Deer in Spokane WA

[tbishop]

I just recently moved to Spokane and was wondering if anyone could tell me of good places to go in the Spokane Area?

Thank you for any help.

 

[wake1]

I hunted a few years over there and was moderately successful. You can look to the north up toward Chewelah. There is alot of private property but you can find some pubic land. A lot of white tails though. You can also go up on Mt.Spokane. Again alot of private land but do your home work and there is places to hunt.

 

[Colville]

Give some parameters. How far do you want or are willing to drive, how much time do you have to scout/hunt. Is it important whitetail vs mule? Short hikes or get way back off roads?

There's more quality whitetail hunting on state land near you than mule deer. North of spokane between the columbia river, Canada and Idaho there are thousands upon thousands of acres of state land, full of whitetails. Check WA regs for the numbers of Doe tags put out in 49 Degrees north, huckleberry etc.. lots of deer. Mulies are another story and hard to find easy access good blocks of state land that is "nearby". There are chunks all over the place though. Call the BLM office and they can set you up with maps that'll show you what's state, blm, dnr and private. You can hunt early and late for whitetails north of spokane.

 

[boneaddict]

If you look north there is awesome hunting, If you look South there is great hunting, if you look West there is moderate hunting, and if you look east.....buy an Idaho tag. As Colville mentioned, what are you after????

 

[tbishop]

I appreciate the help, I am looking for a nice Whitetail Buck within a few hours range of Spokane, preferrable north. I have some time to go out and scout. I have been hearing about Mt. Spokane being pretty loaded with Whities. What are your thoughts?
Thanks again.

 

[Backstrap]

My dad and I have taken some nice bucks in the past up around Bead Lake and the surrounding area. The problem is that they are rather sparse, only a few deer per square mile. There is really not much farmland for them to feed on, so basically you roam the forest, look for clearcuts to hunt the edge of and wait/hope for snow to push them down into the flats just above the river. There is an extended season in November that is fun to hunt. We switched to muzzleloaders several years ago to take advantage of even later seasons.
I will say that I see way more deer in the Chewelah, Kettle Falls area. They are everywhere. I like the area around Springdale too. These areas have a lot of private property however. I have not talked to farmers in the area but I do know that they are fed up with the deer eating their hay and tearing down their haystacks. They sell a second doe tag in that area also. The Mount Spokane area has some chances and again, if you can talk to some landowners in the Green Bluff or Forker Rd. area you can set yourself up with a nice hunt.
We switched to Muzzle loading Mule deer hunting in the Harrington area for the last few years, but they have shut down the season so we will have to come up with something new. My dad is a real do-it yourselfer, but the guys at work all spend time cultivating landowner contacts. I have completed 2/3 of the AHE requirements which when completed would open up some new seasons/tag opportunities..........

 

[HoytHntr]

In my experience & speaking for the close group of friends that I hunt with, the closer to Spokane you hunt the better off you may be. We concentrate on the 5-10 acre "pockets" near the out-skirts of the town. However, w/all the no-shooting restrictions archery is a must. Private land may be tough to get on, however if you do your homework & spend some time knocking on doors your bound to get permission if archery hunting is what you looking to do. Good luck!

 

[Colville]

I've hunted oinion creek, aladin valley, kentry ridge, Monument Mt... There's deer everywehere. The late hunt is better by far. Rifle will be pre rut but bucks are more active than in Oct. If rut comes a bit early you can catch the begining days of it. Practically any road heading east/west from chewelah to canada is going to run in the river bottoms. Usually the private is owned only a short distance up beyond these areas. Get some maps. find some creek drainages that are on state and up above some culitvated bottoms. There'll be deer. Look for places with some older cuts, maybe burmed off roads etc and walk em back. Use a satelite map, terraserver.microsoft.com for instance and you can do some work from home to see what might be worth scouting. You've got a huge area. You can call the forest service in Colville as well to talk about roads that are closed or old cut activity that might be worth checking out. If you stay in that 1500 foot to 3500 foot range, creek drainages above some, even if hot huge, ag land... and you'll find deer.

I like the older cuts where the plants are getting 3 to 5+ feet tall, hard to see in, but that's the point. Treestands can be a real asset in some of these areas. Better to have the best 20 yards of woods to see in, with trail, cover, rub or other sign than a 500 yard view across a fresh but empty clear cut.