Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: blindluck on June 13, 2019, 07:51:46 PM

Title: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery *update pics added!*
Post by: blindluck on June 13, 2019, 07:51:46 PM: Awesome news was the theme of my day. Dad is 75 and like some of us doesn't have a smart phone or computer but makes up for it with his Hunting skills.this is the guy that taught me just about everything I know. He lives and breathes Hunting and is still doing it with his bow. About 9:30 this morning he called the game department and got the news that he drew the desert late archery permit. That's when I got the Awesome news that made the rest of my day. Knowing that this unit is tricky to hunt especially never getting to hunt there I would like to ask for tips/ info to get this journey started. Dad is in pretty good shape but any advantages will make it that much sweeter for him. Thanks for any help that might come our way and good luck to all the hunt wa. Community. You can pm me as well. blindluck

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=240059.0;attach=598083;image)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=240059.0;attach=598089;image)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=240059.0;attach=598144;image)

(https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=240059.0;attach=598146;image)
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Birdgetter on June 13, 2019, 08:09:34 PM: Good for him! I know nothing about the area but wish you guys luck! :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: bigmuliebuck on June 13, 2019, 08:10:29 PM: Lucky indeed, congrats to your old man!!!! We will all expect to hear the story of his hunt!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on June 13, 2019, 08:25:03 PM: Quote from: bigmuliebuck on June 13, 2019, 08:10:29 PM
Lucky indeed, congrats to your old man!!!! We will all expect to hear the story of his hunt!
Absolutely, that's part of the deal story and pics.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: dc on June 13, 2019, 08:26:59 PM: I have drawn this tag twice. The fist time was when it was the 3rd week of November and bucks rutting like crazy. The second time it was at its present season. Not busting your bubble, but its not the rut tag of the past. You will have to deal with bucks that have pretty much stopped at least a hard rut. You will be hunting deer after everybody else. The rifle guys, muzzy guys. Not sure why the state thought it fair to move the bow guys behind EVERYBODY else, but just another smart move by the WDFG. Now that being said, just past (couple miles) the Shell station by Mar Don on the right is the C road. Take it and just after the canal bridge you can hunt either side, but I found way more deer to the right of the road. Big sage flats. There will be a few very large sand mounds. You can get up high and glass the sage flats. You can hunt all the way almost to the Potholes state park. There is lots of land, but so much private you need to be careful. Onix maps would be a great thing on this hunt. I spent the most of my time both hunts around the area described above. Saw lots of deer and many nice ones. Even a couple 28" ish. But the majority of them happened in the November season. Good luck and congrats.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on June 13, 2019, 08:45:53 PM: Great tips thank you. How did you do on your hunts?
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Sutherland on June 13, 2019, 08:51:57 PM: Congratulations! Great tag to have
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: highside74 on June 13, 2019, 09:13:34 PM: Tip #1 Take off your boots on every stock. I wasted 2 days busting deer because it was cold and I didn't want to take off my boots.

#2 mark your boots with GPS way point. I kept running into bucks to stock and got turned around. Every dune looks the same. Took me 3 hours to find my boots.

#3 The deer will look from the tops of the dunes and it will seem like they have picked you off but more times than not they are looking past you. I learned that if I just stood there they weren't looking at me.

#4 I would camp and hunt from the i90 side. It is much more archery friendly. But you can drive around every morning. If you camp by Mardon at the state park the water is off at the sites. But you have water at one fill spo, power and hot showers that were way better than my camp trailer.

#5 propane at Mardon resort is crazy expensive. Bring plugin heaters if you are going to camp.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: dc on June 14, 2019, 05:13:20 AM: The first tag, I was a first yr bow hunter and fumbled my way around finally closing the deal on a little buck. The second tag, I had 1 opportunity in horrible conditions and flat blew it on a beautiful 3x3 that was pushing 26/27". And the taking the boots off thing is a good idea if there is frozen snow which is what I dealt with the 2nd time. 12" of hard crusty snow is not easy to sneak around in. And also as stated above, EVERYTHING does look the same. Sagebrush and sand.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Sandberm on June 14, 2019, 07:43:29 AM: I like to take my boots off also if there is crunchy snow or dry grass. With the boots on, no matter how slowly you move there is noise. Boots off, the contours of your feet wrap around and lightly compress the tufts of grass.

Others have also said in past threads to not horizen yourself. Dont stand up ontop of a dune or highspot to see what is a mile away.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on December 02, 2019, 05:09:08 PM: Update- well, dad got it done but a little bit differently. We did minimal looking around and scouting during the hot summer months then ramped up our efforts in October by hanging trail cameras and venturing out into the different areas of the unit. There wasn’t much activity on the cameras and minimal Deer sightings while glassing during the pre-hunt. The plan of action Was to go our yearly late mule deer hunt as usual but dad would hold out on this hunt because of his special permit then come back and hunt the permit the last 8 to 10 days. Realizing that the special permit desert unit hunt would be really challenging and knowing the low archery success rate dad did not hold out long on his general season deer hunt and ended up shooting a heavy horned 3 x 4 with 6 inch bases that measures 27 1/4 inches wide. Thanks again for all who chimed in with tips and information to help in his success.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: lewy on December 02, 2019, 05:16:01 PM: Sweet buck
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: duckmen1 on December 02, 2019, 05:41:11 PM: Great buck

I definitely wouldn't pass in a general season or permit hunt for a archery buck like that. Well worth it.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Dan-o on December 02, 2019, 05:41:40 PM: NICE!!!!

Brutish looking buck.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: HUNTINCOUPLE on December 02, 2019, 05:42:20 PM: Oh my! :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: jackson7 on December 02, 2019, 05:48:28 PM: I would not have been able to wait either had i seen that deer. Its huge. congrats.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: boneaddict on December 02, 2019, 06:27:47 PM: Great buck! :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: MADMAX on December 02, 2019, 06:31:55 PM: Sweet buck especially with a bow
Congrats dad !
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: full choke on December 02, 2019, 06:44:52 PM: Right on! :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: kselkhunter on December 02, 2019, 06:49:12 PM: Congrats. That's a great buck!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Mfowl on December 02, 2019, 07:19:03 PM: Great buck! Congrats!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: swanderek on December 02, 2019, 08:28:47 PM: Wonder how old that deer is
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: CaNINE on December 02, 2019, 08:41:12 PM: :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: bigmacc on December 02, 2019, 08:41:51 PM: Nicely done, DANDY :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: M_ray on December 02, 2019, 08:53:01 PM: Whopper, congrats!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: hunt6226 on December 02, 2019, 08:56:18 PM: Beautiful Buck. Congrats to your Dad..
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Pathfinder101 on December 02, 2019, 09:19:23 PM: Love that buck. Congrats to your pop :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Skyvalhunter on December 03, 2019, 05:23:38 AM: congrats to your Dad awesome buck
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: mburrows on December 03, 2019, 07:03:19 AM: well done! Congrats
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on December 03, 2019, 07:36:18 AM: Quote from: swanderek on December 02, 2019, 08:28:47 PM
Wonder how old that deer is
comparing him with others we have taken one being 7 he seems older. Choppers are almost worn to the bone I’m guessing 8-10
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: dvolmer on December 03, 2019, 08:16:55 AM: Whoooo-Hoooo!!! Way to get it done!!!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: boneaddict on December 03, 2019, 08:21:57 AM: I know I've already commented on this buck, but that is a "super trophy" in this state. I obviously photograph every year and see so few of these old warriors.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: jmscon on December 03, 2019, 10:56:13 AM: Really nice buck, congrats!!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: grundy53 on December 03, 2019, 11:12:52 AM: Awesome buck! Congratulations to your dad!

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Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Wunderlich33 on December 03, 2019, 01:30:13 PM: Great buck!!!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: TVHunts on December 03, 2019, 02:43:35 PM: What an accomplishment! Congrats to he and you! One stud of a buck there.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on December 03, 2019, 03:25:33 PM: Picture just doesn’t really show what he truly looks like in person here’s a little better shot of the heaviness.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Muleyslyr on December 04, 2019, 08:00:56 PM: Damn that's an awesome buck!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Mossyoak on December 14, 2019, 08:26:39 AM: Really nice Buck!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Scott1427 on December 14, 2019, 06:24:46 PM: Beautiful buck!! Looks like you guys made the right call :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on December 24, 2019, 09:17:41 AM: Here are a few pics of dads buck after cleaned degreased and whitened.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: boneaddict on December 24, 2019, 09:24:41 AM: THats Awesome!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: C-Money on December 24, 2019, 10:01:20 AM: Looks great! Congratulations!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Cascade on December 24, 2019, 10:25:46 AM: That’s awesome. Congrats to your dad!

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Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on December 24, 2019, 05:03:32 PM: Quote from: Cascade on December 24, 2019, 10:25:46 AM
That’s awesome. Congrats to your dad!

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Thanks man, he’s still getting it done at with a bow at 75 years old. He is still a stud on the mountain!!!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: elkoholic1 on December 24, 2019, 10:39:40 PM: :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: hunting4sanity on December 24, 2019, 11:16:33 PM: Congratulations to your dad! That buck is a trophy anywhere, anytime.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Gonehuntin01 on December 27, 2019, 07:29:42 AM: That's a great buck. I'm pretty sure I would not have passed that up either. Way to go. Congrats.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on September 24, 2020, 08:14:00 PM: Quote from: swanderek on December 02, 2019, 08:28:47 PM
Wonder how old that deer is
we just got the tooth age results back, he came in at 7 years old. Pretty cool knowing some of these mature deer are surviving multiple seasons.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: MtnMuley on September 24, 2020, 08:25:49 PM: 7 is incredible for WA. Heck of a buck for your dad. :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: blindluck on January 25, 2021, 07:43:52 PM: Here we are a year later, dad got his mount back.
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: jstone on January 25, 2021, 08:11:17 PM: Nice buck
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: ELKBURGER on January 26, 2021, 05:52:18 AM: Beautiful old Buck! Congrats to your Dad!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Widgeondeke on January 26, 2021, 06:48:10 AM: Love the pic with your dad smiling at his trophy :tup:
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Skyvalhunter on January 26, 2021, 06:56:15 AM: That's awesome congrats to your dad. Looks like he has scored on some other nice bucks too
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: bracer40 on January 26, 2021, 07:55:16 AM: Wow! Can’t believe I missed this. Congratulations on a stud trophy!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: Ironhead on January 26, 2021, 07:58:29 AM: Beautiful Buck, congrats to you and your Dad!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: jstone on January 26, 2021, 09:20:34 AM: So general tag? Didn’t use your permit?
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: DOUBLELUNG on January 26, 2021, 10:47:11 AM: Very cool!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery
Post by: bearhunter99 on January 26, 2021, 11:13:44 AM: What a stud of an old warrior! Great buck!
Title: Re: Lucky Lucky Lucky DESERT Late Archery *update pics added!*
Post by: snit on January 31, 2021, 07:05:16 PM: Priceless!