wenaha east tag

[bucklucky]

There is a big difference between a full fledged experianced elk hunter and someone that has no experiance or very little, from what I think I know of the lucky tag holder experiance with elk is very minimal at best. Big mature bulls in the bkues have some tremendouse bodies on them. What I am saying is that he is better off to go in on a drop camp (sell his sperm is he has to to pay for it) and spend all his energy putting the most effort to his tag and not expending it hiking for no reason. Being ina good centeral location where the hunting is awesome is key. Having a nice ca,p to come back to is nice, especially for guys that may not be hard core cameron haynes types. I know quite a few guys that think they are but actually dont have the heart. When I had my west tag I put more miles on my legs than I ever have while elk hunting, called in and passed on bulls most guys would give there left testical for (I couldnt because I have to pay for hunting somehow) . I know what it takes to put forth a goods effort to hunt the blues and it aint for the weak. I highly reccomend the drop camp for a few reasons , the joy of hunting out of a camp like that (yes I have done drop camps in the wilderness and it is fun) and the fact you know you got horses comming every 2 days to pack meat if need be. Your still going to have to wrok your asses off to get that meat to a trail thats a given, there just isnt many trails in there. Thats 5 Heavy packs . I didnt weight my bull but I beleive Travis (Bowsandhose) did and if I remember right he had nearly 500 pounds of meat, Travis can correct me if Im wrong. Hell I packed a spike out of the wenaha for 2 1/2 miles or a little better and that was 250 pounds of boned meat and thats a little bull compared to my big bull. Im just sayin.

[BENCHLEG]

verry well said. just like the boyscout motto,  be prepaired that country is rough.

[dhorn]

i do not have much experience hunting elk. but i have had plenty of experience packing out game! i have a few friends that are very successful elk hunters and i have been with them on a few packs which in my own opinion the area they were hunting rivaled the wenaha with its terrain! and as far as taking care of a bull should i be lucky enough to fill my tag i have been a meat cutter for 20 plus years so i definitely will know what it takes to not lose any of the meat! all the info i have been getting from you guys is great! I have been leaning towards the drop camp, but i think i would take a lot more pride in the hunt knowing we were able to go in there and successfully fill the tags on our own! if i have to pack meat five miles i am sure i will learn something from it!!!!!!!!!!

[piledup]

No pressure in buying the drop camp. As long as you know you can do it. That is all it takes for you to accomplish the task

[oldleclercrd]

Ok so heres my question without trying to    If a guy wants to hunt it (east or west) without a branch antler archery tag and just a general archery tag (spike only) to get a lay of the land, would you still buy a drop camp knowing the bull will be a spike and alot lighter? Then if a guy went without a drop camp he could use his sperm money on lighter backpacking gear or something.

[bucklucky]

Go experisnce it for yourself and then you can make a decision. To me a spike isnt worth the money youd pay for a drop camp, plus there are better areas to kill a spike in that you dont have to kill yourself in.  Best thing is to go look into the wenaha, then throw your pack on and start hiking. You have to remember this is not an easy hunt by no means, it can take countless miles and days to find a good bull, they are not behind every tree. I think alot of people that put in for these units are thinking its a slam dunk when it is completely opposite. Its just an opportunity to be able to kill a good bull.  Its not a unit with 350 bulls running everywhere. I know alot of tag holders that were humbled by the area, got skunked , Talked the Talk, but didnt walk the walk and never returned to this forum . All I can give is helpful info and by far the best way to start a quakity hunt IMO would be doing a drop camp. This is still a do it yourself hunt, your just getting to the good 5hit per say. Going deep is where it is at. Them big boys arent hanging on top of the ridges for all too see. But hey , what do I know.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

I know if i ever draw one of those permits i will be calling on mtcook... 900 is cheap for the opportunity at a bull of a lifetime.

[piledup]

Ok so heres my question without trying to    If a guy wants to hunt it (east or west) without a branch antler archery tag and just a general archery tag (spike only) to get a lay of the land, would you still buy a drop camp knowing the bull will be a spike and alot lighter? Then if a guy went without a drop camp he could use his sperm money on lighter backpacking gear or something.

Personally, I wouldn't pay the drop camp just for a spike. If you want to know the land, use the money that you would pay for the drop camp to do some scouting ahead and hunt it during general archery. Then that way you would know the area. I've tried hunting for spikes (close to the wenahas) with archery gear before and it gets pretty tough from my experience. Now If I had the any bull tag, I might go with the drop camp ONLY IF I was solo hunting. I'm sure there are other areas where you can pay a drop camp and have a better chance at an animal than a spike only area.

[Huntnphish]

I think alot of people that put in for these units are thinking its a slam dunk when it is completely opposite. Its just an opportunity to be able to kill a good bull.  Its not a unit with 350 bulls running everywhere. I know alot of tag holders that were humbled by the area, got skunked , Talked the Talk, but didnt walk the walk and never returned to this forum .

+1 This happens every year.

i do not have much experience hunting elk. but i have had plenty of experience packing out game!

 No disrespect meant dhorn so don't take it that way. Reading through your thread I have come to the conclusion that you really don't realize what an opportunity you have with this tag, nor have the slightest understanding of what you are up against. On top of that you admit to limited elk hunting experience.

 I'm sure I am not alone in saying that I applaud you for wanting to do this on your own and with your buddies, this is commendable. What I have seen happen though is guys insisting on the DIY way, bust their asses just to get in there, shoot a small bull and waist 3/4 of it because they were ultimately unprepared and just wanted to get back out.

 These are the guys Bucklucky is referring to as well. Congrats on drawing the tag, its yours to do with as you please. Shooting a spike in there is also your prerogative and you shouldn't be judged for it if that is what you want to do. However, I really hope you do your "homework" as you posted earlier, and realize I wasn't kidding when I said you are not likely to draw this tag again in the next twenty years. I have no idea how old you are but think hard about that.

 We will all be wishing you well and following along, take lots of pics.

 

[Deer slayer]

I had this tag with rifle last year. To be honest I already forgot what method you have after reading 8 pages on my iPhone. I was in great shape and did my homework. I have done a lot of elk and deer hunting but nothing compared to what I found with this tag. I got married last summer and couldn't afford to pay the drop camp. Kind of pissed that one recommended sperm donation to me. If I had the money there would be no second thought about paying the drop camp. I went in to where I hunted numerous times. My group of man packers and I built our own camp out of tarps and did it all on our own. I got a foot of snow that started the night before it opened. I had no visibility for three days. Most of the season was lost due to the weather. I would recommend when the trail opens up parking at teepee and walk into lodgepole. Then think about making multiple trips with meat. This hunt can be a killer. Needless to say I ate my tag. I could of killed a couple bulls but passed on them. I was after a once in a life time bull and didn't get one. I did get a once in a life time hunt. It still makes me sick to this day not to fill the tag but as mtn cook told me afterwards I gave it a good shot. FYI I saw a 370 bull over 1000 yards away. We did see some nice bulls but when you have no visibility until noon and they are miles away how do you get them.

I know a guy that I ran into when scouting that had the archery tag and ate it because most of his help went home early. I will try to post some pics later as I can't do it on my iPhone.

[Deer slayer]

Look at my other posts if you don't believe me. I like to help people out.

[SkookumHntr]

-Even with a drop camp I would think you would want 1 or 2 buddies to go in with you. There gear to get packed in is the same price as a tag holder so plan on spending around 2k minumum! Gives you something to think about before applying for acouple of these hunts..

[FarBeyondDriven]

Love this post!  I drew the same tag archery.  Burned 9 points and am going backpacking next weekend for the first time in that rugged country.  Just spent the last three days snow backpacking in the Selkirks and testing out new gear and hiking for conditioning.  I consider this to be a once-in-a-lifetime tag and will not squander this opportunity.  I have two more scouting trips planned with horses as well.  I live to archery elk hunt and will be looking for perhaps a unique bull or something (Lord willing).  Thank you everyone for the great info.  I cannot wait to tame the mountains, I own two crossfit gyms so being in shape for this hunt will be an absolute must and something I will make time for.  I hope to post my scouting progress here and on my traintohunt.com website.  Again, thanks for the useful info.

[jackelope]

Love this post!  I drew the same tag archery.  Burned 9 points and am going backpacking next weekend for the first time in that rugged country.  Just spent the last three days snow backpacking in the Selkirks and testing out new gear and hiking for conditioning.  I consider this to be a once-in-a-lifetime tag and will not squander this opportunity.  I have two more scouting trips planned with horses as well.  I live to archery elk hunt and will be looking for perhaps a unique bull or something (Lord willing).  Thank you everyone for the great info.  I cannot wait to tame the mountains, I own two crossfit gyms so being in shape for this hunt will be an absolute must and something I will make time for.  I hope to post my scouting progress here and on my traintohunt.com website.  Again, thanks for the useful info.

SOmething may have changed in the last few days but I don't think you can drive to the unit yet.

[jackelope]

.. I heard today from my Game Agent friend that he drove to Godman!!  That is good news, the road to Teepee is still plugged but should clear up fast.
mtncook