Winthrop Elk

[mkcj]

Went over yesterday afternoon to bring some feed over and see how much snow was left and ran into her and about 30 mule deer and whitetail all on the same hill first time in the 41 years that we have a had a place there I have seen an elk.

[Bearhunter]

Do you have a place up 20 out of town, there is a heard that hangs in there?

[DeerHarvester]

Rare sighting, let alone getting a picture very cool.  There has been a few in the Okanogan Valley for years, guess it was only a mater of time before they made it over to the Methow.   

[Bearhunter]

They have been in the methow for years.  We actually seen a bull up on sweet grass butte about 8years ago.

[MtnMuley]

The old Heath Ranch (Big Valley Ranch) used to hold a herd years ago.  A buddy killed a spike there.

[Little Stu]

she has been around for 8 or 9 years that i can remember, never did see the rest of the herd before the the all got killed.

thanks for the pics    Luke
 

[seaduckhunter]

I seen 2 bulls in May on the Elbow Coulee road a few years ago.  Also seen pics of a big bull up on the Buttermilk Butte off Twisp river.

[boneaddict]

They have been around for years.  VERY controversial.  Many stories of the WDFW killing them, not letting them get established.  Cool you got to see her.  I've photgraphed one cow for three winters now.

[boonerboy]

cool pics! I love seeing those rare sighting pictures!

[mulehunter]

I Have seen them before. Very Cool to see them around.  I am Sure she lost some her frined to Wolves!  LOTS Elk at Wolf Ck area Near Sawtooth area!

Mulehunter  

By the way I am very CURIOUS about how many Moose in Wintrop and Twisp. I believe there is like 4 for sure that I know. And One Mother Moose got killed by Cougar recently that I talked to and Wdfw hired a Houndman and track Treed Cougar and REMOVED! So now two bulls and one mother Moose left. I hope there is More than I see.

I wonder how they doing after winter.

[boneaddict]

I'd say there are more moose than elk.

[mulehunter]

Cant wait to go back scouting myself, Love this area!!  

Mulehunter 

[steen]

They are there but like someone else said the game dept. doesn't want them there cause they want to preserve the mule deer herd.  It would be cool to see them. 

[mulehunter]

They are there but like someone else said the game dept. doesn't want them there cause they want to preserve the mule deer herd.  It would be cool to see them. 

Gamedept want to Preserve Mule to feed all to Wolves!

Mulehunter 

[hirshey]

Very cool photos... always fun to get those mixed species shots. Especially up the Methow.

[alecvg]

Man, thats awesome!  I want to see the elk and moose over there so bad!  I spend enough time there, I am bound to see one one of these times!  Awesome pic, mind if I ask what direction from town it was?

[steen]

Yeah!  I was going to add something about the wolves.  I just wonder if I should pack a hand gun also while hunting there these days.  I was pretty comfortable with going up the mountain in the dark but it is kinda hard to protect yourself from a pack.  I don't think I'll let the girls go up the mountain by themselves in the dark this year.

[Okano-gun]

Don't know if it's true but I talked to a warden that said the ranchers shot the elk out of the Methow in the 30's-40's to keep them from competeing with their cattle.

[mkcj]

I wish there would have been a little more light as it was around 6pm when I seen her! Of all the deer I seen only 1 had antler's left it was a 2 point and he was missing his right side.  Alecvg here is a picture of the moose we seen on the 5010 rd and 30 mile during deer season

[Little Stu]

you can usually fitd the elk up on the rendeveus down by the disabled hunter access, she hangs out between there and big valley.

[sooperfly]

I see you met "Ellie" !   

[blacktailer]

Cool pic. sooperfly.  I think that cow thinks she's a muley!!!

[Shootmoore]

I wonder if that is the same old cow I used to watch in 2005 in Big Valley.  She had hooked up with a herd of deer.

There has been a couple small herds of elk in the Valley for years.  WDFW has wanted them out of there because they don't want to deal with the elk, apple orchard conflicts.  Deer fence does not work so well on elk.

I would rather see them replace the wolves with elk imho.
Shootmoore

[Idabooner]

Don't know if it's true but I talked to a warden that said the ranchers shot the elk out of the Methow in the 30's-40's to keep them from competeing with their cattle.

About the mid 40's I was the movie projector operator for extra credits in school. I showed the film several times of a herd of elk being killed in the deep snow by 5-6 guys on snow shoes.  The way I remember it was in the 8 mile area by the game dept.  Their reasons were elk and deer could not exist together, elk would compete with cattle, elk would ruin the apple orchards, back then the Methow was apple and cattle country. Those days they could show things like that to the school kids, probably why us old f--ts have warped minds. I personally knew the guy that headed up this deal, he was high up in the forest service, passed away last year. His two sons were my class mates.

[alecvg]

I wish there would have been a little more light as it was around 6pm when I seen her! Of all the deer I seen only 1 had antler's left it was a 2 point and he was missing his right side.  Alecvg here is a picture of the moose we seen on the 5010 rd and 30 mile during deer season

Awesome!  Thanks for posting!

[mulehunter]

Between Wintrop and Twisp three months ago. Saw two  bulls.

Mulehunter  

[mountainman1]

      "Ellie" has been around a long time. Here are a couple of pics of her in December of 2006 North of Winthrop about 2 miles. It's good to here she has survived all those years by herself. 

[mountainman1]

Between Wintrop and Twisp three months ago. Saw two  bulls.

Mulehunter  

      Mulehunter, I know this is not where am I but that was not between Twisp and Okanogan was it? The ones in the deep snow at about 4000 feet in elevation.

[boneaddict]

I thinks Ellie thinks she is a deer too Blacktailer.  Beds with them, feeds with them, etc, and I think the deer have adopted her, along with much of the MEthow Valley.  There is a pocket of elk to the North of her so I always figured she'd hook up, but she hasn't.

COOL MOOSE Mule!

[boneaddict]

There was a big controversy back when I was a kid.  THere was quite a herd developing and they got caught down in French Creek, or the country North of Pateros.  The game department slaughtered them all.  The started milling in a panic and they dumped them.  The unfortunate thing for the WDFW was that there was snow on the ground, so their little escapade left a big bloody mess.  Th eValley was outraged.  There is actually another nice little herd brewing over there and I hope it does well.  It had a huge bull in it and everyone was after it. 

[let.it.fly]

no way. i hunt there every year and always thought that randevuex pass looked like great elk habitat and i could never understand why there were none. i have seen moose (a bull, cow and calf) out in the area but never any elk. i'm glad to here they are movin in. anyone have any more pics

[MtnMuley]

bone, wasn't there also a slaughter on Buck Pass in the early 70's.  I've heard the story several times over the years.  Maybe it's the one you mentioned in the French Ck. area?  Details were basically the same.

[Tom Reichner]

There was a big controversy back when I was a kid.  There was quite a herd developing and they got caught down in French Creek, or the country North of Pateros.  The game department slaughtered them all.  The started milling in a panic and they dumped them.  The unfortunate thing for the WDFW was that there was snow on the ground, so their little escapade left a big bloody mess.  Th eValley was outraged.  There is actually another nice little herd brewing over there and I hope it does well.  It had a huge bull in it and everyone was after it.  

I have heard of this slaughter, or perhaps the slaughter I heard of was a different, more recent one.  I heard that 38 elk were slaughtered.  This type of decision making by the WDFW really pisses me off.  Far too often they attend more to the "needs" of orchardists and ranchers than they do to the needs of hunters, photographers, and wildlife watchers.

Between Wintrop and Twisp three months ago. Saw two  bulls.

Mulehunter  

Mulehunter, I know this is not where am I but that was not between Twisp and Okanogan was it? The ones in the deep snow at about 4000 feet in elevation.

Mulehunter,
I agree with Mountainman; the habitat in the moose image you posted looks more like the area up on Loup Loup Pass than the area between Twisp and Winthrop.  Are you sure it wasn't up on the Loup that you found the moose?

[boneaddict]

THere was a moose hanging in the bottom of ALder this fall.  Ground Zero for wolves, so not sure how long that will last.  There have been numerous sightings throughout the years in that lower TR just outside of town.  They've started really developing that though so probably not much anymore. 

[steen]

Speaking of "Ellie" hooking up with the deer and not going to find the elk herd.....  We had a resident pure white doe in our neck of the woods that we would see most time we went deer scouting.  She did not hand out with her kind either but with a farmers holstein hiefers.  I don't think she could reproduce and felt secure in a herd of black and white.  She was known to go near the barns but I don't know if she went in.  She was fat a sassy like a Boer goat instead of slender like the blacktails.  When the holstein herd moved she went across the road and hung out with some beef cows.  She has been gone for some years now, but I think she was pretty up there in years. 

[Pathfinder101]

Can't see the pics at work.  I'll look when I get home tonight.

[seaduckhunter]

Hey steen was that deer in north Marysville Arlington area?

[mulehunter]

Between Wintrop and Twisp three months ago. Saw two  bulls.

Mulehunter 

Mulehunter, I know this is not where am I but that was not between Twisp and Okanogan was it? The ones in the deep snow at about 4000 feet in elevation.

Mulehunter,
I agree with Mountainman; the habitat in the moose image you posted looks more like the area up on Loup Loup Pass than the area between Twisp and Winthrop.  Are you sure it wasn't up on the Loup that you found the moose?
[/quote]

I went thur upper Bear Ck pass Gamedept Office East of Wintrop all around the top East Thought it could be between Wintrop and twisp. I may be wrong.

Mulehunter 

[jmx369]

Nonetheless, amazing photos. Thanks for posting.

[saylean]

had pics of a moose last summer in between twisp/winthrop....saw fresh moose sign just outside of carlton last deer season...

it would be cool if they could build a population