Peak Elk Rut in SW WA

[AKBowman]

HUnted Willapa Hills last year during late archery. Wasn't able to connect but had a blast, lots of nice gated roads, lots of animals.

I was wondering about what time from Sept 8-20th the peak of the rut usually lands? Also should the elk be in pretty much the same areas as they were in Nov/Dec?

Thanks, hopefully will be posting some pics of my first bull this year. Heading up to AK Oct 1-10 for Archery sheep in Chugach State Park hopefully can bag an elk prior to the trip.

[jackelope]

9/21
 

we barely got  any rut activity at all last year for the bow season and we hunted mostly the last half of the season...late spring and who knows what else got them all screwed up. i think others hunting SW WA had the same results.

[stumprat]

Last years rut was very screwy down here last year.

[bucklucky]

I dont know, rut was great last year ?? Im not talking eastern Washington. I went out and dinked with a few herd bulls last year. The rut always happens about the same time every year. These were highly preassured elk also. I dont know. Every area is different I guess. Heated up the second week just as always for me. I can tell you why , its because my tag was already notched 

[couesbitten]

I generally rifle hunt the west side, so I can't really tell you when the rut peaks over there. What I can tell you, is that last year, for the second year in a row, on opening morning of the rifle hunt, I had a bull elk bugle multiple times, and he was running with cows. Some crazy stuff going on for sure.

[Wild Bill]

Last three yrs have been screwy for the rut. It vairies.
Put some leather on the ground, and stay out all day. Works like a charm, no matter what the critters do. We took 4 5x or better bulls out of 5 hunters this yr (fith hit a big boy a little high, never to be found).  Last yr we took 3 bulls out of 4 hunters, (4th hunter missed twice). Yr prior we took 4 bulls for 4 hunters.
Not bragging, but persistence and scouting never change, and the rut is a toss. 
Most people quit prior to 10:00. We do most of our killing between 11:00 and 4, same goes for late season.

[AKBowman]

Wow! Nice Job on connecting on those bulls. Thanks for the tip about staying out all day I will make sure to keep that foremost in my mind. I plan on going in twice prior to season in order to scout so hopefully will have a good idea come second week of the season.

Do you generally team up on the calling/shooting or do you all head in different directions in order to cover more ground?

[Wild Bill]

Biggest thing is to find what works for you, and everyone has a different preference.
 We use every method known to man to find em in this order: 1) spot in stalk       2) calling ( way early/late and very seldom)          3) then what we call plugging; move to a likely spot set up in a big 30- 40 yrd circle, call for about 45 min, then move on ALL DAY LONG (yes it can suck)!!!  It takes a lot of patience/ persistence, but when chips are down, it works. I've personally killed two bulls at midday in this manner. 4) when nothing is working we split up in all directions (more so to gather intel for the next day/hunt).
Just keep with it. We have hunted the same areas for all of our lives, and know where the hunters typically come from, and how the animals react. That is probably the biggest key to our success, so if your scouting doesnt help you out this yr, take notes and apply it to next yrs scouting / hunting.
I know i got off topic of peak rut, but i found myself relying on that intel sometime ago. When I finally said i was going to hunt every day as if it were a peak rut, is when I started having way more success.
WB

[Crunchy]

Last year was a fluke, the hot weather during archery elk was like no other. 

[Little Fish]

I've hunted archery elk on the West side for 2 years so my experience is limited, but at least its another data point.

In 2007 the rut seemed to be going strong when the season opened and continued that way for the entire week I hunted. Last year things were pretty quiet the first several days of the season so I pulled out and came back for the last 4/5 days of the season. During the last 4/5 days the rut seemed to be going full swing, but of course the season ended and that was that.

I certainly don't have it figured out, but my plan this year is to hunt the second half of the season on the theory that the rut starts sometime in September and the later I go the more likely it will be going strong.

[Crunchy]

I hunted down in Oregon the last week of September, and we caught the rut perfect.  I had never been so many bugling bulls.  I'm fairly sure there rut and ours would be about the same.

[coldsteel3d]

Last year was a fluke, the hot weather during archery elk was like no other.

I don't know where you were hunting but in S.W. the rut was going full swing the 8 thru the end of the month, the only problem was the fact that we had so much moisture that weyerhauser and longview timber decided to open the gates and everyone decided to drive in, park, slam their door, call, jump in and drive away.  We still went three for four. 

[Little Fish]

coldsteel3d...I was hunting around Kelso. Didn't know the gates were open to drive in traffic. A Weyerhauser truck was parked at the end of Rose Valley road at one point to make sure folks weren't driving in unless they were in route to the toutle unit.

[bucklucky]

BTW, the peak of the rut is at night when we are all sound asleep, we just get a tiny feel for it during the day 

[coldsteel3d]

the gate at the end of zillig road was open and there was a steady stream of trucks, then you were wide open to drive into weyerhauser land, in there on our mountain bikes and talked to a weyerhauser truck about getting there gates shut and locked, he said they couldn't do that and they were open only on the weekends, but their internal gates stayed open all week so anybody could just drive in.  You just had to drive in from longview timber land. 

[Little Fish]

Well that sucks. Nothing like arriving an hour before daylight and biking/hiking in before light only to have half a dozen trucks show up when the sun comes up.

[Wild Bill]

BTW, the peak of the rut is at night when we are all sound asleep, we just get a tiny feel for it during the day 

O so very true! Beware of the 3 Am playboy bugle hunters though. They'll put a canyon on mute just as fast as the Slamthedoorbugledriveoff truck bugler!

[Wild Bill]

coldsteele3d,
Pm'd ya.
WB

[Wild Bill]

the gate at the end of zillig road was open and there was a steady stream of trucks, then you were wide open to drive into weyerhauser land, in there on our mountain bikes and talked to a weyerhauser truck about getting there gates shut and locked, he said they couldn't do that and they were open only on the weekends, but their internal gates stayed open all week so anybody could just drive in.  You just had to drive in from longview timber land. 

Need to report those lazy P.O.S. M.Fr's. You dont hunt archery for the right reasons if your looking to drive in!
Cant do much on the weekend, but during the weekday, call weyco, and theyll send a guy out to get em! If its not the first time, it is a $400+ ticket. They were handing em out like candy the 1 day i went to Headquarters before say screw the zoo.

I had a dandy 5x5 come in to me this yr only to be shot and lost by 2 (both shot and swore a hit) dudes who drove in and were sitting in a truck I didnt see when my work came strutting by them looking for love.
I bit my tounge and tried to help (for the critters sake) find him. After 8 hrs of my waisted daylight, we didnt get a drop of blood. On the way out I shined a bull with my sure fire, head hung low, moving to a crk bottom. Came in the next day, nowhere to be found, but his 12 cows were solo.
AHH!
Sorry for the tangent!

[Huntbear]

We have the same issues with Weyerhauser during rifle season.      Reason enough to go back to the high country and leave that mess behind.

[funkster]

BTW, the peak of the rut is at night when we are all sound asleep, we just get a tiny feel for it during the day 

+ 1!

The big problem last season was Wey co. opened the gates weeks before the elk season for deer hunters which wouldn't be so bad if guys would leave the bugles tubes and hoochie mammas in the truck. There is no need to to call and educate the elk before you can even hunt them esp when you are hunting deer. Get out of the truck and into the woods and you might have better success and give the guys putting in the miles a break. With that said we had bulls going almost every day but we had to work them harder than the year before.

[bucklucky]

That sucks WildBill  *censored*s!

[Wild Bill]

BTW, the peak of the rut is at night when we are all sound asleep, we just get a tiny feel for it during the day 

+ 1!

The big problem last season was Wey co. opened the gates weeks before the elk season for deer hunters which wouldn't be so bad if guys would leave the bugles tubes and hoochie mammas in the truck.

They do, hence the Slamthedoorbugledriveoff truck bugle!
I mean come on fellas, primos toots on those things with all their might, and the elk run from two canyons over, so why waist your time of turning off the truck, beating the brush and calling, when you can call em up to the tailgate!
Who'd uh thunk such a thing as werkin fer em!

[BLKBEARKLR]

I had a dandy 5x5 come in to me this yr only to be shot and lost by 2 (both shot and swore a hit) dudes who drove in and were sitting in a truck I didnt see when my work came strutting by them looking for love.
I bit my tounge and tried to help (for the critters sake) find him. After 8 hrs of my waisted daylight, we didnt get a drop of blood. On the way out I shined a bull with my sure fire, head hung low, moving to a crk bottom. Came in the next day, nowhere to be found, but his 12 cows were solo.
AHH! 


Good of you to put the feelings aside and trying to help the ctitter out. I would have done the same

[bucklucky]

BTW, the peak of the rut is at night when we are all sound asleep, we just get a tiny feel for it during the day 

+ 1!

The big problem last season was Wey co. opened the gates weeks before the elk season for deer hunters which wouldn't be so bad if guys would leave the bugles tubes and hoochie mammas in the truck.

They do, hence the Slamthedoorbugledriveoff truck bugle!
I mean come on fellas, primos toots on those things with all their might, and the elk run from two canyons over, so why waist your time of turning off the truck, beating the brush and calling, when you can call em up to the tailgate!
Who'd uh thunk such a thing as werkin fer em!

Dont you love retards 

[Grizzly]

I find that the rut is usually kicking off around the 15th of september, but it varies almost every year.

[matlockmike]

Last year I watched a the best one yet......  Guy pulled up to a landing, seen a small group of cows on the hillside I was on and began to bugle from the truck???WTF

Stupid road hunters.

[Grizzly]

Never surprised by road hunters. I was deer hunting last year and parked my truck at the beging of a landing walked up hill to the end of the landing and went down the hillside about 50 yards to start glassing and was watching a small 2x2 chasing a doe when i heard a vehicle come up the road. 2 guys got out right above me and started using a bear call never new i was there, until i happened to state that i was directly below them

[h2ofowlr]

Buggled in a nice bull about 3 days into the season.  He came up making lots of noise.  He just got into a spot where we couldn't get a clean shot on him.  Had the bull at 17 yards neck and head only before he took off on us.  Wasn't going to chance the shot with a bow. 

[bolsen]

3rd or 4th day of season i bugled a bull in 4 times in the re-prod before i finally got a shooting lane and got him. he was hot. came in to 5 yards once straight on and looked right at me, bugled in my face and walked away. never did cow call. stuck him at 11 yards.

[gutsnthegrass]

I bugled in my best bull yet last year on opening evening about half hour before dusk.  He came out of the reprod screaming at me!  He had about 10 cows with him.  I had him at 45 yards but he had a small bush covering his vitals.  I drew back thinking I would shoot when he cleared the bush but he took off chasing his cows before I had a clear shot.  Just my luck.  Had another one on the other side of the thick stuff 4 days later but couldn't make it happen.  I guess thats why they call it hunting and not shooting right?