Maybe East next year?

[JHay]

Arrived in Packwood on Friday and setup offloaded our stuff in the cabin we were renting.  We set out to scout an area south of Packwood my buddy had told me about.  We drove in and got out of the truck and took a look at the creek bed, which was littered with fresh sign.  We were pretty pumped, then we got in the truck and drove 50 yards to see a huge elk butt walking down the road.  He jumped in the woods about 20 yards and we all drooled at the massive 5 point.  We drove a bit further then turned around....on the way back a few cows jumped out close to where this bull was and along followed another 4 point.  We were really stoked now and i couldn't sleep the whole night.  Got in the woods and hunted all day, a ridiculous amount of sign, but didn't see any elk other than those off hwy 12.  Went in the second day and some guy and his son drove by on their Quad down to the spot my father in law hunted the morning before. Our Father in Law decided to check the other side of the creek this morning so we dropped him off.  My brother and I decided to hike up another spur road that went to the top of the ridge above the creek to see if we could intersect anything coming up the hill during the morning.  10 min after dropping off our father we heard two gun shots followed by a third 30 sec later.  We were hoping all morning that we'd come back from our hunt up the spur to find our father working on quartering the elk.  To our dismay, the Father and Son had dropped a 5 point right where my father in law had been the day before...bummer. 
We talked to some loggers who assured us there was a massive 6 point and several rag horns running around this watershed.  The next day we hunted both sides of the creek.  We decided to go down the one spur road that the 5 point had been taken on before we called it a day, but we found a logger had parked his truck in the road and hiked down, so we took off.  Came back up early in the morning the next day to hear from the loggers that that guy had dropped a 4 point right were the 5 point was dropped.  We were really bummed.  We hunted and tracked the heard for the next day, saw the cows coming down the hill to the beds, but couldn't identify any shooters.  We decided to make a day of driving FR21 and stopped at all the promising places the topo map, showed, but didn't find any sign at all, just lots of hunting camps with no elk hanging from them. 
I've decided we've found a lucrative honey hole that a few locals know about, more fresh sign that I've ever seen, but we were disappointed to hunt the area so hard and come up short.  My buddy wants to check out the east side next year, but that means more research to find a public place that has some elk.  I'm motivated to hit this place next year hard and use the info we learned this year to have more of an advantage.  What do you think?

[wastickslinger]

I guess Im wondering why you would give up on a spot with lots of bulls in an area you can shoot branched antler to go to an area that is spike only and 5X as any people. 

[JHay]

That's my take.  I'm the only one that doesn't seem to mind the Wet and Steep hills of GPNF.  They want to be able to ride the quads and see for miles.

[wastickslinger]

That's my take.  I'm the only one that doesn't seem to mind the Wet and Steep hills of GPNF.  They want to be able to ride the quads and see for miles.

Tell them to go ahead and I will come over and hunt with you . 

[WSU]

Next year I'd be the one killing those bulls.....

[Ellensburg]

Well.... If you want to leave a spot that sounds EXTREMELY good and come hunt with more hunters and fewer elk, then yes, come to the east side.

[OUTDOOR_BEAST-84]

im heading east next year but thats only bc i have failed to lay eyes on a single elk in the west... i know the east better but if i had a similar experience to yours, id stay my ass right there.

[WSU]

If you do go east, PM me the location of these elk!

[SkookumHntr]

  

[Ridgerunner]

stick with the spot.  Crazy to consider leaving it.

[400out]

stick with the spot.  Crazy to consider leaving it.

you just seen more elk than there is on the east side put together

[stickslinger]

im heading east next year but thats only bc i have failed to lay eyes on a single elk in the west... i know the east better but if i had a similar experience to yours, id stay my ass right there. 
 
 
 
just because u think that u will see more elk is not a good reason to go east....u have a much better chance of seing a shooter where u are. if all u want to do is see a bunch of elk running thru a pumpkin patch than u can save your money, dont buy a tag, but come on over and watch the circus.  (in the clockum it is not how well u shoot it is how fast u can run to a dead elk}

[rjn cajun]

I`d let my friends go and hunt that spot. Spike only unless you draw a tag and I have 8 points. So many hunters and so little elk this year. Next year I`m gonna set up a coffe stand at the top. 2 bucks a cup. That`ll pay for the next couple years in Montana.

[OUTDOOR_BEAST-84]

im heading east next year but thats only bc i have failed to lay eyes on a single elk in the west... i know the east better but if i had a similar experience to yours, id stay my ass right there. 
 
 
 
just because u think that u will see more elk is not a good reason to go east....u have a much better chance of seing a shooter where u are. if all u want to do is see a bunch of elk running thru a pumpkin patch than u can save your money, dont buy a tag, but come on over and watch the circus.  (in the clockum it is not how well u shoot it is how fast u can run to a dead elk}

well my plan to head east depends on if i get drawn for an "any elk" tag, im just tired of the westside weather and terrain... just finished my elk season in the elbe hills and saw one spike elk and it was drizzly and foggy the whole time. even if there was an elk within 100 yards of me i would never know it. thats why im heading east. i did however see the biggest blacktail deer ive ever seen or heard of existing and about 30 very impressive rubs in the area i spotted him in.

[secamd1]

I can certainly understand your frustration with the west side. I went out this weekend to Packwood/Randle and found a heard sitting at the local runway, 2 herds sitting on private property in Randle and a herd on the Morton Pass on Private Property. Opening weekend I hit the 300 line near Riffe Lake and FR21 which was like I-5 at the Tacoma Dome. I got out and hiked and hiked and hiked only to run into other hunters. However, I have hunted the East side from Yakima, 410 and saw twice as many base camps and orange. I would stick to your honey hole and maybe consider Muzzle loader as I. MR in this state is for the birds and should be banned. There is no sportsmanship for those 10 days. 

[OUTDOOR_BEAST-84]

I can certainly understand your frustration with the west side. I went out this weekend to Packwood/Randle and found a heard sitting at the local runway, 2 herds sitting on private property in Randle and a herd on the Morton Pass on Private Property. Opening weekend I hit the 300 line near Riffe Lake and FR21 which was like I-5 at the Tacoma Dome. I got out and hiked and hiked and hiked only to run into other hunters. However, I have hunted the East side from Yakima, 410 and saw twice as many base camps and orange. I would stick to your honey hole and maybe consider Muzzle loader as I. MR in this state is for the birds and should be banned. There is no sportsmanship for those 10 days. 

ya i was planning on buying a ML this spring. i went modern this year out of desperation, i was unable to hunt any of the early seasons this year so i did what i could... im also going out for mod late BT, im hungry for venison... after that its waterfowl and steelhead for a while...

[Buckrub]

Go east? and hunt spikes?  I guess 

me see bull elk... me live with elk... me kill elk.
They don't go far unless pushed hard and any good topo map will give you the clues you need.

Good luck....