Hunting Hard for Elk

[abe henderson]

I'm back on the forum after a year hiatus. 

I've got a growing family, work 60-70 hours a week, and work seasonally as a guide/packer in Alaska for brown bear and sheep.  Therefore I don't have much time to scout, especially since I am coming and going from AK and already taking time off of work for that.

I'm interested in good quality wilderness hunts, I would love to pack in 5-20 miles for a seven to ten day hunt.  I would love to find a decent archery elk hunt for high altitude bulls, but from what I can gather most of the really good areas are exclusively draw for bulls.

I've been considering all of the larger wilderness areas and I'm planning on talking to biologists about elk populations in those areas within the next week or two.

I've been considering Alpine Lakes, William Douglas and a couple of the smaller ones like Indian Heaven, etc. 

I would really love to hunt the Pasayten, man I love the looks of that country!  I can't believe there are no elk up there (from all I've read and heard), but I might say screw it and just try and shoot a good buck during high buck season.

I would love to hunt the Blues but the spike-only thing is maddening.  I grew up in western Oregon where bow season was the month of september: any deer, any elk, plus bear and cougar.  All these crazy restrictions and short seasons drive me crazy! 

I've also seriously considered the Salmo Priest, but its pretty thick looking country and from what I can gather the elk are few and far between.

Anyways,  I'm not looking for a substitute for doing the hard work of scouting for myself so please don't take me the wrong way.  I know a lot of hold-my-hand-and-tell-me-where-to-hunt type posts show up on a regular basis on these forums.  I know how to hunt I am just looking for a little direction as to what is worth further consideration due to game populations and quality habitat.

Cracking the elk code in this state seems to be a daunting task.

I'm most likely going to be coming down from sheep season in the Brooks range at the end of August and won't have any time for pre-season scouting, but thats ok.

Also, if anyone likes to hunt hard I'd be interested in talking.  I love hunting with good people but I currently don't know anyone willing to put on a pack and leave the roads behind.

PM me if you have any info or know someone who might be willing to help.  I appreciate it.  You can also email me at abehenderson@gmail.com.

Cheers

Abe

[jechicdr]

The William Douglas has lots of elk, but is in Bumping unit which is spike only for archery this year.  Rimrock has Goat rocks wilderness which holds a lot of elk, but I haven't actually hunted it.  I thought about hitting that one this year, but also thinking about Manastash unit...no wilderness, but some areas you can pack away from roads.  Taneum has similar areas but I think a lot more steep country.  Lot of people want to hunt the Blues, but spike only is deterrent for me.  Colockum herd is mostly true spike only and numbers are down.  It's more open country hunting.  Do not hunt Northeast elk...lame.  I'm a pack hunter, but usually set up a "spike" camp up rather than packing my camp everywhere.

[sebek556]

I would love to give you some advice but apperently I am in the LAME elk section  next year i am thinking of heading that way to hunt elk.. but this year lame-os here i come

[norsepeak]

william O' Douglas is great, has lots of bulls.  Norsepeak wilderness is good too, lots of bulls, but both units are drawing only.

[dreamingbig]

And neither one will get you 20 miles from a road.  That is hard to do anywhere in this state.  You can get in 5 to 10 miles but any further than that and you start getting closer to roads from the other side.

[sjhgraysage]

Could you afford to buy an Idaho elk tag?
 Lots of places to chase bulls (including big ones) and get away from people and work / hunt hard.

[kalamasasquatch]

avoid the indian heaven wilderness, it gets heavy pressure and is not very big. its not very rugged so alot of people hit it. seen some good bulls come out of there but if you are looking for a "wilderness" hunt you would be dissapointed. I have a wilderness hunt area in mind for my self but i havent scouted it yet. if you are interested in maybe scouting together email me and we can discuss it. kalamasasquatch@yahoo.com

[bucklucky]

Abe, PM sent your way!

[fair-chase]

avoid the indian heaven wilderness, it gets heavy pressure and is not very big. its not very rugged so alot of people hit it. seen some good bulls come out of there but if you are looking for a "wilderness" hunt you would be dissapointed.

  Pretty much sums it up. Although, if you are coming from AK the bugs will make you feel right at home.

[abe henderson]

AK has bugs?

Actually Kodiak in the spring is lovely...it can even be warm when the sun comes out and NO bugs!  Not many bugs up in sheep country either.  Thats why I don't get too excited about hunting moose down in the bogs anymore.

It seems that the best plan for washington is to cross your fingers on the draw and hunt out of state in the meantime.  I've got to invest in optics upgrade this year so there will be no out of state hunting for me, but maybe next year.

I'm thinking about going into the Pasayten for High Buck this year and maybe late cow for elk in 1010.  Anybody hunted this?

Thanks for the info guys.

Abe