Elk Hunting in Ferry, Stevens, or Pend Oreille Counties

[AJ Howard]

I am moving to Kettle Falls, WA in the summer and am looking for new hunting areas. Got some deer spots lined out from previous years hunting here but I have heard that elk are in the area.. I know people are particular about their spots. But hoping someone may guide me in a direction to go to find them??

[KFhunter]

ya there's a few scattered around but it's a tough hunt, probably some of the toughest elk hunting in the state unless you know someone with a hay field full of elk.  It's small herds that don't talk much and got wolves chasing them around.  Hit the colville national forest and walk past locked gates look for tracks and hang cameras in cedar draws.  They change areas frequently blowing out of a drainage when wolves move in or seasonal changes like early rut and *poof* back to square 1

On the PO they've been hit even harder by wolves, hunted there year before last and found a lot of bone piles in my old elk areas.  Deer have been smacked hard.  Still some elk around if you can get access to lower areas where wolves don't come down as much.

Ferry and Stevens CO's are following PO counties now with wolves, I'm seeing them in new areas all the time now where I hadn't before.

[boneaddict]

Pretty much the biggest kept secret.  Goodluck

[KFhunter]

Pretty much the biggest kept secret.  Goodluck

    even neighbors don't share that secret   

[Ridgeratt]

Pretty much the biggest kept secret.  Goodluck

    even neighbors don't share that secret   

I'd venture to guess that it's not even shared with family in some cases. 

[CaNINE]

Spend a lot of time hunting deer and spring turkey and you may start finding elk sign. That's how we found them.

[AJ Howard]

Hey I appreciate all the responses and I totally get it. Heard they are a big secret around here and have known some people to shoot some big bulls around here. So I am guessing no one is willing to shoot an idea of northern, eastern, southern, central, or western. Etc?

Also, heard there are mule deer in Stevens too?

[Buckblaster]

Stevens has muleys on the peaks, but its mostly thick brush in that county and hard to hunt them.  As far as elk goes, there are small bands scattered in every direction from KF, when you put your time in, you'll find them. 

[niersfan80]

Stevens county has some of the most underrated mule deer hunting in the state IMO. As far as elk KFhunter hit in on the nose I think. It’s gonna be steep and thick too. Eastern Washington elk hunting is not on the map for a reason. Haha. Small herds and constantly on the move. We look for old clear cuts that are miles deep behind closed gates. Hard to find but they exist. Not sure if you archery hunt, but it’s hard to find a bull that will rip one off in September. Not sure if it’s the wolves or just lack of total elk, probably both. But they just don’t talk much here. What paid off for us was hiking where others wouldn’t. Even then we couldn’t get shots off on a couple bulls and cows inside of 40 because the thick brush. Lots of beautiful country but sure is tough to hunt. My experiences are the same as others after talking to other guys who have killed elk up in that corner of the state, they all say it means nothing for next year. The elk are always changing and moving. I am sure there are guys who disagree with that tho. Just our experiences. Good luck!


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[KFhunter]

Stevens county has some of the most underrated mule deer hunting in the state IMO. As far as elk KFhunter hit in on the nose I think. It’s gonna be steep and thick too. Eastern Washington elk hunting is not on the map for a reason. Haha. Small herds and constantly on the move. We look for old clear cuts that are miles deep behind closed gates. Hard to find but they exist. Not sure if you archery hunt, but it’s hard to find a bull that will rip one off in September. Not sure if it’s the wolves or just lack of total elk, probably both. But they just don’t talk much here. What paid off for us was hiking where others wouldn’t. Even then we couldn’t get shots off on a couple bulls and cows inside of 40 because the thick brush. Lots of beautiful country but sure is tough to hunt. My experiences are the same as others after talking to other guys who have killed elk up in that corner of the state, they all say it means nothing for next year. The elk are always changing and moving. I am sure there are guys who disagree with that tho. Just our experiences. Good luck!


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If you can hunt Elk in NE/WA you can hunt them anywhere 

[Ridgeratt]

If you can hunt Elk in NE/WA you can hunt them anywhere 

Shouldn't that read: If you can find Elk in NE/WA you can hunt them anywhere

[KFhunter]

Prolly so, finding them is easier than hunting them 

[kevinlisa06]

Have seen 5 total Elk in Stevens county during the Spring while Turkey hunting. All were on private land on the East side of hiway 395. Elk are in there that’s for sure just have to find them. A land owner we know over there gave permission to a kid a few years and he shot a 6x6 in the Alfalfa field


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[hawgwild]

My buddy and I sent 40 or so head running when I buzzed them a 50' in his Cessna 170 earlier this month in Stevens county.  They definitely are there.

[CAMPMEAT]

I know where they are usually at, but living there for almost 17 years and finding out after 5 years from friends, my lips are sealed.

[wapiti22]

I've seen a few cows in the hills around Sullivan Lake near Ione

[JoeE]

Elk are few and far between. You have a better chance at seeing moose in that area.

[Skillet]

I'd venture to guess that it's not even shared with family in some cases. 

I'd venture you're right! 

[AJ Howard]

Well thanks to everyone and what they have to offer to this discussion post! I am moving there in the summer and plan on really putting in some effort! I love backpacking and going places no others like to go, so should be a great adventure! If anyone over there wants to get together to hunt and animals hit me up on Instagram or Facebook.

Instagram: @unbounded_pursuit or @a.j._howard and Facebook: Albert Jess Howard Jr. YouTube: Unbounded Pursuit

Would love to connect with some people and do some filming and adventures while hunting His great Creation!

[Skyvalhunter]

Well I will tell you that elk hunting in the NE part of the state is a hush hush topic kind of like the high hunt

[AJ Howard]

What do you mean about the high hunt? The high hunt over there or in general? Feel like the high hunt is pretty well known about. So I am wondering what you mean?

[Skyvalhunter]

No in general the high hunt areas are tight lipped and the elk areas in NE WA are extremely tight lipped by the people that hunt them.

[buglebrush]

My buddy and I sent 40 or so head running when I buzzed them a 50' in his Cessna 170 earlier this month in Stevens county.  They definitely are there.

Incredibly stupid thing to do this time of year IMO.   

[buglebrush]

Well thanks to everyone and what they have to offer to this discussion post! I am moving there in the summer and plan on really putting in some effort! I love backpacking and going places no others like to go, so should be a great adventure! If anyone over there wants to get together to hunt and animals hit me up on Instagram or Facebook.

Instagram: @unbounded_pursuit or @a.j._howard and Facebook: Albert Jess Howard Jr. YouTube: Unbounded Pursuit

Would love to connect with some people and do some filming and adventures while hunting His great Creation!

Send me a pm once you get moved.

[hawgwild]

My buddy and I sent 40 or so head running when I buzzed them a 50' in his Cessna 170 earlier this month in Stevens county.  They definitely are there.

Incredibly stupid thing to do this time of year IMO.   

Would you prefer we land on them?  You've got to clear the runway somehow, hitting an elk with an airplane would be incredibly stupid anytime of year.

[KFhunter]

Well that's an important tidbit of information, changes things considerably 

[Ghost Hunter]

  Wait for it....

[Jimmer]

I've seen Elk all the time over the years behind my property and locked gates along with a lot of moose and mule deer. 2017 was a different story. It was a friggin ghost town. No fresh game trails, no scat etc. Once the weather hit with snow and muddy logging roads I saw numerous wolf tracks. The lower elevation whitetails remained the same. I'm sure the 2016 winter didn't help matters much either.

[buglebrush]

My buddy and I sent 40 or so head running when I buzzed them a 50' in his Cessna 170 earlier this month in Stevens county.  They definitely are there.

Incredibly stupid thing to do this time of year IMO.   

Would you prefer we land on them?  You've got to clear the runway somehow, hitting an elk with an airplane would be incredibly stupid anytime of year.

Context is key.  That's a lot different than what I was referring to.   

[hawgwild]

My buddy and I sent 40 or so head running when I buzzed them a 50' in his Cessna 170 earlier this month in Stevens county.  They definitely are there.

Incredibly stupid thing to do this time of year IMO.   

Would you prefer we land on them?  You've got to clear the runway somehow, hitting an elk with an airplane would be incredibly stupid anytime of year.

Context is key.  That's a lot different than what I was referring to.   

I didn't want to give up too much info, now everyone is going to be looking up landing strips to find some elk!

[KFhunter]

Already found it

     

[CAMPMEAT]

We went to Metaline and hit the tavern there. We just started BSing with the local loggers and BINGO. We got all the info we needed. We became friends after that. We never shot an elk there. It's rough hunting.

[trophyhunt]

Already found it

     

[Woodchuck]

Already found it

     

I think I have seen the disclaimer on several of the small landing site's.

Make sure you fly the strip to relocate any animals on the runway.

So that's the secret... I have to send a text. 

[Machias]

In 1994 I moved to Washington.  I had never had the pleasure of elk hunting.  Had no idea where to go.  Looked at the map for the biggest area I could find with no roads and headed there.  It was in Stevens County.  Drove up a main road and turned down a side road.  Traveled about 2 miles to the end of the road and there standing in the middle of the FS road was a spike bull.  Sweet, that was easy.  Over the next week I was into elk almost every day, had an iffy shot on a cow with my bow and decided against it.  Did battle with a herd bull and called him into 40 yards but it was too think for a shot.  All in all I had a GREAT season.  There was a ton of sign!  Next year I went scouting in the same area.  All the sign was still there and very fresh!  Never heard or seen an elk the entire season.  Later learned all the fresh sign I had seen in 1994 and in 1995 was in fact moose sign!  That is when I found out the pockets of elk are scattered, here today and 15 miles away tomorrow.

[Tracker0721]

Here in Ferry I’ve been on the elk every year, this year- the wolves and lions. Not 1 elk or any fresh sign. Deer herds are way down too. It’ll be interesting when the grizzlies start showing up. Sherman gets hit hard but RMEF sponsored a burn to make elk habitat up there. 500 acres or something in 2016, one of the forest service guys went up there and tagged a very nice bull.

Bugling doesn’t work as far as I’ve seen, limited cow chirps does, most of them can sneak around the cedar groves like a cougar also.

 Um, talk to the locals and eventually someone will give up a good spot. Don’t hunt that spot because everyone else already knows it and hunts it hard. Use google maps and find good areas for them to be hiding in after everyone blows em out of the good spot. Could be 2-3 miles away but that’s as good of a bullseye as you’ll get

[Miles]

Finding elk up there isn’t hard, killing them is.   Good luck.

[mdbuck5x5]

This thread makes me 

[JL]

Me too. 

[AJ Howard]

Well I really do appreciate all of the information and willingness that everyone is contributing. If any of you are over there and would like to hunt at all, let me know! And where is the 500 acres on Sherman?

[Tracker0721]

Haha the lips are sealed on that. They mentioned it in an issue of RMEF and I’m not sure all who knew where it was. Smoke cloud was on the backside of the mountain you stare at when nearly flying off dead mans curve heading east. But there’s over 30 head that travel the kettle crest regularly. So I’m thinking it was done for that herd, not the local groups of 3-6 randomly all over. Believe there’s much more the closer to Idaho you get though.

[Lapua07]

I've hunted elk from Western Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Utah. Living in Stevens, Co, these local elk are by far the toughest public land animals to kill not only in this state but all the other states I've hunted. I've taken a few here over the year's. Combination of lots of homework, footwork and just plain dumb luck. Access to these elk is generally the hardest part. Catching them in the transition points from private to public land, remote area's (away from roads) good luck

[X-Force]

Maybe this should be its own thread but I just looked up some numbers District 1 only 101-121 general elk harvests every 2 years since 97. These are just the harvest numbers and number of hunters for the district.
Year - Harvests - Hunters
97 - 79 - 1946
99 - 70 - 4978
01 - 52 - 3296
03 - 119 - 3106
05 - 127 - 2439
07 - 167 - 1789
09 - 224 - 4833
11 - 234 - 4530
13 - 229 - 4377
15 - 229 - 4245* Multiseason harvests included but not hunters
17 - 222 - 3532

Looking at just one barometer it looks like elk in the Northeast are stable especially over the last 10 years.

[CAMPMEAT]

Lake Ellen, but watch out for the Rez line....

[bornhunter]

I had a local property/business owner giving me some good info on where I could find a bear to fill my spring tag. I asked about deer and he had some good info. I asked about elk and he said quote,"we dont talk about elk."