High Buck Drop camp opinions requested

[boneaddict]

I'd suggest the September high hunt for weather.  MOST of the drop camp hunts in the Pasayten are only accesible during the high hunt and not a general season hunt.   If you are looking for the experience, the high buck hunt can't be beat.  It varies alot with temps from 100's to snowing/blizzard in September, sometimes strangely enough from day to day.  That sort of hunt in the later fall can take its toll even on a serious hunter/woodsman.    As for quality deer....th high hunt can be an awesome experience, but not necessarily a hunt with high percentages of harvest.  If you are looking for a "sure thing" then you need to look out of state IMO.  There are several outfitters in the valley with quality hunts.  Many of their names will no doubt show up in this thread.  The several outfits that I know of are all of good people.  If you are unaware of what a drop camp consists of, there are a couple folks on here, Like Idabooner who could probably answer your questions for you as he used to wrangle for one of the local outfitters, specifically in the Pasayten.

[bobcat]

One other thing I will have to take into account is my dad is no mountain goat.  Are any of these areas Steeper and more rugged then others?

For the easiest terrain, you might try the eastern side of the Pasayten. You'll still need to do plenty of walking, but it's not all straight up and down like the other areas. My brother and I did a drop camp with Cascade Wilderness Outfitters (Steve Darwood) in 2005 and had a good time. They do put quite a few camps all in the same general area though, so don't expect to have it all to yourself.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Upon researching the critter counts for the Okanogans, Pasayton, and the Chelan area it does look like Okanogan East has the most deer.  I'm going to have to look really serious at that unit. 

I'm having a hard time determining which units comprise the different high buck wilderness zones.  Is the Okanogan East unit part of the September High buck hunt or just open for October, looks like October to me?

[jackelope]

The high hunt is not based on GMU boundaries, it's based on Wilderness boundary lines. If it's not in a wilderness area, it's not part of the high hunt. There's GMU's that have some land in the wilderness and some not in the wilderness, only that part of the unit in the wilderness areas are open.

[Lunatic Fringe]

Jackalope,
I think I'm seeing that.  The Okanogan East would be an October only hunt.  It's hard to get any kind of critter counts for anything other than a GMU or a full PMU.  I guess I'm trying to associate the data I'm seeing by GMU with the wilderness areas to narrow down a good general location for a September hunt, while keeping the option open for the October hunt.  Not always easy to extrapolate the data.

[bobcat]

The Pasayten Wilderness is entirely within the Pasayten GMU (203.) I believe the Clark GMU (244) is made up entirely of the Glacier Peak Wilderness. This wilderness is also within the Cascade GMU (450) but that would be on the west side of the Pacific Crest trail. Similarly, the Alpine GMU (249) is the Alpine Lakes Wilderness east of the Pacific Crest trail. The part of that wilderness on the west side is in the Snoqualmie GMU (460).
 
So for what you're looking for, you'd want to look at statistics for GMU's 203, 244, and 249.

[muleracks2]

I wouldn't put too much faith in the wdfw harvest reports for the High Hunt.  Many of the hunters that get counted or report in are only hunting near the trailheads; those who pack in have a much higher harvest rate.  At least that is true in the Clark GMU 244 and Alpine GMU 244 and probably true in the Pasayten.
The Pasayten Wilderness is divided into regions by the outfitters so the:
Harts Pass area is www.earlywintersoutfitting.com
Tatoosh Buttes area is www.altalake.com (Sawtooth Outfitters)
Remmel Lakes area is www.methow.com/c_w_outfitters (Cascade Wilderness Outfitters)
Little farther east and Lake Chelan Rec. Area is www.northcascadesafaris.com

It is true that some of the outfitters book up early; especially for the Sept. 15-25 High Hunt.  For the pack in October drop camps the outfitters in Okanogan offer Sawtooth Wilderness and Lake Chelan Rec. Area hunts both guided and drop camps.  Most outfitters are not that busy packing camps in October.  Icicle Outfitters & Guides, south of Lake Chelan is fully booked for the High Hunt but could add a drop camp or two during the General Season.

[Biggerhammer]

The comment about not seeing a migrator in October in the high country, is untrue.

I completely agree, it made me laugh. No migrating deer, I'm still laughing.

[elkaholic123]

You wont see a migration,

The comment about not seeing a migrator in October in the high country, is untrue.

I completely agree, it made me laugh. No migrating deer, I'm still laughing.

He said migration! FWIW

[Biggerhammer]

Is there really a difference? Now we are talking #No's   It all depends on when the snow hits the ground, sometimes it's even as early as the first real frost.

[buckfvr]

Have your laugh.....and someday you will even ( maybe ) learn to understand what you read.

[muleracks2]

We see evidence of the mule deer migration after the first good snow; often in late September.  The Entiat Valley looks like a herd of sheep have gone down the trails; mostly does, fawns and young bucks; mature bucks tend to hang back.  This is in the backcountry way before they reach the roaded areas.  They probably stop as soon as they get out of the snow.  In our country (Chelan County) we worry about a heavy snow in October because an early migration would trigger a blood bath in the open country left by the fires.  We would rather see a more controlled harvest by permit hunters.
Okanogan is less dependent on the migration because of there whitetail and nonmigratory mule deer.

[Biggerhammer]

Bingo! Muleracks2... I've hunted the Entiat my life. It's my back yard .

[JimmyHoffa]

Muleracks2, I've heard pretty much what you said.  That it depends on snow level and how it obscures food.  That the does will start bringing the fawns/yearlings down when the ground forage is covered at about 3-4 inches for more than a few days.  The bucks hold out longer...maybe a foot of snow before they tire of eating buds only.  If the snow isn't too deep for the bucks, then the rut will bring them down to the does.  I heard this for muleys, but it seems to hold for blacktails too.  There was a blacktail doe/fawn I had been seeing a lot around 6,000 feet for the summer and up until Oct 17th last year.  Then the first snow came and I next found them at about 3400 feet a couple days later.  There were some more snow storms and eventually the bucks finally showed up around Oct 29th.

[MtnMuley]

We're not talking migration into the Entiat. We're talking high country. Big difference.