Whitetail

[Liptugger]

Hi, brother wants to try hunt 3-17 this year, and I a wondering if there is much opportunity for whitetail in this area? He is fine with mule deer, but i perfer whitetail.
Thanks for any input.

[250 sav]

There's some around

[Liptugger]

Was hoping to get just a little more info if possible.
Thanks

[Wild one]

Southern 3-17 I know very well it has a few WT but not a population that I would invest effort targeting unless it was basically my back yard. Lack experience in northern 3-17 but from my understanding talking to others WT numbers are not very good there either.

My advice if you want WT I would go elsewhere and even for mule deer there are better options.

[Bugle M In]

Yes, there are some.
Last year we did some scouting and went into Hat Creek rd etc.
Ran into a few closer to the north end of the road between Cache Creek and Lillooet.
Problem is, that area is full of farms and ranches and signs saying no shooting.
But not all of it is private.
They just don't tell you when it is "okay to shoot again"!
So, if you go in there, best to have maps of the private property.
How to put that on the gps is beyond me????

But, we had a chance to take a WT buck, and I honestly believe we had a green light to shoot etc, and the buck just stood there.
But, not "knowing" for sure where the boundaries were, I held my partner back from shooting it.

And yes, better place elsewhere for WT, imo.

[Huntingtyler123]

There’s some like people have said. I only know the surrounding lillooet area. Ones I’ve seen have only been on private property or farm land.

[Sangstercraft]

I hunted 3-17 a number of times back 5+ years ago. I never saw any whitetails, but I did see a few mule bucks. But damn, they were skittish and seemed to move mainly at night. I like the area, but have had no luck there. Did see a few fresh moose tracks tho.

[wideopenthrottle]

I hunted 3-17 a number of times back 5+ years ago. I never saw any whitetails, but I did see a few mule bucks. But damn, they were skittish and seemed to move mainly at night. I like the area, but have had no luck there. Did see a few fresh moose tracks tho.

same for me about 6 years ago...no bucks seen during daylight but the farms had lots of Mule does and mountain (big horn I think?) sheep

[250 sav]

I've shot 3 whitetail bucks in 3 17 but haven't hunted it I about 10 years

[Liptugger]

Thanks for the input, I get it they (whitetails) are far and few. Thank you, we will see what we can find.

[Bugle M In]

Just try to get as much info on Private Property.
That's my only advice in that neck of the woods.