Unit: 506 Willapa and 530 Ryderwood

[MuleyMadness]

Looking for some late season bow action, missed my chance 1 to many times for the early season.

These are about as close to where I live as I can seem to get. Anyone have any advice on where the elk are?

PM me if its top secret! we can trade for some fish!

[LBhunter]

No real secrets their, just get in their as far as you can, then......go further. Try to get in early, that way by the time all the other guys start in at daybreak they can push the elk to you if your lucky.....other than that its a pumpkin patch, and the action will happen in the first 5 minutes of light. After that, hike into the steep canyons and look

[shadowless_nite]

i hunted the 506 early season and was able to bag a nice bull, saw plenty of elk there. i would say you can increase your odds tremendously if you use a mt. bike in some places. its way faster than being on foot. leave in the dark and get scooting. by the time light hits your gonna want to be a few miles past the furthest gate you could park on. thatll be your best bet. GO deeper! farther! and get a head start! im sure youll see em.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Saw a nice herd of 30 today... had 4 rag horns on the group...

[Little Fish]

I don't know this for sure, but won't this area be open to drive in access for the late season?

[shadowless_nite]

I don't know this for sure, but won't this area be open to drive in access for the late season?

i know there are some gates in the area i hunt during early season that will now be open but there are even more gates deeper in that still remain closed. cant say for anywhere else though....

[AKBowman]

I don't know this for sure, but won't this area be open to drive in access for the late season?

antlerless only for late season in 506. lots of closed gates in late season, gotta put on some miles.

[Little Fish]

Sweet. Is 506 a good option for mountain bikes or is it steep enough that you have to push your bike most of the way in?

[AKBowman]

Sweet. Is 506 a good option for mountain bikes or is it steep enough that you have to push your bike most of the way in?

Most of the gated roads in the late season require you to push your bike up. Easier to hunt until dark though if you can cut your time back to the truck with the bike. I dont have a bike...wich I did.

[shadowless_nite]

Sweet. Is 506 a good option for mountain bikes or is it steep enough that you have to push your bike most of the way in?

i can say from my experience there its good for mountain bikes, lots of open roads that are packed down from constant logging. some areas are steeper than others, a topo and forest road map should pretty much show you how things would look. it is very much worth it to cover ground with the bike even if you spend time pushing it up a hill. and if you get it set up just right you can have a awesome ride down. we were doing close to 30 miles a day round trip, we would head out at 4:45 in the dark and be out atleast 10miles  past the last gate we could drive to by light out. which is plenty of distance to get away from people at first light. we would hike/ bike/ push bikes up hills all day long till we got to the top and take a mid day break/nap/lunch and by 3 begin the trek down hill slowly glassing areas we had seen but from across the way in the opposite directions. this tactic proved well when you spooked a herd early morning you had a pretty good chance of catching them later in the day for an evening hunt on the other side of where they were heading as long as they werent pushed hard. also it allowed you to take ease after a days hike since there was really no pedaling if you can find a slow downhill slope. sometimes we could do 12+ miles of 90% downhill with no pedaling at all..