GMU 124 Mount Spokane

The headline animal and the reason GMU 124 leads District 2 in deer harvest — roughly 1,300 deer taken by modern-firearm hunters in a recent five-year average at about 32% success, with mule deer only ~1% of the kill. Uniquely, white-tailed deer here are "any buck" (no 3-point minimum), and there is a late general modern-firearm and late general archery whitetail season. The tradeoff is pressure: ~4,000+ modern-firearm hunters (over 5 per square mile), the densest in the district. Numbers swing with hemorrhagic disease (Bluetongue 2015, EHD 2021) and hard winters, but recruitment has been rebounding.

• →Hunt the ag/timber edge: deer feed in hay fields, pastures and fresh clearcuts at first and last light, then slip back into cover — set up just inside the timber they retreat to.
• →Beat the crowd by walking or biking behind IEP and Hancock gates into ground that road-hunters skip.
• →Still-hunt brushy benches and creek bottoms slowly, glassing for a piece of a deer rather than a whole animal.
• →Time the mid-November rut for mature bucks; the late whitetail seasons put fewer hunters in the woods on rutting deer.
• →Submit the head/lymph nodes for CWD sampling within the required window — it's mandatory in this GMU.

Shiras moose are well established and hunted draw-only. The Spokane North bull-moose permits (about eight) have averaged ~92% success since 2012 with an average bull spread near 35 inches (largest recorded 49") — one of the state's premier hard-to-draw moose tags. Antlerless opportunity has been trimmed due to declining calf survival.

• →Once drawn, glass willow, aspen and old-cut browse pockets and cool north slopes at dawn and dusk.
• →Work the IEP and Hancock timber ground and DNR sections where moose concentrate away from suburbia.
• →Plan for effort — days-per-kill has been climbing; be patient and hunt the full season if needed.

GMU 124 draws about a third of District 2's elk hunters and carries the heaviest pressure, so overall success is low (~9% modern-firearm), but the unit periodically produces one of the district's higher harvests of mature 6-point bulls. A late archery elk season is offered in 124 & 127. Elk are frequently targeted by landowners over crop and haystack damage.

• →Get behind gates and away from roads — pressured elk push onto quieter IEP/Hancock timber and closed private.
• →Glass clearcuts and landings at daylight, then key on closed-canopy timber and benches where bulls hold midday.
• →Hunt fresh snow late to cut tracks; the late archery season can catch elk with fewer hunters around.

Black bear are fairly common in the forested Spokane-county timber but seen infrequently, sticking to cover. District 2 isn't a destination bear unit, though harvest has trended up. Much of the best bear cover here is in non-huntable parks/conservation areas or on permit-required timber ground.

• →Glass old clearcuts, berry brush and green forest openings in the cool hours, especially the higher Mount Spokane slopes.
• →Hunt bears incidentally while chasing deer/elk on IEP and Hancock ground.
• →Do not shoot sows with cubs — watch for lagging 30–50 lb cubs; a premolar tooth submission is mandatory.

GMU 124 consistently posts the highest cougar harvest in District 2 and sightings are common. Take is mostly opportunistic by deer and elk hunters during the early general season; a late season may run depending on the harvest guideline for the hunt area.

• →Carry a cougar tag while deer/elk hunting — most cats are taken by chance.
• →Cut tracks in fresh snow along ridge timber and creek bottoms.
• →Watch deer-concentration areas near the timber-suburb interface where cougars follow prey.