Just spent 5 days there over Thanksgiving. I hunted hard all 5 days and only saw one small 3x3 dink buck. There were people everywhere especially on anything public. I ended up passing on the dink on day 2 then eating my tag. I ended up hiking behind gates on timber company land to try and get away from people. Conditions were tough when we arrived. There was 10 day old loud crunchy snow and zero weather while we were there. There are plenty of places to camp on public land but with temps frequently in the low teens I would almost just rather get a motel room somewhere. This year I bought a 2023 Unit 2 tag instead. Good luck!

 

Thanks. ive got some intel on one area a gonna ride over in April to check out several others. My plan is to hunt behind lot gates just to get away from some of the lazy people. A lot of people try to hunt those white tails like they do these black tails and cover a lot of ground and it’s actually easier to hunt sign and then sit. Good luck in 2. There’s a few locals here to kill some studs every year over there. I’m not sure exactly where they hunt, but I have a general idea lol.

 

You're 100% accurate with sitting on sign. The most effective way we saw deer was sitting on heavy usage timber edges and draws with trails. Bring a grunt tube. The small dink I saw came into a grunt call. One guy we were with rattled in a giant 175"+ buck but couldn't get a shot through the thick stuff. One of the locals showed us some pictures from the week before we were there and some monsters were killed. We ended up going 3 for 6 and the hunting was just starting to get good when I left the day before Thanksgiving. I really wish I had another 4-5 days to hunt. 5 days just wasn't long enough. We'll probably be there the week of Thanksgiving again. If you're there then give me a shout and I'll buy you a beer and share how we're doing.

 

Will do, I'm planning a spring cell cam run, archery hunt before oregons archery elk starts and then back for prime time. For sure BIG WT up there

 

I hunted unit 1 for moose in 2016. The guys I was with had some mixed luck for deer. There are a ton of deer in that unit

Moose in the thick of it. ID Moose 10_16

I've never draw a tag like this. But now I had, so it was time to start. I had a little over 4 months. Crew was already pretty much set. Father in Law, Brother in Law and buddy Adam. We would camp in the northern Idaho panhandle. I started making lots of phone calls. I spoke with the DWF...

www.ifish.net

 

We ended up with unit 1 regular deer tags. Not the area we wanted, as we we're hoping to hunt Muley's. But thankful we got tags. I've hunted across the border in NW Montana quite a bit. The deer have been making a comeback the last couple years. Hoping for a mild winter. We also plan to head over in late spring when we can reach some higher areas, hoping to locate some Mule deer. The Mule deer population is pretty bleak up there so will most likely end up chasing Whitetails. Rattling and the primos doe bleat has made for some exciting encounters. But you have to be quick as they usually come in hot.

 

Yea its fun. Ive rattled and grunted in a lot if deer. When they’re hot they come on a string

 

You’re going to have lots of company. Don’t think because you’re parked at a gate that you have it to yourself. They will park 2-3 deep and walk in behind you.

 

Sounds like archery and deer season is here. I will not hunt west side due to number of hunters. If they’re walking everywhere and not sitting, they can be useful pushing deer. Weather and situation dependent, I'll be in a tree stand in the timber and people won't be too much of a factor.

 

Lots of company anywhere in the western states nowadays. I’m eventually will be full time in NE Washington trying to learn unit 1 Idaho if I can get a tag. Non resident stuff is getting difficult. Social media instructions about drawing and applying for tags definitely hadn’t helped but that’s the way of future


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Yea, I'm on the North Oregon Coast. Gets crowded here in spots but, I have so many places to go I can dodge some people most of the time. If anyone ever needs Rosie info, PM me, I have no problem sharing some insight.

 

We could have killed multiple mule deer bucks when I was there. Plenty of places to get up a little higher. That said, obviously it is the highest whitetail density in the state so that would probably be the better area to focus on. not sure on all the comments on crowds. Come hunt in NW Oregon if you want to see crowds! Sand point to the boarder is ~60 miles and it's either national forest or state forest more or less the entire way.

 

I ended up replacing my other knee in March. Headed over to hang cams soon. I actually traded my WT tag for a general tag today for just in case one of the big mulies exposes himself.

 

My brother did ok this year in unit 1.

 

NICE, that's a stud. I can't wait. Gonna go scout and hang some cams in May.

 

You want whitetail, go to Pennsylvania. My daughter was just visiting in-laws in Beaver, PA. Then driving to Boston. First 2 hours of the trip, they counted 43 road kill deer.

 

PA huntings not my style. Too many crazy people with guns too. I want a mature whitetail from up this way. I grew up hunting them in Bama and killed triple digits between Al, Ms, and Michigan.