Margaret Antlerless; Weyerhaeuser or USFS 26

[r7]

Heading down for the last several days of Margaret Antlerless.  Any suggestions on which end of the unit would be more likely  to be productive this time of year.  I have Weyerhaeuser access or could try from USFS 26.  Thanks.

[rackattack]

PM sent

[cem3434]

Weyerhaeuser land has been slow. I just came back to the truck to dry out after the monsoon this morning.  My pregnant wife has a permit, so I'm just trying to help her out and pack for her if she pulls the trigger. We spent a day hunting along the 2500, most of yesterday along the the 1010 and we hunted along SR 504 this morning. In the last 2+ days we have seen one bull,, a bear and about a dozen deer. I think this will be our last year of hunting on Weyerhaeuser land because the quality of hunting isn't worth the cost. We have 3 more days to hunt before we have to be home, so hopefully she can get it done. Good luck to all of the other permit holder.

[duckmen1]

Good luck to you and your wife.

[cem3434]

Well after 5 days of hunting and not seeing a cow, my wife finally decided she would rather spend the rest of her time off work with our daughter. We seen over 25 deer, one bull and a bear, but we never even heard a gun shot. I don't know that I have ever been as wet as I was between Friday and Sunday as it seemed to rain almost nonstop. Sunday afternoon while drying out, I took her up to the viewpoint and spotted about 15 elk down in the Mudflow, but that didn't even peak her interest because she knew she couldn't hunt them.
We have hunted the Winston for about 10 years with decent success, but this was our first experience in the Margaret. Between the emphasis by WDFW to reduce the herd and the hoof rot epidemic, the elk in this general area are in serious trouble. I will not be wasting anymore points on Winston, Margaret or Toutle elk hunts anytime in the near future.
I hope that WDFW starts being a little more honest with hunters with the overall health of the herd or lack thereof. Weyerhaeuser has gotten their way by the herd being reduced greatly over the last several years and now charging for access.  Good luck to the other guys and gals with permits that are still trying to fill your tag.

[duckmen1]

Sorry to hear about the lack of success. The other thing I think that is limiting success is the land that was sold off to noble tree farm. That was great habitat and now hunters are restricted from that area. So makes things even harder when they have a sanctuary to stay at sort of speak.

[briancorneal]

Check out the eastern side of the unit.