Mt. Adams elk population

[elksnout]

Could it be possible that with all the cuts which have now morphed into thick reprod be part of the reason less elk are seen and taken ? At least in the national forest ? It's pretty much a timber hunt now on that land. Just saying..... 

[RUTNBULL1]

Hey moss my intention wasn't to get you all stirred up,and be live me I'm also concerned about our natural recourse.Myself and other voiced our concerns at the WDFW commission meetings, about the either sex seasons there and other places in our state.Its very apparent to me the WDFW has no care, or clue on manageing any thing in this state.Lets just look at the problems if there to many cats,then why did they close the season during modern firearm?Also why the extra long hunting season, plus the master hunting season.All i can say is everything in moderation, if you over harvest the crop you also need time for it to grow.The WDFW is in panic mode with the revenue being cut, and the risk of loosing more of there precious full time employees,its only going to get worse.I'm a property owner in klickitat county and also have lots of back ground in the logging industry,and probably shouldn't group all loggers as one.My family and i has had more than our fair share of problems over the years with lots of user groups.I for one am glad your concerned, and urge you to get involved and ask questions and demand answers from the WDFW.BBarnes keeping public lands public

Yes BBarnes, every email, letter, voiced opinion in person, etc. etc. etc. that I have put forth towards the WDFW and Game Commission has always fell on DEAF EARS. As has been posted thousands of times before upon thousands of threads throughout this forum, the WDFW and Commission Board has already decided upon all strategies and rules for the State's Management of the game and fish within this state, BEFORE OUR PUPLIC INPUT OR INQUIRY. Until we totally clean house and rid the current people in place and get new and fresh people that actually care about the wildlife and the opportunities that can be provided for the sportmen/ sportswomen in areason-able manner, basically we are screwed!
   AND LOGGER that is some funny s!!t right there on the MOSQUITO'S.

[Curly]

Until we totally clean house and rid the current people in place and get new and fresh people that actually care about the wildlife and the opportunities that can be provided for the sportmen/ sportswomen in areason-able manner, basically we are screwed!

True that.

[fishunt247]

this year, late muzzy season the elk were getting hammered pretty hard on king mt.

Could this be in reference to the insane amount of snowmobile/elk hunting rodeo that was going on in that area? All morning on opening day you would hear snowmobiles cruising, then I guess they saw elk because they would take off for a short while, shut off, and BOOM. Then they must have missed (who would guess you couldn't hit a running elk that's being chased by snowmobiles with an open sight muzzleloader) because they would start up again and tear off after them. Kinda ridiculous. Last spring, and this late fall, there seemed to be a lot of elk around. But I'm sort of an outsider on the elk managment issue down there, just wanted to comment on the ethics of the snowmobile thing.

[logger]

Elksnout, that is exactly what i'm saying with all that reprod=less feed, less elk.fishhunt, I did not see the snowmachines doing it, but I damn sure could hear em all the way up on top.

[bbarnes]

No your talking MOSS your thinking the way i do,the WDFW is a joke and LOGGER i don't think they could even keep our insects alive.Besides you would have to get out from behind the desk.In my 45 years of life the only time i have ever seen a biologists in the field,is when myself and Mark Smith put tours on at the Mount Saint Helens.We took politicians ,forest service,wdfw and enviormentalist up there to show them the major die offs and the reasons why.The WDFW wouldn't answer any questions, after that three ring circus.We need to cut there revenue and start busting there balls, and calling them on the carpet or our recreation and resource is finished.BBarnes keeping our public lands public.

[colockumelk]

Maybe the wdfw should manage mosquitos everything else they manage dies off.

 

Thats not true look how well the turkeys have done.  Oh wait that's right the WDFW doesn't do anything with the turkeys. That's probably why they have done so well.  Because the WDFW hasn't touched them. 

[RUTNBULL1]

Maybe the wdfw should manage mosquitos everything else they manage dies off.

 

Thats not true look how well the turkeys have done.  Oh wait that's right the WDFW doesn't do anything with the turkeys. That's probably why they have done so well.  Because the WDFW hasn't touched them. 

Damit Colockumelk, now you've done it, they get wind of your comment and screw the Turkey seasons up too!!

[haus]

Available summer range food supply and the quantity of elk that are being taken are the two primary factors. The increasing loss of high elevation/alpine elk habitat due to encroaching conifers is a well researched and documented player in the decreasing elk population for the area surrounding the Mt. Adams Wilderness and the Indian Heavens Wilderness. The rest of 560 near Mt. Adams is almost entirely GPNF where timber harvest has been minimal for over a decade. Much of the standing timber does not allow for the growth of nutritional plants and shrubs for the elk. The private timber lands that can be found at lower elevations outside of the 560 unit and GPNF fall within the borders of the West Klickitat and Wind River Units. Both have had ANY ELK MF GENERAL SEASONS for...well I don't honestly know how long.
Also, the amount of special permit cow elk tags that have been handed out for the 560 unit are disproportionate to the size of the herd.

Yes there are other factors that are of concern, like the cat population and the amount of poaching that is occurring. I don't believe the cats are taking enough elk to be a primary source of blame for the reduction in herd size, but with the herd as reduced as it is now any predation will play a larger factor. They do have plenty of deer to munch on and it is apparent that most of the cats follow the deer herd. By the time we get in there for MF elk season we rarely see any sign of cats or deer unless we go down lower into the West Klickitat unit. Most of the deer found in the 560 unit migrate out by late September. Actually this season was only the second time we saw cat tracks in the 560 unit during MF. It so happened to have followed me for most of a day. I found this out when I hunted the same general route the next day. No wonder I keep looking over my shoulder the day prior. haha.

Poaching on the other hand....... 

Anyway that's just my opinion, we've been hunting down there since '99 and we came into the area knowing full well the elk population was much smaller than where we hunted prior(coweeman), but the hunting pressure is also much less so we feel it is worth the trade off. I've had a hard time being successful, I've hunted very few full seasons with my family, but last season I did and finally bagged my first bull elk. Spent a lot of time prior to last season analyzing sat images and overlaying them with where we had seen elk, plus I spoke with the wdfw and a few hunters on this board. Ultimately what made the difference was slowing down my pace in the right area's, I finally understood how to identify an area that was holding elk versus an area that they were just temporarily using as a stop over point while the moved elsewhere.