One thing I failed to mention (not a "what did I do thing") is that Washington has less whitetail habitat than most states. Yes, the cover is there but the food isn't, especially on public/state land. Browse is in abundance is some areas, especially where logging once took place, but it's lacking in others. There are no mast crops like acorns and other nuts from trees that occur in high volume in northeastern states. Midwestern states have huge deer populations due to EXTENSIVE farmland. Rocky Mountain states are packed full of muleys because sage is everywhere. The lack of deer in eastern Washington is simply due to the lack of food necessary to support a large herd, hence the overall small numbers of antlered and antlerless deer. Combined with limited available land and it's a problem. That's my opinion after having hunted several states. Field and Stream or Outdoor Life had a deer density article a few years back, complete with a U.S. foldout map, which showed, if I remember correctly, whitetails at less than 10 per square mile in E.Washington. I can't recall the mule deer status. Pa's northern counties showed 30 and 40 per square mile. And having hunted both now, I submit that article had some truth to it! Anyways....good luck to all this coming season!