Skokomish Bull Tag

[lonedave]

I managed to draw a muzzleloader bull tag for the Skokomish unit this year and thought I'd see if anyone else on here wanted to exchange any scouting info.  I drew the tag in 06, but didn't score.  I did finally find some animals up near the park but the wind literally "blew" my chance at the one 5 point in the bunch.  Living in the Tri-Cities doesn't allow too much time for a lot of scouting on that side of the state, but if anyone would like to trade any info/intel, it would be appreciated.  Good hunting guys!

Dave

[jackelope]

someone from the eastside that lives relatively close to the Blues drawing a west side tag??

 

There really must be a shortage of elk in the now-wildlife-barren Blue Mountains.

[PolarBear]

You will be competing with the tribes.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I drew a "Quality" deer tag for that unit, if/when I go look around I will let you know if I see any sign.
But my permit is not until Nov. 1, so I wont be in unit until Oct, when is your hunt ?

[lonedave]

Yeah, I know the there are elk much closer, but if you look at the hunt stats, the success rates for the west side are much better for the general seasons, and I'd prefer to hunt branch bulls rather than chase just spikes if I don't get a permit.  Also, check the hunter numbers and you'll ssee a huge difference in numbers west to east.  There are also quite a few any elk units on the west side that still have better success rates than the east side of the state.

I also know the tribes shoot them pretty much whenever they can catch them in the road, but I try not to spend too much time worrying about them.  It just gives me heartburn or worse when I think about the waste.  The truth is, they shoot them up pretty hard over here on the east side too.

Sticknstringbow

The permit is for Oct 2 - 8, so I'll let you know what I see too.

Dave

[SkookumHntr]

Congrats on the tag, ive actually seen some nice bulls up there bear huntin in augast up above grisdale, Hunt hard and you should get into some action.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

The permit is for Oct 2 - 8, so I'll let you know what I see too.

That is a great time to be chasing Roosies !
I might have to head up there for a little scouting just to see how your doing (I am within an hour of unit)
I see it is open for ML deer Sept 25th-Oct 3rd, are you going to be looking for deer/scouting for Elk?
Also with no General season for Elk, some might get pushed over from neighboring units....

[PolarBear]

Last year one of the Skoks shot a huge 6x7 up by Camp Govy.

[lonedave]

Hey Polar Bear

Where is Camp Govy.  I haven't come across that one yet.  Is it in the Skokomish River area.  I've limited myself to the Grizdale/Lake Wynoochee valley so far, but could have easily missed that camp.  Thanks.

DK

[huntinhick]

Dave,

Well I will fill you in alittle about that area,  I live in union and spend alot of time up in that area.  I have not hunted elk there but have come across alot of sign that I will share.  I am coming home in jul around the 5th or 6th for R/R so I can call you then or we can do it by email.  If you are up for a trip I can point out the areas (around Camp govy) that I have come across that showed signs ..like I say I have not taken an elk yet but have come across the signs while hunting and scouting deer and bear.

carl

[brew]

good luck with the tag....guy i now drew that for rifle last year in late Sept and shot a nice bull....I used to live in Camp Grisdale in the early 70's and it was real cool...

[lonedave]

Carl

I'll definitely get in touch with you when you're back.

Brew

The pictures I've seen of Grizdale looked pretty neat.  I love old photos of logging camps and equipment and it sounds like Grizdale was a pretty big one.  When I had the tag in '06' I hunted quite a bit around Grizdale and Weatherwax Ridge.  I saw some good sign, but I think I was about a week+ behind them and never saw any hide.

Thanks for the input guys.

Dave

[CJ-5]

Do you have any pictures of that bull your friend shot Brew?  It would be nice to see a bull the indians havent taken from up there.  That is neat ground for sure.  We used to spend alot of time deer hunting up there when there were animals.  The deer and elk population are pretty sparse now.

[1morebuck]

Lonedave, great tag! There are some nice bulls up my way, but you will have to put in the time to scout it. Do look toward the park boundries and the Wynoochie area. The tribes will have already chased them around a bunch, but going in solo and tracking you will find them. I know some of the WDFW officers in the area, call the Montesano WDFW office and ask for Matt Nixion. He may give you some good insight into the area. Good luck and post photos, lots-o-photos.

Kelly

[matlockmike]

If your just looking for any bul then look up Matlock and then go Northwest. Caynon River area to Wynoochee.  

I can tell you a couple of honey hole for smaller bulls but if your looking for wall hangers then go high.  Send me a PM if you want a smaller branched antlered bull and I'll share some info..

[Tilley Rd]

I'll see ya up there... my daughter also drew that tag

[brew]

lonedave...am trying to get a hold of the pic of the bull he shot last year...yeah living up in Grisdale during that time was way cool...we went to elementry school in a room of a single wide trailer (grades 1-5)  grades 6-8 were in another room of a seperate building and high schoolers were bused out daily 35 miles to Monte.  funny thing was after we moved out I remember eating a lot more beef and chicken then we did up there !?  Only one phone in camp and the Rec hall had a roller skating area and a two lane bowling alley, but us kids had to set the pins.  Mom got tired of being snowed in for weeks during the winter so we finally moved to the "city" (yelm).  got actual "slide" pictures of the area but don't know if I can upload them here for memories sake....good times

[lonedave]

Tilley

I hope you and your daughter get into them and score.  At least you'll get some quality time in with her outdoors.

Thanks everyone for the information and PM's.  I really appreciate it and this forum. 

Dave

[Blsum]

Personally I have never had the chance to chase the elk out there. I've seen lots of sign out there. I was once told by a guy that there was a herd around the matlock area. that just went in a giant loop. if they weren't there one day give them a few and they would be coming through. Good luck

[brew]

here's the bull I guy I know shot in that unit last year with rifle tag he drew

[Woodchuck]

my grandfather used to work at grizdale i believe, used to stomp around up there quite a bit as a kid, are there still fish in spider lake? good luck with your tag, glad you took my advice and stayed out of the blues, you will be much happier, the blues being the wasteland that they are

[1morebuck]

DAM thats a bog bodied bull.  I know that ridge!

[brew]

yeah it was "only" a five point but those rosies got dam big bodies....hmmmm luv me some elk meat

[tratnick1234]

drew that tag last year for bow me and my two partners. hunted it a lot for bear in previous years,but had not hunted it for about five years when i drew the tag,i spent a lot of days scouting before the season up high lookin for a monster did not see much we hunted our normal spot the first four days in another unit my partner shot a little rag horn opening day,then i went back to the skok and shot a nice heavy five point but if you want a trophy i would hunt high,game department closes gate 0ctober 1 so it will be tough,really long hike from the gate.

[CJ-5]

Nice bull!

[Alan K]

Nice bull, glad the indians haven't killed them all!

[beardown]

p.m.

[lonedave]

Brew

That's a great bull!

To the rest of you guys, I really appreciate the pm's and info.  That's what makes this site so great.  I may not have much to share with you guys, but I have taken several mulies in the last couple of years in the Snake River breaks and a couple of elk in Longbeach with my caplocks.  If any of you are looking to come over to the east side this year for deer, ask away!

Thanks again.

Dave

[huntinhick]

Dave,

I am back here on R/R give me a call when you get a chance 360-490-9744 and we can talk about the area I was talking about. 

carl

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

2 days left , any reports?

[zackmioli]

2 days left , any reports?

x2

[lonedave]

Reports?  Yeah, I blew it not once, but twice!  I somehow missed a gimme shot at a 5+ bull on Saturday morning at the long distance of 27 yards!!  He whirled just as I shot and I all I got was a big patch of body hair.  I was about 6 miles in past the gate on the upper Wynoochee road at the top of the ridge.  The bull took the rest of the herd and ran down the backside into the Skokomish drainage and two days later I sneaked in to range of them while they lounged in a rockslide.  When they got up to start moving several cows and bulls moved into range an I got another shot at about 75 yards.  With a gun not cleaned as well as normal due to the pack in, I got the first snapped cap of my life at big game on a little better bull in the group.  By the time I managed to get a few grins of powder into the nipple and a new cap, the bunch was just out of sight behind a tree in front of me.  If I'd just settled down and let them start moving around again, I'd have been fine, but a little 3 point ran up to see what was going on and I took a quick shot at him.  Unfortunately I hit him kind of low through the front leg, but no bone.  He moved off with the rest of the bunch and I followed a little blood for about 100 yards when it ran out.  I ended up dropping down there for the next two days and was not able to find any sign of him or the rest of the herd.  I'm pretty sure he wasn't too badly hurt and will probably heal up for next year.  I quit going further down into the Skok drainage because I wasn't sure I had it in me to bring one back out to the top of the ridge and then another 6 miles down to my truck on the Wynoochee side.  I never saw any others up high and it ended up raining pretty hard Thursday and yesterday.  I think these bulls are giving me a bad case of buck fever or something.