New guy intro & looking for some 3911 input

[pods8]

Bit long:

Hey guys been lurking a bit trying to add to my education & entertainment but I figure I should introduce myself and inquire if anyone has some input for me.  I’m a new Elk hunter for all intents and purposes; I’ve got some deer background (midwest cornfield hunting) but as I went out last season for the first time I was smacked with the fact I didn’t know jack about out here, haha.  Anyways I spent the off season reading and gleaning info where I could (although I’ve got a rather outdoorsy background I didn’t come from an active hunting family so I missed out a lot on tips tricks there so I’m mainly self-taught).  My current mindset is meat harvesting only at this stage, down the road I may go for antlers in consideration but currently I don’t care.  The utilitarian in me wants to harvest and process out an Elk (motivations are mixed in the desire for lean meat, regain that food chain connection, etc.).  Anyways with that in mind and the fact I’m a fan of putting a good face on hunters I pursued the master hunter cert. to open up some opportunities for hunting.

So I’ve got a 3911 anterless tag in hand I’ve been working on filling.  I missed the opening portion of the season due to unfortunately being on crutches due to a leg injury but I’m on the mend and have been able to get out a few days (usually one day or overnight jaunts due to having to budget out my time since I have a 3mo son at home that I can’t continually pass off to momma without burning out her understanding for my hunting pursuits).  I’m coming out of Snohomish County so I unfortunately can’t take nightly trips to scout for activity.
 
I was on the east end of Kittitas a couple weekends back and although the WDFW site was posting there was some activity out there the folks I chatted with hadn’t seen it.  For parke creek it sounds like they were only around up in the canyon on the very edge of the unit but have since departed since the opener, the folks down in the valley hadn’t seen anything yet this year.  I did some scouting down in coleman canyon and saw some sign but nothing really hot.  Not sure how often the animals come down into Coleman/shnelby canyon and if it’s a hit/miss kind of deal or what.  Main issues I foresee there is limited public access and on weekend days there are other recreationists enjoying their activities as well which seem like it would push animals out (there were atvs and some folks shooting clays when I checked it out).

I haven’t checked out reecer & Wilson creek areas yet but the arial shots for the in boundary areas seem like they’re drier sage type areas.  Anyone more familiar with these areas know if they are worth scouting out or should I concentrate my time elsewhere?
Shifting gears to the westside of the area I got out last weekend to lay down around 8 miles in the AFHC land below the Teanaway west fork.  Didn’t really see much fresh sign and higher up things are rather dry but the drainages have some potential.  However outside a couple wallows that were vacated nothing really grabbed my attention to dive into and I wanted to scout out a good chunk of the area so I didn’t dive into all them.  I’ve got a couple places in mind I’d hit again if I went back into there.  Not sure if the Elk were just bedded in well and I was missing the clues or if they weren’t in area that day as I didn’t get much positive feedback (did see some turkeys and other various bids though).  Probably could use some technique input here:  I was mainly moving along the obvious trails and roads because I could move more quietly & efficiently.  Each time I got into a new area I’d get near some brush/trees/etc. and then stop for a bit, sounds off a cow call and wait/watch for any response out of the area and then move onward.  This was my version of quickly scouting for a herd.  Good/bad?

Another area of interest would be checking out the north side of 903 between Cle ELum & Roslyn, anyone have any feedback around there?

In regards to inquiring about hunting on private land I don’t mind asking (and accepting the no answer, haha) but I’ve been reserved in asking until I know animals visit various people’s property so I’m not needlessly bothering anyone.  Part of the downside of living farther away limits how often and how much area I can scout via road at dawn/dusk to spot herds, anyone willing to share any sightings that would be considered common knowledge?

Anyways that is more story/situation.  Any input, tips/tricks, knowledge that folks want to throw my way I’m all ears.

[WAcoyotehunter]

check schnebley canyon too.  3911 is a tough one because the elk get so much harrassment out of the valley.  They will come and go, but rarely set much of a pattern.

[pods8]

Yeah that is what I misspelled with coleman above.  Hard due to the little bit of public land within the boundary but I was thinking that checking out the drainage between those two might be worth the effort next time I'm out that direction.


Here's another inquiry:  I've got family obligations over labor day weekend so that is out and then the first weekend of archery is the following weekend.  I was thinking of hanging back that weekend because I didn't know if those guys would get irritated about a rifle hunter being out on their first weekend?  Granted they're after spikes and I'm after cows but I don't know if they'd be irritated about the thought of a rifle report upsetting the animals they might be stalking.  Thus I was leaning towards the weekend of the 18th my next chance out; barring I get a "get to X now" type situation from the few eyes I have looking for me in the area I'll haul arse for that, haha.

[WAcoyotehunter]

I would get out there.  The archery guys will move some elk out of the hills into the unit.

[Skyvalhunter]

Its too bad about the Cle Elm ridge portion of 3911 being turn into a solar gatering station by American Timberlands

[WSU]

Like said above, 3911 is tough.  The elk come and go, and are either out of the area or on private property the vast (and I mean vast) majority of the time.  There may be a hidy hole somewhere that holds elk on public a lot, but I would be they are few and far between. 

You might check out the YTC, as there is a lot of huntable land and there are elk in the area all year.  It has filled an AHE cow tag for me before.

[pods8]

Its too bad about the Cle Elm ridge portion of 3911 being turn into a solar gatering station by American Timberlands

Currently its not though, we'll see what the future holds.

You might check out the YTC, as there is a lot of huntable land and there are elk in the area all year.  It has filled an AHE cow tag for me before.

My primary tag is good there until Jan, I was going to hold off on looking into that until later in the year while I gave the 3911 a shot.

[WSU]

It gets tougher once the elk have been shot at for months and there have been 10 different big game seasons on the YTC, along with bird hunters, coyote hunters, and the like.  Just an FYI.