At a Glance
Quick Tips
- Old age class bucks are last to migrate and stay nocturnal until does are in estrus




There is a lot of diverse habitat within District 7, with the wooded Chelan Mountains in the north giving way to open, arid Columbia River breaks in the south. Summer homes and small farms line Lake Chelan and the Colombia and Entiat Rivers, with agriculture representing less than one-third of all private land use. Public land is comprised of small blocks of BLM, state land, and Chelan Wildlife Area in the south, with the Wenatchee National Forest dominating the woodlands. The northwest arm is the Entiat Experiment Forest, established in 1957, where the effects of water, timber harvest, fire and road building to name a few are studied. Mule deer hunting can be something special for the lucky holders of a quality special deer permit. These are migratory deer and as such, timing can vary from year to year based on snow levels in the high country. Keep in mind that the does and fawns will migrate first, followed by younger bucks, and finally, more dominant bucks potentially following much later after snows get deeper. The later in the season, the better the hunting will get, as the old nocturnal bucks finally start showing themselves as does come into cycle. As deer migrate into their core winter range, you will need to locate them along their migration routes as weather is an enormous timing factor. Elk are very few and far between, with extremely low hunting success. Black bears, cougars, blue grouse and ruffed grouse hunting opportunities are also found in this region. There little to no whitetail deer, the few that are in the unit are mainly found along the riparian habitat. The grizzly bear recovery zone overlaps this GMU.
There is a great opportunity for a good buck. They tend to keep in thick cover until the rut kicks in. Be patient, this is a great area for deer.