NE elk

[KimberRich]

There has been a few threads on this topic over the years and more than once someone says "know the difference between moose and elk sign/rubs".  Which seems to be great advice but not being an experienced Moose hunter, what is the main difference in the sign?  Rub height on the tree?  Turd shape/size?  I can see where it would be easy to get mixed up.

[Machias]

I got to WA in 1994, had never elk hunted before.  Looked at the map and found an area with few roads in or around it, headed up there.  Side road in I ran into a camper and a guy who looked just like the guy on Josie Wales movie with the big bug eyes, "Looks like we got ourselves Josie Wales!"  Scary    Anyways he says yep there a few elk here.  I go up the road and over the next four days I see and hear elk everyday, very nearly launch an arrow into a cow.  Seen a huge 6x6 bull.  Had a blast!  "This elk hunting's not so hard, for this savy eastern whitetail hunter.  What the heck are these guys talking about?"  "Look at all this sign too!"  Next year, go back to the same area, same massive amount of sign....not a peep, no sightings, nothing....oh all that sign is moose.     Next THREE years, I never see hide, nor hair of an elk in there.  Move to the middle part of the state and hunt the Manastash Unit.  Lots of elk, see LOTS of elk, hear LOTS of elk, also see and hear LOTS of friggen people and 4 wheelers and little Suzuki trucks and Jeeps.  Get sick of the circus and head to Idaho...Ahhhh  Blisssss

[BeeMan]

N/E elk are hunted way too heavily thats partly why heards are small and dont frequent the same areas from year to year!!  I killed a small 5x5 about 4 years ago in N/E (Pure luck...right place right time) after taging the elk and while gutting it, 3 other groups of hunters came over to investigate. Went back to the exact same spot for opening day the next year and counted 10 orange jackets from my vantage point at the head of the draw, 5 mins later shooting started about 500 yds away.  Bullets started flying from every direction... saw 2 elk go over the ridge where the shooting started from. All the hunters started off in the same direction, not kidding there were at least 25 hunters within about 600 yards of each other.  We didnt even bother to stick around. Heard from a friend later that the guy who finally dropped the bull said there were 5 different holes in it besides his kill shot, and he had quite a time with several other hunters trying to claim they killed the bull and he stole it out from underneath them. Everybodys got a friend, who tells a friend, who tells a friend, who tells.............................
I know several guys who regularly hunt Elk in the N/E year after year and eat there tags every year! 
Your chances for a successful hunt are better in other places.....

[huntnnw]

The small herds has to do with the extreme brush and timber in this part.. anywhere u get where it opens up you get bigger herds Eastern MT, Blues... I grew up my whole life here.. I remember starting to hunt when I was 9 to see a elk in NE WA was a feat! the last 10-12 years the elk herd has exploded in NE WA.. there are elk almost everywhere in the mountains here.. if there is any logging or old burns there are elk around

[high country]

There has been a few threads on this topic over the years and more than once someone says "know the difference between moose and elk sign/rubs".  Which seems to be great advice but not being an experienced Moose hunter, what is the main difference in the sign?  Rub height on the tree?  Turd shape/size?  I can see where it would be easy to get mixed up.

Track shape is the first dead giveaway....moose are quite pointed.  Droppings can very from one animal to the next in regards to size and shape with elk being able to get mistaken for deer and moose at times....but, moose live on brush....and their turds are just oversized wood pellets in content. Rubs will leave behind hair, moose are nearly jet black, elk can be dark too but almost always a shade of brown.