[Friendly Fisher]

Has anyone (besides me) been hunting this unit? I have 6 days in this year and haven't seen a legal buck. I haven't seen anyone with one either. There are hundreds of does but I can't find the bucks. Anyone been doing better than me? Where are the bucks? In the clear cuts or timber?

 

[bobrdown]

My neighbor scored a 4 pt. in that unit on Sunday.

 

[Friendly Fisher]

Good for him. Let him know I said congrats because it has been a hard unit this year. FF

 

[fry]

we got a couple bucks right across the road in grayback 388. there are some pics in a thread "a couple bucks".

last year we didnt see any deer in the area where we hunt.

 

[chukardave1]

My brother and two of his buddies hunted it opening weekend. Same report as you with the all the does and no legal bucks. they are in there, my buddy has some property there and has a game camera with pictures of at least 10 legal bucks on it. All at night. They seem to be more like blacktail than mulies and move mostly at night.

 

[Chesapeake]

We killed 2 small forks opening day. Another buddy killed a 2x3 sunday morning, and me and a first time hunter watched a big 3x3 walk away while he fumbled the safety.:jester:


All were in the cuts. We saw about 30 does to 1 buck sunday. In all my years hunting there I've never had such a bad ratio.

Its a little slower than usual but still plenty good.

I hunt deer in Klickitat alot like you would hunt pheasant. Find a somewhat brushy cut with good food, close escape cover and some decent folds, and then push the folds slowly to bump up the bucks. They can be found in cuts with enough cover all day long. Dont pass up cuts with a little cover and a good fold or two just because road hunters have driven through. The deer will just hold tight in thier beds and let the rigs drive by. Of course its preferable to find a cut that cant be driven to or through.

 

[Moley Molson]

What I've noticed in that area the past couple years. Those big bucks won't move unless you dang near step on them. Find the nastiest scrub oak patch you can find and get someone to sit in a some what open area on either side of you and then push through.

I remember one buck last year we watched walk into a small patch of oaks right smack in the middle of this side hill meadow. There were 2 of us and we thought.....ha ha ha...got him he can't come out of there without us seeing him. Ethical or not, we rolled rocks down the hill into those oaks trying to spook him out and get a shot at him. We rolled rocks for 20min and that buck never budged. Next, I walked into the patch of oaks right down the middle looking for him, but making quite a bit of noise too and he still didn't pop out. It took two of us walking through those oaks on both sides before he bolted out of there.

I think the bucks are there....sometimes they just don't move until night time.

 

[Chesapeake]

What I've noticed in that area the past couple years. Those big bucks won't move unless you dang near step on them. Find the nastiest scrub oak patch you can find and get someone to sit in a some what open area on either side of you and then push through.

I remember one buck last year we watched walk into a small patch of oaks right smack in the middle of this side hill meadow. There were 2 of us and we thought.....ha ha ha...got him he can't come out of there without us seeing him. Ethical or not, we rolled rocks down the hill into those oaks trying to spook him out and get a shot at him. We rolled rocks for 20min and that buck never budged. Next, I walked into the patch of oaks right down the middle looking for him, but making quite a bit of noise too and he still didn't pop out. It took two of us walking through those oaks on both sides before he bolted out of there.

I think the bucks are there....sometimes they just don't move until night time.

Yep, like I said, pheasant hunting!!! Dang neer need a bird dog.

 

[kodiakfisher]

I have a pretty good idea on the blacktails in Klickitat. I have found that if you get situated in the general area you know bucks are in 1hr at least before sunrise and make sure thermals and wind will not drift anywhere near that buck you can spot them cruising to the bedding areas. I have also found that bucks spooked out of their beds go somewhere else. :smile:

The buck to doe ratio is about what it has been in previous years. There are about 4 bucks per 15 does and 1 mature buck 5+ years per 15-20 does. This year in the area I hunt the mature buck to doe ratio may be a bit better I have only been in rifle range while on the ground of a mature buck once. He bedded less than 150yds from the camper and I actually got out and started walking away from the camper and was within about 100yds when he bolted. I never laid eyes on him again!!

Night time make sure you can get out of the area without spooking the bucks while on their travel routes. Once spooked they only move at night it seems.

This year early in the season there weren't the mature bucks around that I normally see. I think due to the warmer temps they stayed higher in elevation. This last week should be pretty good for catching mature bucks migrating down getting ready for the rut.

Kodiakfisher

 

[Friendly Fisher]

Thanks for the info. I think fish and game tries to manage the unit 1 buck for every six does. In a unit that is forked or better I would expect to be seeing a lot of spikes and young bucks. Thanks for all the info guys. The phesant hunting post couldn't be more true. The 4x4 I took last year was ~20 yards infront of me for at least an hour before he finally stood up. I have probably walked by a lot of big bucks this year. I'm headed back out Thursday-Sunday and will be thinking of all the advice. Thanks FF

 

[Chesapeake]

Thanks for the info. I think fish and game tries to manage the unit 1 buck for every six does. In a unit that is forked or better I would expect to be seeing a lot of spikes and young bucks. Thanks for all the info guys. The phesant hunting post couldn't be more true. The 4x4 I took last year was ~20 yards infront of me for at least an hour before he finally stood up. I have probably walked by a lot of big bucks this year. I'm headed back out Thursday-Sunday and will be thinking of all the advice. Thanks FF

Its bean my experience that the majority of the bucks in Klickitat throw forks at 18 months. I dont think they have horns at 6 months when entering thier first hunting season. In all my years(14) hunting Klickitat I've only seen maybe 5-7 spikes. At 30 months they seem to be small 3 and 4 points.

Other places I hunt seem to have a much higher ratio of 18 month old spikes. Maybe the 18 month olds are about evenly split between spikes and small forks. Then at 30 months they are bigger forks and small 3 points.

I think Klickitat could realy use a 3 point restriction. Then the bucks could live long enough to atleast fill out.