Free: Contests & Raffles.
With that attitude you surely will. Get after it, could be elk heaven just over the ridge, or just in that next bowl over. Make it happen, I would much rather eat a tag buffet at the end of each season after working hard and getting after than just a teaspoon of tag soup made with a quitters touch.
Try getting out of the truck. It helps.
People put too much creed into pre season scouting. Elk get pushed around so much in this state its crazy. Ever see a herd spooked, how far they will run. Find elk country and you will no doubt find elk when the time is right. Enjoy the hunt.
"" If you only came for the meat"" You came for the wrong reason"
Went up scouting yesterday where I was hoping would be some elk and unfortunately found nothing. Not even old tracks, old droppings from the winter. Just absolutely nothing. I really wish everyone a good hunting season this year, cause I know i'm already eating tag soup.
Quote from: Ghunt on August 07, 2016, 04:00:48 PMWent up scouting yesterday where I was hoping would be some elk and unfortunately found nothing. Not even old tracks, old droppings from the winter. Just absolutely nothing. I really wish everyone a good hunting season this year, cause I know i'm already eating tag soup.Dude, sounds like you have a big area to cross off. That is a good thing, believe me. Look at the features (or lack thereof) and try finding an area that has different or better features. North Slope vs South, water or no, how far from roads, elevation, food sources. Look at the GMU harvest statistics on WDFWs website. Maybe that unit only produces a few kills a year and you need to move on to somewhere elkier. every successful elk hunter has had dozens of days like the one you describe. Also, and I will end with this. Sometimes it's a random thing. I've killed a lot of animals in areas that I would never see another animal again. I killed a 120" whitetail buck in an area that I've never seen another deer track. I killed a small bull elk a few years back in a spot so close to the road and so far from where elk usually are, you wouldn't believe it. Discouragement should be something you immunize yourself to. Time in the woods is always valuable if you have a student's heart and mind
You weren't looking for elk in the Proctor creek area I hope
That's your problem. Not many elk hanging out in 460 in general, but especially on the north side of it. There are a few, they tend to be further down the valley and around private land. Head further south in the unit if your dead set on 460. The closer to North Bend you get the better. Puget Sound elk hunting is not really a thing unless its a permit tag in the Nooksack.
As far as I know, the Nooksack is all special permit only hunting. No general season at all. I think what you need to do rather than just looking for clearcuts and elky looking ground is to do some research. Look in the regs for GMU's that have general seasons, and then also look at areas that are special permit only, or offer special permits. Then look at the harvest statistics for those areas. It will be immediately clear to you which units are worth hunting and which ones aren't. Here is a link for you to check out.http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/harvest/As a general rule of thumb, if you want consistent success on elk on the west side, you need to head to the southern or SW part of the state. The further north you go, the fewer animals there are. Most Puget Sound GMU's (407, 448, 460) have a few elk in them, but are VERY hard to find and rarely on public ground. Success rates are extremely low. If you can find elk in an area consistently, keep your mouth shut and tell everyone you killed them in Willapa Hills.
Quote from: 7mmfan on August 08, 2016, 03:02:48 PMAs far as I know, the Nooksack is all special permit only hunting. No general season at all. I think what you need to do rather than just looking for clearcuts and elky looking ground is to do some research. Look in the regs for GMU's that have general seasons, and then also look at areas that are special permit only, or offer special permits. Then look at the harvest statistics for those areas. It will be immediately clear to you which units are worth hunting and which ones aren't. Here is a link for you to check out.http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/harvest/As a general rule of thumb, if you want consistent success on elk on the west side, you need to head to the southern or SW part of the state. The further north you go, the fewer animals there are. Most Puget Sound GMU's (407, 448, 460) have a few elk in them, but are VERY hard to find and rarely on public ground. Success rates are extremely low. If you can find elk in an area consistently, keep your mouth shut and tell everyone you killed them in Willapa Hills.Yeah I saw that the nooksack gmu has a only modern general season for deer. Guess this year will just be more scouting and researching.
I think more elk are killed on private property in Western Washington than are killed in Timber company lands. My last four elk were killed on private property, it only took the balls to knock on a few doors and ask for permission.
Ghunt, it sounds like you're pretty new to elk hunting and are probably willing to work hard to learn. You're not likely to get anyone to give you a spot where you're sure to see elk (unless it's a Nat'l park, it probably doesn't exist anyway). But there's a lot U you can learn within this forum about many aspects of elk hunting if you spend the time looking. And by looking, I mean running searches on various topics related to hunting. You'll find all sorts of Intel searching elk hunting, west side Bulls, west side access, etc......brainstorm a list of topics and start searching and reading. Another avenue worthy of pursuit is seeking out a more experienced hunting partner (s). It was just a few weeks ago I read a thread about an experienced hunter looking for new members for their elk camp. If you're the kind of guy who's willing to work hard and be a good camp participant (or not an Ahole), you can get farther up the learning curve much faster. Also, don't disregard some of the guys out there turning their experience and expertise into a revenue stream. Corey Jacobson, the Elk Nut ... Couple others....can offer years of learning for the price of a tank or two of gas.Elk hunting is the coolest thing I do all year long.....it's also something I can "do" all year long.....Good luck and don't give up!
Quote from: bracer40 on August 09, 2016, 05:33:31 PMGhunt, it sounds like you're pretty new to elk hunting and are probably willing to work hard to learn. You're not likely to get anyone to give you a spot where you're sure to see elk (unless it's a Nat'l park, it probably doesn't exist anyway). But there's a lot U you can learn within this forum about many aspects of elk hunting if you spend the time looking. And by looking, I mean running searches on various topics related to hunting. You'll find all sorts of Intel searching elk hunting, west side Bulls, west side access, etc......brainstorm a list of topics and start searching and reading. Another avenue worthy of pursuit is seeking out a more experienced hunting partner (s). It was just a few weeks ago I read a thread about an experienced hunter looking for new members for their elk camp. If you're the kind of guy who's willing to work hard and be a good camp participant (or not an Ahole), you can get farther up the learning curve much faster. Also, don't disregard some of the guys out there turning their experience and expertise into a revenue stream. Corey Jacobson, the Elk Nut ... Couple others....can offer years of learning for the price of a tank or two of gas.Elk hunting is the coolest thing I do all year long.....it's also something I can "do" all year long.....Good luck and don't give up!I myself (15) is new to elk hunting yes. But my Dad has had over 15 years of elk hunting experience. He's use to elk hunting Idaho and never hunted in Washington. I'm trying to get as much good info and prove to him that we can hunt over here. Ive read a lot of forum posts on elk hunting over here, looked at all the gmus and harvest reports, and still stumped. It also doesn't help that I can't drive and he works most weeks and weekends so we rarely get out and scout. I think thiss year we are gonna try deer and elk in 448 and see how that goes.
Quote from: Ghunt on August 09, 2016, 08:02:41 PMQuote from: bracer40 on August 09, 2016, 05:33:31 PMGhunt, it sounds like you're pretty new to elk hunting and are probably willing to work hard to learn. You're not likely to get anyone to give you a spot where you're sure to see elk (unless it's a Nat'l park, it probably doesn't exist anyway). But there's a lot U you can learn within this forum about many aspects of elk hunting if you spend the time looking. And by looking, I mean running searches on various topics related to hunting. You'll find all sorts of Intel searching elk hunting, west side Bulls, west side access, etc......brainstorm a list of topics and start searching and reading. Another avenue worthy of pursuit is seeking out a more experienced hunting partner (s). It was just a few weeks ago I read a thread about an experienced hunter looking for new members for their elk camp. If you're the kind of guy who's willing to work hard and be a good camp participant (or not an Ahole), you can get farther up the learning curve much faster. Also, don't disregard some of the guys out there turning their experience and expertise into a revenue stream. Corey Jacobson, the Elk Nut ... Couple others....can offer years of learning for the price of a tank or two of gas.Elk hunting is the coolest thing I do all year long.....it's also something I can "do" all year long.....Good luck and don't give up!I myself (15) is new to elk hunting yes. But my Dad has had over 15 years of elk hunting experience. He's use to elk hunting Idaho and never hunted in Washington. I'm trying to get as much good info and prove to him that we can hunt over here. Ive read a lot of forum posts on elk hunting over here, looked at all the gmus and harvest reports, and still stumped. It also doesn't help that I can't drive and he works most weeks and weekends so we rarely get out and scout. I think thiss year we are gonna try deer and elk in 448 and see how that goes.Being that young you do have some limitations. Best advise I can give is keep at it. You seam to have the drive. Just don't give up. Being discouraged is natural human behavior. Roll with it. Enjoy it. Trust me, when you see that elk standing broadside within range for the first time, youll know it was all worth it.
You should probably look at real harvest reports online. You have about 1000000% more chance of running into a bear in 448 than you do an elk. The loggers that end up taking the one or 2 out of 448 each year are in the woods every day and probably kill the only two animals in there. It is DEFINITELY not worth your time for elk. You don't even have to do more research. Flat out do not expect to find elk in 448.Nooksack will take you 15 years to draw a permit, dont get too excited.The only positive thing about hunting in places where there are no elk is that you'll have little competition and have the forest all to yourself, because everyone else hunting will be where the elk generally are.For elk, its not about where is suitable habitat, but rather where have people and WDFW allowed elk to live. I'm sure there were thriving populations along HWY 2 into leavenworth and wenatchee and even on the West side as well, but there's not enough winter ground in these areas for elk and they're basically not permitted or encouraged to exist.448 is probably fine if you want deer and bear. Really, same with 460... If you want to find an elk look at places where they live and have general seasons for starters. Down south on the west side or head to the east side of the cascades (also... i90 and south). You could drive to the other side of the state as well but it sounds like you don't want to do that.Also, you probably will eat tag soup this year, along with at least 85% of the rest of elk hunters. Its okay, it makes that one year when you connect all the better. Put yourself in a place to succeed (where elk live) and pay your dues, you never know when one will stumble across you.
Quote from: elkchaser54 on August 07, 2016, 07:17:30 PMTry getting out of the truck. It helps.Great assumption. Do you know this guy? I hope so. Otherwise this is a perfect example of why folks don't share stuff anymore.
Quote from: jackelope on August 07, 2016, 08:11:42 PMQuote from: elkchaser54 on August 07, 2016, 07:17:30 PMTry getting out of the truck. It helps.Great assumption. Do you know this guy? I hope so. Otherwise this is a perfect example of why folks don't share stuff anymore.no kiddin