Headed to the tree farm. updated, after season thoughts!

[Ripper]

I'm heading down to the Coweeman or Winston tonight, and hunting tomorrow. My girlfriend is nervous since I'll be hunting alone. None of my friends can go, jobs, school and such. So does anyone want to meet up tomorrow morning to hunt? I have a spot already picked out to hunt in the morning so I'm not trying to get secrets from anyone. PM me with your phone # if interested. Drunken unethical dirt bags need not respond. If you haven't sighted in your gun yet this year, please don't respond. If your looking to use my truck to dump a household appliance then just stay home!

 I'll be staying at the Timberland Inn in Castle Rock so I can meet you there tomorrow morning and I will drive.

[Bullets_n_Octane]

The world needs more people like this! A couple of buddies and I are headed down to the area Saturday and Sunday, best of luck to you and anyone who tags along...

[doyourtime89]

I might be headed down there in the morning.  My son is out of school and he has a west side rifle tag.  I haven't been able to get him out at all this year for elk yet.  I have to wait till this evening to make sure but I am hoping to be down there in the morning.  I haven't hunted that area for a few years since I bow hunted down there awhile back.  I have my own truck and everything we need, dont really have a spot just going to look into some of the areas I used to hunt and go walking from there. 

[BULLBLASTER]

just assure your wife that durinbg rifle elk season you are never more than 100 yards from another person in the coweeman or winston!  i hunted coweeman the first 3 days of the season.

good luck, there are bulls there!

[joesmithz28]

I'll be down that way Sunday and Monday if you haven't filled your tag by then...wish I didn't have duty tomorrow I could use a lesson or two.

And x2 what bullblaster said, I haven't ever seen anything like that place on opening weekend.

[BULLBLASTER]

i call it combat hunting! and i love it! 

[shorthair15]

hunted the coweeman today and the winston later in the day. the winston area looks like I-5 on friday   :chuckle:now i know why i will stay hunting close to home as i live 4 miles from the coweeman. i saw another member on here ripper he had a flat on the 1600 road no one would stop so i stopped and lended him some tools so he could change his tire to his spare. he showed me a picture of his buck and it looked familar so i asked him he was a member of the washington hunting forum. small world . happy to help if you see this message nice meeting you . i may have to take you up on the fishing trip some time you offered. thanks

[RifleRidge]

just assure your wife that durinbg rifle elk season you are never more than 100 yards from another person in the coweeman or winston!  i hunted coweeman the first 3 days of the season.

good luck, there are bulls there!

 

[D-Rock425]

Wish i would have seen this sooner.   I would have told stang to hook up with you for the weekend.

[Fishnclifff]

Hunted Coweeman today, I have a cow tag.
Had a cow, biggggggg cow headin straight for me out of the Toutle border, when 6 trucks come haulin up the 200 line and stop right in front of me :yike:They bail out and start loadin up and tell me there is an elk comin down the ridge. 
No chit, really. I was just feezin my ass for no reason? They told me they had a " guide" spottin for them on the next ridge.
I moved down the creek after they left and she paralleled me into the reprod, but wouldn't cross the line to be legal.
Heard of a guy that shot a cow above us in Toutle. Tags don't start there till the 21rst. A sheriff deputy up there hunting, got his plate and was calling it in.
Guess we will bust some more brush tomorrow.

[Ripper]

Well, the season is over for me, tag soup this year. I hunted really hard dawn to dusk everyday I was down there. I've never seen so few elk in all the time I've hunted down there. I saw lot's of deer, in fact more deer than ever before! I wonder if there is a correlation between the two? Maybe some of you more in the know could jump in with your insight .

A big shout out to shorthair 15 and his son for giving me a hand. He made a post back a ways about it. I got a flat and tried to flag down some help and he was the first one to stop. 2 Toyota's flew past me without even slowing down before shorthair came by. I bought my truck used last year, it's an 07 Chev, and it had a jack but no lug wrench or attachments! So there I am in the tree farm with no way to jack up the truck and change the tire. God Bless our Hunt Wa members for coming though in a bind! I owe you two a fishing trip to say the least. Then I'd like to give a shout out to the Tire Factory in Longview for getting me right in, fixing the tire and putting my spare back on in record time for $17.00. I went to Schwab but it was an hour and a half wait just to get in. 

I'd like to take a minute to address those of you who feel like it's a good idea to drive around and pull up next to people glassing clearcut's in the last hour of daylight. You should already have your place to hunt scouted out well before the last hour of daylight. I always know where I'm going to be first thing in the morning and get there a good hour before legal shooting light. Then I'll spend a couple of hours driving around looking for new spot's to hunt. I do this because the tree farm is 3 hours away and locked up most of the year, so I never get a chance to scout it like a lot of you. Thus a couple hours of scouting during the day. Then I pick a spot and sit there glassing until dark. This way I have a chance to settle in and take things in and I'm not driving into places that others are settled in too, messing up their hunt. Now that I have a few years experience hunting down there I have a bunch of go to places that I can hunt all day and there isn't as much of a need to scout during the season. There is your hunting lesson for the day!

Now to cap it off, I was unsuccessful in filling my tag this year, so take that last paragraph with a grain of salt! Maybe I should be doing more road hunting that last hour of daylight! I think I should revisit that road hunting thread!

[MADMAX]

love it
tell it like it is
plenty of *censored*s out there huh ?
the glassing comment is oh so true
Like to have a quarter for everytime glassing soembody stops and asks
hey seeing any elk ?
Oh hell yea
theres 50 down there, 10 big bulls , you should go get them I'll wait here and see how you do

[Cap.Silver]

I'd like to take a minute to address those of you who feel like it's a good idea to drive around and pull up next to people glassing clearcut's in the last hour of daylight. You should already have your place to hunt scouted out well before the last hour of daylight.

[Wild Bill]

We have also noticed a huge draw back in elk...
I have hunted there for 12 years. I have shot a bull every year (minus this year, missed 2 bulls at 7 and 11 yrds ,lol long story).  We are seeing fewer and fewer yella bellied cattle...

During rifle I took a new hunter for one day, and only saw 6 cows and 2 spikes..... Should have seen twice that many...
There is a bunch more cougs, and reportedly (i know, i know) wolves roaming (i haven't seen any solid proof yet).

I think its a lot to do with the real generous cow tags, and extended season hunts....

As far as other hunters.. That place brings out the worst. Most are clueless, and the rest are very selfish.
WB

[Angus]

As far as other hunters.. That place brings out the worst. Most are clueless, and the rest are very selfish.
WB

Painting with a pretty broad brush there dont you think?