Is Eastern Washington Elk Hunting dying?

[Mr Mykiss]

Not to be a buzzkill but I bet more deer and elk are killed by vehicles than by the tribe yearly to put that into perspective...

That is not true for big bulls in the Blues.

[2MANY]

Elk are crying the Blues.

[Pegasus]

What do you mean elk hunting is dying in Eastern Washington? There are hunters everywhere you go.

[Magnum_Willys]

Elk are crying the Blues.

 

[buglebrush]

Not to be a buzzkill but I bet more deer and elk are killed by vehicles than by the tribe yearly to put that into perspective...

That is not true for big bulls in the Blues.

[duckmen1]

What do you mean elk hunting is dying in Eastern Washington? There are hunters everywhere you go.

Hunters yes.
But Elk that is the question in hand.
If numbers keep dropping so will success rates. If success rates keep dropping it turns into a nice camping trip. And then one thinks I can go camping at a much warmer time of year and spend time with the family without paying for a tag soup dinner. Then no more elk hunting. 

[Skyvalhunter]

Its no longer a hunt but a camping trip where you get to walk around carrying a rifle for excercise

[duckmen1]

I can do that all year

And shoot predators

 

[Cheif]

I just read the new proposals for this years special permit numbers and it is making me sick.  I was lucky enough to be one of the 6 Dayton Quality modern rifle hunters this last October/November.  After calling the regional game biologist for the state I was worried when he told me that the Dayton area was in terrible shape with a 50% elk reduction in just the last two years.  I hunted long and hard and consider myself lucky to have shot a 5x5 bull after many days of hunting.  The biggest problem that I saw was the lack of calves.  I am not exaggerating when I say that I saw somewhere around 45-55 cow elk during my hunt in various spots in the Dayton unit during my hunt.  The cows I saw were healthy and in great shape.  But NONE of them had a calf with them!  Not even one!  On top of that, I figure that there was only one spike shot in the entire unit during the modern rifle season.  I was in and out of many camps in just about all of the areas of the unit and the only spike shot was over on Newby Ridge way out in the middle of no-mans land.  This was due to the previous year having a nearly zero calf survival rate also.  Another year or two of no calf survival and the final outcome will be nothing but devastating.  Hopefully the semi-mild winter we have had this year will help reverse this issue.  I see that the quality permits have been doubly reduced again this year and set at 3 instead of 6 like last year.  In the past, this unit usually has given out approximately 15 or so permits.  I also saw that the rest of the Blues permits have been slashed this year also.

This is simply unacceptable. For this state to let one of, if not the premier elk hunt in the West fizzle out to what it is in less than 10 years is criminal.... There are some folks in wdfw that should be looking for careers elsewhere. Where's the accountability?

[Magnum_Willys]

Yep not even worth tryin for a tag - goin back to Westside and chasin limpers in the rain.  Love our WDFW.   Keepin our Predators at all time highs.   

[Cheif]

I was lucky enough to go\help on 4 Dayton tags, mine was 7 years ago I believe when they had 27 rifle tags, such a shame..

[idaho guy]

Not to be a buzzkill but I bet more deer and elk are killed by vehicles than by the tribe yearly to put that into perspective...

That is not true for big bulls in the Blues.

I was at taxidermist Sometime last month and a native brought in 2 huge bulls from the blues on Washington side. Be nice to hunt huge bulls when they are all bunched up on winter range. Just adding a little fuel to the fire carry on

[Cheif]

I’ve numerous pics of a couple natives from kooskia that have hunted Dayton for years, in September with a rifle. 180”-190” mulies from unit 11-11a, full velvet with a rifle, the same injun that killed a huge ram in 11 a few years ago... 

[Ghost Hunter]

Not to be a buzzkill but I bet more deer and elk are killed by vehicles than by the tribe yearly to put that into perspective...

That is not true for big bulls in the Blues.

I was at taxidermist Sometime last month and a native brought in 2 huge bulls from the blues on Washington side. Be nice to hunt huge bulls when they are all bunched up on winter range. Just adding a little fuel to the fire carry on

Pics?

[idaho guy]

Not to be a buzzkill but I bet more deer and elk are killed by vehicles than by the tribe yearly to put that into perspective...

That is not true for big bulls in the Blues.

I was at taxidermist Sometime last month and a native brought in 2 huge bulls from the blues on Washington side. Be nice to hunt huge bulls when they are all bunched up on winter range. Just adding a little fuel to the fire carry on

Pics?

   

What do you mean? No I don’t take pictures of other people’s stuff dropped of at taxi if that’s what you’re wanting. I don’t really care just passing along what I saw everybody knows it’s happening. it’s not something super unusual or hard to believe  like a Bigfoot sighting. It goes on every year. Now that I actually think about it I shouldn’t have posted that as I don’t want to send  this thread down a native hunting rabbit hole. But you can’t argue that it’s not screwing up elk management in the area but Washingtons biggest problem is predators.It was just that comment about the blues and I just recently seen those two big bulls taken from there. It’s not like a big secret and if you’re not aware of it you should be