we got Winston cow tag's now what?

[bowtech721]

pick a gate somewhere and go for a hike and your hunt will probably have a happy ending 

[Cylvertip]

Beware - I think Port Blakely will not be allowing camping anymore on their property, just like Weyerhauser .  That means some long drives out to get back to camp. 

I've heard that Winston and Margret have more elk per acre than any other units in the state.

In years past for both early and late archery it was nothing to get within bow range of a ton of cows.  During early archery I could typically get within 100 yards of close to 200 animals....  I'm after horns, so even when it was open for cows, I still let them walk. 

Also, if you haven't got one yet, Weyerhauser has a really good map of all of their roads for the St. Helens tree farm ( and others for the rest of their farms too). They will also show the most roads on Port Blakley too.   The local sporting goods stores carry them - Sunbirds in Chehalis has them for sure.

[Yelm hunter]

I have been hunting Elk going on 4 years and have always went to Winston Creek. It's a really good area but lots of people. Last year "2009" my brother drew a cow tag and we were hunting that area everyday. All different roads. We finally ran into elk on 11-09-09 off one of the gated roads. 1 1/2 behind the gate. 5 mins before shooting time we seen the elk but we follow the rules and couldn't shoot. Could have shot been other hunters came walking down the road like they were in "BAND CAMP" and scared the elk away. Well after hunting the area since opening day our elk camp neighbor said he got a Bull on a certain road and told us wear to go. That he seen plenty of cows in this area off one of the roads. To make a long story short... On Veterns day 11-11-09 we all went up in this area and were hunting this clear cut and timber with jeep trails and roads surrounding it. On the back side of the fire dept. After 4 hours of hunting and a SILENT argument with my dad in the morning. My brother and I met up and he's like did you see those deer over there. Well there were 2 deer running together that kept being chased around by other hunters. And were my brother and I met up I stayed there and he left. Well after an hour of staying in one spot I started hearing crackling and brush/tree moving and I knew something had to be there. Well I was like naww its just those damn deer again. lol so I walked further into the clear cut closer to wear I was hearing the noises. took a leak and a little break. And dad calls on the radio and says lets head back to the truck and go to a different clear cut. Well in the meantime of doing all this and talking to the guys on the radio. I said I was staying were I was. Well not 2 minutes later I'm like screw i'll head back to the truck.
As I was getting up to go back to the truck a large bull came walking up againest the treeline and clearcut and didn't see me or smell me. He kept walking and then stopped Looked over towards the treeline as the same 2 deer were there and I took a shot and his back end dropped and he took off to the trees and I waited for like 5 mins and didn't hear anything. So I went over to wear he was at and was *censored* didn't see any blood at all. My brother and dad call on the radio before i had a chance to do it and said was that you and I said yes I just shot a bull. And I think he is down cause i dont hear him but I cant find any blood. Well they run up to wear i'm at and we walk into the woods well the elk was still there and started running thorough the trees. Well to finsh it off... We chased him towards a road that goes through there and I took another shot and nailed him. We ended up getting a 5x6 bull out of there. No cow with his tag but we got a bull. It was fun and we are looking forward to going up there again this November. But getting there early to get a good campsite.  Around November 2nd...







Good Luck in getting your COWS!! There are lots of them up there!!

[Yelm hunter]

So you might not be able to Camp in Port Blakely Tree Farm anymore?? The area I'm talking about is along winston creek that goes up the mountain both ways to the right and left and the left side you have to cross a bridge. I think it's road 550 but i'm not sure??

[funkster]

From what I hear not only no camping but also no motorized vehicles either! If this holds true, I will be a happy hunter

[Cylvertip]

It that holds true, then whole northeast side of the unit will turn into elk paradise.  That's some big up hill climbing to do from Riffe Lake on foot, horse, or bike, especially if you can't camp overnight....

[MoleyMolson]

My dad had a muzzy cow tag in the Winston last year.  On opening morning, all of the Weyerhaeuser gates were open.  The day before, everything was locked up.  We were expecting to see a lot more elk in there than we actually did.  We thought with everyone being locked out, that there would be some good herds bunched up.  All of the elk we saw were in bunches of 2-6 elk.  Except for one small herd that had 9 in it.  We did see elk every day, but not the big herds we had hoped to see.

[huntinluva]

We had late season cow tags last year and went 6 for 7.  First day I went didn't see a thing, next day saw over 40 elk and tagged out on a healthy cow.  Hunted on Weyerhauser roads and had drive in access.  Good luck to you.

[funkster]

I called port blakely this morning and the lady told me their property in the winston is closed to motorized access. She was very apologetic about the closer but I told her this is the best news I heard all year She also told me that they are not planning on opening it all hunting season. Here is what they have up on their website.

[Yelm hunter]

What's the website for Port Blakely??

[bobcat]

http://www.portblakely.com/pb-tree-farms/public-access-policy/policy

[steen]

Good luck with your cow.  I think anytime you have a cow tage you can fill it with a bit of work.  If someone ruins your first day hunt, cool!   You get to hunt another day.  I can't wait to draw a cow tag and will enjoy it as much as any bull tag.

[dad98684]

we are looking forward to it. we were up in there this weekend looking for grouse, bear and a place to camp. put on a few miles on my boots, they can keep the gates closed, that would work for me. great looking country. lots of hunters, talked to a few, only a hole, not bad i guess from what i have herd. it's going to be a good year

[Three_Oh_Eight]

One thing I've found for modern firearm in the Winston is that you can waste a lot of time glassing clearcuts.  It seems like there are orange blobs stumbling around in every clearcut.  I look for blue lines on maps and hike into the stream preservation belts.  These areas are good escape routes for elk as they go down into the river bottoms.  I found a nice stand of timber with no underbrush, just good eats that allowed me to see quite a ways through the trees under the canopy.  Saw lots of sign and hunted into the wind and was able to sneak up on a nice 5 point and put him down. 

[shorthair15]

ive hunted the winston unit alot there are alot of elk in there. just trying putting some miles on the boots and get away from the roads. ive seen alot of sign in there as well. only hunted it once for elk but have hunted it alot for deer. i live about a 1/2 hr drive from there.   usually early season the gates are locked due to fire danger.