Second weekend hunting numbers in Washington stay low

The second weekend of the general deer hunting season in Northeast Washington was, like the first, slow.

“I think the wet weather on Saturday played a role in why it was so slow in Chewelah,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist AnneMarie Prince said in an email.

“Again, almost all hunters saw at least does and fawns and some also saw bucks.”

Of the 23 hunters who stopped at the Chewelah station, two had killed a whitetail buck. At the Deer Park check station 62 hunters stopped. Twelve had success (eight whitetail, four mule deer and two moose).

In 2018, the Chewelah check station saw 38 hunters with 11 deer (six whitetail bucks and five does) during the second weekend. That same year, the Deer Park check station had 81 hunters with 14 deer (seven whitetail bucks and seven does).

In 2017, there was no Chewelah check station. The Deer Park check station had 75 hunters with 26 deer (15 whitetail bucks, 10 does and one mule deer).

Check station numbers should be taken with a grain of salt as many hunters don’t stop.

Harvest was expected to be down this year after the Fish and Game Commission voted to end all antlerless hunting in Eastern Washington units (Game Management Units 101 through 121).

In Idaho, Kara Campbell, a biologist at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, said she didn’t have check station numbers.

“Success rates and number of hunters through the check stations seem to be similar to 2018,” she said in an email. “Overall, I would say most hunters seem satisfied and are seeing animals out in the field.”