadless areas. 

PS Don't forget to take your fishing gear if you're up there in the summer, lake Chapaka is an amazing place to fly fish and Palmer lake has some great smallmouth
fishing.


Half the fun of scouting is the exploration...

Coon

[boneaddict]

I would say go in the early summer sometime and enjoy yourself. Fish a few lakes in the neighborhood, but for the most part, scouting in that particular area as Coon said is irrelevant except to learn th eroads, find a place to camp etc.  Lots of skeeters so take some repellent.  It depends on what season you are after I suppose, but there will be local deer and there will be migratory deer.  Either way, they will be there when there as unprofound as that sounds.   

By the way, Chopaka won't be very good this year.  They poisioned it and planted it with little ones.  Next year it will be back and running.   Palmer is a gorgeous lake.  Could seee some nice rams, and catch some nice bass.  Good for boating as well. 

[zackmioli]

was just going to say they killed off chopaka last year. used to go up there every summer. fishing that lake in the middle of a big blue damsel hatch was so fun  !!

my dad and his buddies were up there in may and saw a couple moose and bear one year. i love it up there.

sinlahekin valley is beautiful, but like they said basically just get to know the road system, find a good place to camp, and find a place to hike back into away from the roads.

[forest cat]

Thanks for the thoughts, We will be hunting the general rifle season, and if all goes smoothly with time off from work we could be spending a week hunting there. So I believe now what we will do is find a suitable area to camp, as well as get a clear idea as to where to begin. We fully expect to do some hiking to get where we want to hunt.
I personally,@56 years, like to find a location to sit and glass. We don't fish but do enjoy the outdoors and all the scenery the that comes along with it.
I'm curious, are the local deer that are there Whitetail or Muley's?

[forest cat]

I have to say, that 4 years ago, I was drawn for a moose,antlerless in an antlerless only area, GMU 127, I made 4 trips back and forth from my home here on the west side, and got a real "feel" for Mica Peak. All the stars were lined up for me that day. I think I was out only 2 1/2 hrs till I filled my tag :>). In this instance, all the expence, and time spent "scouting" paid off well.

[boneaddict]

Both.  The higher you go the more muleys.

[bowsandhose]

lots of good places to camp in the sinlahekin but  its a mad house during general rifle plus there is 100 whitetail doe rifle tags to cram more people in access is to easy to many roads to many hunters. coonhound said it best

If you want to get into some quality deer get yourself a good map and search out some the bigger roadless areas. 

 

[SuperDave]

lots of good places to camp in the sinlahekin but its a mad house during general rifle plus there is 100 whitetail doe rifle tags to cram more people in access is to easy to many roads to many hunters. coonhound said it best

If you want to get into some quality deer get yourself a good map and search out some the bigger roadless areas. 

 

  Definitely has seen an increase in hunting pressure due to the fires in the last few years.  Have hunted the area extensively and each year seems to be more and more people, have camped in the same spot every year,  except last year some one beat us there.  Harvest rates are down as well, don't see near the deer hanging as we used too!   I have too much time invested to quit hunting the area but if was looking for a new spot I would be heading farther east!  Just my

[zackmioli]

went out there camping last summer, stayed on fish lake. my father and i would take drives at dusk everynight to see all the deer moving around. we saw quite a few really nice muleys in velvet. get up a little bit outta the valley and the small hills. the higher you get and the farther back off the roads the better of a hunt you will have.

it is beautiful over there and there is lots of exploring and stuff to be done if you dont fish. get over there a couple times this summer and roam around!

[muleracks]

If you plan to hunt the modern rifle general season, you will be hunting local deer.  Scouting near the season opener is important and look for spots that will not be heavily hunted by others.  The local hunters will have all the decent bucks patterned and named; those bucks will be harvested during the first 20 minutes of legal shooting hours (or missed and chased into cover).  The migrating mule deer will almost certainly not arrive until after the season has ended.

Hunting in November and December is a different situation.  Scout the country, not the deer.  You can do that anytime because the country won't change as the mule deer migrate in.  Learn the roads and the lay of the land.  Have Fun !

[fishseeker]

I have hunted that area since 1985, family trip to go deer camping opening weekend. Some good deer taken evey year but getting less. Cats seem to have increased alot. If your are fit and can hike in to where the others don't you can still find them. Sept. is a good time to scout, take your shotgun and hunt for grouse, it can be a kick in the hinney, lotsa nice blues around some years( shot my limit of 3 in 45sec. on an old skid,flock of 15 standing around, shot closest one,other flew some stood,took secound one,more flew,one walked out of ditch to see whats going on, Hunt dunn). Good luck

[forest cat]

Thanx for all the help!
Think we will make a couple of trips, get the roads down, then look for several spots to set up the the scope. I have not checked what is avavailable yet, but may look and see what late tags might be available.
Thanx again for all the suggestions :>)