Post by: Three_Oh_Eight on October 21, 2012, 08:16:22 PM
We walked behind locked gates in the lower areas that are normally productive....nothing. Went up high up toward Cushman were bucks have been killed by my group in the past....NOTHING. We even spent a day running the roads looking for moving deer when it started to rain and saw NOTHING.
Does didn't seemed to be spooked at all when we saw them. It didn't seem like they were being pushed at all and we haven't found very many rubs or anything.
How have the rest of you guys been doing on the west side? A couple years ago, something similar happened and we ended up killing our deer deep in timber and it seemed like the rut was later. I wonder if this year is similar?
Post by: jennyfell55 on October 21, 2012, 08:24:47 PM
Post by: grousetracker on October 21, 2012, 08:26:03 PM
Post by: PolarBear on October 21, 2012, 08:26:32 PM
Post by: bwhntr350 on October 21, 2012, 08:32:32 PM
Today, the wife and I seen 5 does (Hancock), a herd of elk, a grouse, and a big bear at 600 yards, which I have a tag for but much too far away. It was moving closer to us but got swallowed up by the brush to never be seen again.
Have not seen one single tree tore up, either:(
Post by: AKBowman on October 21, 2012, 08:59:11 PM
Post by: deerhunter_98520 on October 21, 2012, 09:11:34 PM
Post by: firefighter4607 on October 21, 2012, 09:16:38 PM
Post by: fish vacuum on October 21, 2012, 09:36:05 PM
Post by: Bob Williams on October 22, 2012, 01:58:12 AM
Post by: MADMAX on October 22, 2012, 05:05:18 AM
no shots
and lots of hiking
Post by: 2_Savages on October 22, 2012, 06:30:55 AM
We call it hiking with our rifles :chuckle:
Post by: bullcanyon on October 22, 2012, 07:28:39 AM
Post by: MADMAX on October 22, 2012, 08:45:24 AM
I hunt the Methow for mulies and see tons of deer on the valley floor on private ground but hardly any in the woods, maybe WDFW should eliminate some doe tags for anything up that way except on the valley floor using shotgun or archery.
I think it would help.
Not much deer on migration when you can stay all year and eat alfalfa
Post by: kramman on October 22, 2012, 09:16:42 AM
On a side note its been awhile since i've hunted during the regular season for modern firearm, wow what a zoo!
Post by: kglacken on October 22, 2012, 09:29:28 AM
Took my daughter into Vail yesterday and this evening. We got into a ton of grouse, got up high into the snow, had 4 different road systems all to ourselves, hiked timber, glassed remote clear cuts and didn't see a single deer. Our friend has been hitting it all weekend and had seen nothing but does and fawns. I talked to my friend at the check station yesterday and they had only checked out only a couple of decent bucks. Very few people were seeing deer. I did find out that Weyco employees have been hunting the piss out of Vail this week, during the week. When we drove in on Saturday, we were one of the first in and the first to get past the upper Deschutes and we ran into 3 trucks about 20 miles in coming out! Kinda funny that the unit has been closed for a year, had great weather this week and the deer are holed up. Usually they haul at leas 30-50 bucks out of there on opening day. :dunno:This pisses me off. I hunted out there saturday and saw 10 deer. And only one was a really small spike. I remember a few years ago when I was maybe 10 years old, I used to volunteer at the check station and on some days we would check out close to 100 deer on some days. It sure has gone downhill. I love going there because its close to home, I love and know the land, and its a fun place to hunt, but the quality of the unit is going downhill.
Post by: PolarBear on October 22, 2012, 10:39:28 AM
Post by: firefighter4607 on October 22, 2012, 12:24:48 PM
I also hear that the number of cougars has jumped considerably in the past few years.
Ohh no not according to WSU rescearch teams...... :bash: :bash: They are going reduce the kill quota for cougars even more. Because of too many Toms being killed which let more younger cougars control the area.
http://www.cbbulletin.com/423008.aspx (http://www.cbbulletin.com/423008.aspx)
http://www.capitalpress.com/mw-Cougar-research-092612-courtesy-art (http://www.capitalpress.com/mw-Cougar-research-092612-courtesy-art)
Post by: WaltAlpine on October 22, 2012, 03:30:30 PM
Post by: bullcanyon on October 22, 2012, 07:37:34 PM
Post by: Axle on October 22, 2012, 07:54:17 PM
Post by: jtw on October 22, 2012, 10:36:27 PM
Post by: bobcat on October 22, 2012, 10:46:21 PM
Post by: Axle on October 23, 2012, 06:05:28 AM
Quote
With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.
I couldn't disagree more.
The problem is not the number of hunters and limiting them is not the answer. As long as we have too many predators, we will have few ungulates.
Our forefathers managed for ungulates by reducing predator numbers. We used to have much higher success rates and many happy hunters. Now we are being screwed over by bureaucrats, politicians, and dimwitted leaders who hate hunters and hate hunting and hate gun ownership.
Also: when we have hunters dumb enough to vote in favor of a ban on hound hunting, we don't stand much of a chance to survive this attack against us.
Post by: jtw on October 23, 2012, 07:50:23 AM
With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.Permit hunting takes hunting out of the hands of those who need meat. Go that direction and well end up like england.
Post by: bullcanyon on October 23, 2012, 08:40:51 AM
Post by: bobcat on October 23, 2012, 10:26:09 AM
With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.Permit hunting takes hunting out of the hands of those who need meat. Go that direction and well end up like england.
For those who need meat, it's much cheaper to buy it at the grocery store.
Besides, what are the odds of actually bringing home a deer, when there are so few available?
Post by: blackveltbowhunter on October 23, 2012, 10:44:35 AM
I think thats a very subjective argument, based on alot of individual factors.With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.Permit hunting takes hunting out of the hands of those who need meat. Go that direction and well end up like england.
For those who need meat, it's much cheaper to buy it at the grocery store.
Besides, what are the odds of actually bringing home a deer, when there are so few available?
Post by: sirmissalot on October 23, 2012, 10:46:19 AM
I would vote for making it a draw to be able to hunt here. All my buddies in Wyoming have to draw to hunt their areas and they are residents... They have great deer and elk herds.
Post by: bullcanyon on October 23, 2012, 10:53:22 AM
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on October 23, 2012, 11:06:05 AM
With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.
Curse you for saying this!
-Steve
Post by: bobcat on October 23, 2012, 11:14:20 AM
With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.
Curse you for saying this!
-Steve
:chuckle:
I'm going to keep saying it over and over, as long as this subject of plummeting deer populations continues to come up. Something is needed to limit harvest in certain areas. As it is now, there is no management whatsoever. We've got unlimited numbers of deer tags with no control on where those tags are used. Even a point restriction on blacktails would be better than nothing. It's pretty bad when you can go to Vail and not even see one buck the entire day.
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on October 23, 2012, 11:21:26 AM
Post by: bullcanyon on October 23, 2012, 11:25:20 AM
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on October 23, 2012, 11:29:37 AM
Post by: firefighter4607 on October 23, 2012, 11:32:10 AM
I would vote for making it a draw to be able to hunt here. All my buddies in Wyoming have to draw to hunt their areas and they are residents... They have great deer and elk herds.
You have to remeber that Wyoming has alot better predator policy than Washington State. They don't require hunters to purchase a license to hunt most predators except bears and cougars. Wyoming knows how to manage their animals unlike Washington.
Look at Wyoming's quota's for cougars vs Washington's quota's. Wyoming can still use hounds to hunt cougars.
It is a predator problem, some people don't seem to understand that. They seem to think just put everything into draw and it will be all better. Decline the Predators and we will be better off!
Post by: sirmissalot on October 23, 2012, 11:39:58 AM
I would vote for making it a draw to be able to hunt here. All my buddies in Wyoming have to draw to hunt their areas and they are residents... They have great deer and elk herds.
You have to remeber that Wyoming has alot better predator policy than Washington State. They don't require hunters to purchase a license to hunt most predators except bears and cougars. Wyoming knows how to manage their animals unlike Washington.
Look at Wyoming's quota's for cougars vs Washington's quota's. Wyoming can still use hounds to hunt cougars.
It is a predator problem, some people don't seem to understand that. They seem to think just put everything into draw and it will be all better. Decline the Predators and we will be better off!
I agree 100%, you do have a great point.
I got pictures on a trail cam of a family of lions in my favorite deer spot. I used to see several deer there every time I went in, I haven't seen much in there at all this year and back in July I saw about a dozen deer and not one fawn. So your view on predators being a major problem is well understood by this frustrated hunter.
Post by: JackOfAllTrades on October 23, 2012, 11:40:45 AM
With the lack of blacktail deer it would be nice if the state went to permit only hunting, for all deer, statewide.
Curse you for saying this!
-Steve
:chuckle:
I'm going to keep saying it over and over, as long as this subject of plummeting deer populations continues to come up. Something is needed to limit harvest in certain areas. As it is now, there is no management whatsoever. We've got unlimited numbers of deer tags with no control on where those tags are used. Even a point restriction on blacktails would be better than nothing. It's pretty bad when you can go to Vail and not even see one buck the entire day.
I won't disagree that there needs to be game 'management' per region, but 'permit only' state wide is NOT the answer.
-Steve
Post by: headshot5 on October 23, 2012, 11:42:54 AM
Post by: Kowsrule30 on October 23, 2012, 12:05:03 PM
Post by: jtw on October 23, 2012, 12:24:56 PM
Post by: Kowsrule30 on October 23, 2012, 01:14:45 PM
I dont see how permits will fix anything. If anything i could see poaching getting worse. Those that hunt for meat would be left with less options.
Those that poach will still do it anyways.... What is stopping them now??? I could see it getting a little worse but not much... I don't like the permit only idea.... Just need more and better predator management....