Willapa Hills Info

[grundy53]

Tight brush & steep. I don't mean put your treadmill on 12 degrees steep either. Put a couple of cinder blocks under the front of your treadmill and then put it on 12. Locals absolutely know the herds. If you want one, be physically ready to run up and down mountains all day long and come out after dark. & yes no camping, we saw the timber security having RV vehicles & trucks towed last season. I didn't hunt Winston last year but I have never found archery there too crowded. Good Luck wherever you go.

Yes they do 

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I understand the tight brush and all, but found the steepness not to be an issue myself, after 20 years of climbing from 3000' to 6000' and even 7000' on the east side, climbing from sea level to 1600' (Bear River Ridge) is not an issue,  The highest point in Willapa Hills is 3,087-foot (941 m) Boistfort Peak.
I guess the biggest problem is getting out of your truck in the morning, and the first mile or so can be uphill, but if you hike all day, the downhill on the way out sure is a blessing !!

[grundy53]

I understand the tight brush and all, but found the steepness not to be an issue myself, after 20 years of climbing from 3000' to 6000' and even 7000' on the east side, climbing from sea level to 1600' (Bear River Ridge) is not an issue,  The highest point in Willapa Hills is 3,087-foot (941 m) Boistfort Peak.
I guess the biggest problem is getting out of your truck in the morning, and the first mile or so can be uphill, but if you hike all day, the downhill on the way out sure is a blessing !!

I think it's not so much the steepness that gets people it's how brushy the going is WHILE trying to get up the steep terrain. I agree eastern washington is steeper but try to climb those ridges when you are fighting brush most of the way. 

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I understand the tight brush and all, but found the steepness not to be an issue myself, after 20 years of climbing from 3000' to 6000' and even 7000' on the east side, climbing from sea level to 1600' (Bear River Ridge) is not an issue,  The highest point in Willapa Hills is 3,087-foot (941 m) Boistfort Peak.
I guess the biggest problem is getting out of your truck in the morning, and the first mile or so can be uphill, but if you hike all day, the downhill on the way out sure is a blessing !!

I think it's not so much the steepness that gets people it's how brushy the going is WHILE trying to get up the steep terrain. I agree eastern washington is steeper but try to climb those ridges when you are fighting brush most of the way. 

I do, I find it easier to grab a branch and pull myself up, or hold onto one to go down (hanfull of Devils Club is fun too) than some of the loose shale and rocks, or that yellow grass I ran into on the East side.
Brush is the major obstacle, but mostly because I could not get a shot through it.

[grundy53]

I understand the tight brush and all, but found the steepness not to be an issue myself, after 20 years of climbing from 3000' to 6000' and even 7000' on the east side, climbing from sea level to 1600' (Bear River Ridge) is not an issue,  The highest point in Willapa Hills is 3,087-foot (941 m) Boistfort Peak.
I guess the biggest problem is getting out of your truck in the morning, and the first mile or so can be uphill, but if you hike all day, the downhill on the way out sure is a blessing !!

I think it's not so much the steepness that gets people it's how brushy the going is WHILE trying to get up the steep terrain. I agree eastern washington is steeper but try to climb those ridges when you are fighting brush most of the way. 

I do, I find it easier to grab a branch and pull myself up, or hold onto one to go down (hanfull of Devils Club is fun too) than some of the loose shale and rocks, or that yellow grass I ran into on the East side.
Brush is the major obstacle, but mostly because I could not get a shot through it.

  Ya devils club is nice isn't it.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

more thorny stuff on this side thats for sure, ever follow a game trail into a patch of stuff, only to either get on your hands and knees, or turn around to get out ?
I sometimes wonder if they are on the other side laughing at me !
Ripped clothes and itchy scratches, bloody shins... welcome to the coast !

[grundy53]

more thorny stuff on this side thats for sure, ever follow a game trail into a patch of stuff, only to either get on your hands and knees, or turn around to get out ?
I sometimes wonder if they are on the other side laughing at me !
Ripped clothes and itchy scratches, bloody shins... welcome to the coast !

yup. your not in the thick $hit until your on you hands and knees trying to find a way through (cause you just know that wiley old buck is in that $hit hole some where).

[Alan K]

Man, I'd take hiking in steep open country over steep brush any day!

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

To each there own, I enjoy them both, although I am enjoying slowly stalking/still hunting in the thick damp creekbottoms, Getting soaked in the morning by dew on the ferns and green grass, picking blackberries and huckleberries, and seeing animals within 40 yards, that I cannot get a shot at because of too much brush.
Compared to leaving camp in the morning confortable, then sweating like crazy and shedding clothes during the day, walking on "corn-flakes", and seeing more animals, but most 40 yards or more.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed hunting Manastash for 20+ years, and will go back, but the change is refreshing.

[sdwwaverider]

Well we should all be in great shape & be able to climb all day long  . The steepness leads to holes where the elk are. Newbies in that area beware that after chasing elk through a couple of those you can get turned around especially late. You can pop up on a road that doesn't lead you back to where you started and the only way back may be right back through the crap you just fought through. GPS is great if it can lock in. I know search & rescue, and security down there and there are plenty of bad endings as well as just hurt pride from having to have them find you. I'm not trying to turn you off from it (well maybe  ) but it is big country in a seemingly small area.

[mazama]

I think i will do it the easy way if i hunt there,i hate hiking-hunting in brush so i will take coffee cup,blanket and chair and sit in barn morning and evening and take nap and watch TV in afternoon.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

That is kinda like what the locals I talk to do, hit their friends fields in the morning, fish for Salmon (if it is still open) then hang out at their friends property again in the afternoon.
(except for the one guy who drives up to "?? creek" and shoots his Bull, then comes back home to help his g-paw pull a Cow elk out of his back field)
That is one of my problems with the places I have permission, after they shoot their Elk in the field, the elk are not their for me anymore, they move on..
I get permission, but the elk are usually on a different schedule than I am....

[bolsen]

gates are all locked at the pavement for archery season in cathlamet. they open some gates during rifle season. starting to get a lot more pressure the last few years. and ya we do know the herds pretty well down here

[AKBowman]

It doesnt really matter where you go in W WA there are elk everywhere and there are lots of elk in certain areas in almost every unit. Key is to learn the area well and get off of the roads. Key is to scout to find some elk then learn their habits and daily routines. Find blackberries and you will find elk. Winston, Ryderwood, Williams crk are all bigger units with not as much pressure as Willapa Hills. 

[Nimbus3000]

Been hunting the Willapa Hills for close to 40 years.  Thick and steep.  Takes some time to learn the country.  May not matter anyway, Weyco and the other timber companies are closing down more and more of the land to public access with vehicles.  Weyco does allow walk in hunting but why bother since Weyco employees and retirees can drive in behind the locked gates.  Be a real bummer to walk in several miles only to have someone drive past and shoot a bull.  I would guess that within a couple of years there will be no public access to the Willapa Hills.