Post by: stew pidasso on October 12, 2011, 07:04:34 PM
Post by: CAMPMEAT on October 12, 2011, 08:14:04 PM
Does anybody know if any of the five permits were filled? :dunno:
Where are you talking about ?
Post by: stew pidasso on October 12, 2011, 08:21:15 PM
Post by: CAMPMEAT on October 12, 2011, 08:40:42 PM
Post by: njc89 on October 12, 2011, 11:29:06 PM
Post by: BLUEBULLS on October 13, 2011, 06:27:36 AM
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on October 13, 2011, 07:05:32 AM
Post by: stew pidasso on October 13, 2011, 08:41:09 AM
Post by: bradslam on October 13, 2011, 08:45:35 AM
In case anyone is wondering, we were all experienced deer hunters and hunted hard. I know that of the three of us that were keeping in close contact with each other, I had the least number of years hunting deer...this is my 32nd deer season.
Post by: WAcoyotehunter on October 13, 2011, 09:08:53 AM
Post by: deerlick on October 13, 2011, 10:58:47 AM
Post by: HUNT on October 13, 2011, 11:10:41 AM
Post by: BLUEBULLS on October 13, 2011, 12:17:57 PM
The hunt ended up being probably the worst deer hunt of my life, considering the effort put into it. The first four days were hot and dry, followed by three days of near zero visibility fog with rain, snow and high winds thrown in for good measure. On the eighth day, the weather broke, but the deer still didn't come out. There was only one tag filled. The hunter shot a three-point during the last minute of shooting light on the ninth day which happened to be his birthday. He was glad he got one, but he could have shot that size of deer in any general season unit. The only legal bucks that I saw were in my headlights in the early morning and only one of those I would have considered shooting...he was pushing 27". I did jump a big buck on the fifth day, but I only saw the back half of its body. Never got a look at its rack, but its tracks were huge, so I tracked it for quite a ways. It dropped down into a hell hole...down, down, down. I finally gave up, considering that there was no way I was going to get a shot at an alerted deer in that thick of brush.
In case anyone is wondering, we were all experienced deer hunters and hunted hard. I know that of the three of us that were keeping in close contact with each other, I had the least number of years hunting deer...this is my 32nd deer season.
The bucks up there don't come out. It's almost like they're a different type of mule deer as they act differently than mule deer do in almost all other areas.
Post by: firefighter4607 on October 13, 2011, 01:03:14 PM
In case anyone is wondering, we were all experienced deer hunters and hunted hard. I know that of the three of us that were keeping in close contact with each other, I had the least number of years hunting deer...this is my 32nd deer season.
I knew it was going to be a hard hunt no matter how much experience you have. I am glad you got drawn but sorry you had to eat tag soup. It sounded like worked hard to try to get a deer.
I was wondering why they even offered tags in the shed. It seemed odd to me.
Post by: jackelope on October 13, 2011, 01:07:04 PM
I was wondering why they even offered tags in the shed. It seemed odd to me.
All the new late mule deer permits in the Blues last year changed to mule deer or whitetail this year. Maybe not all of them but most of them. I can't remember for sure and don't have the reg's handy but it won't surprise me at all if most of those tags are notched with whitetails this year. On my Tucannon muley hunt last year it was crawling with whitetails...and nice ones too, but very few mule deer bucks.
Post by: bradslam on October 13, 2011, 02:24:30 PM
The bucks up there don't come out. It's almost like they're a different type of mule deer as they act differently than mule deer do in almost all other areas.
I had heard that and it turned out to definitely be true. I wasn't just sitting around glassing open areas all day. Most of my time ended up being spent hunting the timber. I even threw rocks into brushy draws to spook them out. Just hardly any deer. A lot of the tracks came out of the Wenaha during the night and back in before daylight. The deer that stayed in the Watershed were like a needle in a haystack. If the hunt had occurred later in the month it probably would have been better due to the bucks starting to move.
Post by: wreckerman5357 on October 13, 2011, 02:38:42 PM
I was wondering why they even offered tags in the shed. It seemed odd to me.
All the new late mule deer permits in the Blues last year changed to mule deer or whitetail this year. Maybe not all of them but most of them. I can't remember for sure and don't have the reg's handy but it won't surprise me at all if most of those tags are notched with whitetails this year. On my Tucannon muley hunt last year it was crawling with whitetails...and nice ones too, but very few mule deer bucks.
I would agree on the lack of muley bucks up Tucannon. Last year we saw three or four during our hunt up on Patit. This year during scouting we have seen three. One big fork horn at the top of Hartsock by the power station and two across the road from our hunting ground on Patit, we are right next to Kelly Allen, just down from where Patit meets Maloney. Lots of whitetails on the stuff we have permission for though.
Post by: firecrotch on October 16, 2011, 12:19:38 AM
Post by: bradslam on October 16, 2011, 08:58:35 AM
I'm going to have to disagree with you on that statement. Yes, there was a chance to take a quality buck, but it was in no way, shape, or form a "quality hunt." Even after Dan shot his three-point, he said the same thing. I've had the Desert and late Pearrygin tags before, so I know what a real quality hunt is like. I love a challenge and don't mind tough, rugged hunts; in fact, I hunt rougher country in Wyoming, but someone with a quality permit should be able to pass up multiple bucks. I'm glad they gave the opportunity to hunt deer in the Watershed, but I think they should have made it a "Buck Deer Permit" initially to see how it goes. They could probably do some other things like tweaking the season or making it longer to give the option of choosing when you want to hunt based on factors like weather or pre-rut. With only five permits, what difference would it have made if the season ran for the entire month of October?
Post by: CoryTDF on October 16, 2011, 09:33:41 AM