Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: Dustin07 on November 17, 2009, 09:34:24 AM
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What's going on in the Riffe Lake area? I'm planning on working Peterman Ridge this weekend and wanted to get some ideas of what the behavior is like down there right now. Are we already post rut, or are we getting into the middle of it?
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Locate does and you should find bucks around. Every populations varies a bit. Saw a lone buck last evening 3x2 feeding on grass along the road.
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they don't seem to be rutting at all yet. at least the ones i've seen.
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thats interesting, up here, only 75 miles away, people were telling me they appeared to be rutting at least 1.5-2weeks ago.
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they are rutting all over now...just that peak breeding of specific doe groups may vary, but yeah - it's on. I believe peak breeding occurred in the areas I hunt around 11/14 based on deer activity. There is often a lull of a few days just after, then the bucks go nuts in the following week or so seeking more deer. this week is going to be prime for mid-day hunts or all day hunts in doe transition/feed areas. Bucks will be scent checking them and trail systems.
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I've never hunted the rut before, or with scent before, so this should be interesting... thanks for the feedback.
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i've got a spike and a 3 point hanging out together in my yard almost every night, neither seem to be rutting yet. their necks aren't swelled, and they don't seem to be interested in any of the does in the area. :dunno:
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If you are hunting Peterman ridge get out and walk behind gates. There are some really nice cuts above Riffe lake.
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most of the clear cuts above the lake are private property. ORM has most of those posted no trespassing. people do sneak on there, but if you get caught, you get a ticket for trespassing.
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That is true but there is some public land there and I have seen some nice bucks come out of there in the past. However it is getting grown up.
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it is getting grown up and tougher to find deer up there. maybe it's just me, but there doesn't seem to be near the deer up there now as there was 5 years ago. hunting pressure has sure gotten a lot worse too. most of the time you can't buy a ticket at any of the gates. they are doing some more logging up there, so there should be some decent new cuts in a couple of years.
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jstamp you took the words out of my mouth. My old man logged some of that and hunts it alot. He said that he hardly saw any does during regular season. He used to see up to 20 deer a day in there. Hard winter last year? maybe or he is getting old. lol
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i wouldn't say he's getting old. i hunt and scout it a lot, and there just isn't the amount of deer up there as there used to be. there isn't even a lot of deer sign anymore. that place used to be a guarantee for at least a 2 point, now i struggle just to see a few does up there. last year i hunted it everyday, after opening week, and i only saw 12 deer total and one little spike buck. it was the worst i've seen it yet. this year i went up there a few times, and saw a few does and no bucks. this year i started looking for new areas to hunt blacktails. :bash:
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j stamp, what do you think is happening there? I know I have seen what that area can produce and to hear that it has dried up that much from several people. Really makes me wonder?
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i wish i knew!! i talked to the biologist and the warden last year at the office in morton and they told me that it was poaching. i personally don't think that it's all poaching, maybe a slice of the pie, but not totally. i think it has to do with several things. 1. 10 times the hunting pressure as it was a few years ago. 2. habitat. most of the clear cuts are grown up now, so feed isn't as abundant. 3. predators. lots of yotes, bears, and big cats up there. 4. poaching. i do know that the area is spotlighted quit a bit, so i think you to have factor it in there, but not the sole reason for the numbers being down. i've also noticed that more and more people are out hunting, by this i mean walking. there used to be tons of people up there driving around (and there still is) but now there are just as many people out of their rigs and hunting. like i said before, if you want to walk behind a gate, you better be there at around 3 am.
it is frustrating to see that place go down hill so quickly. I have seen some big bucks come off of that hill in the past, having taken a few myself.
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Poaching numbers have probably remained the same or even decreased, but i am sure predator numbers are rapidly increasing. 2+2=4.
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I feel it's cougar and maybe hairslip. One place I hunted in 2007 I found roughly 30 fawn skeletons in or near the road, over the course of about 5 miles, behind a gate. I can only assume it was from cougar, course maybe other things...
I definitely know that the deer population is not half of what it was 10 yrs ago. If I was to guess I'd say about 1/3.
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I agree predation is a huge problem and I plan on doing my part to help this winter with some yotes goin down. On another note I have seen tons of does with fawns this year in the area I hunt (not mossyrock)
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The 2 point is a deer that came out of that area. The other buck was taken in Grays Harbor.
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i had a little snow at my house this morning. that should put those bucks into the rut. looks like the hills got an inch or two. good luck to all the guys hunting late blacktail. i wish i could hunt too, but montana is calling my name. :IBCOOL:
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Jstamp and I have hunted peterman hard the last 6 or 7 years. I think the lack of deer the last 2 years is the lack of clearcuts. Most all the clearcuts up there are realling getting grown up.
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I feel it's cougar and maybe hairslip. One place I hunted in 2007 I found roughly 30 fawn skeletons in or near the road, over the course of about 5 miles, behind a gate. I can only assume it was from cougar, course maybe other things...
I definitely know that the deer population is not half of what it was 10 yrs ago. If I was to guess I'd say about 1/3.
Hairloss Syndrome is claiming a lot of deer and it cycles through areas. I would suspect from the reports you guys mention that HLS has had played a significant role in the deer numbers, especially does and fawns. Most bucks survive HSL after the first winter. Now is about the time when the lice will leave the ground (deer beds) and start hosting on the deer. Finding fawn remains is a big clue here. Cougars will take any deer, not just target fawns and yearlings as bears and coyotes do.
Might sound harsh but HLS can actually improve buck hunting because there are fewer does, creating lots more competition. Rattling in HLS areas can be a great tactic.
I'd probably just look for a new area and give this deer population a couple years to recover. Maybe move a few miles and see what kind of sign you're seeing there. But it doesn't do you any good to want something that can't be - great hunting. Things change and it's tough to move on but sometimes that's the deal.
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Just got home today from our late buck permit hunt in sw Wa. We took two, a 4x4 and a 3x3. The bucks are rutting hard. Their metertarsal glands are oozing juice..... Fresh rubs all over the place.
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thanks for the feedback guys. we head out at 0:dark:30 am tomorrow. I would hunt a different area, but I just haven't found an area I like. This one is a bit of a drive for me, but i like the terrain more. The hunting up here is so damn dense you can't see anything. I know it's fairly dense down there as well, but there are more clearings (even if they are growing in). and turkeys. at least there are turkeys.
if I see a Yote I'll take him down.
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i've got a spike and a 3 point hanging out together in my yard almost every night, neither seem to be rutting yet. their necks aren't swelled, and they don't seem to be interested in any of the does in the area. :dunno:
Maybe there's a reason why those two bucks hang out alone togethr.... :rolleyes:
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The lack of deer in East lewis county is due to poaching. Alot of the bear grass pickers, fern pickers, bow cutters and mushroomers add to alot of pressure on the deer also. There is just alot more activity in the woods now. Add to the fact that the tweekers in East Lewis aren't helping either.
