15 Years - Chiwawa 2024

[FreeSkier85]

Nice tag! I am a local to the area (lived here full time for 4 years) but getting to know the unit somewhat well. The Pole Ridge and Chiwawa river roads have been my go to for the most part during modern season. The burned out areas are starting to get thick again though unfortunately in many areas like Basalt and Minnow.

If you need some "eyes" on the ground just reach out to me, would love to help. I was out for high buck for 5 days and will be out quite a bit chasing bear and deer with upcoming modern, if theres a spot you want checked out, let me know!

[hunter_sean08]

Opening Day is just about here. Getting pretty excited to say the least. I'm headed over after work on Friday. Plan will be to hunt all day on Saturday and Sunday morning. I'll head home to work for a few days before returning the following Friday (11/8) and hunting out thru the 20th if need be. Keeping a close eye on the weather. Looks like some snow in a few of the sweet spots this week. Hopefully not too much. If the forecast starts to get really dicey, I may change my plans. Been waiting a long time for this!

[Bowhunter3]

Stoked for you! If you need help with packing or anything at all please don’t hesitate to reach out. Not much for snow yet but it’s gonna change quick. I’ll let you know of anything I see on my daily hikes with the dog.

[bvail04]

I have the tag as well and heading over Friday for the weekend as well! hopefully I run into you my friend

[NOCK NOCK]

Was in part of the unit Sunday, covered 30 miles on a SxS ride, saw 6 does/fawns, no bucks. Pray for weather. This deer herd is a tiny fraction of what is used to be. Good luck out there.

[PsoasHunter]

Congrats on the tag Sean, that's really cool to be hunting your family stomping grounds during the migration and rut. I recall seeing some pics of great bucks you guys have pulled out of there during the general season, I'm excited to see how this plays out for you. Good luck!

[jstone]

Hope this weather hits those hills.
Good Luck

[Ridgerunner]

Make the most of whatever opportunity you get.  These tags dont come around enough, I look forward to some pics and stories. 

[hunter_sean08]

Congrats on the tag Sean, that's really cool to be hunting your family stomping grounds during the migration and rut. I recall seeing some pics of great bucks you guys have pulled out of there during the general season, I'm excited to see how this plays out for you. Good luck!

Thanks buddy. I'll keep you posted. Shoot me a text. Would love to hear how things went for you guys up north.

[hunter_sean08]

Well here is my story on my Chiwawa tag as I punched it last Sunday believe it or not. In summary, it was one of the most fun weekends of hunting I've had in a long time in Washington. I probably could have passed on the buck I took and could have been up there again this weekend for the last week and a half of the season holding out for a true monarch, but it was just one of those days that the stars aligned and everything felt too perfect. Having spent most of my life hunting mule deer in Central WA, I know it's truly a feast or famine hunt, especially in recent years. Naturally, it was hard for me to pass up on what I would deem to be a nice buck for me on any given year. Here goes nothing!

FRIDAY 11/1 - After running my weekly Rotary meeting and taking care of some business at the office for a couple of hours, I was ready to hit the road. I ran home to pack everything, then met my dad, loaded up his gear, and we were on our way. Our hope was to get over Stevens Pass quick enough for a short evening hunt in some of our stomping grounds around Lake Wenatchee. We more or less drove right on a ferry, then picked up a few last minute supplies at Costco in Woodinville. Unfortunately, as is the case anymore these days, we got caught in the nasty traffic of Route 522, which delayed us a little. We watched the weather carefully, as it had snowed on the pass overnight, but things were looking pretty good. At the top of the pass it was 36 degrees and raining. The rain quickly began to dry up on our descent down the east slope.

By the time we reached where we wanted to hunt for the evening it was already after 5, so we really only had a few minutes to do any serious hunting. We hiked in a little ways behind an old gated road we've hunted for many, many years. A migratory trail usually comes through this area. There were certainly plenty of tracks, but also plenty of fresh boot tracks in the snow from that morning. We backed out of the area and relished in the fact that I was finally carrying a rifle in these woods in November. It was a surreal feeling.

From there, we drove to my in-laws' place in East Wenatchee, where we would be setting up camp for the season. If you've read this thread from the beginning, you might remember we have a family cabin at Lake Wenatchee. As this is a summer cabin, we turn off the water at the end of October and get everything winterized, with no plans to return until spring. While we could have set up camp here, it would've been quite a bit more primitive than usual and would've cut us off from easy access to the other side of the GMU, especially if we got a decent amount of snow.

We finally reached camp around 7:30 or so and got everything ready to go for what was really my opening morning. We figured we'd spend the first day covering a lot of country on the east side of the unit we'd never spent much time in before, due to it being so overrun with people during the general hunt. We also wanted to get up into the snowline to see what kind of activity there was. Though I was anxious, I passed out as soon as I hit my sleeping bag. Morning would come quickly.

SATURDAY 11/2 - My alarm started chirping at me at 4:10am. I quickly rolled out of my sleeping bag, got dressed, hit the Keurig for some coffee, and loaded up the rig with our gear. We hit the road by 5 and were already to our turnoff up the Entiat Valley around 5:30 with just under 2 hours until legal shooting. Perfect. We ascended the ridge on bare pavement for the first 10 miles or so before we hit the first patch of snow. It was already 32 degrees and the traction was good so we kept climbing. For the first little bit there were very few tracks on the side of the road, but after a couple of miles or so, they really started to materialize, with several sets coming down the main road, and many trails going up and down the banks. Eventually we were in about 4 inches of snow and got to a spot where we could do some pretty good glassing from a knob. We got out of my rig and walked out to the point where we scanned the vast burnt out valley. I caught movement below within the first ten minutes or so and spotted our first buck of the trip, a little spike by the look of him. He was quite a ways off and moving fairly quick through the burn.

After spending some time here and not seeing much of anything else, we opted to hop back in the rig and see how far up we could go, hoping to come across some good well-established trails off the mountain. Eventually we got into 5-6 inches of snow. Thankfully it was cold and crisp. There were tire tracks in the snow from the day before, but a little extra powder had fallen overnight and the traction was fairly good. We came across a lone doe in the burn at one point, but couldn't locate her boyfriend. A few miles further up the road we came across a very fresh trail across, with most tracks leading down ridge. We hopped out of the rig and investigated to see if there were any big buck tracks. Within seconds, my dad spotted a deer right down below us, a lonely 2pt. He was aware of our presence, but not very concerned. He kept his head low for the most part, sniffing out the tracks in front of him. At one point he raised his head in the air and did the classic rutty buck sniff sequence and then proceeded to keep on his path, headed right for us. Finally, he came across the road and walked around us, staying intently on the trail of another deer, presumably a doe, that had gone up ridge earlier that morning. It was really cool to watch. After that, we came across a few other areas where deer were definitely moving through, but for the most part, the trails were headed down. Signs were pointing to some migratory activity.

Once the sun started coming up, the temperature still held firm at 32, but a glaze began to form on the snow where the sun could hit the road. We were eventually forced to turnaround by a tree that had come down towards the end of the road, and this was where the fun began. With sunny spots now on the road, driving became downright treacherous in spots. I crept along in 4 low in the lowest gear I could go, and there were still spots where I could feel the backend of my 4Runner wanting to slide away from me. We threatened chains a few times, but managed to get out of the high country without needing to put them on. Man, there are some steep gully drops in some spots of the road we were on. When you feel the slide coming on, it's definitely pucker factor 10 in those spots.

As we made our way out of the high country, we ran into a local who was cutting firewood with his kids inside the burn. He asked if we had seen anything, and told us his uncle had a tag, but hadn't seen anything of note yet, other than a crabby 3x4 down low. We both acknowledged someone had killed one the day before as we had located a hide in the middle of the road on our way in, but there was no evidence of how big the animal was. He wished us luck and we went our separate ways.

Once we got down towards the edge of the snowline, it was apparent this was where most of the tracks were. We took a hike down an old road system that had some great views throughout and immediately got on some bigger tracks. As we meandered our way around a big draw, well tucked away from the main roads of the area, I spotted the obvious backsides of multiple deer running out the bottom of the draw some 1,000+ yards away. I'm not sure what exactly had spooked them, but they were in a hurry. One of the deer I determined was a nicer looking buck, but it was hard to say at that distance and having only seen him for a brief moment. Just a couple minutes later, my dad spotted another deer moving down hill across from us. We moved into a better position to see that side of the hill and soon spotted 8 deer below us, all does and fawns. By the time we got out of that draw, we had seen probably 20 deer, but no visible bucks. On our way out that night, we did manage to bump another doe and a spike, but hadn't seen anything that really got the heart thumping yet.

Back at camp, we reviewed the day with my father-in-law and talked strategy. Another tag holder on here, bvail04, texted me and let me know how his day had gone. They had seen a decent looking buck and plenty of deer, noting that the bucks they did see were definitely chasing does around. They also weren't very far from where we were, so I was excited to get back out there. Our plan was to hunt the following morning in some of the country on the other side of the ridge where another HuntWA member had suggested I go. If we hadn't seen anything interesting by 10am, we'd start making our way out so that we could hit the road for home, with plans to return the following Friday. With daylight savings time on the radar, we hit the sheets, knowing we'd need to be a little quicker in the morning to get to where we wanted to go.

SUNDAY, 11/3 - Despite the extra hour of sleep, I woke up in a fog. I knew these quick morning hunts on a travel day didn't usually pay off, but oh well, there was still a good chance we'd probably see something. We hit the road around 5am again, getting in position about 20 minutes before legal on the mountain. The plan was to creep down the road, looking for deer, until we got to a good glassing area I had marked on OnX. Within 5 minutes of our journey, we spotted 2 does below us. Again, a buck didn't materialize, but we were excited to already see some animals. We hadn't even made it to our intended glassing spot before we'd already seen close to 15 animals. They were all does, but we figured this was a good sign. As we settled in to our spot, a gunshot suddenly rang out behind us. We had seen a Jeep behind us a few minutes earlier, and figured it was probably them. Soon thereafter, I spotted a group of deer way up near the top of the ridge. It was hard to tell if there was a buck, but there were enough animals I wanted to get a closer look, so we backed out of where we were and retreated back up the road towards the Jeep. Sure enough, an older gentleman and his wife were already at work yarding a buck out of the hole with their friends. They said it was a smaller 4x4, but they were satisfied. Coincidentally, this buck was with the first couple does we had seen that morning. We congratulated them and moved on to where we had seen that group of deer from afar.

Upon closer look, the group of 5 deer ended up being just a couple does and some fawns, but at this point we'd now seen 20 deer or so. We continued up ridge and proceeded around another point into one of the steepest draws I remembered from my scouting trip during the general hunt. Glassing the draw turned up nothing at first, so we made our way through and got to where the road wrapped around to the next viewpoint. Right at the bend, we spotted a deer crossing in front of us up onto the uphill bank, another doe. As we made our way through the bend, I looked down to our right and there broadside in the saddle below us was a big bodied deer with the unmistakable brow of a mature buck. We put glass on him and could tell right away that his antlers were pretty narrow, but very tall and dark in color. When he turned his head for the first time, there was no doubt he was a heavy 4x4 with deep forks. He was certainly very unique, but I wasn't fully sold on him. The buck stood there broadside for a few minutes before disappearing behind some small pine trees. I grabbed my gun and walked back down around the road bend to where I could see him again. There he was again, broadside and now in my crosshairs. I ranged him at 117 yards. While I watched him, he peed all over himself, as if to tell me, "I'm the man in these parts". It would have been the easiest pack out in a while, but did I really want my hunt to end then and there? I thought about it long enough that the deer walked away and down into the thick buckbrush/pine thicket. I walked back to my dad and we talked about it for a few minutes. The uniqueness of how tall and heavy this buck was plus the black color of his antlers was really cool. On any normal year I would've been crazy to do what I had done. With that said, I decided I might see if I could turn him up again. We went back down the road from where we came and got to where I believed I would be above the buck. I got down into the pines a little way, but had very little visibility. Suddenly I heard the crashing of brush below me. Soon, I could see the buck and one of his does bounding away on the far, open hillside, his tongue hanging out in exhaustion. The buck skylined the far ridge and went over the other side, never to be seen again, but while I watched him, I learned something important about this draw. Despite how far he appeared to be away from me on the opposite hillside, I ranged him multiple times, the last time being at a little over 400 yards or so. This would come into play later.

We headed back up the road and got out to the far viewpoint, just above ridge from where the buck had disappeared over the other side. I walked down ridge from this point and attempted to see if I could find him one more time to no avail. Dad called me up and told me to get back to the car, as it was time to start making our way out. Back at the vantage point, I walked over to my dad who was looking back at the draw we had originally seen the buck in. As I approached, he said he had spotted another buck across the draw following some does. I pulled up my binoculars and located him right away. He looked pretty good, but I needed to get the spotting scope out to be sure. With the scope up, I could see that this was a different buck for sure. He was wider than the first buck, and looked to be another 4pt, but I could see that he might be a little crabby in his fronts. His back tines looked tall enough that I was intrigued, however, so I decided I'd work my way around to that side of the draw again to see if I could get a better look. As I got over to that side, the buck and his does made their way down into the bottom of the draw where I couldn't see them. My dad kept a close eye on the does from across the way, but the buck kept moving in and out of his visibility. As I waited for a chance to maybe see this deer, 5 more does came trotting down the road right at me and got within 50 yards or so before bolting up the draw. There were deer everywhere!

Dad spotted the buck again one last time in the sunshine before he disappeared again behind some brush. Since I couldn't see very well from where I was, he suggested I make my way back to where he was so that we could wait this out for a potential shot. I asked him if he felt the deer to be worthy of the tag, and he said it would be difficult for him to pass up a buck of this size in Washington. We've never been picky, so I understood where he was coming from, but did I really want this to end? We were having so much fun.

Lots of thoughts ran through my head. 1) The rut was clearly going. It might not be at its peak yet, but the bucks were definitely seeking out does. With my schedule, I wouldn't be back for almost a week. Would I miss out on the best of the rut? 2) The weather- we had been fortunate to get enough snow that deer were clearly on the move. Right now we could get around in this country no problem. If we waited another week, would we get snowed out? Would a bunch of the deer move out? Looking at the forecast as I write this, it looks like it could get a little interesting this weekend. 3) The moon- the moon phase was perfect this last week and really it's not too bad this coming weekend, but it would be getting full towards the end of next week. Would that make things more difficult for me? 4) It was just me and my dad, and while I had more cavalry coming in the following week to help us out, there was something really special about it just being my dad and I. 5) It's Washington and while I know some guys have the luxury of choosing bucks, that's never been my style. 6) My wife and kids would certainly love to have me home early and this hunting season had already been hard enough on them as it was.

When I got back to my dad, he had located the buck again. He watched the buck as he kicked up some dirt and then laid down for an afternoon nap in a small, shaded opening in the pine thicket on the far hillside. I stared at this deer until my eyes hurt with both my binoculars and our spotting scope. With the afternoon sun upon us, the glare made things really tough. I'll be looking for something to reduce glare in the future because man that was brutal. I could see enough of the back tines to know I would probably be satisfied with this deer, but all the thoughts above kept racing through my head. At last I thought to myself, "this is really the ideal situation." I'm with my dad, the weather is great minus some wind, we've been seeing deer all day, we've had a chance to look over a couple different bucks, and this buck has no idea we're over here thinking about filling my tag. What a cool moment to at least give this a shot. I range the deer at about 385 yards from where I'm standing and tell my dad with confidence that I can probably make that shot. At that point, he hadn't ranged anything so he was shocked when I told him the distance. After checking it himself, he confirmed that it was probably a makeable shot if we waited for the wind to die down. So I set up my pack with a pillow on top for a little extra height to get me over the weeds. For whatever reason, where this deer was bedded was a difficult little gap in the pines to spot through my rifle scope. Every time I made an adjustment to the zoom, turret, parallax, or flicked off my safety, I would have to find the deer again. It was very frustrating! From where I was positioned, it was officially 390 yards to the buck, which required about a 4.5 MOA adjustment to my elevation turret.

Finally, I got to where I could center my crosshairs on the buck with the safety off. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the wind to subside. The deer looked very comfortable just bedded in the shade. Little did he know what was coming. As the wind began to settle, I took deep breaths to calm myself and rested the center crosshair right behind the buck's shoulder as best I could. I thanked the Man upstairs for the opportunity to even be in this position and asked that He help guide this shot true. I squeezed the trigger as the wind came to a stop. My ears rang as the smoke cleared. I quickly chambered another shell and tried to find my target again, but struggled to find that darn gap in the pines. I asked my dad what he could see and to my pleasant surprise he said the deer had never gotten up. He had also heard the emphatic "wap!" of the bullet shortly after the gun went off. I looked through the spotting scope to confirm a kill and was relieved to see the buck keeled over in his bed. What a blessing. We celebrated for a few minutes and planned our retrieval strategy, which required calling my father-in-law for help. While we waited for him to arrive, my dad and I made our way down to the buck, and we were pleasantly surprised with how nice he was all things considered. We also eventually determined that my shot had obliterated both lungs. It was an instant kill shot.

My father-in-law arrived with his dad shortly after we tagged the buck. I climbed my way up out of the steep hole and retrieved the mule tape and then descended back down into the bottom with my father-in-law to begin the retrieval process. By the time we got the buck up to the road, it was close to 5pm Sunday night. We made our way out and had a little 4pt cross the road in front of us in route. Back in East Wenatchee, we did the final skinning and tenderloin removal process. Fresh tenderloins on the Traeger are always a plus!! At 8:30pm, my dad and I loaded up the meat and made our way west towards Port Angeles, arriving back home around 2:30am. It was a long night and we were spent, but for a worthwhile endeavor.

I've looked forward to having this tag for 15 years. I can't wait for my dad to draw hopefully in the next few years. It was so fricken fun. We saw so many deer and enjoyed a hunt with way fewer hunters on the landscape. It was a real privilege to say the least. Do I wish I was still out there this next week? Sure. Am I proud of the result? Absolutely. Cheers everybody. I will follow-up with pictures shortly.

I want to note that my dad, at 62 years old, is still in great shape and would normally be charging up and down the mountainside with me, but his knee really flared up with inflammation during elk camp and he was still fighting through the pain. It forced me to slow down a little, which was actually good. Sometimes it's easy for me to want to get from point A to point B without thinking much of the other points in between, which is not how I necessarily want to hunt, but it just happens. Dad was able to cope with the pain for the most part with a double dose of Aleve, but we were definitely careful to avoid putting him through the ringer too much. He was a trooper and I was just so stoked as always to have him out there with me. What an incredible trip.

[HntnFsh]

Sounds like what awesome hunts are made of! Congrats!

[Martinhunter]

Sounds like a awesome hunt man! Congrats on your buck and being able to have your Dad there beside you the whole time is the best! I hope to draw that tag some day as well!. Looking forward to pics. Great write up BTW.

[bigmacc]

👍👍 Great read.

[hunter_sean08]

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[hunter_sean08]

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