An 'ex-WA elk hunter' speaks

[Dave Workman]

I'm posting this on behalf of the author because he couldn't seem to log in personally this morning.  I will no doubt be writing a column about this soon, but I'm giving you folks an opportunity to weigh in first.

I watched him shoot the buck, pictured below, on the opener over on the Snake River. Gun was a Winchester Model 70. Ammo was my handloads, 180-grain Nosler Accu-Tips ahead of 57 grs of Hodgdon Hybrid 100V.

I have hunted off and on with him for the better part of a decade now. He's from around here.

==================================

When I was a kid, Eastern WA's modern firearm Elk season was a full two weeks in November.  Late enough to give us elk moving weather....snow, wind , rain; and the animals moved down from the high country.  In 1985 it snowed almost 5 feet over night during elk season.  Elk hung in many camps and men took their sons out of school for the week, oftentimes BOTH weeks. (provided grades were good enough.) Wide spots on Highway 12 and 410 like Naches, Rimrock Retreat, and Cliffdell resembled major shopping centers on Christmas Eve...only these were men buying gas, groceries, and supplies for their full two weeks in the woods.  Signs were strung across the road and hung in local shops saying “Welcome Hunters” and we were not told to hide our kills by the game dept (we had a Game Dept back then). A pile of big elk in the back of your truck was a badge of honor back then.  ~It still is in places where people understand where meat comes from. 

Elk hunters spent lots of money supporting these little mountain communities.  They came enmasse from all over the state because the hunting was good, often great.  And in the 80's they didn't have to choose their weapons…or their friends.  Choose your weapon, AKA “Resource Allocation” split up a lot of elk camps.....many elk hunters believe that was by design.  If you wanted to be an archer, a rifleman, and a smokepole stuffer, you could buy all three tags and have 3 months of hunting opportunity (limits were still one deer and one elk a year and we had twice as many hunters).  Today you ask us to send you $6 to enter a lottery for a chance to sell us that privilege.   

We didn't have to watch 6 point bulls walk by.  A cow tag was good the day elk season opened, not 3 days later.   

The annual elk hunt in WA was much more of a hunt back then.  Today, our season is one week at the end of Oct.  The 70 degree temps forecast for this weekend's opener ensure  it to be a “Quality” armed elk camping/ elk watching experience for the thousands who still live to hunt elk in their ancestral areas..    I’ll spend my money and precious 2 weeks of vacation in Montana again this year.  Their "Welcome Hunters!" signs went up last month and don't come down until January..     
Brian Lull
General Manager,
Northwest Sportsman
and ex WA elk hunter

[vandeman17]

Interesting article and I agree. The changes over the years have lead me to look out of state for my elk hunting needs. I don't want to wait 10-20 years to "get my chance" at one of the big bull tags. Life is short and who knows if I will even be around next season to hunt so I want to be able to enjoy every chance I can. I know that out of state hunts are much more expensive but I am at the point that I am willing to pony up the money to make the hunt happen. I am not a trophy hunter and antler size is only a small piece of the draw to other states. I just really like knowing that I have a chance, if I can find them, to shoot a branch antlered bull. Just that in my books is worth the money. I know that there are lots of places on the west side that you can shot branch antler OTC but I prefer the terrain and the landscape of areas that resemble eastern wa which is where I call home. We have started buying points in multiple states and will continue to do so, putting in and hoping for one of the limited draw tags but having an OTC branched bull tag as our back up every year.

[jackelope]

I agree with the article.  I will say that I'm not much of an elk hunter. I've only participated in 3-4 elk seasons, mostly because I don't like to hunt spikes. I also refer to that as wandering around aimlessly looking for a needle in a haystack. It also has to do with  a lack of hunting buddies. Moreso the inability to choose which weapon/group of friends I want to go hunt with. Anyway...it's a good article. I hope someone is listening.

[Sitka_Blacktail]

I agree with a lot of the article, but there's another side too. Part of the reason we are where we are now is because it was so good back then. The success and liberal seasons brought big crowds and reduced bull/cow ratios. Something had to be done to fix that, so management changed. Also, Natives hadn't started asserting their treaty rights, which is another factor modern managers have to deal with now.

On the west side, changing logging practices have affected the herds in areas that were once prime. Not to mention access to forest lands has greatly been reduced. There's a lot of uproar over here about the Wild Olympics campaign, but I'm all for it. I'd much rather see forest land as public land than as private land opened at the whim of a logging company. Now that I've hunted the National forests of Eastern Washington, I appreciate the access they provide.

[vandeman17]

I agree with a lot of the article, but there's another side too. Part of the reason we are where we are now is because it was so good back then. The success and liberal seasons brought big crowds and reduced bull/cow ratios. Something had to be done to fix that, so management changed. Also, Natives hadn't started asserting their treaty rights, which is another factor modern managers have to deal with now.

On the west side, changing logging practices have affected the herds in areas that were once prime. Not to mention access to forest lands has greatly been reduced. There's a lot of uproar over here about the Wild Olympics campaign, but I'm all for it. I'd much rather see forest land as public land than as private land opened at the whim of a logging company. Now that I've hunted the National forests of Eastern Washington, I appreciate the access they provide.

Good point and I didn't really think about the effect the "good old days" had on where we are now. I think one of my biggest gripes is first off, having to declare a weapon, then having to declare a side. We still can only shoot one elk so I don't see how making us declare a weapon really changes things besides getting us to spend more money on the "chance" to buy a mutli season tag. I am sure hunter success might go up a bit because they can spend more time in the woods but I don't think the increased harvest would be enough to negatively effect the numbers. Just another way to steal our money, well not mine anymore. 

[coachcw]

We defiantly have a management issue , seems to me way to many anti hunters working for the department of game. you don't see to many vegetarians working at McDonolds. Someone is killing the elk for sure since we have less hunters . I still believe that if you work hard at it you can be a very successful elk hunter in wa. but we need to quit the bs and manage the herd , the tribes need to be held in check better as well as other predators . It's a numbers game and if one aspect is off it screws the whole plan up.

[npaull]

There's a lot of uproar over here about the Wild Olympics campaign, but I'm all for it. I'd much rather see forest land as public land than as private land opened at the whim of a logging company. Now that I've hunted the National forests of Eastern Washington, I appreciate the access they provide.

Amen! Make it public and protected! Habitat loss is *THE THREAT* to hunting!

[jay.sharkbait]

There's a lot of uproar over here about the Wild Olympics campaign, but I'm all for it. I'd much rather see forest land as public land than as private land opened at the whim of a logging company. Now that I've hunted the National forests of Eastern Washington, I appreciate the access they provide.

Amen! Make it public and protected! Habitat loss is *THE THREAT* to hunting!

Who is going to pay for the privately held timber land?

[Bob33]

The “good old days” were good in many ways, but not necessarily all.

I started hunting elk in 1968. For many years I hunted on Bethel Ridge with my father and friends. I have very fond memories of those times. We hunted with ”modern” rifles, not archery or muzzleloader equipment although we could have. Yes, we often stopped near Greenwater on the way home and drove up roads to the Crest, hunting legally on both sides.

I too remember the blizzard of 1985.

I remember the excitement of getting a “cow tag” in the mail every few years.

Yes, spikes and six points were legal.

What I don’t remember: overwhelming numbers of legal elk. In all the years I hunted, I believe our party of four killed two or three bulls. We often saw cows, but saw very few bulls. I suspect if you were to look up harvest data for those decades, they would not be significantly different than data from current times.

The cow / antlerless permits were essentially a sure thing back then. They have been royally screwed up with our permit system that allocated points to all categories in 2010; it may take decades to restore fairness to that process.

“Resource allocation” and our permit system have done some real harm to hunting opportunity. In addition, loss of habitat, loss of public access, increased predation, and other factors have certainly made it more difficult to have a quality hunting experience.

All that said, I’ve killed more elk in Washington in the last ten years than I did in my first twenty.

[JLS]

We defiantly have a management issue , seems to me way to many anti hunters working for the department of game. you don't see to many vegetarians working at McDonolds. Someone is killing the elk for sure since we have less hunters . I still believe that if you work hard at it you can be a very successful elk hunter in wa. but we need to quit the bs and manage the herd , the tribes need to be held in check better as well as other predators . It's a numbers game and if one aspect is off it screws the whole plan up.

Good luck with controlling the tribal harvest.  The only way that'll happen is through the courts, and the court consensus right now is that tribes can take up to half of the elk harvest.

The big picture here is the affect that agriculture has on elk in WA, relative to states like MT, WY, and ID.  Look at all of the crops that are grown in WA, and how few of them are in any way friendly to elk.  Factor in the financial liability that WDFW can incur through crop damage complaints.  It's not hard to see why they manage the way they do.  WA could have a lot more elk if there wasn't the continual conflict with ag interests, which I'm in no way denouncing in any way.

[csaaphill]

I remember those days as well Dad took me out of school for a week during Elk season. We'd camp up in Pomeroy or tucannon most eyars. Seen tons of camps and once in a while a deer or elk hanging in them. That was the way to pass the time until evening hunt drive around to see whats been hanging. People would stop talk for long hours it seemed have a beer or two and gab. People are just hi and by now angry looks if you happen to run into one another out in the woods fields etc. No the animals weren't as plentiful but you had three wekends in Deer and same in elk yes miss those day.
Maybe write WDFW?
 I have oftentimes may get ignored but if enough do might get a bur inder thier blanket to make some kind of changes?
Actually I'd be for a 2pt season for a year or two three pt or better elk season for a year or two just to change things up.
I too remember 1985 that was the year we camped next to these guys in pomeroy unit. I hiked all the way to the botom of the canyon even though wind was howling. Had good coveralls on so didn't feel it much. Din't kill nothing, but had fun.
I remember camping in the lick creek unit and had a good fire going, snow was thick and at night me and dad would melt cans in the fire was fun then.
ALthough I wouldn't quit just because things change write and make your voice heard!

[Killmore]

I too remember a two week elk season.There sure is not much excitement in hunting spikes, yes I do apply for all permits but with 14 points life is getting short. I also am doing some out of state hunting. Don't want any regrets in the short life we have. Elk hunting today is more like elk camping.

[Mike450r]

There's a lot of uproar over here about the Wild Olympics campaign, but I'm all for it. I'd much rather see forest land as public land than as private land opened at the whim of a logging company. Now that I've hunted the National forests of Eastern Washington, I appreciate the access they provide.

Amen! Make it public and protected! Habitat loss is *THE THREAT* to hunting!

Private forests have the best habitat and resource management.

[Hunting Cowboy]

When I was a kid, Eastern WA's modern firearm Elk season was a full two weeks in November.  Late enough to give us elk moving weather....snow, wind , rain; and the animals moved down from the high country.  In 1985 it snowed almost 5 feet over night during elk season.  Elk hung in many camps and men took their sons out of school for the week, oftentimes BOTH weeks. (provided grades were good enough.) Wide spots on Highway 12 and 410 like Naches, Rimrock Retreat, and Cliffdell resembled major shopping centers on Christmas Eve...only these were men buying gas, groceries, and supplies for their full two weeks in the woods.  Signs were strung across the road and hung in local shops saying “Welcome Hunters” and we were not told to hide our kills by the game dept (we had a Game Dept back then). A pile of big elk in the back of your truck was a badge of honor back then.  ~It still is in places where people understand where meat comes from. 

Elk hunters spent lots of money supporting these little mountain communities.  They came enmasse from all over the state because the hunting was good, often great.  And in the 80's they didn't have to choose their weapons…or their friends.  Choose your weapon, AKA “Resource Allocation” split up a lot of elk camps.....many elk hunters believe that was by design.  If you wanted to be an archer, a rifleman, and a smokepole stuffer, you could buy all three tags and have 3 months of hunting opportunity (limits were still one deer and one elk a year and we had twice as many hunters).  Today you ask us to send you $6 to enter a lottery for a chance to sell us that privilege.   

We didn't have to watch 6 point bulls walk by.  A cow tag was good the day elk season opened, not 3 days later.   

The annual elk hunt in WA was much more of a hunt back then.  Today, our season is one week at the end of Oct.  The 70 degree temps forecast for this weekend's opener ensure  it to be a “Quality” armed elk camping/ elk watching experience for the thousands who still live to hunt elk in their ancestral areas..    I’ll spend my money and precious 2 weeks of vacation in Montana again this year.  Their "Welcome Hunters!" signs went up last month and don't come down until January..     
Brian Lull
General Manager,
Northwest Sportsman
and ex WA elk hunter

Well said Dave!

[boneaddict]

I agree with a lot of the article, but there's another side too. Part of the reason we are where we are now is because it was so good back then. The success and liberal seasons brought big crowds and reduced bull/cow ratios. Something had to be done to fix that, so management changed. Also, Natives hadn't started asserting their treaty rights, which is another factor modern managers have to deal with now.

On the west side, changing logging practices have affected the herds in areas that were once prime. Not to mention access to forest lands has greatly been reduced. There's a lot of uproar over here about the Wild Olympics campaign, but I'm all for it. I'd much rather see forest land as public land than as private land opened at the whim of a logging company. Now that I've hunted the National forests of Eastern Washington, I appreciate the access they provide.

GPS, hunting forums, dependable 4 wheel drives, rangefinders, optics, weapons that shoot 1000 yards, better calls, trailcameras, satellite, googleearth/maps, and other technologies many welcome...haven't helped.  Throw the wolf agenda and native hunting pressure (ebay and the like).