North-central Washington Bucks British Columbia
Pasayten Wilderness
2
r Rive
4 Conconully
Chew
20
uch
Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest
3
Winthrop
20
Twisp
5
Editor’s note: This article is from a previous issue of Northwest Sportsman. Be sure to check current regulations before going
Methow River
6
C A S C A D E S
Loup Loup Pass
Lake ChelanSawtooth Wilderness
W A S H I N G T O N
CHELAN—Much of Chelan and Okanogan Counties are exceedingly rumpled, providing plenty of escape cover as well as a range of different hunting opportunities for mule deer hunters. Sportsmen look to the open, cloud-scraped meadows for the biggest bucks, but trail cams show they also like timber between 3,800 and 5,000 feet. Hunters are also learning to gravitate to burned areas. Both counties had large fires in the 1990s and 2000s, creating large areas of fresh, new nutrient-rich browse for deer, most famously illustrated by the 9x10 Tripod buck, shot in the Okanogan County burn of the same name. The wild card are weather conditions. Spring and summer rains and moderate temps provide good forage, but harsh winters can knock down the fawn crop, leading to fewer legal bucks two seasons down the line. –ANDY WALGAMOTT
WASHINGTON
1
Okanogan 153 Wenatchee National Forest Methow
Lake Chelan
Mapped Area
7 Manson Chelan 0
3
6
12
scale in miles
North-central Washington Deer LEGEND Large forest fires since 2000 1 Tatoosh 4 Tripod 2 Fawn Peak 5 Flick Creek Thirty Mile 3
Map art: RJThompsonART.COM
6 7
Rex Creek Deer Point
ATLAS 2015
Northwest Sportsman
91