Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Backcountry Hunting => Topic started by: teanawayslayer on August 20, 2018, 09:05:18 PM

Title: Fire closures
Post by: teanawayslayer on August 20, 2018, 09:05:18 PM: Well here we go again. Seems like every other year Access to my high hunt spot is shut down do to fire. At first I was a little upset but now with plan b in play I’m pretty excited. Usually I go in a day before and usually tag out in a day or so. Plan b calls for almost 12 days in a place I’ve always wanted to go. But for what ever reason I’ve never gone. Anyone else’s plans changed due to closures?
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: Jason on August 21, 2018, 10:07:48 AM: Is there a map of the closed areas?
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: jstone on August 21, 2018, 12:24:11 PM: :yeah:
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: boneaddict on August 21, 2018, 12:54:03 PM: Yes my plans have changed and then changed again. Then to top it off, I hiked in the smoke last year and did real damage to my lungs. I blew it off as I wanted to “hunt”. Dumb!
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: Jason on August 21, 2018, 01:04:16 PM: https://usfs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=bd6c1ad8feb541e7952fc097273f926f
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: ian_padron on August 21, 2018, 03:23:35 PM: Quote from: boneaddict on August 21, 2018, 12:54:03 PM
Yes my plans have changed and then changed again. Then to top it off, I hiked in the smoke last year and did real damage to my lungs. I blew it off as I wanted to “hunt”. Dumb!

I've cancelled 2 bear hunts already this year due to the smoke. Last year I was out and about a little too much in the smoke and was clearing black gunk out of my sinuses for a week, not worth it, you're absolutely right Bone
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: ian_padron on August 21, 2018, 03:27:28 PM: Yeah I was just reading over the GPW closures, that place can't catch a break! Maybe Mother Nature is sick of you killing a buck back there every year ;) Couple nice bear spots up that way but I'm elsewhere for the high hunt.

Last year my spot was shut down and I was incredibly bummed, hunted my plan B spot and didn't see a single deer in 4 days. The joys of hunting in September
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: Ridgerunner on August 21, 2018, 03:37:18 PM: Still lots of time between now and then to get it reopened up. Or have you heard it is closed until much later?
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: Highhuntin on August 21, 2018, 03:58:07 PM: yeah does anyone know the projected timeline for reopening?
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: teanawayslayer on August 21, 2018, 05:25:17 PM: Quote from: Ridgerunner on August 21, 2018, 03:37:18 PM
Still lots of time between now and then to get it reopened up. Or have you heard it is closed until much later?
i’ve Scrambled in the past to find a place to go last minute and it usually doesn’t work out. I think it was 2 years ago I called 3 days before leaving and was told it would not reopen until the 25. I hiked into a spot 16 hours straight. It whooped my arse. A couple of buddies were supposed to join me but due to there age they couldn’t make it all the way in. I did have cell service and they informed me they were not going to make it all the way in. I hunted the opener and saw several bucks but nothing with packing out. Saw several guys that were hunting after the wilderness sign but was not in the high hunt area. :bash:.hiked down to meet my buddies the next day and was informed that th forest circus had open the valley. Blistered my feet worse than I ever had. Then hiked into my normal spot. Spent the night. Woke up the next morning and hiked out because there was no way I was packing out a deer with the way my feet were. I’ve now got plan b and it’s a great one. On horses for that matter :chuckle:
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: jstone on August 26, 2018, 10:52:43 PM: So what’s the weather looking like at the fires? Is this helping? Heading up high Saturday hope the cooling and hope mountain rain is helping?
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: Skyvalhunter on August 27, 2018, 05:11:06 AM: How high and in what general area?
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: jstone on August 27, 2018, 07:53:08 AM: Around 6000 feet camp. Lake Wenatchee area
Title: Re: Fire closures
Post by: ian_padron on September 02, 2018, 01:19:45 PM: I wasn't too far from there Thurs/Fri last week. Could still see the Cougar Creek fire burning from my vantage point, although you could tell it had died down significantly.

It's WAYYY cooler up high but I haven't seen it this dry up there in my 4 years in WA. Absolutely ZERO water.

Going to need a couple more good storms to knock things down for good I reckon.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk