Eastern watershed muley

[stew pidasso]

Does anybody know if any of the five permits were filled? 

[CAMPMEAT]

Does anybody know if any of the five permits were filled? 

Where are you talking about ?

[stew pidasso]

Mill creek watershed gmu 157. 5 permits from the 1st to the 10th of oct.

[CAMPMEAT]

Sorry, don't know about that far south.

[njc89]

Sure would like to see a picture if there are any...

[BLUEBULLS]

I know one tag was eaten. The guy that has it also has a late whitetail tag so he was picky. I do know that they saw very few deer with no very good bucks. I heard that at least 1 tag was filled with a 3pt.

[WAcoyotehunter]

it would be a pretty tough deer hunt.  I spent the last two elk seasons in there and only saw a couple of decent deer...way down there...

[stew pidasso]

Thanks for the info. Hope they didn't push any bulls out.

[bradslam]

The hunt ended up being probably the worst deer hunt of my life, considering the effort put into it.  The first four days were hot and dry, followed by three days of near zero visibility fog with rain, snow and high winds thrown in for good measure.  On the eighth day, the weather broke, but the deer still didn't come out.  There was only one tag filled.  The hunter shot a three-point during the last minute of shooting light on the ninth day which happened to be his birthday.  He was glad he got one, but he could have shot that size of deer in any general season unit.  The only legal bucks that I saw were in my headlights in the early morning and only one of those I would have considered shooting...he was pushing 27".  I did jump a big buck on the fifth day, but I only saw the back half of its body.  Never got a look at its rack, but its tracks were huge, so I tracked it for quite a ways.  It dropped down into a hell hole...down, down, down.  I finally gave up, considering that there was no way I was going to get a shot at an alerted deer in that thick of brush.

In case anyone is wondering, we were all experienced deer hunters and hunted hard.  I know that of the three of us that were keeping in close contact with each other, I had the least number of years hunting deer...this is my 32nd deer season.

[WAcoyotehunter]

I believe you- it's a tough place and the deer are tough to find.  Weather in there can kill you!

[deerlick]

i know of the onee three point and with talking to him ur experience is spot on brad.

[HUNT]

That is exactly the type of hunt I expected in there for deer.  Except I expected one of you to come out with a heavy 28-30 inch buck.  I did expect it to be the hardest deer hunt you have probably ever had.  I'm sure you gave it your best effort bradslam - it's a tough hunt and there are no guarantees.

[BLUEBULLS]

The hunt ended up being probably the worst deer hunt of my life, considering the effort put into it.  The first four days were hot and dry, followed by three days of near zero visibility fog with rain, snow and high winds thrown in for good measure.  On the eighth day, the weather broke, but the deer still didn't come out.  There was only one tag filled.  The hunter shot a three-point during the last minute of shooting light on the ninth day which happened to be his birthday.  He was glad he got one, but he could have shot that size of deer in any general season unit.  The only legal bucks that I saw were in my headlights in the early morning and only one of those I would have considered shooting...he was pushing 27".  I did jump a big buck on the fifth day, but I only saw the back half of its body.  Never got a look at its rack, but its tracks were huge, so I tracked it for quite a ways.  It dropped down into a hell hole...down, down, down.  I finally gave up, considering that there was no way I was going to get a shot at an alerted deer in that thick of brush.

In case anyone is wondering, we were all experienced deer hunters and hunted hard.  I know that of the three of us that were keeping in close contact with each other, I had the least number of years hunting deer...this is my 32nd deer season.

The bucks up there don't come out. It's almost like they're a different type of mule deer as they act differently than mule deer do in almost all other areas.

[firefighter4607]

In case anyone is wondering, we were all experienced deer hunters and hunted hard.  I know that of the three of us that were keeping in close contact with each other, I had the least number of years hunting deer...this is my 32nd deer season.

I knew it was going to be a hard hunt no matter how much experience you have. I am glad you got drawn but sorry you had to eat tag soup. It sounded like worked hard to try to get a deer.
I was wondering why they even offered tags in the shed. It seemed odd to me.

[jackelope]

I was wondering why they even offered tags in the shed. It seemed odd to me.

All the new late mule deer permits in the Blues last year changed to mule deer or whitetail this year. Maybe not all of them but most of them. I can't remember for sure and don't have the reg's handy but  it won't surprise me at all if most of those tags are notched with whitetails this year. On my Tucannon muley hunt last year it was crawling with whitetails...and nice ones too, but very few mule deer bucks.

[bradslam]

The bucks up there don't come out. It's almost like they're a different type of mule deer as they act differently than mule deer do in almost all other areas.

I had heard that and it turned out to definitely be true.  I wasn't just sitting around glassing open areas all day.  Most of my time ended up being spent hunting the timber.  I even threw rocks into brushy draws to spook them out.  Just hardly any deer.  A lot of the tracks came out of the Wenaha during the night and back in before daylight.  The deer that stayed in the Watershed were like a needle in a haystack.  If the hunt had occurred later in the month it probably would have been better due to the bucks starting to move.

[wreckerman5357]

I was wondering why they even offered tags in the shed. It seemed odd to me.

All the new late mule deer permits in the Blues last year changed to mule deer or whitetail this year. Maybe not all of them but most of them. I can't remember for sure and don't have the reg's handy but  it won't surprise me at all if most of those tags are notched with whitetails this year. On my Tucannon muley hunt last year it was crawling with whitetails...and nice ones too, but very few mule deer bucks.

I would agree on the lack of muley bucks up Tucannon. Last year we saw three or four during our hunt up on Patit. This year during scouting we have seen three. One big fork horn at the top of Hartsock by the power station and two across the road from our hunting ground on Patit, we are right next to Kelly Allen, just down from where Patit meets Maloney. Lots of whitetails on the stuff we have permission for though.

[firecrotch]

I spent several days with one of the hunters which tagged out on the second to last day. It was a tough hunt for everyone with a tag. As many people know that have spent some time chasing mulies in the Blues, the deer don't show themselves much till they work their way into pre-rut. We were lucky enough to find a lot of deer the last couple of days of the hunt including a buck that was a true monster. He ended up with a buck on his birthday at last light. It was a nice 3x3 with eye guards. Anyone looking to apply for the tag should be prepared that its a tough hunt. It will all come down to the weather, and how much you did your homework before the hunt. It is NOT a hunt you can just drop in 2 days before the season and hope to locate deer. It is definitely a quality hunt permit but you have to consider it will be a major mentally and physically demanding hunt.

[bradslam]

"It is definitely a quality hunt permit but you have to consider it will be a major mentally and physically demanding hunt."

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that statement.  Yes, there was a chance to take a quality buck, but it was in no way, shape, or form a "quality hunt."  Even after Dan shot his three-point, he said the same thing.  I've had the Desert and late Pearrygin tags before, so I know what a real quality hunt is like.  I love a challenge and don't mind tough, rugged hunts; in fact, I hunt rougher country in Wyoming, but someone with a quality permit should be able to pass up multiple bucks.  I'm glad they gave the opportunity to hunt deer in the Watershed, but I think they should have made it a "Buck Deer Permit" initially to see how it goes.  They could probably do some other things like tweaking the season or making it longer to give the option of choosing when you want to hunt based on factors like weather or pre-rut.  With only five permits, what difference would it have made if the season ran for the entire month of October?

[CoryTDF]

I live here in Walla Walla and I know i would not put in for that tag. I never put in for the watershed elk because I archery hunt and I'm not going to go in there with the rifle guys and try to compete with that. I have seen some HUGE bucks near or glassed them inside the watershed but they are few and far between and honestly.... it's hard for me to motivate myself to go into that hell hole without the promise of at least seeing lots of deer. Not saying I will never put in for it but I think there are better tags to use my points on.