Deer Hunting on Whidbey Island???

[lmm44]

Anybody have suggestions about places on Whidbey Island that I could take my son to go hunting.  I'd like to bring him along this year, and I'm thinking about camping at South Whidbey State park.  Any suggestions??  thanks for any help or leads I could follow up on.
~Larry

[wraithen]

Seth may be of some help here. I hear those island deer tend to be more "inbred retarded dog" than anything else. Sounds like it shouldn't be too hard as long as you find a place to use the weapon you chose.

[Button Nubbs]

there are a few places but i cant remember them off the top of my head. they can be found with a little bit of searching here and on google. dont think it will be a slam dunk, whidbey can be tough.

[dscubame]

Whidbey is loaded with deer and from what I have heard and seen nice deer too.  Major hurdle will be the locals running you off and finding land that is not posted or private to hunt.  The deer are so thick they are pests.

[seth30]

How far are you from Whidbey? I personally door knock and listen for people complaing about deer then I ask for permisson.  Are you doing archery or modern this will make a big difference as well.  The northern herd seems to be healthy, but the greenbank and coupeville herd has had some deer lice or louse issues.  There is very little public land here to hunt.  You can hunt the base if you have a escort as well.  There are a few bruisers on sea plane base.     If you want more info shoot me a PM and we can talk over the phone if you prefer. 

Seth

[The Weazle]

Seth is right...there are some nice deer here.  I have been lucky, I have lived here for 17 years and know some people that will let me shoot a shotgun on their property to kill a deer or two.  I have seen the following scenario play out several times though...Guy gets permission for bow only, guy shoots deer, deer runs 100 yards onto some one elses property.  Guy goes and asks property owner to recover deer and property owner tells him to get lost, never come back.  It really is a crap shoot.  Most public land will be crawling with hunters, and most people with property will not let you hunt.  It is worth asking around, but it has taken me almost all of those 17 years to get permission to shoot a gun on someones property!

[coachcw]

Find some public land thats tought to get to and feed it up ! swamp edges and such . there's some real good bucks there . back track hunt to still hunting real slow then back tracking often will get them up , it can be like phesant hunting , taking a bow shot that puts then down quick isnt a bad idea it can be tought tracking ( in the rain ) good luck.

[MAVsled]

I've hunted 2 areas open to the public the last two years.
after the first day of hunters everywhere on the public ground, the few deer in these areas head to the private land.
Even though it was modern general season (shotgun only), I hunted with my bow.
Later hunted late archery (MS-deer permit) and still the public ground was pretty much vacant of deer, for that matter any animal.
well a few people rode their horses and several roaming free pet dogs. Had 6 game cams in two areas and no images after Oct 30.
Being blacktails, my experience is that those Whidbey deer are pretty much nocturnal Oct-December.

Last year I parked on Bush Pt road one afternoon after a morning hunt, about 1 mile from a public area. Counted over 14 deer that Saturday afternoon @3pm crossing the road in front of me and headed onto private land; and they were in a big hurry!

[irishevox]

where are the public area around whidbey

[blaise]

Yeah i want to fill my tag badly.  I have asked people and no joy.  Can anyone point me in the right direction.  Dont care what size just want some meat in the freezer

[irishevox]

you can always try base as well....  never hurts to try.

[blaise]

yeah its bow only and i dont shoot archery.  I probably should pick that up since i live on an island that is mostly private and wont allow shotguns

[baker5150]

Crossbow?

[irishevox]

Baker5150 during modern firearm you are allowed to use a crossbow, but not on base

[euskfnm]

I was under the impression that muzzle-loader is allowed @ Whidbey am I wrong ?

[Bob33]

http://www.wclt.org/news-publications/fall-hunting-dates/

The entire GMU is a firearm restriction area. Additional local and county restrictions may apply.

[Ripper]

hunted deer on the Island successfully for 6 years. Then the LGBT community moved in and shut it down. Those are the land owners words not mine. They would call the police any time they saw someone with a gun or heard a shot. The police never did anything, it was just a big hassle and the land owners got sick of all the bs. They let people bow hunt last year but a deer got wounded and ran off with an arrow stuck in its side. The neighbors went ballistic so no more bow hunting either. The are a butt load of dear in that area and the landowner wants them thinned out but they fear the militant lesbians.

[fishnfur]

Yeah, that!