Private Access in 117

[eagleeye0024]

I have been trying for several months to get access to some private land in 117 around Loon Lake area (Grouse Creek Road) with no luck.

Also tried several of the private land owners on the WDFW website with no luck.

Looks like it's back to hunting the NF, DNR and WSF lands south of Chewelah.

If anyone knows of a gracious landowner in that area my brother and I are very respectful hunters. Family in the area and long time hunters.

[Bango skank]

There are millions of acres of public in northeast, why worry about hunting private? Hell i have permission to hunt on almost 2k acres of private that has alfalfa and oats growing on it to boot, and i dont even bother except for the occasional winter predator calling.  Theres so much public around that private access is really unnecessary.

[eagleeye0024]

Well the main reason why is for 3 years in a row we have WT hunted there and seen only 2 bucks, a spike and a 2x2. But saw over a hundred hunters. During scouting and even during season we see the big boys out in the private lands grazing away in broad daylight. We usually spend 4-6 days there and we rotate from our family's 15 acres to the public lands. Just trying to get some access to some of the higher timber lands for better opportunities. The warm weather in EW the last few years has really put a dampener on spot and stalk opportunities.

Appreciate the insight though, thank you.

[tmike]

Rifle or archery?

[huntnnw]

need to scout some more. There are lots of areas north of spokane with lots of deer and some great bucks on land available to the public. Most places I go I rarely see any hunters

[Jimmer]

The majority of the “100” hunters you see are from the westside. I spend more time keeping an eye on my property this time of year than I do hunting, too many non locals thinking it fine just driving up a road/driveway and hoping it goes to public land. You have no idea how old it gets. A lot of land owners have a very bad taste in their mouth this time of year.  You might be able to find a local to let you hunt, but if he lets a stranger from the west side hunt, you can bet he lets everyone and their brother in as well.
Good luck to you.

[hunter399]

I know exactly where your talking about.seeing deer grazing away.I lived on that road for many years.Yes there is a lot of hunters in there competition is through the roof just to find a place to park let alone hunt.

But since I'm nice I will give ya a few tips for that area .
1)Be the first person there boots on the ground.
2)Almost all the private land is surrounded by public land,consider it sanctuary for animals ,but they do go through public from time to time.
3)weekends suck to many people
4)keep at it ,but always have a backup area cause they place is a pumpkin patch x10

With that said I would offer to show ya around but sounds like you got it.That area did have some nice bucks in it years ago.but recently has went down hill to spikes and two points,The had a game cam up there since April and thats all I got on cams ,so I wouldn't expect better .But if your look in for meat in the freezer that's it.

[buckfvr]

Find locked gates, boot or bike in, get away from other hunters, go slow, and glass long and hard.  If bucks arent directly pressured in october, you wont see them in the open until the last 10 minutes of shooting light, if you see them.  Otherwise, get under the canopy and go slow.

Spend way more time scouting in the future figuring out where they spend their time when pressured.   They wont be in the fields mid day browsing if theres any pressure, unless you are hunting the dinks that are still with their mommies.

[Bango skank]

The majority of the “100” hunters you see are from the westside. I spend more time keeping an eye on my property this time of year than I do hunting, too many non locals thinking it fine just driving up a road/driveway and hoping it goes to public land.

A lot of the worst tresspassers, closed road drivers are locals.  Big sense of entitlement.  A lot of them think that just because theyve been doing it for years, they have the right to do it.

[eagleeye0024]

I thank you all for the advice and guidance. I might be from the "West" side of the mountains but my Grandmother and Aunt and Uncle have lived in this area for 45 years and minus a couple of years in my teens hunting with my Grandpa, I have been hunting here for about 7 years now. We mix it up for sure, some private, mostly public. We do about 2-3 days of scouting in the summer to setup game cams on our private land.

A kind soul offered up a location up a private road that we can stage at and then walk into some Timber land. It's a lot better opportunity (and much higher elevation) than we've seen in previous years.

Love this group! Thanks folks.