Washington Elk Hunters How Long have you been at IT?

[Elkaholic daWg]

 This WILL date us!

[C-Money]

I remember 3pt or better in the Colockum, but never hunted it. I have only hunted archery cows/spikes then Modern spike, now true spike. I quit archery when they took away cow hunting.

[gaddy]

1st elk i ever got (after several years trying around the state) was a spike. then next year they went spike only in my area. all I've ever come across since have been branched. tried a few different areas since but keep going back to my spike unit because i just love the area.makes me feel at home. i know now that I'll probably never see another elk in the are since the bigfeet have decimated the place but Ive become accustomed to it. i know that if i do survive, i might just end up with a picture of a foot and that would be the trophy of my lifetime.

[gaddy]

sorry, didnt mean to get away from the origanal intent of the pole. i was just a little overcome when i realized the years spent following this elusive dream known as the monster bull.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Well its taken me 23 yrs to kill a monster bull and I do not have room for another one ...... yeah right !!!!

[rtspring]

Started Elk hunting in the early 80'S before the Hunter Orange days. Man them were the days, and you could shoot any bull. But the Little Naches was like a big parking lot, you almost could not find a spot to park on the side of the road.  Wasn't much of a hunter back then, we did alot of driving due ot my great uncle coudn't do much walking..  Heck we rarely saw any animals but it sure was fun and I didn't learn much abut hunting but I learned alot about life...   Then out comes the SPIKE only rule and alot of people quit hunting the area......

[HOYT6.0]

Ive been elk hunting in Oregon and Washington since 86'.  Havent gotten  "the Big one yet".  I did modern fire arm my first few years.  Then the regs changed and I went to archery in Oregon.  Back then it was a hair tag for the whole state.  Not these days though....

[Hunterman]

Started hunting back in the 70's..Yep back when you could hunt and kill animals..More animals..Now a days more B.S.

Hunterman(Tony)

[Elk329]

This WILL date us!

Yeah and it looks like most are younger than we are:

[HntnFsh]

Started road hunting with my dad when i was just big enough to see over the dash while standing on the seat resting my arm on his shoulder.

Passed hunter ed the first time at 9 years old.Bought all my tags that year.$2.50 or $3.50 for deer and either $5 or $5.50 for elk.That would have been 1968 I believe.

[Elkaholic daWg]

This WILL date us!

Yeah and it looks like most are younger than we are:

 No doubt there!!

 You're one of the Three right? I know you are.



 AND...... Sorry all, I'm so  darned old I forgot it was actually  2 FULL weeks+1 day   with most of 3 weekends involved! We would stay the first week and return for the last weekend

[bucklucky]

99' I started hunting for elk with bow, 97-98 rifle hunted a FEW times.

[fair-chase]

Took up chasing elk in 1996 at the age of 16. I'm just as excited if not more so to chase elk today than when I started. This is the most addictive form of hunting I've ever found.

[Elkaholic daWg]

 Wow! only 13 so far have hunted any bull without an S/P.

[runamuk]

I started hunting in 2009 

[gasman]

Now I feel old.......er..............


I remember any bull, the season started Nov1 to the 15th and green dot was brand new. All this in Umtanum/Little Naches units.

[Huntbear]

First elk tag was bought in 1977.

[p-ohana]

Bear i was 4 years old in 1977. I started elk hunting in 2002 the first year I got to Ft Lewis. Been hunting elk ever since minus a few deployments.

[PAW66]

Started Elk hunting in 1964 (twenty years old). No orange just a red and black Woolrich coat, any bull and cows at the same time thru the season. My first bull, which was about my sixth elk, was a three point on November 13 in 1982.

[Elkaholic daWg]

Now I feel old.......er..............


I remember any bull, the season started Nov1 to the 15th and green dot was brand new. All this in Umtanum/Little Naches units.

 Gasman, was that with a statewide any bull tag, Or a Yakima/Early M/R any bull tag?

[Skywagon_185]

Dad wouldn't let me go elk hunting 'til I was big enough to pack.  1962 at age 16,  killed a raghorn 4pt. on opening day.  Muddy wash on Mt St Helens.  Hunted there til '80 when the mountain blew then started the upper Lewis country.  Quit serious hunting about 4 years ago but racked up 34 bulls and 2 cows (with cow tag) in the next 45 years.  Took my first buck deer at age 11.

[gasman]

Now I feel old.......er..............


I remember any bull, the season started Nov1 to the 15th and green dot was brand new. All this in Umtanum/Little Naches units.

 Gasman, was that with a statewide any bull tag, Or a Yakima/Early M/R any bull tag?

East or West Tag, not state wide. I'm not that old 

[HntnFsh]

Seems like I remember years ago that if you had a cow tag you could shoot anything with hair.A couple days of deer season overlapped elk.Plus there was a doe day or 2.

[sebek556]

started in seriously in 05 then left the state for awhile  and shot wild boars instead...

[6x6in6]

1973 was the point of beginning here.
38 years later and truckload of memories. 

[6x6in6]

Seems like I remember years ago that if you had a cow tag you could shoot anything with hair.A couple days of deer season overlapped elk.Plus there was a doe day or 2.

You bet!!
Fun times!!

[andersonjk4]

I started hunting elk in 1996 (12 y.o.), so I have only been able to hunt under the Spike Only rules.  But I love the stories from my Dad when they were able to hunt any bull.  Wish I would have been around during those days. 

[pianoman9701]

I've only ever hunted Archery for elk in WA, since1996.

[Tony]

I started hunting Archery late season of 2000 so always cow or spike for me.

[338_Thumper]

First License was 1975 - I have harvested 24 Elk so far. My first time my 3 buddy's bailed on me so i took my wife's 1966 mustang and some maps and headed to the Fork's area (Goodman creek) . I got up in the dark and parked with a clearcut on both sides of the road - The next morning I had elk on both sides of the road talking - I took a 4 point raghorn - Man did the hunters belly laugh at me stuffing a quartered out elk in a mustang - Had to keep all the windows down all the way home because the windows kept steaming up !

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Passed my "hunter Safety" course 1978, hunted Elk up FS #74 White River just outside the park boundary, rifle, any Bull.

[Elkaholic daWg]

Wow! only 13 so far have hunted any bull without an S/P.

 Still less than 50% even though you still can in some places. It's been since  about what 1996? No wonder so many accept the S/P system no matter how they mess it up. Spike only was mis-spoken (Washington- Must be PC) to be a TEMPORARY rule.  At this  (years before probabably) time I believe the bunny (and wolf) huggers envisioned this cash cow so they could divert other fund's to "watchable wildlife" and the like


 Yes I remember the blues started Spike only a few years earlier than that.

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

I remember Archery hunting Eastern Washington (Teanaway and Manastash) when the first week of October was anything with hooves and hair (Any Deer, Any Elk)

[bradslam]

1980. Hunting with my grandpa in the south fork of the Sol Duc, wearing a red and black Filson coat, and packing my brand new .257 Roberts.  I still remember seeing that first herd...a long sting of about thirty elk working their way through a clear cut on the other side of the valley.  Unfortunately they were all cows.  Those were the days.

[Wazukie]

Started hunting in 1972, big game in 1975.  Don't ever remember having to take hunter safety in this state.  I did have to take it in Nevada when I lived there from 06-09.  My grandparents lived in Thorp for years and I would hunt up above their place to Cle Elum, Indian John Hill area.  Now I live in God's country and up until last year, it was any elk.  Now it's 3 pt or better.

[OlympicElkJunkie]

this is my tenth season and I sure wish I had been doing it for a lot longer and hope to be doing it for many more.

[NWBREW]

This WILL date us!

Not really. I still hunt general season ANY BULL just the location has changed. .   I will say that some of the places I hunted in the late 70's are now full of houses. 

[RadSav]

Started hunting big game in '75 with .410 slug single shot.  Didn't kill my first bull until I started archery in '80.  First P&Y deer, elk & bear came in '84.  That was a good year

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Well lets see. passed HS. in 1993. First deer was 1993 (battleground unit spike) . first elk 1994 (lewis river cow) . So i have been at it for 18 years now. Missed a few years in the military. I miss the old days, To me in the lewis iver unit when there were clear cuts and tons of elk around.

[colockumelk]

I started elk hunting when I was 14 in 1995.  I shot a cow elk with a muzzle loader when there used to be a late muzzle loader season up Mud Lake.  I remember when the portion of the Little Naches GMU west of Rock Creek used to have a 3 day late season and then the Mud Lake area would open up for like a week.  I had some good memories during the late season.  My family used to do pretty well during the Mud Lake Late season. 

Then I joined the Marine Corps and they took the late season away.  Didn't do much elk hunting until I got out of the Marine Corps.  By that time the Muzzle Loader season had been reduced to a Saturday through Friday thing.  Since I was in college I could only hunt the weekend.  Well after one year of being limited to just ONE weekend I took up Archery in 2006 and have been addicted to archery ever since.  I hunted archery from 2006-2009.  In those three years I learned more about elk hunting than I had in my entire previous experiences. 

I'm coming back to WA this year to hunt elk bivy style in the wilderness with my brother I can't wait.

[elksnout]

1972 when I pointed my boots down the old elk trail. Never looked back. Thanks dad.

[Kowsrule30]

Year before it went to spike only....... I got to hunt any bull once..... I shot a spike the last day of season....... The next year all I saw was branched bulls and cows!!!  Figures....  The season was 2 weeks or so long and the last weekend if I remember right overlapped deer....