Hey boys!!!! Haha, here i am. and well.......no buck yet!! to be honest, the hunting is not that good at all!!! can i say to much snow??? i have hunted everyday of december and well i saw bigger bucks the first week, than we are now.
so i will give ya a little update.
First week of december, with all the archery guys out and about we saw bigger bucks, we had gotten that big snow and they started to move, that bunch that had moved down to their mid range wintering area a lot of those came on over, to well the east side of mud, and on over to oklahoma and that area. lots of nice big 3's and 2 points! and some nice fours, all in that 22 to 24 range, with a lot, alot smaller. And then that next week, we kind of let it calm down in a couple areas, after the archery guys, and looked at some other places. No dice.
Around the 13 or so we went back up to a "honey" hole, no body had been, and there he was, right there, on the ridge, and gorgeous 26 inch buck, pretty tall, good forks, and mass, we figure right around 180!!! yes finally they are starting to show.... well so we thought
he is still to today the 2nd or 3rd biggest buck we have seen. Not good at all. But we thought alright 3 weeks to go,and if it stays like this so we can get around, and the deer slowly come in, we will be set.
We hunt, dad and me, or im up there by myself, or me and a buddy looking, like i said everyday, same areas, making sure we dont miss a thing. So then here comes the snow!!! and more snow and more snow. Deer start coming out of everywhere, but they are really spooky, staying up high on ridges in chest deep snow. But still now monsters, lots of 4x4s but either big big backs and little crab claw fronts, or vice versa. Also have seen a couple 3's that would go 28 inches with big long tines!! really cool to see.
Also lots of big big 2 points i have pictures of one that is over 30 inches for sure. and YES i will post, but after the hunt.
The end of that 3rd week, its snowmobile only. Sam in the area where we hunted and you took yours. 3 1/2 to 4 feet of snow there!! well we hunted that all day, made the loop. and bamn right bright and early, gorgeous 24 inch 4x4 with really tall horns. perfect we think... again all by himself, chest deep snow. out in the open. We keep going, and all we see for 4 hrs, just tiny little 2 1/2 3 year old deer. wouldnt shoot any of these deer with a regular late tag.
then we come around the corner and bam up in the black timber, a giant giant buck!! oh wait... no dad. no tag, no gun. so after about an hour or a little more, we meet him, get him on a sled. and get back up there. Well almost dark, in the worst place in the world. You guys no the entiat. 3 feet plus of snow, he is way up on the ridge, we try to get to him, no dice, we back out going for him the next morning. 12 more inches of snow, all fogged out. No deer.
See how this hunt is going?? haha its getting very very devasting. oh this buck would gross in the upper 190's typical. yes i know thats really big, but i havent seen one like this in washington for a while.
Again then we hit all the lower stuff, the breaks, trying to find if these bucks are all down, cause all signs, and trails, and the amount of snow and how few deer we are seeing up "high" should mean they are down. Well there is hunreds of does, bucks, and stuff. but no big boys, and none of the ones we had been seeing. How and also after those big snows, deer were piling out. groups of 20, 30 all in a line, with always a buck. but never the big one. something was always just not right.
So really here we are, we have checked all of our orchards, we have hunted the mission, swakane and mostly the entiat. today we saw a buck that would go 170 ish maybe a little more. that is the biggest complete buck we have seen for about a week and a half. Also do have one big whitey picked out if things to pick up haha.
Talked with the mule deer counters, bio's, locals, and the Gov tag guys crew. Pretty much seeing the same things, and seeing the same problem.
But do not worry, we are not done, we set our bar, we are still optimistic, and now you cant shoot the big one if you already tagged the little one. But this hunt is by no means the way we thought it was. And also we are very very concerned about our mule deer herd in the state it is in now, considering trophy quality. There are plenty of deer, just not quality. And they deer are already showing signs of stress with all the snow.
Oh and another worrysome thing, they are already shedding their antlers!!! No good. and not good if the shed hunters are going to be out earlier looking and pushing deer.
So thats my update. its really long, but you guys deserve it. hopefully by sunday i will have some pictures of a gorgeous deer. And some more stories.
Thank you guys for caring and all of you that have helped. And hey if one of you guys see's a monster... get a hold of me plese!!!
happy holidays!!
Garrett