Some way to attack west side elk hunting...

[briancorneal]

     I've always archery hunted east side elk that are far away from the logging roads.  This year, I drew a west side tag, and all I see per google earth is logged clear cuts and tons of logging roads in the unit I was selected for.  From what I've read, the north third or so of this unit is heavily hunted, so I'm not going there.  There are a few spots secluded from clear cuts, but you're never far from a road.  The east side is easier..find some water, some feeding areas, some steep, north facing country and find them far away from roads.  I haven't a clue how to hunt this type of unit.  And for some odd reason, I'm not getting any help from the WDFW personnel I contacted.  As far as I know, they don't list wildlife biologists by county, region or by GMU their in charge of.

I'm not looking for a handout, but some advice from some old timers, or experienced west side elk killers.  Before you leave without a reply, let me tell you a little bit about myself.  I'm a 29 year old Iraq vet that started hunting 5 or so years ago, and have yet to bag a bull.  I hunt hard and am willing to hike in miles if that will bring me closer to my goal.  All the info I get are from books, online material/forums, and field experience.  Suffice it to say, I've learned more from my mistakes than anything else. 

I'd appreciate any advice!

Thanks!

[Tbar]

What tag did you draw

[briancorneal]

Quality elk Toutle any bull. I've read what I can muster from a "toutle" in the search bar, but that's all I've got

[Tbar]

Toutle is probably the best bet for someone willing to put in some effort to get into alot of bulls.  It is alot of industrial timberlands too.  There is some state land elk are through out the entire unit. I would start by glassing the edges of clearcuts in the morning and evening and hit jack firs during the day. I would spend as much time there as possible. Talk to as many locals as you can. Loggers are your best friends and buying a couple beers at the watering hole can pay dividends. I have even helped woodcutters load their truck for giving me their time.  Good luck you might have one of the funnest tags in the state. The bulls aren't huge but they are there in numbers. Make good memories and take all of us along for the ride.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Well it a good tag to have ...alot of bulls so thats a good thing .....

[Turkeyman]

Come in from the cougar side less people. Find locked gates and start walking or biking. Lots of rag horns easy to call in. Good luck and have fun.

[grundy53]

Here on the west side you are usually never very far from a logging road. But you don't need to be. Elk love to feed in the clear cuts. Mostly in the morning or evening but you can find them in a clear cut at the most random times of day. If you get in the Timber as soon as it's light enough to see and get near the trail they use to exit the clear cut you will be in great shape. It's usually very easy to tell what trail they have been using lately. If you jump the herd stay on them. They are not like rocky mountain elk they are not generally going to run for miles. They will eventually slow down when they feal safe and they like to go in a large circle. Hunting elk in a westside timber patch is a real up close and personal type of hunt. You can get really close to he elk and your shots won't be far but they will be fast so be ready. The biggest they I would stress though is don't get in the timber patch until you can see. It seems like everytime some one thinks they are going to cut a fat hog and beat me and my buddies to the elk by hitting the timber patch a little earlier, they just end up jumping the herd and can't see to shoot. The elk aren't in a hurry they won't be far until you spook them so wait until you can see enough to shoot. Sorry if i'm rambling. Thank you for your service and good luck.

[ICEMAN]

Great advice Grundy.

[briancorneal]

That's the opposite of what I would've done.  I'm glad I posted this query!  It probably saved me a lot of time and heartache.  Are the clearcuts closer to water more beneficial, or are they everywhere since water's never far away from anything in that unit?

[Deer slayer]

That's the opposite of what I would've done.  I'm glad I posted this query!  It probably saved me a lot of time and heartache.  Are the clearcuts closer to water more beneficial, or are they everywhere since water's never far away from anything in that unit?

Water really doesnt seem to matter.  Water is every where and the elk are too.  I encourage you to get involved with our Toutle tag holders thread.  Everyone is posting some good information.  Congrats on your tag.

[rtspring]

I hunted elk over on the wetside one time, around the Raymond area in the Willipa Hills.   It is totally diffrent then where I hunt on the eastside. Biggest thing I found that others have mentioned is the elk don't seem to run to the next county when spooked. A heck of alot more brush to walk thru and shots are seldom very far. I hunted deer and scouted for elk prior to the season, this helped alot in finding and tracking the elk patterns..   I found a clearing that the elk were feeding in every night.  I stuck it out for three days and never seen one elk, but on the fourth day right at legal shooting light a bull and his four cows came walking thru grazing along. Well lets just say the cows made it to the trees. Amazing how so many animals can hide so easliy..

good luck

[oneezreiter]

The west side is thick and wet, pack accordingly and be patient.  Try to get over there soon so you can see what you are up against.

[SilkOnTheDrySide]

Quality elk Toutle any bull. I've read what I can muster from a "toutle" in the search bar, but that's all I've got

I was going to say, from that description above, I was going to guess Toutle.  My advice for this unit is to hunt strictly in the central and south.  Stay out of the state land.  If you are hunting Archery, hike it in!  If you're hunting rifle, it's drive, glass, drive glass, drive glass, drive glass. 

There is a ton of information on the Toutle on this site, but it's a high action low potential for a trophy unit.  Lots of raghorns, lots of elk.  I had the rifle tag two years ago, one of the funnest hunts I've ever been on!

[OlympicElkJunkie]

If you have an archery tag you have to consider the possibility that much of the unit may be closed for fire danger. More than half of it is private timber company land and darn near every year is closed not just to driving but to any access at all. That leaves just state land to hunt. Usually the access restriction gets lifted right after the first good rain which often is in the first week, but there have been seasons where it happens much later and some where the land was closed for the entire early archery season.
Two things to consider as a result. First, get in there and scout before it closes. Second, have a backup plan in case it does.
God bless you and thank you for service our great nation!

[Deer slayer]

Quality elk Toutle any bull. I've read what I can muster from a "toutle" in the search bar, but that's all I've got

I was going to say, from that description above, I was going to guess Toutle.  My advice for this unit is to hunt strictly in the central and south.  Stay out of the state land.  If you are hunting Archery, hike it in!  If you're hunting rifle, it's drive, glass, drive glass, drive glass, drive glass. 

There is a ton of information on the Toutle on this site, but it's a high action low potential for a trophy unit.  Lots of raghorns, lots of elk.  I had the rifle tag two years ago, one of the funnest hunts I've ever been on!

What did you kill and any pics?

[Shawn Ryan]

Archery or rifle?

[bench beast]

hunt the steep & deep canyons, or find some gated roads and hike or bike in. you will have a fun hunt. good luck to you.

[briancorneal]

Great advise!  I hope the unit doesn't close access due to "fire danger".  I'm going to have to check out weyerhauser to see if they have a road closure map prior to september.  I really don't care if they're a raghorn since this will hopefully *fingers crossed* my first archery kill ever.  From what I've heard, elk meat is to die for. 

Thanks for all the help.

[Shawn Ryan]

Brian,

We drew archery tags in 2004.  We mostly hunted the State land on the NE corner.  We shot elk on the far east boundary well away from the roads, but that is how we like it.  I loved hunting the S. Fork of the Toutle bottom just after it comes off St. Helens.  If I had to do it again, I'd hunt there and the southern 1/3 of the unit, biking or hiking in from Merrill Lake towards Elk Mountain and Coweeman Lake.

[briancorneal]

From what I'm hearing, that sounds like a good bet.  How many hunters did you encounter while hunting on the south fork toutle?

[nontypical176]

Oh man, awesome draw.  Off the South fork of the toutle, any locked gate with no rig parked there is a good bet.  You can walk roads for miles, look for fresh sign they usually aint moving too far, and if you see clearcuts theres usually good huntable timber near by.  If the gates are locked and people ain't out squirreling around you are gonna have a good time.  Even if there are rigs at a gate talk to the people walking in, there are lots of spurs off the mainline gated roads and you can easily get away from them with lots of room to hunt on your own.  I'm with the other guys on here...the state land north of the south fork of the toutle river is loaded with people....but on the other hand thats where most of the big bulls in the toutle are shot. Another good area is north of the Kalama river, I know of 2 wall hangers shot there last year by bow hunters who said they didn't see many people at all.  Good luck.

[Shawn Ryan]

Brian,

We encountered one other hunter who was willing to get away from the roads.  Lots of rigs driving the roads, including grouse and bear hunters.  South of the S. Fork Toutle there is no driving other than Weyer. employees, hunters let in by Weyer. security to retrieve game or, I guess, the errant hunter with a key, but that is just speculation.

We camped just off the 3000 road on the Loo Wit.  It was pretty amazing to see hunters in the Loo Wit.  Convinced me there was plenty of poaching happening on the north facing slopes between the 3000 road ridge and the N. Fork Toutle.  Saw a half dozen rigs headed into the Loo Wit around midnight--claimed they were scouting and a couple guys had tags.  In 2004, I don't think there were any Loo Wit tags.

[bloodhound]

my dad got drawn like 7 years ago. we were on elk everyday. the bull my dad shot was about 100 yards from the truck while we were eating lunch at noon. we had a the elk bugle right next to us,so we dropped are sandwiches and walked in about 75 yards and bugled and the bull came running down the hill to 5 yards from him and well you know the rest!

[bentley30-06]

I have been drawn twice for that hunt and its one of the funnest archery bull hunts Ive been on.  Even if you dont get an animal its an awesome experience.  Weyerhaeuser owns the lower section of the units and there are a lot of gates (that should have been open for us last year) but remained closed for the entirity of the season.  The 3000 line has a lot of elk through it that cross from the boundary (loowit) into the toutle.  However that land up there is steep, rocky, ashy, and brushy.  It is a challenge to get a shot of through that mess.  Last year I spent some time at the 6 mile of the mainline and concentrated a lot around "signal peak"  I saw a lot of bulls there and a few 300 class bulls as well.  Not to many guys hunt it because they all head up to the 3000 line and sit next to there trucks ooooing and awwwing over the bulls spackled across the loowit.  2715 road has a locked gate on it and it brings you down closer to the river.  Had two shots at two different raghorns there.  Bugle was affective toward the end of the hunt.  Just watch your boundaries.  One thing that changed the hunt is the state giving out 50 cow tags for that unit and so you got 50 guys chasing around a herd of elk in hopes to shoot a cow.  So the elk have more unwanted pressure from guys, respectively, attempting to harvest their animal.

[Elkpiss]

That's the opposite of what I would've done.  I'm glad I posted this query!  It probably saved me a lot of time and heartache.  Are the clearcuts closer to water more beneficial, or are they everywhere since water's never far away from anything in that unit?

  I had that tag awhile back and good way to give it a go is to get way over the to the 5600 line and go down to the river and walk the river at day light and you well have bulls screaming all monring.. Get away from the river far enough to where you can hear good and not just the river but the elk were on the river at daylight.. then slowly feeding there way to the top.. Fun hunt lots of vocal bulls and thats what makes that tag fun is the action, you may not get a booner but definetly have a action packed hunt..

[Green Lantern]

Been there done that good advice elkpiss.

[briancorneal]

That's the opposite of what I would've done.  I'm glad I posted this query!  It probably saved me a lot of time and heartache.  Are the clearcuts closer to water more beneficial, or are they everywhere since water's never far away from anything in that unit?

  I had that tag awhile back and good way to give it a go is to get way over the to the 5600 line and go down to the river and walk the river at day light and you well have bulls screaming all monring.. Get away from the river far enough to where you can hear good and not just the river but the elk were on the river at daylight.. then slowly feeding there way to the top.. Fun hunt lots of vocal bulls and thats what makes that tag fun is the action, you may not get a booner but definetly have a action packed hunt..

Aren't there a ton of other hunters out there by the toutle?  When did you hunt it?


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[Elkpiss]

That's the opposite of what I would've done.  I'm glad I posted this query!  It probably saved me a lot of time and heartache.  Are the clearcuts closer to water more beneficial, or are they everywhere since water's never far away from anything in that unit?

  I had that tag awhile back and good way to give it a go is to get way over the to the 5600 line and go down to the river and walk the river at day light and you well have bulls screaming all monring.. Get away from the river far enough to where you can hear good and not just the river but the elk were on the river at daylight.. then slowly feeding there way to the top.. Fun hunt lots of vocal bulls and thats what makes that tag fun is the action, you may not get a booner but definetly have a action packed hunt..

Aren't there a ton of other hunters out there by the toutle?  When did you hunt it?


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I was all by myself, i know it was 20+ miles up and over the 4200 line off of the south fork, you have to go up and over and get to the 3000 line looking down into the lewit and you hit a intersection called 5 corners, then take a hard right once you get to that and that well take you down the 5600 line back down to the river and it gets you passed the Old wash out on the river and go all the way to the bottom to the river, and off to your left there is a trail or old grade/road along the river and walk that at day light and it will be bull mania for a couple hours, they will feed off the river at day light and work there way up the mt.. You can cross the river right there too and hunt the otherside which will get you away from alot of people and be all by yourself.. I rarely saw anybody over there..

[HOYT6.0]

Alot of good info.   I got my info packet for my cow hunt for the toutle.  They also sent me a post card stating they (WDFW) are working with Weyerhauser to get gates open.  I imagine that it will all depend on the fire danger.  Also stated that they are going to send me more info on the unit.  IE:  Maps etc... Anyone receive a packet like this before???  Curious on the info they provide.

[briancorneal]

I haven't gotten one of those, but i did get a notice in the mail from WDFW saying that they're gonna wait to send the permits until a few weeks before the season opens.  When did you get that notice in the mail?

[Wtrfowlr62]

Loggers are your best friends and buying a couple beers at the watering hole can pay dividends.

seriously, talk with some loggers. they will lead you to the elk.

[HOYT6.0]

I haven't gotten one of those, but i did get a notice in the mail from WDFW saying that they're gonna wait to send the permits until a few weeks before the season opens.  When did you get that notice in the mail?

 I got it on tuesday this week.  Also got my permit.  It did say a couple weeks before the opener they would be sending another packet... Call WDFW and see what they say about your permit. 

[briancorneal]

that news makes me a little worried since i didn't get my permit yet.