Wenatchee area scouting

[vandeman17]

Now that hunting season is over for me until turkey hunting, which I am still learning about, I am trying to figure out what to do with my weekends. I am a recent transplant to Wenatchee and am looking forward to checking out what kind of deer hunting I can find. Most of my scouting will be done this summer when I can spend a full day out hiking with my gps in hand but until then, I wouldn't mind driving around and getting a general lay of the land. Does anyone have any nice drives they would recommend that would put me in a deer area? I am confident in my skills of scouting and finding a place to hunt but its the getting started with a general area that is the toughest. I would be willing to share some of my duck hunting knowledge as well as whitetail areas in the NE for some intel around here. 

[400out]

Bud I wish I could help! I know nothing about that area, I'm sure you will get some pointers though. Good luck

If not start driving with a full tank and see where you end up 

[vandeman17]

Bud I wish I could help! I know nothing about that area, I'm sure you will get some pointers though. Good luck

If not start driving with a full tank and see where you end up 

That is my plan this weekend. I am not so much worried about seeing deer because they will most likely be in their wintering range and not where they will be during hunting season but more just to find some areas that are open for me to lace up my boots and hike around. I have a young black lab that would love to go on some long hikes with me and I would love it too because then she would actually sleep at home. 

[jackelope]

I don't think you're going to get to where the majority of the deer are during hunting season right now...
 

[vandeman17]

I don't think you're going to get to where the majority of the deer are during hunting season right now...
 

That is a good point and part of the reason I will be doing most of my scouting during the summer. I guess I am just looking for a good "excuse" to get out and go on a hike. There are alot of hiking trails around but I am not doing it for exercise so if I am scouting, it would make it easier for me to go. 

[muleracks]

This time of year, I would be out just enjoying the animals in their winter range while trying not to disturb them.  Most of the deer (80 to 90%) are migratory and many will summer in the Wilderness areas and other very remote mountains.  Those who hunt in September would really benefit from scouting the summer range.  General season hunters should learn the roads and country and pray for an early snow.  The deer will arrive when the mountain snows force them out or the November rut encourages them to move down with the does.  Note: Does tend to move early and first with any sign of bad weather while the mature bucks hang back.   Good Luck & Have Fun

[Heredoggydoggy]

One of my favorite places to go for a hike is up Swakane Canyon.  About 5 miles into the canyon there is the Rattlesnake Springs road that goes up and over into the Entiat River Valley.  It's gated off for vehicle travel now, but open for hiking and horseback travel.  Good place to go for a day hike, but it's uphill all the way, and downhill all the way back.  The area burned off last summer, but oddly enough, there are loads of deer there.  Also coyotes and birds, and Rockchucks if you know where to look.  Even burned, it's a beautful place.

I haven't hunted ducks since the '70s, but my buddy and I go over to the 113 area to blackpowder hunt for whitetails one weekend a season.

Got more areas for Mulies in mind, but I've blabbed enough already.  

[True Sportsman]

Get on the wdfw website and find the go hunt feature. This will show you the public land areas. Download google earth and look around. Pick some spots far from roads and go check them out.

I love doing this stuff, finding new areas and scouting them.

[Armadillo]

darn it... and to think i had swakane canyon all to myself till now!!  

[Heredoggydoggy]

darn it... and to think i had swakane canyon all to myself till now!!  

Hah!  With all the yuppies that go hiking there on weekends, sometimes it's like a Subaru car lot.  Nice thing about being retired is I can do my thing during the week, and let the "Weekend Warriors" have it on weekends. 

[vandeman17]

I have heard Swakane thrown around alot, especially on this forum so I am betting that it gets hit pretty hard. Guess that means I will have to get even farther away from the road then normal.

[Armadillo]

 takes a lot of scouting to achieve this knowledge but im willing to help a fellow hunter out

[Heredoggydoggy]

I don't think people realize what a vast area is accessible from the Swakane area.  What stopped the fire from burning up the canyon farther than it did, was that the fire reached the line of vegetation that was still green from the spring melt.  And it's such a steep area to each side of the canyon, I'm willing to bet that not many hunters venture too far out of the bottom.  Anyway, were I to go for a Mulie hunt, I wouldn't go to Swakane to do it.  There are better areas for a fat old man like me to go for a deer. 

[Armadillo]

  Those hills are real knee killers.. most of the deer burned up in the fires there anyway

[Skyvalhunter]

You guys are so full of it. Just tell him the truth there is 4 or 5 deer behind every tree and half of them are 30" wide

[DOUBLELUNG]

Welcome to Wenatchee!  As a general guideline, the core wintering areas are below 2,500' elevation, the core summering areas are 3,500'-5,000'.  YES, there are many exceptions, and in a mild winter some of the deer will winter up to 5,000'-6,000'; some nonmigratory residents summer below 1,000'. 

[Shed Stud]

Vandeman, welcome to the valley. Lots of mud in your way if your looking to drive. Lace up those boots and you'll find it's a great time of year around here. 

[vandeman17]

Thanks for the welcome guys. I look forward to learning the area and if you have an extra seat when you are out scouting, let me know and I will happily pitch in on gas, buy lunch etc.

[teal101]

Swakene, Eagle Creek, Entiat Valley, Chiwawa, Colockum, Mission Creek.  Pick a road, check it out on a map (google maps) to find roads you want to explore and just go take a drive.  Theres TONS of roads all over out there, lot's of good places to go.

[ZogTheFuzzy]

Cross the bridge into Peshastin (Main Street), take a right on Depot Rd/Derby Canyon Road.  After about 2/3 of a mile it takes a sharp left.  You are on Derby Canyon Road, and that takes you into some nice country.  Just make sure it's in a 4x4...the roads aren't always the greatest.

[kenjo]

Take a drive up Number Two Canyon. At the pass where the road starts to drop down to Mission Creek, park your rig and walk out the ridge to the north. It's a nice walk and in a couple of months you will see lots of deer as they pass through on their way to their summer range. They'll all be gone by October, of course, but you should see lots of deer. Make sure your dog isn't a deer chaser. If you continue on the road down to Mission Creek, turn left and follow the ridge up past Mission Ridge and eventually end up at Swauk Pass. Lots of country to look at. The Colockum is another good area, and I don't hunt there, either.

 

[teal101]

Both the above are good areas.  Theres gates on both those roads though so you might run into seasonal closures.  They tend to close them so keep people from going up and tearing the roads up in the wet spring and when it gets super hot and theres fire danger.  You can access Derby by going up Eagle creek, it's a real scenic drive, one of my favorites.  I've done them all in a 92 Toyota Corolla, just gotta drive careful and watch out for snow!

This is just past the junction at the top of Swakene and Derby

[Armadillo]

Haha those roads get slicker then snot

[vandeman17]

I am looking forward to hiking around the areas that you guys mentioned. Not only will it be fun to learn and see some new area but it will help get my dog some much needed exercise. 

[jrod]

there arent any deer left round wenatchee

[True Sportsman]

there arent any deer left round wenatchee

That statement is funny to me.

[teanawayslayer]

get a good map for one.  they should show all the main roads that run up swakane, entiat, chelan, mission.  From there you should be kept pretty busy driving and then find your spot to kill you deer next season. There is a ton of area and you won't be able to cover it all.