Winston Creek January 1st 2012 Hunt

[Yelm hunter]

Who all was drawn? I was and I can't wait to go. But hopefully I'll get a bull during regular season. If I don't then I know for sure I'll get one during January.

[blacktailcrzy]

i drew that tag as well but did you get that paper in the mail saying there will be transportation to the back side of some tree farm ? i have never hunted that unit and i have no clue how it will be that time of year

[Yelm hunter]

Yes I did get the paper. I have been hunting this area for 5 years. My dad and brother have hunted this area for close to 8 years. We have seen many BIG bulls come out of this area. We have only taken 1 bull though... We should be getting more paperwork in the mail hopefully letting us know if there will be more motorized access on the farm.

[Lcl 66 Tinner]

Graycen do you live next to Bill, If so I,m his son in law

[Eli346]

 That paper I got is asking for volunteers to man the gates like they have in the past. You provide your own transportation (truck) and drive in. Eyes in the Woods organization has done it the last several years and I expect they will this year also. I drew the tag along with a friend on the buddy system and although I haven't been up there much at that time of the year I think the success rates will be very high. Kind of a bummer in a way if you look at how many cow tags they are passing out for that unit. I don't believe the herd will be in very good shape for long if they keep passing out 440 cow tags a year! They'll definitely be tired from being run around for three months in the winter.
 Good luck to all of you and hopefully I'll see you down there with some brown in the bed!

[Button Nubbs]

I have a feeling they don't want that herd to do well.

[bobcat]

This is all part of the state's plan to reduce the St Helens elk herd to help alleviate elk dying in the winter due to starvation.

[kglacken]

Can someone explain to me how they are starving? Because every elk we have taken out of the winston has been extremely fat and healthy. And it looks to me like there is enough food in the area?

[vaz,,66]

Winston its self can so port a lot of elk, not much snow during a winter time and a lot of clear cuts means a lot of food,
I don't know what their talking about starvation, at list not in Winston unit that's for sure.

[sirmissalot]

Every year they go in and count winter kills. I can't remember the exact number from last winter but I think it was 30 something which they concluded was due to malnutrition. I have seen arguements from hunters where they were pissed off, saying those elk should be in our freezers not rotting in the woods. When St helens blew, all the ash it created supposedly won't support a lot of plant life, when it snows a lot of the elk move down to lower elevations. If you've ever been down to the mud flows you'll see there doesn't appear to be a lot of feed. Must be enough though because anytime you go there you'll see hundreds upon hundreds of elk. They do feed the elk in winter as well, so there must be a shortage on feed in those areas come winter time and heavy snowfall.

Have fun guys I'm sure that will be a fun and interesting hunt.

[vaz,,66]

No argument for st Helens area that's for sure but most of the Winston unit is low elevation not a lot snow at all.
Good luck for you guys and I'am sure that will be a good hunt for you

[bobcat]

I think the most recent information I've seen on it, said that it wasn't just a lack of winter feed that was causing the starvation, it was also a lack summer feed. The elk are not going into the winter with enough fat to make it through a hard winter. Much of this has to do with all the area in which timber was blown down by the eruption in 1980, being replanted all at the same time, and now with the "new" forest being 30 years old, it's not providing much, if any feed for elk.

[Little Fish]

It seems to me the herd reduction plans have more to do with timber company complaints than starving elk.

[Arteman]

Bobcat is exactly right, after the mt blew with all the open country and new vegetation the elk and deer herd grew beyond the lands carrying capacity, and now with especially the Margaret and toutle with not many new cuts its basically a reprod desert.  I was on the flow this year, they did not feed them like previous years, I seen at least 15 winter kills.  One cow still alive with half her body in a creek and the other half holding on to the bank, to weak to pull herself up and out.  Had my 7 yr old daughter with me at the time.  This was even after May 1st.

[Arteman]

As for Winston Haha your in for a real treat, the last few years due to heavy logging the Winston unit out of 19 mile (kid valley) is locked up during the week and opened only for weekends, last year Weco with the help of the eyes in the woods tried to cut the hunters some slack and open it during the week, but some hunters bailed out their truck after some elk leaving the truck in the middle of the road, and blocked log truck traffic, so Weco locked it back up.  Old man works for Weco and heard it all go down on company radio.  You will never see more hunters in one unit ever, its a joke, wear a green vest so you stand out amongst the orange.  Don't get discouraged though, their are tons of elk.  Don't be the fool on opening morning sitting on a cut that ten other people are watching, you'll end up in a fight over who shot it.  It will sound like the forth of July the first ten minutes or daylight, everybody's plan A is to sit and watch a cut first thing in the morning and you could get one this way but you won't be alone, all the elk will be pushed out of the cuts the first half hour or daylight so most the people will resort to plan B and that is to hit the brush, timber, etc. I make my plan A their plan B and stay ahead ot the game, I'm heading in the timber before daylight.  If the elk haven't already been spooked in there by the heavy traffic then they will be after all the shooting starts, its a war out there, got to suck it up and put your game face on, and leave the kids home for their safety.  I've had gas dumped in the back of my truck bed to spoil meat because we got a bull that somebody else thought they would have got if we didn't, I've had limbs drapped over my truck because I was in their timber patch.  You may think im full of *censored* but just wait tell you see it, you'll laugh and say that guy off HW was right, we laugh about it every year.  Oh, one year on the 1900 I was behind two trucks and the second truck wanted around but the guy in front wouldnt let him, long story short, they wrecked, got in a fist fight, we drove around them and shot a bull around the next corner.

[Arteman]

As for the January 1st hunt, it wouldn't be any easier if they opened the zoo and you said I want to shoot that one.  In fact I'd wait tell I found off the road for easy packing.  Check the new Winston (what the locals call it) up around the 4500 boundary, and the 4400 in those areas, used to be toutle some years back.  Good hunting.

[Yelm hunter]

When did they change it to the "new winston" from toutle? And wear is that at? Have never been up there I don't think to the 4500 or 4400 were is that at?

[bobcat]

It would be the part of the Winston GMU that is south of highway 504.

[Arteman]

I think it was 7 years ago when they expanded the boundary across spirit lake highway, it never used to cross Spirit Lake Highway, and that was all Toutle.  that first year everybody I knew killed a bull in there, including me.  I like it because when most the Winston is locked up during the week, this section is usually open.  There is plenty of Elk running around in there, especially in January.  There are many easy access points in, one directly across the highway from the 1900 aka 19mile in kid valley, another off of sediment dam road just east of kid valley, or you can take the south fork of the toutle river up the 4100 to the 4500 mainline and head in that way.  Good luck hunting, hope this helps.

[Arteman]

God I don't want to be a site hog but I just have to say... Last year hunting in the new Winston area I kept running into an old timer that drew the green mountain cow tag, now you won't have this problem with the January tag but that green mountain tag falls during regular elk season and all the pressure had the elk down in the *censored*holes, every single day I hunted in there I could have killed a cow, and everytime I ran into that guy he still hadn't seen one, I did everything but tie one to a tree for that oldtimer so he would have the best chance and on the last day I came out of a jackfur patch just after sneaking up on two bedded cows from down wind in there and eventually spooking them, I was walking the road back to the truck and ran into that guy again who ended up eating his tag.  I couldnt believe it, made me sick.  so anybody that reads this and drew that tag, get off the road and hunt a little, don't waste a perfectly good tag due to laziness.

[Yelm hunter]

EXACTLY... I drew the tag and am a BIG guy but god damn I don't road hunt except for travelingback to camp in the late afternoon/evening... I get out of the truck and get on a clear cut and get in the woods and hunt... I walk the roads and walk the woods tree lines!! That's how I got both my bulls in years past... Good Luck Everyone!!

[Wtrfowlr62]

winston is a zoo but you get what you put in. if you drive around you wont shoot an elk (MAYBE). if you get out of the truck you will have some good success. lots of elk in the unit. never hunted myself personally but gf dad hunts it, killed a lot of bulls. his advise to me (was gonna hunt archery didnt though) hit timber find a canyon jump into it. goodluck!