took a drive in the Winston today very little sign

[bigsads]

took a  drive up to Winston today hardly any sign of elk in the usual places between the hoof rot and all the Cow tags over the years I'm pretty sure that the old just aren't there any more like they used to be has anyone else notice the rapid decline hopefully gets better before the season starts

[elkslayer069]

Its been that way since spring i dont think the elk population is going to grow in two weeks

[bigsads]

I agree but still can be hopeful.   Sad to see the decline started hunting that area 9 years ago and it's like night and day now

[RadSav]

Yep, it's darn near a waste land now.  If we do not get snow Winston is going to be one extremely tough hunt.  Last weekend I cruised all the normal elk rub spots.  Even last year they were loaded with rubs.  This year I checked every hotspot I know of except one.  Not a single rub anywhere.  Toutle was still producing some rubs, but not at all like it used to be either!

Sad thing is the deer sign is going almost as fast.  Not sure what is up with that other than the place is loaded with coyotes.  I expect all the dying elk over the past few years has the mothers healthy and the coyote pup survival high!  That is a real shame as the deer population seemed to be recovering quite well 2009 to 2012.  Haven't seen twin fawns in the Winston the past two years!

I've hunted the Winston nearly every year for about 30.  If I didn't like the country so much I'm not sure I'd go back.  Just too dang sad to see what it has become.  And the real scary thing is I have now seen hoof rot in the alpine Toutle.  Always figured once the hoof rot had run it's course those high mountain animals would repopulate the lowlands.  Wife and I went high yesterday and two of the 20-25 elk we saw were limping badly.  Think it is still going to get worse before it gets better

[h2ofowlr]

Did you guys fork out the money for the Weyerhaeuser tags?

[elkslayer069]

Yep

[pianoman9701]

You should get your money back. Take 'em to court.

[wrongway]

yep a wast of money and time I live in the unit and do not hunt it. The Feds killed a bunch of elk this year that were sick. you can not have good hunting when the elk are hunted from Aug-Jan. year after year

[Little Fish]

I don't think its just the Winston, but multiple units in SW Washington. According to an article in the Columbian from last spring the herd in 5 particular units was reduced by 47% from its peak. What ever happened to reducing the St Helen's herd by 20-25% that I remember reading about? Add hoof rot to the equation and I think the numbers will get worse before they get better.

It was a tough decision to make after 10+ years learning the areas we hunt in SW WA, but I am not willing to wait 5 or more years for the hunting to maybe get better so I am going to focus most of my time and $$$ hunting out of state next year.

[RadSav]

Numbers are way below 47% of peak numbers let me tell you!  Probably 47% below last years which were 47% below the year before!  Bad enough I would not be surprised to see OTC tags be a thing of the past in many of these areas very soon.

If it was easier to get around in the Winston without all the road closures, the detours and the separation of area the $150 would be fine with me.  We work 16 hours a day almost 7 days a week, don't drink, don't party and have few friends down here.  Just getting out to a place we know so well and putting some miles on our boots is worth a lot to us.  And to us few animals in a place of solitude is better than lots of animals in a crowd.  Time spent away from the office is always a valued commodity around here.  Though I realize we are not normal folks!

It was fun opening day of deer season.  We stopped at a wide spot in the road with a half dozen other hunters.  All of us with our maps out.  All of us scratching our heads.  All of us asking, "How in the heck do you get from here to there?"  It was like a $150 scavenger hunt

[bigsads]

Yeah the access points are horrible and roads are trashed.   Very quiet up there as far as pressure during deer but that was not unusual.   Going to be happy just to spend 10 days in the woods away from work enjoy the sites tell stories around the fire and if a bull gives me an chance that is a bonus.   Thinking about saving my money and either hunt out of state every two years or just hunt close to home where they're are elk but not many.   With the depletion of the herd in Winston they might be similar now.   Good luck to any of you hunting up there and if you see a green tundra crew max give a wave. 

[elkslayer069]

Im not even going to elk hunt im gonna head to idaho and try to shoot a whitetail instead of trying find a neddle in a hay stack

[donimator]

I was up there this weekend as well.  Didn't look around to hard,  but didn't see anything.  Mainly up there to get camp setup.  Spending 10 days there hoping for a repeat of last year.

[RB]

Hmmm interesting