Lewis River Modern Elk General Season

[milldozer]

I've been on the site for about a year now, but this will be my first post.  I had been hunting weyco land with my dad forever with intermittent success, but in light of the new permit requirements this year we decided to branch out and try something new. 

We hunted in Lewis River, primarily between 4000' and 5000'.  New to the area and with only a few short summer scouting trips in we were more or less going in blind.  We hunted hard from Nov. 1 - 9, covered a lot of ground, and learned a lot about the area, but unfortunately, only saw a handful of cows.  My question to you all is:  Do you believe the 4000'-5000' range is too high/low?  Did the lack of snow keep them up higher?  I'm sure there are elk way outside that range on both sides, but just curious what others have experienced that time of year and if we were in the ballpark.

Despite not seeing any bulls, it was a great trip and I really enjoyed getting into some new and different country.  I've really enjoyed this site over the last year and hope to be contributing more in the future.

[elksnout]

I'd say the results of your hunt were fairly typical of that unit. With the reduction of logging the past decade or better there just isn't as many elk as there once was. Having said that, the Lewis River is one of my favorites but I haven't hunted it for quite some time now. Been thinking of going back. Not for the elk but for the scenery. Mostly the upper Lewis drainage. There's elk there of course but your'e right on about covering ground and lots of it. I do not feel that elevation has much to do with it. You would be surprised how much snow those elk can tolerate before they move down. Find the feed. The unit also sees it fair share of hunting pressure and I'm not surprised that more will follow such as you and your dad have with the access fees. Scout more this spring/summer. It takes years to really learn a new area. I think that is really the key. Be careful of camping too high for when the snow really starts to dump.

[Magnum_Willys]

Congrats you saw some !  Welcome to public hunting in SW WA !  There not much Higher than 5000' so you weren't too low for sure.  If you weren't buckin snow you weren't too high.  Your results are what I would expect first year or so until you find a couple honey holes where you mite find a raghorn if you are lucky.......

[jeffitz]

Elevation definitely not that important and for sure it takes awhile to learn a new area,find a spot that has elk and learn it well,dont jump around too much.Lewis unit has some good areas,hard part is stayin with it all season,lots of bulls get killed the last day of season when many hunters have already given up!

[Eli346]

During modern rifle I really don't care if I see any cows or not. By the time modern comes around the elk have been well educated in hunter pressure. I'm looking for fresh sign and singles or doubles in the tracks. The bulls don't seem to hang around the cows when the pressure starts in most of the areas I hunt; all public ground in SW WA. Work steep and deep and keep near the drainages as I seem to run into lone bulls bedded down near the bottoms of the small creek drainages. It does take years to learn new areas but GoogleEarth has helped me a bunch narrow down where the best places are to start. Keep scouting and good luck!

[logger]

We worked all over the lewis river all summer, I was amazed at the lack of elk we saw, we were over the 25 road everyday, up the 93,curly cr. all over, most elk we saw were low elavation, even them were few and far between.

[elksnout]

We worked all over the lewis river all summer, I was amazed at the lack of elk we saw, we were over the 25 road everyday, up the 93,curly cr. all over, most elk we saw were low elavation, even them were few and far between.

                                                                                                               

Logger. Were they logging up the 93 road? Where abouts? Back in the day you had better have your CB on or risk changing out your skivvies...

[logger]

We worked all over the lewis river all summer, I was amazed at the lack of elk we saw, we were over the 25 road everyday, up the 93,curly cr. all over, most elk we saw were low elavation, even them were few and far between.

                                                                                                               

Logger. Were they logging up the 93 road? Where abouts? Back in the day you had better have your CB on or risk changing out your skivvies...

yep, on the west end,pepper cr. the other end on the 90 is still pretty brushy

[milldozer]

Thanks for the replies all.  Saw a lot of fresh tracks, but no bulls in um.  Looking forward to getting back in there in the spring. 

Has anyone heard about nice bulls taken in the unit this season?  I've seen some great bulls up there in September, but November proved to be a different story.

[jeffitz]

Several nice bull pics at Cougar Store from this season.no world records but seems like more 5pt or bigger bulls than raghorns this year judging by those pics,which is unusual

[gonehunter]

Hello, first post. Buddy's grampa pulled a 350 bull out of his honey hole couple years ago, on his way out he ran into even bigger bull. I finally got it out of my buddy after much quizzing where it was. I'll try to get some pics. There is some stomper hiding out in there. It's not too far from the roads you were explaining. Also, last year a friend of mine pulled out a 300" 5 point from the lewis. Not easy hunting though is why their big.

[BABackcountryBwhntr]

killed my first archery bull in the lewis... that part of it is a killer area but you have to know how to get into it....

[towerboy74]

Hunted up there last 2 years now lot of elk from my ventures got a nice 5x5 opening morning this year. always seem to find a few when I'm out there. but as they say gotta burn some boot leather, mine was a 2 mile pack-out.

[jpharcher]

This is a Lewis River Bull from this year

[addicted2hunting]

the unit is big. the elk are there just gotta find em.

[elksnout]

I still have a difficult time thinking any land west of the Muddy River being "Lewis River" To me that country is still the Marble unit. Dated myself on that one, huh?  When I think of the Lewis or somebody mentions it, I'm thinking Spencer Ridge, Quartz Ridge, Lone Butte and "Adams" country...  I loved hunting that country.

[jeffitz]

Yeah the Lewis was any bull back then,Marble was 3pt or better,and didnt they try spike only in the Lewis for a year or two ?