Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: duckman18 on January 12, 2023, 10:49:45 AM

Title: Whitetail
Post by: duckman18 on January 12, 2023, 10:49:45 AM: Since my hunting partners and I struck out on Idaho tags this year, I am thinking about going up to the north east corner for Whitetail in November. I’ve done that once 10 years ago and had good success but we stayed in a hotel. We’ve never had issues in Idaho finding a camp spot never had Anybody mess with our camp is the north east corner the same way or are camp spots hard to come by and do you have to worry about people messing with your camp or do they seem to leave them alone. We will be hunting out of a wall tent.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: baldopepper on January 12, 2023, 11:06:14 AM: Plenty of camp spots. Both in the various campgrounds and boon docking on forest service ground. Don't think people messing with your camp is really any better or worse than anywhere else in the state, but always beware of leaving stuff out for the grab and run type. Weather can be a big factor in that late hunt, snow and cold are fairly common so best to keep access in mind if you choose to set up far from the main roads
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: vandeman17 on January 12, 2023, 11:08:20 AM: We have both camped plenty of times in NE corner during wt season and never had an issue with stuff being stolen and also finding spots to camp
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: buckfvr on January 12, 2023, 11:20:41 AM: Youre going to want to see this years harvest reports. I see maybe 1/4 of the deer from even 10 years ago. No gimmies over here anymore.

Several of the guys in our loop have had stuff stolen, no truck break ins but we expect its coming. Camp where your camp is visible so you can see it from a distance and it gets driven by relatively often. Isolated camps and parked vehicles are targets. Plenty of places to camp 100-200 yards off roads but wide open so no one can sneak around without being spotted.

For a fact, bunches of thieves in Chewelah, Colville, Arden, Addy, Curlew.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: huntnnw on January 12, 2023, 12:27:46 PM: Do not leave valuables. I know a ton of people who have had people go through their stuff . There a couple members on here
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: dvolmer on January 12, 2023, 04:27:47 PM: Meth-Head city up there. That’s why.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: kodiak06 on January 13, 2023, 12:20:25 PM: Quote from: duckman18 on January 12, 2023, 10:49:45 AM
Since my hunting partners and I struck out on Idaho tags this year, I am thinking about going up to the north east corner for Whitetail in November. I’ve done that once 10 years ago and had good success but we stayed in a hotel. We’ve never had issues in Idaho finding a camp spot never had Anybody mess with our camp is the north east corner the same way or are camp spots hard to come by and do you have to worry about people messing with your camp or do they seem to leave them alone. We will be hunting out of a wall tent.

They sold over 1,000 tags yesterday, still over 200 left if you're unaware
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: duckman18 on January 13, 2023, 01:23:06 PM: Quote from: kodiak06 on January 13, 2023, 12:20:25 PM
Quote from: duckman18 on January 12, 2023, 10:49:45 AM
Since my hunting partners and I struck out on Idaho tags this year, I am thinking about going up to the north east corner for Whitetail in November. I’ve done that once 10 years ago and had good success but we stayed in a hotel. We’ve never had issues in Idaho finding a camp spot never had Anybody mess with our camp is the north east corner the same way or are camp spots hard to come by and do you have to worry about people messing with your camp or do they seem to leave them alone. We will be hunting out of a wall tent.

They sold over 1,000 tags yesterday, still over 200 left if you're unaware
Yeah not interested in any of the units that are left thanks I don’t know anything about them
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: Buckhunter24 on January 13, 2023, 01:32:49 PM: I've camped many nights in NE WA for hunting and work and never had my camps messed with. That said the work camps are pretty sparse and the hunting camp usually has an old guy or 2 in it every couple hours throughout the day. I think you're most likely fine but there are definitely tweakers around so there's always a chance of an issue.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: Rutnbuxnbulls on January 24, 2023, 12:23:16 PM: Quote from: buckfvr on January 12, 2023, 11:20:41 AM
Youre going to want to see this years harvest reports. I see maybe 1/4 of the deer from even 10 years ago. No gimmies over here anymore.

This is some sage advice. Just two years ago I'd see the same dozen deer on my way to work. Now I'm lucky to see one. Usually it's none.
Predators, disease, and deregulating the units has caused the quantity and quality of deer in the NE corner to decline terribly. When they were 4 point or better units I saw bucks everywhere. Now it's bleak.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: huntnnw on January 24, 2023, 10:45:58 PM: then you get the social media guys " you just dont hunt hard enough" 'I pass tons of legal bucks" blah blah. No crap there is deer, but they are a mere fraction of 10 years ago. Trail cameras do not lie, glassing ag fields do not lie. Fields that had 50 deer a night in them 10 years ago are now 8-15 deer, places I ran cams where the normal for 10 plus years was 7-12 different bucks at every cam, some places now have 0 bucks! and maybe 2-4 does. I have friends who run 30-50 cams a year in 204,101,105,108 and all have said the same thing. The days in 101 where we could throw out a cam and some feed and have 145"+ buck or 3 at every cam every year are long gone! Good friend of mine ran 30 cams this year up there and found 1 big buck in 5 months of scouting, sad days in this state right now.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: highcountry_hunter on January 25, 2023, 03:50:26 AM: As said earlier; there’s deer, just not very many. I ran 20 cameras last year between 101, 105 and 113. I found one really good buck. A handful of okay bucks but for the most part pretty bleak.

As far as camping spots go, especially during the late whitetail season you won’t have any troubles at all finding good camping spots along forest service roads.

Also, if you don’t see any deer feel free to put your tag on a methhead, squatter or just common vagrant. Just be sure to call a sheriffs deputy opposed to the state patrol when you have your harvest sealed and all will be well

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: nwwanderer on January 25, 2023, 07:16:38 AM: With a few hundred most any winter evening at the peak in 127, now a few dozen. Patience is a virtue
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: elkboy on January 25, 2023, 07:23:00 AM: It's true down here in the Palouse, as well. I'm seeing about 20-25% of the deer I used to see. There is a run I take outside of town of a given length, that I usually take at the same time in the evening on the days I do it. Eight to ten years ago, I'd see 70-100 whitetails, and now I see 20-25. The EHD/bluetongue outbreaks of 2015 and 2020 really hit the whitetails hard. Predation is less of a factor here than in the northeast, and our herds are still down.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: MeepDog on January 25, 2023, 09:13:39 AM: I've hunted 4 general seasons up in the colville area as a kid and we never got broken into. We camped in a more popular area and because of that there was more pressure, but I never had the feeling that sketchy stuff was going on. We saw deer every year, but the bucks are holed up tight in thickets and the does are being pushed around by other hunters. It's doable just steer clear of the crowds.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: PolarBear on January 25, 2023, 11:22:05 AM: We always took a couple of old timers to be camp guards and cooks. Keeps the riffraff out.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: KNOPHISH on January 25, 2023, 03:32:27 PM: NE is where most of the state wolves are so their packs are growing. I talked to a wolf hunter in Montana last season and said all he finds inside em is deer. We actually saw 2 chasing a very nice whitetail buck.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: PA BEN on February 10, 2023, 02:40:42 PM: Bluetongue has wiped out the deer herds in the NE corner. With winter starting the end of Oct. with snow and tons of it, winter kill is going to be high. My place is just North of Chewelah and only within the last week, are we starting to see bear ground in the valley. That's 4 months. I haven't seen a deer on my place scene last November. I saw the first wolf on my place the first week of November chasing a deer through my field in front of my house.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: baldopepper on February 10, 2023, 04:18:03 PM: Quote from: PA BEN on February 10, 2023, 02:40:42 PM
Bluetongue has wiped out the deer herds in the NE corner. With winter starting the end of Oct. with snow and tons of it, winter kill is going to be high. My place is just North of Chewelah and only within the last week, are we starting to see bear ground in the valley. That's 4 months. I haven't seen a deer on my place scene last November. I saw the first wolf on my place the first week of November chasing a deer through my field in front of my house.
I'm wondering with 2023 seasons already set if wdfw has any plans to address the whitetail situation. No question the numbers were already way down going into this winter and with any winter kill at all it could be a desperate situation. Not sure what would work and hate to give up opportunity, but I think it's time for some action before its too late APR, shorter season, restrictive hunter quota, complete area closure? Not sure what, if any, the answer is. I don't think wolves are as big a part of the problem(not saying they aren't part of it) as the mtn lions are. Seeing lions on a regular basis and they are getting pretty bold. Last one I saw ran across the road in front of my truck, stopped about 15' out and turned and glared back. No gun handy unfortunately.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: buckfvr on February 10, 2023, 04:40:28 PM: ALL predators are the problem, ALL of them, to go along with blue tongue. We do NOT need to lose opportunity to hunt, we just need to control the harvest. 4pt antler restrictions works, did last time quite well. Focus on the opportunity to hunt not kill.
Title: Re: Whitetail
Post by: Sneaky on February 10, 2023, 04:51:58 PM: The harvest stats from the 4pt min years and their aftermath don't lie. It made hunting way, way, way more awesome.