Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: steeliedrew on December 10, 2012, 08:05:56 PM
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What I mean by that is for guys like me who live in Seattle and are semi close to good areas in 460, 448, 407, and 454 could I potentially harvest a doe or buck any given year with proper scouting? I have a buddy who tells me I'm wasting my time in the GMU's I listed above. I'm a die hard steelheader and there's an old saying that goes "never leave fish to find fish". That being said, why would I leave deer to find deer?
Being early in my hunting career I don't have high expectations for trophy animals, and I'd be perfectly happy sticking a blacktail doe or a small blacktail buck year to year locally. I figure when I feel the need for a masher I'll head east and hunt mule deer but I always want the option for local blacktail. I'd be able to check cameras pretty regularly in certain areas of 460, 448, 407, and 454 and do tons of scouting this spring and summer. I don't however have time to drive hours every week to "deer rich" areas as my buddy states it and check cameras there.
So here's my real question...For the guys who hunt 407, 448, 454, 460 and have been doing so for a while, did you eventually get to the point where you felt you were "dialed in" so to speak and just know that you could go find a doe or small buck without much effort if you wanted to? But maybe you've been hunting for a while so you choose to chase the even more elusive, mostly nocturnal, mature blacktail bucks, but you just know if you really wanted to, you could take a doe or small buck in short order.
I believe I can get to that point eventually so that I can always have local hunts to fall back on. I know a lot of you are lucky enough to have spectacular hunting right out your back door so this question isn't really aimed at a guy who has 200 acres of prime whitetail property or something of the like. Haha.
I don't know if anything I said will make sense but in any case thanks for listening to my babble.
Drew
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I live in Seattle too. This year I learned that I don't need to drive far to get into deer. Here's a link to the pics of my blacktail that I got in unit 460 this year. It's a decent buck, and I was really happy with him. I hunted the early season over in Eastern WA hoping to get a mulie this year. It was fun, we saw some bucks, but never connected. Due to time constraints and lack of gas money, I hunted unit 460 in the late season. There are some areas that my wife and I have hiked and mt. biked for many years, and know these areas well. For some reason I hadn't taken these areas seriously as hunting areas until last year. I hunted there hard in the late season last year, ended up shooting at a buck with my muzzleloader, but missed. Well, this year, I got one, my first blackpowder kill. I always hear and read that one should concentrate on one area, and hunt an area that is familiar. I am starting to understand that now. So often I over analyze the unit statistics, etc. I often feel that I need to drive down to SW WA to get into blacktails. Well, I think that I may hunt more locally from now on. It just makes sense. Doesn't mean that I won't still try to head to E. WA to hunt mulies or whitetails! There are deer everywhere. Maybe some places hold more than others. For me, it comes down to how available the land is, how crowded it gets during hunting season and also other times of the year. I started hunting with my muzzleloader to avoid crowded hunting seasons. Usually, I encounter few hunters in the woods or out in the sagebrush. Elk is a different story. I haven't figured that out yet.
Anyway, good luck to you, and yes, I think all those nearby units that you listed are good. I've seen deer in each of them.
-FORREST-
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Oops... forgot the link! Here it is-http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,110856.0.html (http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,110856.0.html) :tup:
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that's an awesome buck! Love the dark rack on him. thanks for sharing that.
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This is a great topic. I have been reevaluating my deer hunting areas and I think I will hunt closer to home next year
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I grew up in Federal Way and lived there into my mid 20's, I spent alot of time in 460 and shot more deer in that unit then all the other units I've hunted combined, nothing huge, a 3x3, a few forkies and some spikes. Miss that unit, wish I lived a 50-75 miles closer.
Due to work and family obligations I'm stuck hunting close to home (Kelso) and the local deer down here seem to be alot harder to find then those up north. :bash: There will be a road trip in next years hunting plans.
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I love hunting close to home. I'm not in King County though. But I hunt usually no further than 15 minutes from my house. Most of the time my truck never even leaves the pavement. I don't see a lot of deer, but I do have trail cam pictures, so I know they're there. I'm really just learning how to hunt these local deer, only been seriously at it for 2 to 3 years now. Before that I'd hunt all over eastern Washington for mule deer, and never bothered hunting the blacktails around home. But now with two kids, only one income, and high gas prices, I've been forced to change my ways. And I'm enjoying it. It's really nice hunting the same deer that I scouted all year long, and I get more satisfaction out of it than driving 5 hours and hunting a new area totally blind.
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Probably one of my favorite spots for hunting is a stretch of reprod that is about 150 yards wide and about 1/4 mile long that is right against Hwy 101 that was about 10 minutes from my house. One of the advantages to hunting it is you can use the noise of cars and trucks driving by as sound cover for sneaking. Its one of those type of spots that for whatever reason always holds deer or has deer crossing through it really often. Several years back in early season I shot a nice 4x3 there but never found it and then a month later during modern a lady I know ended up shooting it just a half mile down the road. When she gutted it, she found 6 inches of my arrow still in it and the deer was totally healed up and doing fine. This is all took place within hearing distance of the highway. Seems the last few years, the trees have grown up too much to make it huntable anymore plus there isnt as much feed there too.
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You're way overthinking it. If you know places to find deer, then hunt 'em. You admit to being early in your hunting career. Find some deer and shoot a legal one. Big bucks are everywhere when you decide that's what you want to target.
The *censored*ing internet is ruining hunters. You think a single blacktail hunter asked these kinds of questions 30 years ago? No. They learned spots that held deer and they hunted there.
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:yeah: Just get out and hunt. You gotta quit putting so much thought into it and figure it out as you go
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Drew,
One thing to keep in mind: with the dense cover of the westside and ever increasing human population encroachments into wildlife habitat, it may take you several days to harvest a deer even if you have a general idea where they are. I know places out in Eastern Washington where whitetail abound on private property every single day. Is it a long drive with lots of expensive gas to get there? Yup. But if I can kill a deer in 1-2 days, it may be more cost effective to travel the five hours each way it takes to get to the Palouse than to hunt 'local' and spend 5 days of vacation doing it. That is, if vacation time is limited and you have other things to do with it (honey do list, vacations with the chitlins, etc). By the way, I'm no one special. I knocked on doors out in Eastern WA and was granted permission free by several generous property owners. But yes, it took time and gas to get there.
I think its good and natural to keep your expectations low in your first few years. Kill the first animal you see, take it all in, and ask lots of good questions like you are. You will find that most people who "have gun, will travel" are at a point where they've killed a few animals and want to set goals, go for a new species, and/or see some new country when they hunt. I am pretty much there now. The last couple of years have seen me get to a point where I have passed on several animals--something I wouldn't have fathomed when I first started out at this. Now its gotten so bad for me that I'm going to find myself driving across the West to states here and there... Open your wallet! :bash:
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I took my first WA deer in 454, just have to find spots to hunt. I would of had a second if my bow hadn't broken. Later in the same spot another hunter had a chance to also take a deer (he missed). I have also seen tons of deer out in 460, just never got a chance to go deer hunting out there. I would call any place you listed a waste of time and its a lot cheaper than driving the to the eastside to hunt some overcrowded spot like Oak Creek that you could scout as much because its further away and only see a bunch of hunters taking a dump in the woods.
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I think you will find hunting 448 and 460 at least frustrating at times. The deer are still trying to recover from the hair loss disease, past couple hard winters, high amount of predators, and poaching due to depressed economy. If you go into hunting these areas expecting to get a deer every year you are going to be disappointed. Everyone has high expectations at the beginning of the season but then reality sets in. There is no guarantee that you will even see a deer let alone a doe thru the whole season. Don't expect to shoot a nice buck every year but expect to see alot of road hunters due to the fact you are closer to the urban areas. But that's just my opinion.
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Most of the deer I've taken have been in those units.
A doe isn't hard to find if you pick an area that has some deer sigh and get out and walk and learn the area. I have spots that I go every year and see deer but if I were to drive through may never see one.
After work an hour before dark can make for a short season.
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good insight guys. Thanks for sharing. ultimately I probably only have time for one or two destination deer trips per season especially since I'll be hitting early elk with everything I've got next year. This is why I feel like I need to and can get a local unit dialed in to some degree.
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Well if I were you I wouldn't bank on a deer every year out of the 448 or 460. If you were to look at the stats you would probably see around 5-8%. Just have to make your own luck
