palouse area help

littlehunter · Jul 16, 2006

Just Drew Palouse Whitetail tag and I dont know the area or anybody there? Some help would be great!

ridgerunner · Jul 16, 2006

Lots of private land in that area, I would call the WDFW and find out about the ranches where they offer access under the feel free to hunt program. There are quite a few but you'll probably have to spend some time driving to find them.

WAstickslinger · Jul 16, 2006

Ridgerunner is right, lots of private land. Many of the land owners have signs that say "hunting by permission only". Some even have "feel free to hunt". I would suggest going over there and doing alot of driving around. Locate deer from the back roads and then find signs to get a hold of landowners. Shooting the breeze with farmers has been very productive for me. You never know until you stop and ask. I went to school at WSU, so I spent many hours all over the palouse. Feel free to sen me a PM, maybe I can be of more help.

littlehunter · Jul 17, 2006

thanks for the info "WAstickslinger" but i live in Yakima and thats a long ways so if i was to go where would I start at!

carpguy · Jul 17, 2006

Littlehunter,
What area does your tag cover? I live in unit 8 and maybe able to help. There are a few walk in areas around here, you can find them on fish and game web page.

GARY

littlehunter · Jul 17, 2006

Thank you "carpguy" the GMU's for the tag are 127 through 142! Please Reply, Thanks!

Tally · Jul 18, 2006

We hunted there a few years ago. We put the boat in and hunted off the Snake. It was 3 point or better and the one buck I saw, just couldn't put a third point on him in the low light.
But.....knowing whitetail if I were you I would concentrate on the areas that have thick brushy draws. We saw some nice whitetail bucks in the back of trucks in town, Pomeroy. They are there and you need to do your homework if you want a chance of pulling the trigger.

JACKELOPE · Jul 18, 2006

I hunt the peola unit in pomeroy every year, gmu 178 and there are lots of whiteys over there, but thats not your gmu. my buddies hunt muzz over there where you'll be at and drive around every year knocking on doors. they havee good luck getting access to numerous farms and they see lots of deer every year. where they go to be exact i couldn't tell you, but i don't think they have much trouble finding deer. i think the farmers over there never mind a couple less deer eating their crop
make sure to give them a nice roast or something if your successful.

JACKELOPE · Jul 18, 2006

oh yeah...stick to the draws down in the bottoms, sneak up to the tops and look down in. it takes a lot to get them to move if they bedded sometimes. bring some good glass because you'll see them bucks coming from a long ways out if you want to glass.
you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a respectable 4x4 at least

littlehunter · Jul 18, 2006

Thanks for the info "Tally" and "JACKELOPE" if you guys have any more info it would be great!

WAstickslinger · Jul 18, 2006

littlehunter, I sent you a PM. Hopefully it will help. These guys are right. Spend a lot of time really glassing brushy pockets. I call them eyebrows, places that are too steep for farmers to to harvest. I have seen people walk within 50 of deer down there and they just lay there. But once they get in the open it is very difficult to connect. You are more likely to find mule deer by the river, stay up on top. Drive around east of Colfax, there are many "feel free to hunt" areas. I also think you should have no problem finding a 4 point. Good Luck.

littlehunter · Jul 18, 2006

thanks for the info "WAstickslinger" if any of you have any more info. that would be great!

carpguy · Jul 19, 2006

Littlehunter,
I think I might have screwed up. Are your tags for Washington? For some reason I thought they were for Idaho.
Gary

JACKELOPE · Jul 19, 2006

carp-his tags are for washington over by w.s.u. pullman area i believe. north of the snake up towards spokane i think...it covers a big area

WAstickslinger · Jul 19, 2006

He is talking about Washington. The unit basically goes from the Snake River all the way to Spokane. The East boarder is Idaho. This has been a general season late hunt up until this year. I guess they decided to turn a little more profit and sell 625 permits. Great, now lets start seeing the money put to use.

Sorry littlehunter, I got of subject. Hopefuly you will have snow, it will sure help you. Most of the bucks killed in the past in those units have come from the late hunt. You definately will have more fun in November than in the hot October general season. Get you a map of the county. Maybe this will help.

http://www.wamaps.com/maps.asp?search=whitman+county

This map will show you back roads, rivers, parks, ect. You can also go to the courthouse and get a map that shows public land and private land(best option).
Good Luck.

littlehunter · Jul 19, 2006

Thanks guys for the info feel free to post any more stuff!

littlehunter · Jul 20, 2006

Also what kind of equipment should I use over there?

JACKELOPE · Jul 21, 2006

good glass is the biggest thing to have. it's pretty open country too so make sure you are good to shooting to 300 yards if needed, but if you are in those draws hunting, you will have -100yd shots too. I use a bipod. oh yeah, it gets cold over there too and windy so be prepared.