Originally Posted by
rogerb
overall, there is decent whitetail hunting throughout the management unit but access is becoming ever more difficult due to ever more road closures. a boat of some sort for the northern parts is very useful if not mandatory. doesn't have to be fancy, a canoe/kayak etc. will do. for six mile & leach as well as much of the rest of the unit a treestand setup is the best so you can see down into the grass. was told this twenty years ago by an oldtimer hunting ducks there. his advice was shimmy up a tree and shoot your buck! of course, we prefer treestands now. ideally if you can pick up a set of lightweight climbing sticks like helium or wolf sticks and a safety harness you can setup on pretty much any tree you like and get a good look out over the flats of grass. don't forget the cattails - deer do hang out in those too but are much harder to spot than in the grass. at dawn & dusk, the deer travel the edge between grass & treelines so just find the trails they use (easy to spot there) and set up nearby. you can of course just hunt on foot and there are lots of places you can see enough to get a shot off. especially so on the management land south of their interpretive center. a final word of caution - realize that the entire management area now from the northern tip to the far south is active grizzly habitat. sometimes I think its now being managed for them alone. certainly closing off vehicle access everywhere has increased their use of the area. anyways, numerous bears are in there & some agressive sows in particular so if at all possible, hunt with a buddy & be prepared for a bear encounter whatever that may mean to you personally....have fun, it is an incredibly beautiful area with a geography unlike anything else in the area.