Colockum Elk Herd (UPDATED)

[colockumelk]

I highly doubt 40+ bulls get shot in colockum, I've never been there, don't seem like there would be any bulls if 40+ a year are shot up there.

SO if you've never been there how would you know?  Ten years ago when they did surveys they would see 300+ branch bulls. The last one they did they saw 70.  The past 5 years they give out about 6 branch bulls permits. About 3 bulls a year get shot out of those 6 permits. You do the math on why the bull population has rapidly declined.

Plateau your correct. 20 bulls a year is probably a good number for a for sure number harvested. But since there isn't any reporting we can't know for sure.

Predatorpro. I never said there was a shortage of elk. I said there was a shortage of branch bulls. Out of those 300 how many were mature bulls?

[HairTrigger]

I highly doubt 40+ bulls get shot in colockum, I've never been there, don't seem like there would be any bulls if 40+ a year are shot up there.

What you wrote after the second comma is what the entire issue with the Colockum is all about.

comments like this make me think maybe I outta ccheck it out

[leed]

huh...im confused? am i the only one that thinks the elk on the colockum are thick as thieves? the last evening drive we went on up there we seen atleast 300 elk in just one spot and heard way more, i use to muzzleload on the colockum on a hunt that was down low...and there is no shortage of elk anywhere in the colockum i grew up camping way up coleman creek and i seen some of the biggest bulls in my life up on the colockum....by the time modern comes around i think a huge number of the elk have just been pushed to the preserve and with someone everyone ten feet up there they just get pushed so hard its stupid,  i wont be a part of hunting elk on the colockum im proud to say im not a part of the zoo of people up there

Finally someone else agrees with me!

[colockumelk]

I highly doubt 40+ bulls get shot in colockum, I've never been there, don't seem like there would be any bulls if 40+ a year are shot up there.

What you wrote after the second comma is what the entire issue with the Colockum is all about.

comments like this make me think maybe I outta ccheck it out

So the reality of the situation offends you   The reality is the branch bull numbers continue to fall in the Colockum despite the WDFW giving out less and less branch bull permits and despite the fact that the Colockum has the strictest general season rules in the entire west. There are fewer hunters in the Colockum than ever before. Harvest levels for both branch bulls and yearling bulls are at an all time low. Meanwhile because of popularity and word of mouth more and more tribal hunters go to the Colockum. Members of your own tribe have told me this.

This is the reality and the issues we face in the Colockum. To ignore the impact that tribal hunters now have on the Colockum is either naive or you don't care. The WDFW is doing about all they can to improve the herd but without the help of the Yakama Tribe they are just treading water. Change and improvement CAN NOT and WILL NOT happen without the cooperation of the Yakama Tribal Council. And since they refuse to help the WDFW tells me either they are unaware of the problem or do not care. If they are unaware then I would be more than willing to raise awareness of the problems. If they don't care (which I doubt) then shame on them for not helping to conserve the resources we share.

We share the resources so our two groups should share the responsibility of conservation and managment. If my posts are offensive or upsetting then well I don't know what to tell you. I tell it like it is but I'm fair and polite.

[colockumelk]

Here's the update.

As many of you know in the new proposals they are now going to issue out cow permits in the Colockum.  The bull permits remained the same (1 rifle rut permit, 2 rifle permits, 1 ml permit, 2 bow permits) but now you can use your colockum bull tag and hunt in the Teannaway.  Rifle Hunters get 40 cow permits and ML get 30 cow permits. For archery the late season you can now hunt cows without a permit.

Now for the new part. In the early archery season bow hunters will get 50 permits.  The goal for cows harvested with an antlerless permit is 100.  So the above numbers of permits are solid and I agree with them 100%. 

Okay now to stir the pot because I'm bored. The WDFW could give out more cow permits in the Colockum but Master Hunters kill on average 184 cows a year in the Colockum.

Here is what I would rather talk about.

[kirkl]

Okay now to stir the pot because I'm bored. The WDFW could give out more cow permits in the Colockum but Master Hunters kill on average 184 cows a year in the Colockum.

 

[HairTrigger]

Its not up to Tribal council

[huntnfmly]

Then who in the hell is it up to over there?my God this attitude is assinine. The numbers don't lie the herd is in trouble and all I hear from tribal members on here is its not up to us

[colockumelk]

Okay now to stir the pot because I'm bored. The WDFW could give out more cow permits in the Colockum but Master Hunters kill on average 184 cows a year in the Colockum.

 

No tears from me. We are getting antlerless permits and the Master Hunters days of 2 cow tags a year is out the door. Only smiles for me.   

Its not up to Tribal council

Who is it up to then?

[C-Money]

I highly doubt 40+ bulls get shot in colockum, I've never been there, don't seem like there would be any bulls if 40+ a year are shot up there.

What you wrote after the second comma is what the entire issue with the Colockum is all about.

comments like this make me think maybe I outta ccheck it out

We need more branch bulls in the Colockum. If all the cows are not "covered" those open cows will start comming into heat at wierd times, being pregnant when they should be in heat, in return having calves at wierd times that wont survive. More than once I have seen calves that look like new bornes in November up there. Its a big mess, but an easy fix if more bulls survive.

[jstone]

OK i had a great response typed out but for some reason it timed out and wouldn't let me post??? Come on people take the fricking blinders off. Yes there is a problem with the Clockum herd. Big bulls are being taken out but not legit. Come on COMMON SENSE... Frustrating when something can be fixed and wont be cause of Politics. I hope the next Governor has some BIG BALLS.

[rosscrazyelk]

Hey clockum,
 I am one along with many people on this site who love elk hunting and am very partial to the area I hunt, just like you... LOL
But being a member and reader of his site for a long time I have never seen anyone so compasionate and  voice his opinion on how things sould be done as much as you do for the clockum.. I just want to say as much as I have teased you in the past.  I respect what you do and obviously people are listening. keep up the fight and next time you are in town get ahold of me , I want to buy you some drinks and sit and talk about the great beautiful animal we call the ELK.

[6x6in6]

Hey clockum,
 I am one along with many people on this site who love elk hunting and am very partial to the area I hunt, just like you... LOL
But being a member and reader of his site for a long time I have never seen anyone so compasionate and  voice his opinion on how things sould be done as much as you do for the clockum.. I just want to say as much as I have teased you in the past.  I respect what you do and obviously people are listening. keep up the fight and next time you are in town get ahold of me , I want to buy you some drinks and sit and talk about the great beautiful animal we call the ELK.

I could not have said that better myself!!!

And no, in my opinion of close to 30 years of off and on hunting the 328/329 their is not really an overall numbers issue with the Colockum herd.  As Colock has said many times, it's the bull/cow ratio that is the problem.  The ease of access doesn't help either.

[Woodchuck]

 

[C-Money]

I highly doubt 40+ bulls get shot in colockum, I've never been there, don't seem like there would be any bulls if 40+ a year are shot up there.

What you wrote after the second comma is what the entire issue with the Colockum is all about.

comments like this make me think maybe I outta ccheck it out

We need more branch bulls in the Colockum. If all the cows are not "covered" those open cows will start comming into heat at wierd times, being pregnant when they should be in heat, in return having calves at wierd times that wont survive. More than once I have seen calves that look like new bornes in November up there. Its a big mess, but an easy fix if more bulls survive.

The same thing happens on ranches when a bull has trouble with his love tackle. If a bull cant perform, it leaves a lot of work to do for the other bull (bulls). Then you end up calving all summer and fall. We ran into this at our farm, one of our bulls had a testical issue and could not get the job done. Lucky for us, one of the neighbors bulls go in with our herd and eased the pressure. ( neighbor was cool with us using the bull, he had an extra in his herd anyway) We still ended up calving into august and was a pain. I think this goes on in the Colockum, hope I made sence here.