Your Biggest Chelan/Okanogan County Muleys

[6x6in6]

There are some dandys in the chiwawa, but I personally have seen a decline in the deer population and an increase in the hunter population in the past couple years. Maybe its just me

That decline actually started in the mid 80's.  The first of the two really big fires took a heavy toll on the cover.  The second one a few years later did too.  And then the hunter orange was everywhere.

[Skyvalhunter]

Yea i guess I was looking at the year before. So there fore I am sure that it will be up around 3000 after this but i am feeling really lucky this year. But then I have said that in the past too!!

[Cougeyes]

Yea i guess I was looking at the year before. So there fore I am sure that it will be up around 3000 after this but i am feeling really lucky this year. But then I have said that in the past too!!

No kidding, I think this is my year as well for my muley tag, it's the only tag I really care about getting. 

[Armadillo]

Actually in the 94 fire the biggest decline of all took place when the WDFW let anyone with a tag loose in the area because the deer wouldve supposedly starved due to all the food getting burned up... actually i get all burned up just thinking about it 

[Armadillo]

they couldnt shut it down fast enough and I had heard that a couple thousand deer were harvested just in the Chiwawa entiat and Swak..

[grundy53]

I'll be up there during the early bow season.... and no not because I read this thread.

[6x6in6]

Actually in the 94 fire the biggest decline of all took place when the WDFW let anyone with a tag loose in the area because the deer wouldve supposedly starved due to all the food getting burned up... actually i get all burned up just thinking about it 

I completely forgot about that game management disaster. 

[Skyvalhunter]

Was that the time when they were allowing anyone with a valid tag go over and shoot a doe?

[Button Nubbs]

You and me both grundy just waitin for my road to open...

[6x6in6]

Was that the time when they were allowing anyone with a valid tag go over and shoot a doe?

Yeah, if I remember correctly they had something like a 2000 head count quota and within 3 days they were WAY over that.

[Button Nubbs]

There are some dandys in the chiwawa, but I personally have seen a decline in the deer population and an increase in the hunter population in the past couple years. Maybe its just me

That decline actually started in the mid 80's.  The first of the two really big fires took a heavy toll on the cover.  The second one a few years later did too.  And then the hunter orange was everywhere.

I was still shi++in yellow in the mid 80's

[6x6in6]

There are some dandys in the chiwawa, but I personally have seen a decline in the deer population and an increase in the hunter population in the past couple years. Maybe its just me

That decline actually started in the mid 80's.  The first of the two really big fires took a heavy toll on the cover.  The second one a few years later did too.  And then the hunter orange was everywhere.

I was still shi++in yellow in the mid 80's

Some fun times for me in the late 70's and early 80's were had here.  Seeing 100+ easy per day. 25-30 of which were bucks.  Seeing virtually no other humans.  Mule deer hunting in mid November.  No ridiculous draw format to deal with.  Sugarloaf Mt lookout peeked out over the trees instead of a burn.  Couldn't see all the way down to the Mad.  The drive in from Eagle Cr you could count the vehicles you saw on one hand.  French Corral still had a corral. 
Ah, the good 'ole days.........

[hunter_sean08]

6x6in6- It's always awesome to run into guys like you in the woods over there and hear stories about the good ole' days. My grandpa has stories going all the way back to the early 50's about hunting over there and they never get old. I've heard my fair share of horror stories regarding the mismanagement of the deer in the Chiwawa unit including a story about the number of doe tags they used to hand out back in the 70's. Unbelievable.

[6x6in6]

The first couple times I ever went deer hunting was over there in the Chiwawa.
My best friend in high school invited me.  We had been duck hunting for years together and he said wanna go?  I didn't even own a rifle yet and borrowed one from his Dad.  A .308 of some manufacturer with Tasco 4X on top.  Never did squeeze the trigger that first 2 week deer hunt back in '76.  But I did the next year with a brand spanking new Ruger on a little 2x3.  I was hooked!!!
My friends Dad hunted that area since he was kid in the early 60's and his father had started hunting it back in the '50's too.  It was a tradition to go there for deer camp.  At the time, I had no clue, young and dumb.  I sure do respect now days that the offer that was extended to me and what a wealth of information those 2 taught me about that country over the following 8-9 years. 

I still go back from time to time.  In fact, I did just this last season for the closing weekend of the season.  It's just amazing how much different it looks now just to to the post fire days, let alone the pre-fire days.  I even went out and sat at the same spot I shot my very first deer at until shooting hours were up.  Hadn't been back to that very spot since probably 92 or 93 I guess.
I did see a doe at about 1500 yards though.  And a lot of orange!!

[Skyvalhunter]

I ran into this old timer that lives at Lake Wenatchee and BSed with him for quite some time. Boy the stories he told me about the good old days. He had his favorite spot he used to sit at and wait every year and he said sooner or later a nice buck would come by. I ran into his son waiting at the base of the same tree. I remember when I was a kid and drew a doe tag for over there. Wasn't a problem filling that tag for sure.