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Author Topic: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?  (Read 1444 times)

Offline Kc_Kracker

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What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« on: November 17, 2025, 10:00:40 PM »
The only place in western Washington I've seen elk is in people's yards. And once in Snoqualmie. So what gmu do have elk on public hunting land? I've never seen one while deer hunting . Is late muzzy worth it or are they all back up high licking their wounds?
« Last Edit: November 17, 2025, 10:27:15 PM by Kc_Kracker »

Offline Kingofthemountain83

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2025, 11:32:36 AM »
I've seen elk in 510, 654, and 667 last year... Haven't seen one this year... Jumped some in the dark this year in 654 and seen recent tracks 510 and 667... Not sure if any of these are open for late season...
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Offline pianoman9701

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2025, 12:27:00 PM »
Going west from Longview on SR4 - Willapa Hills, Gray's Harbor, Riderwood, Bear creek, all hold elk and there's a lot of private land, some by purchasing permit only. Lewis River and Siouxon are so choked with debris, most elk have moved out of the NF. Weyerhauser permits are better chances than the NF in those GMUs.
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Offline Kc_Kracker

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2025, 11:10:17 PM »
Going west from Longview on SR4 - Willapa Hills, Gray's Harbor, Riderwood, Bear creek, all hold elk and there's a lot of private land, some by purchasing permit only. Lewis River and Siouxon are so choked with debris, most elk have moved out of the NF. Weyerhauser permits are better chances than the NF in those GMUs.
NF?

Offline jhouckwsu

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #4 on: Yesterday at 05:38:12 AM »
Going west from Longview on SR4 - Willapa Hills, Gray's Harbor, Riderwood, Bear creek, all hold elk and there's a lot of private land, some by purchasing permit only. Lewis River and Siouxon are so choked with debris, most elk have moved out of the NF. Weyerhauser permits are better chances than the NF in those GMUs.
NF?

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Offline Damnimissed

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #5 on: Yesterday at 07:33:17 AM »
There’s elk on public in every SW WA unit.

Offline Sundance

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #6 on: Yesterday at 09:26:43 AM »
I've found elk from the columbia river to the straits, either on public land or free access timber lands. The density and quality depends on the unit, but they are there. I've yet to find an area that consistently produces, usually they are a 2-3 year cycle before the spot gets burned, logged, or over run.

Offline bigtex

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #7 on: Yesterday at 05:23:17 PM »
It'd be safe to say there's elk in almost every GMU in western WA, other then the island units. Heck, I've seen elk within the Kent city limits!

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #8 on: Yesterday at 06:34:20 PM »
It'd be safe to say there's elk in almost every GMU in western WA, other then the island units. Heck, I've seen elk within the Kent city limits!

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Offline dreadi

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Re: What gmu's in sw Washington hold elk?
« Reply #9 on: Today at 02:24:08 PM »
WDFW Hunting Prospects are a nice read.

On a slightly different note, I was granted property access and have hunted since August. I have multi season deer and elk, cameras around the property. Property owner tells me "they come out right there". Turns out of course he's right. I have them on camera coming out right there. Unfortunately the times they have been out, I was not there or they were not in season or it's after hours. It's one cow and a spike that I've seen on camera.  During modern elk a local stopped by my truck parked next to the road and among other things tells me, "they screwed this herd up. There used to be 80 head but now there's just a couple". I had not told him about only seeing two elk for a couple months.

As nice as private access is, if I don't start seeing action in person or on cam during legal hours, I'm going to also look elsewhere.


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