Deer prospects continued

Today we backtrack a bit and then continue with the prospects for hunting deer in the Columbia Basin.

GMU 290 is a Quality Hunt permit only unit, thus all hunting opportunities are provided through the public draw. Post-hunt ratios have remained consistent at approximately 50 bucks:100 does, with the majority of bucks being classified as greater than 2.5 years old during aerial surveys.

Harvest success for bucks varies greatly by hunt choice. Hunts listed in order from highest to lowest success rates are as follows: late modern, early modern, muzzleloader, late archery and early archery.

This GMU contains very few access roads and scouting is strongly recommended to increase success. Public opportunity is widely available as 41 percent of the land in this GMU is part of the Columbia Basin Wildlife Area and managed by Fish and Wildlife.

Public land in this unit consists of riparian areas associated with the Winchester and Frenchman wasteways and is surrounded by sandy dunes with varying densities of shrub cover.

The majority of the private agricultural land in this unit occurs throughout the western half. Hunters with permits will experience much greater success by hiking further away from access roads and scouting the area. Additionally, during nearly all of the permit hunts, other types of hunting are also occurring. Waterfowl and upland birds are the two most popular.

The 2019 season

Most deer harvest occurs in GMUs 272 (Beezley) and 284 (Ritzville). Post-hunt buck:doe ratios from ground surveys in 2018 were 22:100 and 26:100, respectively.

Fawn:doe ratios were good during the 2018 ground survey efforts, with 67:100 in GMU 272 and 64:100 in GMU 284. Given the modest escapement of bucks in 2018, hunters should expect an average year for mule deer hunting throughout the district.

Winter of 2018 was relatively mild overall, but late-winter (February through March) did increase in severity. There were numerous reports of winterkilled deer, but hunters can still expect to see average numbers of deer throughout the hunting season.

Why have deer areas

There are localized deer concentration areas in District 5 where, during harsh or prolonged winters, deer have the potential to cause crop damage. Fish and Wildlife provides limited, permit-only opportunities to harvest antlerless deer that occur in close proximity to these areas, as a way to help elevate or reduce the crop damage.

By providing these opportunities, Fish and Wildlife hopes to minimize crop damage by deterring mule deer from congregating. Fish and Wildlife defines such areas as Deer Areas and in District 5 they include Deer Area 2010 (Lakeview), located in GMU 272, and Deer Area 2011 (Benge), located in GMU 284.