WA Bow Hunting Blog aka escape suburbia

New Gear Update + Pre-pre-Season Scouting Hike/Climb

2010-06-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

A couple Cabelas Gift certificates and a trip to Lacey = some new gear! My old quiver pictured to the right was the same color and pattern as my bow, however my arrows where always coming loose(a bad thing especially with razor sharp broadheads). My old quiver was also not adjustable and my arrows used to stick out a bout a half foot beneath the bow.

The new carbon fiber quiver is lighter, has twice as many securing points for my quivers and is adjustable. Now the arrows are secure and lined up perfectly with my bow.
Since I do all my hunting during early bow season Sept 1-17th having gear that will keep me cool is crucial. This under armour heat gear shirt should do the trick.
Getting to the trail head should be a bit easier this year, put an offroad rear bumper on my xterra. The bumper lets me also carry my bike on the rear bike rack I have instead of inside the vehicle. Plus gives me three good recovery points if I happen to get stuck or need to help someone else get un-stuck.
The 2" lift kit from PRG not only looks great but also adds to my ground clearance, approach and departure angles.
On Saturday I went on hike up Putrid Pete's Peak. Pretty good little hike, 3 miles up 3000 feet of elevation gain.

Once you leave the trees it was one rocky ridge line up to the top.... looking down that is the "trail"
Looking east at Mount Defiance

Looking at Mt. Rainier, also you can see i90 in the bottom left corner

I don't plan on going hunting in the area, Way to popular of a trailhead and didnt see many signs of deer or elk.

Success! My first Deer with a Bow!

2009-09-07T11:17:00.000-07:00

After starting Bow Hunting last year and going out a handful of times but never even releasing an arrow I finally had success in my Bow Hunting endeavors. On Saturday September 5th at approximately 8:45am I shot and killed my first deer! This was the first time I have ever forgotten my camera so the pictures are from some other people I ran into and once I had gotten home.

After going out on opening day previous post and having a horrible trip this was exactly the type of an excursion I needed.

I arrived at Vail Tree Farm at 5:50am and was already the second person to arrive at the gate I was entering at. I didn't talk with the other guy there because he was in a hurry to get going but I could tell that he shoots a PSE bow so you know he has good taste. Also I liked his ride it was an older Nissan Pathfinder with an arrow as an anttena and a whole ton of archery decals on it.

It was dumping down rain for at least the first hour, but then the rain let off to mist and then nothing but clouds.

I crossed the gate and entered the farm at just after 6am. It was still pretty dark out but I have a light on the front of my mountain bike and kept it on for the first couple miles till it got light out. When I was about 2-3 miles in , I started seeing deer. I first saw three does, for two of them I got off my bike and started to take out an arrow, but they where too quick. Then I saw a decent sized spike and actually even got an arrow nocked and was about to pull back the bow but then he took off.

I then rode some more when I noticed looking down the hill side there where two huge elk, one week later and I would have gone after these but the early elk season doesn't start until the following week so I kept riding.

I then came up on a doe standing off to the size of one of the logging roads I was on. I dismounted my bike and started to approach the doe. I was shocked because I kept getting closer even with my arrow nocked and my bow pulled back and it never flinched. I finally got within about 20 yards and realized there was something wrong. The doe had black vanes running up its neck and it was ghostly white from the bottom of its chest all the way up to its head. This doe was defiantly sick and possibly blind because I walked right up to within 20 feet of it and it never flinched. Really glad I didn't shoot this doe because I'm not sure what was going on with it but it wasn't healthy to say the least. So I walked back to my bike and continued on.

I then rode another 3 miles before deciding at this point I was getting ridiculously far away from the vehicle and I wouldn't want to have to come get a deer at this distance. So I headed back to where one of the intersections was closer to my vehicle and then headed down a new logging road. Going up this road I say another handful of does but didn't want to shoot any of them.

I had now seen 9 does, one spike and two elk all before 8:30 in the morning, not bad. However I was getting tired and decided if I didn't see too much more going up this road I was going to head home and call it good for the day.

I got to one really remote road and decided to dismount and walk down it for a while, I was probably a tenth of a mile from my bike when I say something in the ravine in front of me. As I slowly walked up I realized it was a deer and not only that but a Buck that was at least a 2 point on each side(ended up being a 3 x 2)! I was about 35 yards away(later verified with a laser range finder) when I first shoot the Buck the first shot hit right at the top of its front left leg and when though the lower chest area. The Deer jumped up moved a couple feet and stopped. I wasn't sure that My shot would kill it and I certainly did not want to try and track it, so I released another arrow and the one hit it as well. That arrow hit in the front and came out one of the rear legs again the Buck jumped a couple feet and stopped. I then took a third arrow release it and it hit through one of the front legs and out a side. I had shot the deer three times with my bow and it only made it 20 yards from where I first shot it to where it died. I know shooting it three times might have been an overkill but oh well.

I then marked where the deer had gone down in my GPS and started down to my Car to go get my trailer. Once I hooked up my trailer to my mountain bike I started back up the road to go retrieve the deer, this where I got lucky for the second time that day.

As I was pushing both my bike and my trailer up the road I ran into a couple guys who had motorized access pass for the tree farm and they offered to give me a ride up to my deer in their truck and then carry it back to my vehicle. That was awesome! Not only did I get a ride up to the deer, but I have never gutted a deer before and it was nice to have two really experienced guys there showing and telling you exactly what to do. The Deer was probably 30 yards off the road when I shot it and then it made it about 20 yards further after I had shot it. So it was really nice to have someone help you when dragging it the 50 yards back to the road and then putting it in the back of the truck.

I followed the guys back to my vehicle on my bike and we than put the deer in the back of my Xterra. What probably would have taken me at least 5 or 6 hours had just took about an hour!

Then I drove home where I put the deer up a small tree in our back yard and then proceeded to clean the meet off while skinning the deer. After that was done I took the deer down to the butchers shop where it will be processed. Now I am super excited to have a ton of deer meet and will mount the antlers pretty quick.

I probably won't make it back out till I go to a hunting elk camp one of my friend's is organizing later this month but even as it lies this deer just made my whole season!

I know a 3 x 2 black tail isn't a huge Buck but for my first deer and the first time ever shooting my bow at anything other than a target it seems like a trophy to me!

Opening Day 2009!

2009-09-02T08:50:00.000-07:00

I decided to go explore another area I had never been before yesterday for the opening day of early archery bow season. The area I hunted is past Wilkenson, past Carbonado and up the carbon river road, then up a forest service road and over a bridge.

Unfortunately the day was a huge disappointment. The closest I got to seeing a deer was startling one Early in the morning, when the light was just coming out. I heard a crack, then the noise of it running down the hillside. Needless to say I never saw a thing.

I also thought about trying to drive up the Road, and even though my xterra has 4wd low with a locking rear differential... this was a bit much.. Also I would have destroyed the paint job cause 90% of the trail is not even wide enough for a wrangler to make it up. I did see one vehicle coming up to the lake as I was heading down.... It was a Suzuki samurai with about a 12" lift and 38" tires.... Its about the only vehicle I can see taking up this road, maybe an atv.

I did cover quite a bit of land via mostly old beat to hell logging roads and cross country.

And the best part was I ended the day with 3 mosquito bites on my face, 3 on my back, 4 on my shoulder, 2 on my back, and one on my chest! The only thing on the menu yesterday was me!

Score from Yesterday:

Wilderness 1, Scott 0

NEW BOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

My new bow, PSE Bow MAdness XS

shoots at 316fps, and is only 28" in length

My old bow, while very slow comparatively and much larger was still a great bow because it got me into the sport and only cost about 10%(craigslist + 15 year old bow) of what my new bow costs.

I have only shot my new bow twice now but check out how close my groupings of arrows are already, granted this was at 15 yards but still not bad for the secound time I have ever shoot the bow.... With Hunting season starting in a few weeks I'm going to make a stong effort to shoot every day and get ready.

not bad, but need to get better, gonna start shooting at 20 yards

ALASKA! someday I may go bowhunting up there, so we will call it a scouting trip

2009-07-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

I took off this last Friday afternoon and headed up to see a my friend Genny and her boyfriend Matt in Anchorage. Got to fly up first class which was awesome! Also once I was up there we went out to some great local bars.

The next day we headed out to Matt's fishing cabin which is about an hour or so out of Anchorage in a place called Willow AK. Once you got off the main highway you had to take an unmarked interesting dirt trail till you got to the railroad tracks. From here its a bit over a mile of hiking down the railroad till you get to what I will simply call..... AWESOME aka Matt's fishing cabin.This place was cool, you can totally see how this is big time Bear and Moose Country. Saw some huge bear tracks on the river we fished close to the cabin... HUGE bear tracks! Also some moose tracks.
As far as fly fishing goes I think Genny's Pink fly rod may have been what it took cause Matt and I got skunked, while Genny had two rainbows and a King Salmon on! I did get a couple good hits especially when we first started. Did I mention we fished till after 11pm and it was still light outside!This place was really cool and I can't wait to go back some time again

Pre-Season scounting #2 Lost and Quinn Lake

2009-07-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

Had an abosulty awesome hike today! I headed out this morning at 5am to go up to the greenwater lakes trailhead and then head to Lost lake. I have done this hike before and it is a pretty good 14 miles day hike. Today I had a couple problems, one I wanted to spend more time flyfishing then hiking and two my wife Courtney would be irate if we didnt make her familys early 4th of july party tonight on time.

I took the suggestion from a co-worker and looked for a cross county route from a forest service road to get me closer. Awesome advise Kevin I owe you one! I ended up going to the lake and back today covering about 4 miles total, not bad verses the 14 miles normal route.

First Scouting Trip of the Season, Mildred Lakes Olympic Mountains

2009-06-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

I was given an interesting article from a co-woker on the

good but challangelling hunting in a remote area of the Olympics. Scouting for deer is always going to be a bit more difficult with others. Especially when two fo the four in your party just got engaged the night before the hike (tons to discuss)! Congrats Paolo and Amanda!

When wedding talk is in the air be sure that the chatter is plenty to drive most animals far from your presence. We may not have seen any animals but there where plenty of deer and bear tracks and perhaps even a cougar track.

I have to admit this was one of the more challanging hikes I have ever taken. The trail is unmaintained(an understatement at times). When you finally reach the top of your first ridge you feel triumphant, however then you drop into a creek crossing and it all gets harder, much harder!

All and all it was a good trip, I might come back here to Bow hunt but only if I'm looking for a challanging area, and have a couple days to camp out at the lakes, a day trip here just inst worth the drive or the effort.

Vail trip #2

2008-12-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

I headed up to a new area of Vail this Saturday. I arrived about 45-60 minutes after I wanted to and the sun had been up for quite a while. At the first gate I saw 5 trucks then when I arrived at the gate I entered at there where 6 more trucks. That kind of deterred me from the start.

I rode up one of the logging roads being followed closely by another two bow hunters also on bikes right behind me. Eventually I put some distance between me and them. I am not doubting there are plenty of deer and elk in the area but I think everyone else in Washington is thinking the same thing.

I saw the remains of an elk in a patch of short trees and I ended up seeing 3 doe deer throughout the day, but mostly in the last couple hours I was there. The first was probably within 40 yards right off the main logging road. As I was trying to grab my bow it took off. The second I found in a small clear cut and it was probably 60 yards. The last doe I saw was across a pretty nasty ravine and just stood and looked at me for about ten minutes. I had enough time to take out my range finder and figure out it was exactly 85 yards away. Far out of my range and I wasn't about to take a shot.

The area is nice and I will likely go back this weekend, just hope to get there much earlier and not see so many other people. If I wanted to stand side by side with the next hunter I would have gotten a modern firearm permit and not an archery tag.

Vail Tree Farm

2008-11-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

Due to logging activity the entrance I was going to use was closed off. Another entrace was closed dude to people durring the modern firearm season destroying and littering. The entrance I was left with was fine it just took a while to find.

This was my first time out with my mountain bike. I am hooked! Because no motorized access was allowed. I was able to cover lots of ground on the mountain bike. In the future I would like to make it a bit quieter. In the past i used this mountain bike for Freeride mnt. biking. using it for hunting worked out great.

I was within 100 yards of a doe today, she was on the edge of a clearcut. Once she saw me she freaked out and ran into the hillside and heavier trees. That was the highlight of this trip.. I climed a decent sized hill called bald mountain... really cool, really tough getting up

hunt up in the olympics

2008-11-29T20:38:00.000-08:00

This hunt was kind of lame compared to the previous. I saw no animals... and TONS of other bowhunters. It was like bow hunting convention. I did go to the town of grisland, it is an old abandoned logging town. Very cool to think their used to be hundreds of people living up there and now you can just see the footprints of the town. Might go back to the same area but next time with my Mnt. Bike... all of the roads in the area are gated and non-motorized access is the only way in. So you either walk, ride a horse or take in a mnt. bike.

Upcoming TRIP! Late Archery Season Starts!

2008-11-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

SOOOOOOO excited for this weekends trip, heading up to the Wynoochee Lake and Wynoochee River area. Should be a good time, I guess there is an old forest service station with a pilot program going on. Offering overnight bunks just south of the lake. Might be worth checking out while I am up there. This is Game Management Unit 648 and both deer and elk will be open for this weekend, with any deer legal and 3pt. min or antlerless for Elk.

Early Archery Season 2nd Trip Bullion Basin - Norse Peak

2008-11-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

For my second trip out I wanted to go to an area I was more familiar with.

I headed to Crystal Mountain where I spend anywhere from 30-50 days skiing per year, since I do a lot of Backcountry skiing here I have been all around the area and found it nice to go explore the same area in the Summer without snow.

An area just northeast of Crystal is called East Peak by backcountry skiers in the Winter. I have hiked it and skied it 4 times from about 1999-2001(highschool).

I started up the trail just at sun break on the Bullion Basin trail, on my way up the trail I stopped for a minute to look around at the other hill sides with my binoculars for deer. As I was putting the binoculars down I heard a snap from behind me and looked up the hillside no more than 20 feet to see a large Buck through a tree. Before I could even take an arrow out of the quiver on my bow he had seen me and charged across the trail behind me and down the hillside towards the Bullion creek below. That was the closest I have ever gotten to a large Buck and it was great!

I proceeded up to Bullion Basin where I found a small camp set up. I talked to two middle aged guys who had a set up a scouting camp complete with a horse and where getting ready for the upcoming rifle season.

From Bullion Basin I headed up and reached the ridge that separates Eastern WA from Western WA, dropping into Eastern WA the amount of deer tracks became much higher. I also started hearing Bugling coming from the direction I was heading down from the ridge into the valley.

I figured it was just some more people out scouting for rifle season and messing around. As I came over the next ridge I was pretty shocked at what I saw on the mountainside across from me, about 9 elk(one week after the end of early elk archery season). Also above the elk where about 6 Mountain Goats.

I walked the trail and made it to Basin Lake, looked up and found 3 more Mountain Goats above the lake. I also ran into another rifle scouting party just up from the lake, waved and proceeded on. I made it to Norse Peak got on that trail and followed it back to the Jeep. I ran into one group of hikers on the way down and unfortunately they where far from as nice as the group I had run into on my last trip out. One of the people in the group actually got off the trail to avoid me all together. Pretty rude but whatever, I was going to tell them about all the mountain goats I had seen...... their loss.

Overall a great trip, covered a ton of distance and saw a lot of wildlife on the last hunt for the Early Archery Season 08

Early Archery Season 1st Trip!

2008-11-14T14:01:00.000-08:00

This was my first year as a Bow Hunter

I spent my first day down around the Ashford area, it took a while to get down there and a bit longer to drive up the old logging road to the Lake Christine Trail Head got there about 7am. Started out on the Trail to Lake Christine and immediately had an animal get spooked and run off down the hillside. Never saw anything but definitely heard enough to get the adrenaline started.

It was a super cloudy and misty day so everything off trail was very wet and slippery. After getting to Lake Cristine I decided to venture off trail for a while and saw tons on deer tracks, and even more bear tracks.

I never did shoot an arrow that day but had a lot of fun getting out and just walking around in some excellent country. Got back to the Jeep a little bit after noon.

If you look at the map you can see where the GPS tracked me that day. This was a great area to go and look forward to going back some time agian.