Here is a question for the Idaho/Montana/Wyoming hunters:

I live here in Oregon and have always hunted Mule Deer and Blacktail but I have really gotten bitten by the Whitetail bug. I hunted in Western Montana last year and LOVED it. This year I knocked down a Northern Idaho Whitetail buck the week before Thanksgiving.

I love backpacking and love the wilderness. I would rather shoot a small buck in backcountry than a trophy on private land. That strategy works great with Mulies and Blacktail because some of those bucks like those lonely spots you have to pack into, but what about Whitetail??? It seems like the Whitetail I see are either on Timber company land that was recently logged, or on public land that borders private. Do you guys see Whitetail in the backcountry??? Can backpacking in for Whitetail be profitable?

Plenty of whitetails in the backcountry but they definitely prefer those riparian corridors to an alpine basin with the goats and mule deer. Whttetails defintely like those fringes between reprod and timber as well and there’s plenty of that in the back country also when you look for it. I think it’s a great hunt. Way more fun than sitting a stand in a club down south.

I generally hunt mule deer but I know there are whities in the sellway/bitteroot wilderness, not far from where you hunted last year.

I'd venture that the best thing about backpacking for whitetail is once the general elk season is over, you likely won't see many people because most hunt whitetails close to ag land or ground with easier of access.

I've never shot a whitetail when hunting elk, but have seen decent bucks and many times they would have been fairly easy to shoot simply because they aren't as hunter-shy like those deer close to civilization. While you might not see lots of whitetails in the "backcountry" the chance is good that a buck can get some years on him. I'd not hunt a backcountry area following a hard winter though.

Northeastern Oregon has some nice whitetails in backcountry and road closure areas and has had for at least 15 years. They are a bit harder to find than the few muleys.

Rifle ( now "any legal weapon") Elk season is when I see most of the big ones.

I put a stalk on a solid whitetail buck in an old burn in a wilderness area at 7000' during archery season here in NW Montana. The deer are there. If you are more interested in the experience, I'd say it's worth it. Pretty cool to hunt whitetails in grizzly country too.

Bear,
I have enough preference points so that I should be able to draw the Pine Creek unit in NE Oregon this next season for deer. This unit has Whitetail but from talking to the wildlife biologist it sounded like all the Whitetail in that unit are located in the lower elevations on private land. I elk hunted in that unit this fall and saw several Whitetail but they were all within 1 mile of the town of Halfway. All of the deer that I saw back in the woods were Mulies.

I am going to be back over there next summer doing some pre-season scouting. I would love to find some Whitetail in the backcountry.

If you don't mind me asking, what unit were you referring to. Feel free to send me a PM if you prefer that. I am not asking for any specific hunting spots just which unit(s) have Whitetail in the backcountry.

Plenty of backpack whitetails in the Clearwater /nez Pearce And the available age class tends to be pretty good. The whitetails don’t seem to suffer as Hard as the mule deer in the winter by and large- possibly due in part to more favorable conditions year round not just in the winter etc.

You could do way worse than a backpack whitetail hunt in the Clearwater or nez perce. Great country and still good enough numbers that you can see a pretty good number of deer, usually a few bucks while your there

Sled Springs and to a lesser degree Chesnimnus have Whitetails.. It is around 4000-4500 ft in there. There are some at or near the same altitude in Wenaha.