Giving up on a GMU

[bb76]

How long do most of you give a GMU before moving on to a different unit,?

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[ganghis]

Lots of ins and outs on this one.  The first GMU I gave up on was Chewuch.  Too many hunters for the number of bucks was the reason. But also declining deer herds in the Methow.

I think I should give up on 113 - but that's where my my mom's cabin is and it's comfortable.

One of the things you have to be ask yourself is whether there are actually better units in the state.  Success rates are pretty terrible across the board, but there are some that are better than others.

[bmc02]

Hunted an area of 113 for 3 years with lots of scouting for late ML. Each year The ratio of bucks to predators on my game cams got progressively worse. Last year multiple wolves, cats and a bear, only 2 bucks. That was it, I'm done and moving on (especially with gas prices!). Oh life in the great state of WA...

[bkaech]

I don't tend to think in terms GMUs, especially for Elk Hunting. Elk have a tendency to be in local spots within the larger environment. I tend to hunt a specific spot, and check the regs to see what GMU that spot is, and that tells me the laws for that spot. But I will move spots from year to year, day to day. This year we found lots of elk in an area we have hunted very little, but found the elk there and hunted it hard. If you can find elk sign I say keep hunting those spots, if you can't find elk sign keep moving, every day, until you find the sign.

[bb76]

The area I've been hunting has lots of elk sign. I can get 3 - 4 bulls and a few cows on my trail cams until September. Once ML season opens, the elk all disappear. A couple of the older camps didn't show up this year. I'm guessing they got fed up and moved on. The main trailhead for the backcountry hunters had double the number of rigs. I hunt in the opposite direction of the backcountry crowds.

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[Sundance]

If I cannot locate elk after 3-4 days of scouting/hunting I move on. Some units are just tough, I have one where I’ve been on fresh sign every time but never seen an elk. As much as I’d like to throw 10 days at finding a good bull I’d rather head to an area where my chances at filling a tag are much higher. There is also a trade off of filling the tag vs taking a big mature bull.

For deer it’s different, once I find an area with a mature buck I’ll go until I get him or the season closes. That’s tough because you can go days without seeing an animal but your sights are set on a particular buck. Both are chasing examples are western WA

[jackelope]

The area I've been hunting has lots of elk sign. I can get 3 - 4 bulls and a few cows on my trail cams until September. Once ML season opens, the elk all disappear. A couple of the older camps didn't show up this year. I'm guessing they got fed up and moved on. The main trailhead for the backcountry hunters had double the number of rigs. I hunt in the opposite direction of the backcountry crowds.

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I might be wrong here, because I’m not much of an elk hunter, but I’m pretty sure if you’re getting bulls on cameras and only a few cows, you should expect them to leave around that time because they’re going to go looking for cows during the rut. Your elk are probably still in your GMU, they’re just in a different area. Just a sort of guess.

[bkaech]

Hopefully you can figure out where they go, they don't disappear. Do they go lower? Usually the first week of Oct they are still rutting, a bit, I still see signs of the rut and the bulls, especially smaller bulls still around the cows for Muzzy season. Often I find elk just rotate around as they eat up the feed in a particular area. Look for other close by areas with feed, or more safety and you can track down where the elk go. Maybe even find old tracks/trails and follow them. I do a lot of tracking of elk, and old track will eventually turn into a fresh tracks if you follow it long enough.

But sometimes you find that the elk move into an area you just logistically or maybe legally can't hunt them. In that case go find a whole new spot.