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Author Topic: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST  (Read 4060 times)

Offline MrSmallington

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UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« on: October 16, 2018, 08:12:01 AM »
Hey folks,  Dumb question but thought id ask and start a thread. I've been in cap forest  past two years. i see tracks and droppings in my area but have only seen one blacktail I should have taken. It was opening day last year and i figured id find bigger... Nope. To some this  up, Anyone hunt there and have luck? i get a lot of road hunters as I hike around but no one ever stops and hikes.  tips? area suggestions? ive been hunting in WA for 4 years now and keep coming up empty. looking for my first tag. just meat not a trophy.  hunting with a rifle.

Offline Milkman

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2018, 08:24:54 AM »
Best advice I can give..... go somewhere without roads. Place is a joke! I've never seen so many road hunters and I have a Hancock white river pass  :chuckle:
Went down to sight in rifles at cap peak shooting pit Saturday mid day [ I'm a bow hunter, realized it was the modern opener so we didn't shoot] Drove by the pit and tthere were 6 cars maybe 10 people out blasting away.
Decided to just take the B line over to rock candy to cut over to the freeway. Past about 30 road hunters. Idaho, Oregon,  even 2 Nebraska plates....  :dunno: maybe there trying to get a BT? All wearing orange. Drove out to a gate where I know a good clear cut is but in over a mile, nobody there. 
Either park at the gates and head deep, or try different ground. Sorry not much help.
Good luck, you still got time.

Offline Screaminreelz

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2018, 08:41:43 AM »
I think it's all about timing. I spent 5 days up there for a total of about 25 hours maybe during early archery and have seen more deer this year plus one bear than any of the last 5 years. I let one arrow fly but my own personal fault for not being patient. Long story but when a minor deflection turns into a major deflection lol. Wait until you have a clear shot I guess. Oh and I got a grouse as well.

My 2cents, early or late evenings away from the roads. Hunting is boots on the ground not tire rubber.

Good luck and PM if you want a few spots to check out.
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Offline WSU

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2018, 08:43:12 AM »
I have friends that hunt it each year and kill deer during rifle season.  Like everywhere else, try to find a location that doesn't have a road running through it, and hunting will get better as we get closer to the end of the month.

Offline MrSmallington

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #4 on: October 16, 2018, 08:53:14 AM »
I have friends that hunt it each year and kill deer during rifle season.  Like everywhere else, try to find a location that doesn't have a road running through it, and hunting will get better as we get closer to the end of the month.

Im normally on the SW side of the forest. any suggestions?  where i set p is the top of a large hill. fat clear cut with a creek at the bottom. road (that dead ends, not much through traffic) and a good thick tree line behind that that is scattered with droppings. never see life though, just signs.

Offline WSU

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #5 on: October 16, 2018, 08:57:58 AM »
I don't and I don't know where they hunt.  It sounds like all over.  And I know some of the clearcuts they sit on have roads, so it may be that you just have to be there at the right time.  With the weather we are having and the time of the month, don't expect to see much.  The deer will get much more active during daylight as we get closer to the end of the month because the rut will start.  They are also more active in daylight in bad weather.  Right now is the perfect combo to see nothing.

Offline MrSmallington

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2018, 09:02:57 AM »
Sounds wonderful. at least ill be outdoors.

Offline fishnfur

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2018, 10:25:55 AM »
Your description of your spot is a bit confusing. 

- SW side is good.  The weather there is mild enough that I think they spend the winter in most areas though.
- FRESH deer droppings are important.  Old droppings mean little.  If you never see deer there, that is most likely a spot where they feed at night or travel through after feeding.
- In general blacktail head downhill from bedding areas to feed in the evening.  Doe and young bucks will often bed down below in the middle of the night in an open spot that allows them to watch for predators  (they leave obvious beds there, which confuses many hunters).  At some point before dawn, they get up and feed again, (leave poop down there for you to find when you are hunting/scouting there) then head back uphill to their daytime bedding areas, which may be anywhere from 20 yards to 400 plus yards into the timber, and on the side of a hill/ridgeline.

If the feeding area is a young clearcut, it is along the edge of the forest/clearcut interface is where you may have an opportunity to see deer coming and going at first light and last light (but don't ignore the rest of the cut.  You never know where a deer might be).  If the cut is a bit older and has enough brush and trees to provide hiding cover, a deer may stay down there well into the morning, or spend the entire day there.  Expanses of Alder provide great feeding areas as well, though even just a few in a small area of  big fir can provided enough light to the forest floor to grow deer food. Mixed fir and alder forests can be very productive for deer populations.  There is food and cover close by at all times.

After reading perhaps thousands of posts trying to understand what is going on in Deerworld, my vision of a perfect spot in the Capitol Forest would be a cut with 4- 6 year old reprod fir trees, (or Alder at least 8 years or older) at the base of a decent to large sized timbered hill; access road only at the bottom.  I would be in the timber before first light along the upper edge where I might intercept deer heading uphill to bed after the morning feeding, (or heading down to feed in the evening).  Alternatively, in a fir reprod cut, if there was a spot to sit and glass a large area of that edge at morning and evening, I might just take seat and wait for action, staying in the glass as much as my eyes would allow.  During these sunny days, as the sun gets higher in the sky during the morning and shadows travel across the cut, a deer that decided to stay in the reprod may stand up and re-bed into a cooler spot when they get too warm in the sun.  That is another great opportunity to suddenly find a deer that was previously hidden from view.  Upper reaches of drainages that begin in the forest and travel down through a cut can be deer highways.  Does often bed above and to the sides of the beginnings of these drainages.  Bucks start taking a liking to the does this time of year so they may be close or with the does as they come and go.
 
Perhaps something in there will help you sort it out.  Don't get stuck on just one spot.  Keep trying new spots and techniques. Some areas have way more deer than others. If you're seeing a lot of doe, you're in good shape.  Patience.
 
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Offline Casey

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UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #8 on: October 16, 2018, 10:28:09 AM »
When the rain hits the deer will be everywhere up there. I went up there during muzzle season and had a 3 point at 15 yards that never left and had a big buck walk across the road in front of me. Didn’t get to shoot cause I’m a archery hunter which sucked. Also saw a bunch of doe and a couple spikes. During archery season I missed a big buck up there with my brother and he said it was a 3x4. When the weather is prime walk a gate that leads to a clear cut and you will see deer.


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Offline ThurstonCokid

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2018, 12:13:18 PM »
I’ve shot deer up there the past 8 years rifle. This year was my first mule deer. Deer hang in some areas more than others. People road hunt that unit because the deer are unpredictable and will often be on road ex. Keep getting after it and it will come together. Plenty of deer in that area


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Offline Kc_Kracker

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2018, 09:04:05 AM »
i hunt it and with all the quad and scooter trails its a hillbilly "hold my beer" act stupid drive all over road hunting cluster fudge :bash:

Offline MrSmallington

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2018, 09:26:08 AM »
Your description of your spot is a bit confusing. 

- SW side is good.  The weather there is mild enough that I think they spend the winter in most areas though.
- FRESH deer droppings are important.  Old droppings mean little.  If you never see deer there, that is most likely a spot where they feed at night or travel through after feeding.
- In general blacktail head downhill from bedding areas to feed in the evening.  Doe and young bucks will often bed down below in the middle of the night in an open spot that allows them to watch for predators  (they leave obvious beds there, which confuses many hunters).  At some point before dawn, they get up and feed again, (leave poop down there for you to find when you are hunting/scouting there) then head back uphill to their daytime bedding areas, which may be anywhere from 20 yards to 400 plus yards into the timber, and on the side of a hill/ridgeline.

If the feeding area is a young clearcut, it is along the edge of the forest/clearcut interface is where you may have an opportunity to see deer coming and going at first light and last light (but don't ignore the rest of the cut.  You never know where a deer might be).  If the cut is a bit older and has enough brush and trees to provide hiding cover, a deer may stay down there well into the morning, or spend the entire day there.  Expanses of Alder provide great feeding areas as well, though even just a few in a small area of  big fir can provided enough light to the forest floor to grow deer food. Mixed fir and alder forests can be very productive for deer populations.  There is food and cover close by at all times.

After reading perhaps thousands of posts trying to understand what is going on in Deerworld, my vision of a perfect spot in the Capitol Forest would be a cut with 4- 6 year old reprod fir trees, (or Alder at least 8 years or older) at the base of a decent to large sized timbered hill; access road only at the bottom.  I would be in the timber before first light along the upper edge where I might intercept deer heading uphill to bed after the morning feeding, (or heading down to feed in the evening).  Alternatively, in a fir reprod cut, if there was a spot to sit and glass a large area of that edge at morning and evening, I might just take seat and wait for action, staying in the glass as much as my eyes would allow.  During these sunny days, as the sun gets higher in the sky during the morning and shadows travel across the cut, a deer that decided to stay in the reprod may stand up and re-bed into a cooler spot when they get too warm in the sun.  That is another great opportunity to suddenly find a deer that was previously hidden from view.  Upper reaches of drainages that begin in the forest and travel down through a cut can be deer highways.  Does often bed above and to the sides of the beginnings of these drainages.  Bucks start taking a liking to the does this time of year so they may be close or with the does as they come and go.
 
Perhaps something in there will help you sort it out.  Don't get stuck on just one spot.  Keep trying new spots and techniques. Some areas have way more deer than others. If you're seeing a lot of doe, you're in good shape.  Patience.


GREAT TIPS!Thank you for the comment. something to ponder while out this weekend.

Offline ruttnbuck

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #12 on: October 17, 2018, 10:43:55 AM »
When your sneaking through the timber and hear noises like rustling of brush... be aware of the brush pickers lol they're everywhere in there and will appear out of  nowhere.

Offline Curly

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #13 on: October 17, 2018, 11:37:20 AM »
When your sneaking through the timber and hear noises like rustling of brush... be aware of the brush pickers lol they're everywhere in there and will appear out of  nowhere.

 :yeah:
And they are often wearing black or dark green rain gear.
May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.

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Offline MrSmallington

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Re: UNIT 663 CAP FOREST
« Reply #14 on: October 17, 2018, 03:37:58 PM »
that a joke?  whats a brush picker?

 


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