Washington State Whitetail Deer Tips

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Gear

•  More and more timber company lands are being gated.  Buy a nice mountain bike and pedal into the area.  You’ll be amazed at how much area you can cover.  If you are handy or go to the local bike shop, you can have the freewheel noise disabled for a really silent bike. HWS staff

• Tree stands are very effective on Whitetail deer in Washington.  Simply find a secluded game trail with fresh sign and place your stand on the downwind side of the trail.  Get into the stand well before light, to let the area calm down.  Whitetails will move at all times of the day, but, mostly in the early morning and late evening. HWS staff

• When using a tree stand, stay in it all day, if possible.  Bring the following items to make your stay up there comfortable:  Food, book for slower times, soda/coffee, pee bottle (don't urinate off your stand you'll spook every deer within a mile) hand warmers, extra hats & gloves.

• When using a tree stand don't prune everything around you and on the tree you are using.  Use blind material and branches to hide yourself better.  Break up your outline, even when you are up a tree.  It is also important to set up and test your shooting lanes well before you hunt.  There is nothing more frustrating than going to all the work of getting a good spot and 20 feet up in the air and finding out that you have no shooting lanes.  What may look like a great spot from the ground could look much different than down on the ground.

• Early season hunting in Washington can be quite warm and some areas can contain hordes of flying insects (mosquitoes, deer flies, no se-ums, etc)  Wear long sleeve shirts, light gloves and perhaps a face mask.  With the potential for West-Nile virus, it’s better to take precautions of being bitten. HWS staff

• Bring an inexpensive digital camera with you.  The pictures will prevent your hunting buddies from lying or for them thinking you are a liar. Hint: (You can use photo editing software later to either add or subtract details from your hunting pictures.) HWS staff

• Purchase a hunting muff.  You can jam thick dry gloves and heating pads into it.  Then you can hunt in cold weather with gloveless hands. HWS staff

• Pay strict attention to your smell.  Deer will spook easily.  Cover up scents (like raccoon) work well and put deer at ease. HWS staff

• When using scents and gear pay attention to what you are using.  Many chain stores and online supply companies will try to sell you scents and gear that have no applicability to any hunting situation in Washington. Scent tips HWS staff

• Gather some vegetation from the area you plan to hunt. Store all of your hunting clothes in garbage bags with the vegetation. Even your underwear, pack, etc. This is the best scent mask I have found. (tip: courtesy Jeff D)

 Habitat

• Whitetail deer typically will be found in the lowland areas around agricultural areas.  Look for areas between bedding and food sources to set up a stand and wait for deer to trade between the two areas. HWS staff

• When hunting in areas where Mule Deer and Whitetail share space, you will typically find the whitetails down low and the Mule Deer up high. HWS staff

• Washington State has an abundance of wild apple trees.  It is not uncommon to find whitetails frequenting these trees when browse is scarce. HWS staff

• Many Eastern Washington areas contain both whitetails and mule deer.  Washington State hunting regulations are split out between both species and different rules apply.  Know your target before you take the shot.  Remember, most mule deer seasons and regulations are far more restrictive than the rules and regulations for Whitetails. HWS staff

• Washington State Whitetail numbers are ever increasing.  The WDFW offers generous permits and seasons for these deer.  Take advantage of the youth seasons/tags to get a young one involved and successful!

• When tracking a deer, pay attention to its tracks in the dirt or snow.  A meandering path signals a deer which is feeding or is looking for a place to bed.  A straight path signals that a deer is on the move and is moving from one point or other.  A path which is straight but shows the deer stopped and turned around is a sign that a deer knows it is being stalked.(courtesy Mike D)

• Deer are diurnal, meaning that they are most active at dusk and dawn.  Cloudy days increase the time that a deer will spend in the open as the lower light levels will be more spread out.  (courtesy Mike D)

• When observing browse or feeding areas, remember that the lighter the color of the nipped shrub or twig, the fresher the sign.  Older browse browns with age. (courtesy Mike D)

• Deer are usually considered "browsers" not grazers like cows, sheep and elk.  Think like a browsing animal when looking for deer. (courtesy Bill P)

Techniques

• First rule!  Know what you are shooting at !!!  There is no excuse for accidentally shooting something you did not intend to. HWS staff

• Gated areas are becoming hot spots with untouched areas available for hunting. HWS staff

• Hire a guide for one season.  Chances are that guide will teach you more during your hunt than you would learn from years of "trying to figure it out on your own."  Guides are willing to teach and are getting paid to give you all their attention.  Most guides will be flattered if you continually pick their brains for information.

• Use a crowded hunting day to your advantage.  Find a bench or a saddle in the area you are hunting, get there before first light and wait for other hunters to kick the deer in your direction. HWS staff

• Grunting and rattling are widely proven techniques in pulling in rutting bucks. 

• Hunting the Whitetail rut can be one of the most fun hunts you will experience.  Bucks will actively tend scrapes and rubs.  Set up stands near these areas. HWS staff

• Whitetail deer are notorious for being creatures of habit.  When in whitetail areas pay strict attention to fresh deer sign and stick to that area. HWS staff

• When the snow flies… go hunting!  There is nothing better than tracking deer in fresh snow.  The snow starts falling typically during the late hunts (November and December.)

• Make your own scrape or eradicate one that is being actively worked.  Nothing irritates a rutting buck more than another deer obliterating his scrape and peeing all over "his" territory.  Continue to make mock scrapes throughout your hunt and spread urine (both doe and buck) to get the rutting buck worked up. HWS staff 

• Whitetails are creatures of habit.  Active rubs, trails and food plots will easily tell a hunter where the deer will be.  With patience, you can set up a stand in one of these areas and you will more than likely be rewarded with a shot or two at an animal.

• Deer usually only use a trail going one direction only.  If you are 100% sure of the location of a feeding area, the trails which have deer tracks pointing away from the food source will be morning trails.  With deer tracks pointing to the feed source, the trails will more than likely be used by deer in the evening. (courtesy Parker L.)

• Get in the habit of erasing deer tracks you come upon in areas that you will hunt more than 1 day.  By erasing those prints, you will be able to tell with great precision when new tracks were made. (courtesy Mike D)

• When deer approach a waterhole or a water crossing, they will slow down and scan the area considerably.  Use these areas to ambush a deer.  (courtesy Mike D)

• When looking over terrain for bucks.  Watch for things other than deer.  Bucks will rub on saplings which make the tree move.  Also, deer moving through tall brush will move the brush as they walk.  Look for these signs and you will find a chance at seeing deer. (courtesy Mike D)

Miscellaneous

• Get in shape!  You need to be in shape to trudge through Washington State Whitetail  Deer country. HWS staff

• Washington Whitetail deer reside in the east-side of the state.  Particularly in the Northeast, the Idaho border counties, and most of the Blue Mountains. HWS staff

• Keep alcohol back at camp or the hotel.  Guns and booze never mix. HWS staff

• Be careful when hunting snowy logging roads.  Carry chains (even if you have a 4 x 4) a portable hand winch, survival gear and the like.  It does not take much to get yourself stuck way back in the woods, far away from help. HWS staff

• When scouting look at areas where you see tall horse fences around gardens, orchards, and the like.  More than likely, that homeowner has a deer or elk problem.  You may have a pretty good shot at getting on their land to hunt their nuisance deer.

• Special Seasons have been developed to hunt some species.  Special Permits are always required.   There are no general seasons. The Permits "grow in value" the more years you apply for them.  This is excerpted from the WDFW FAQ regarding special permits.

  Q: How do the hunt choices work?
  A: When the drawing occurs, it is as if all of the applications for a species are placed in a barrel. The computer spins the barrel by issuing random numbers to each application. The lowest random number that is issued to each application is the number used to order the applications from the lowest random number to the highest. It is the same as drawing cards from a barrel one by one. The application with the lowest random number is drawn first from the barrel and the hunt choices are checked. As each application comes up for consideration, the first hunt choice is checked to see if there is a permit left to be awarded. If there is none left, the second hunt choice is checked. If there is a permit available for that hunt choice, the application is selected for that hunt. If not, the process continues until all of the hunt choices on the application have been checked. If all of the hunt choices marked on the card have run out of permits, no permits are awarded to that application.

  Q: How do I build up points?
  A: Each person who applies for a special hunt permit for a species receives a point for applying. If that person is not awarded a special hunt permit during that drawing the point is retained. If the person is awarded the permit, that person's point total drops to zero. If the person who was not awarded a permit for that species applies the next year, they then have two points. A single point is built up each year the person applies for a species until the person is awarded a permit.

  Q: What is the value of building up points?
  A: Building up points is very much like putting more application cards into the barrel. Those that have more cards in the barrel have an advantage over those that have less. The more points a person has built up for a species over time, the greater are the chances that his/hers will be selected.

  Q: I heard that the points have multipliers on them. What is that for?
  A: Some permit drawing systems are designed so that one random number is issued for each point built up for the species by the applicant. It is the same as having one card in the barrel for each point (one point - one card, two points - two cards, etc.).

  Washington's system places a multiplier on the points. The number of points is squared and it is this number of random numbers that are issued to the application (or number of cards in the barrel). If a person applies for an elk permit for the first time, they have one card in the barrel. If a person has built up two points, they have four cards in the barrel. If a person has three points built up, nine cards are in the barrel and so on.

  Placing a multiplier on the points more noticeably increases the chances of being selected over someone who is a new applicant or was recently awarded a permit as points are built up.

   

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