Photo by Gary Kramer.net

Pacific Northwest mule deer hunters differ in their views concerning permit hunts. Some don't like them one bit, while others not only embrace the concept but they give due diligence to making the process work for them.

Those who dislike permit hunts don't hesitate to share their feelings with game agencies and fish and wildlife commissions. They insist that they should be able to hunt in any area of the state they want, and that any attempt to limit that freedom is an infringement on Washington tradition and their rights. They also point out that it is both strange and unfair that hunters who live within the boundaries of permit hunt areas may seldom, if ever, be allowed to hunt deer in the places where they know most intimately if it is a high-odds unit.

On the other hand, many other hunters welcome the annual permit hunt application season eagerly. They carefully study the harvest rates and application-to-tag ratios in a number of units before choosing the hunts they will try to draw. They think controlling the number of hunters in some areas is a valuable and responsible management tool, and believe that although they may not be able to hunt exactly where they want every season, they will enjoy a much higher quality hunt when they finally do draw a tag for their preferred unit.

Whichever way you come down on the issue of controlled hunts, there is one indisputable fact: They have much higher success rates than open entry areas. General season areas in Washington where mule deer are available and which the state manages as unlimited entry hunts average around a 20 percent success rate. In Oregon, which has managed all eastern mule deer units as controlled hunts since the 1980s, has an average 45 percent success rate. Evergreen State hunters who drew tags for controlled mule deer units averaged more than 50 percent harvest rates.

Neither Washington nor Oregon has the resources to measure the size of the animals or antlers in either open entry or controlled hunts. However, anyone who has spent any time surveying Boone and Crockett record books will also tell you that trophy mulies tend to come from either permit hunt areas or units that are very difficult to hunt. This isn't very hard to understand. In unlimited entry areas, most deer are harvested as 2 1/2 to 3 1/2-year-olds. They may have branched antlers, but they are not even considered adult deer by biologists. The age structure and buck-to-doe ratios in these units are typically much younger and much less diverse than in areas managed as controlled hunts. Bucks older than 4 years are much more common in permit areas as well as those whose terrain, wilderness classification or other features discourage hunters.

Of course, it takes more than limited pressure to produce truly trophy-class mule deer. Even small numbers of hunters can keep the average buck age low in areas that are easy to hunt. More than any other deer, trophy mule deer prefer remote, lightly populated areas, and the places that routinely produce the biggest mulies usually present access difficulties. In addition, some areas just seem to produce bigger deer or deer with impressive racks as a result of nutrients or trace minerals in the water or forage. I remember the first time I saw the bucks that hang around northeast Oregon's Wallowa Lake State Park. I was returning from fishing at twilight, and at first glance I thought they were elk. They had dramatic, high, sweeping racks, the kind that most hunters only see in outdoor shows, magazines and in their dreams.