Ryderwood help please

[mrmoskillz]

I am going to try my hand at muzzy hunting elk in this unit this year and have never been there before.  I am just wondering if you can camp in the unit.  I have already tried reading through old post on here but didnt find much info.  I did find access can be hard with the closed gates but dont have any idea where to look for camping info.  Please help.  any other tips would be a big help also.

[furbearer365]

I dont really understand you question.  Asking if you can camp in the unit is a little vague.  Of course you can find a campground and go there, but no timber companies will let you.  There is access all over if you do some digging.  If you want to drive there is plenty of that and if walking is your game there is plenty of that.  Do some research about the timber companies that encompass it and you will find more than you need.  Good luck

[Jayfire83]

There is camping off of the PE Ell Macdonald & 5000 line out of Boisfort. You wont be alone but if you put in foot work and you are good at tracking there are lots of Elk

[mrmoskillz]

Thanks guys.  I didnt know that that unit was timber companies. The unit I usually hunt you can just camp wherever you want.  I plan on going up there a lot this summer for scouting. So its sounds like its kind of like Vail you have to be out by dark?  If thats the case I'm not sure thats the unit for me.

[Chesapeake]

Its not like Vail. Its not managed like a tree farm. Its just primarily timber company lands that most of the spur roads are gated on. Many of the primary roads are open. Of course active logging areas are off limits.

There is some state land in there also I believe. (not looking at a BLM map right now)

I'm not sure about you dropping your chips there for muzzy though. Its only open for the early season. Thats all you get and its only 7 days. For the late season you would have to hunt somewhere else. Lots of guys all trying to cash in on the tail end of the rut. Lots of elk, but lots of reprod with no apparent honey holes. You need to scout and learn where the elk go when pressured and when they leave the cuts.

You would need to invest some scouting time into an area you could only hunt for maybe 1/3 of the season. You may be better off investing your scouting time in an area you can hunt more of the season in. But maybe you plan to camp out and hunt the entire early season and not concentrate on the late season. I dont know.

Another thought; If you consider closed gates, "hard access", Ryderwood may not be your deal.

[BowBender87]

There isnt much area here you can drive into...most everything is walk/bike in.  Good numbers of elk but they dont come easy here! Lions Park, as stated above, is about the only place you can camp.  One thing to consider is that weyco employees are able to drive into parts of this unit and hunt.

[mrmoskillz]

thanks chesapeake.  I just tt the lady at weyehouser who updates the info line and she said she doesnt think they will open any gates at all this year because of damage last year. She said she will update closer to hunting season.  she said you can always hike in or use a non motor bike.  I dont mind hiking in.  I planned on hunting this unit the 6-12th of Oct.  I thought about camping near there and hiking in each day.  The reason I picked that unit is because of the harvest report.  Some of the units open to muzzy had 0 kills and ryderwood had lots.  I guess most of the kills were from modern.  I have yet to kill a elk so I am doing all my homework now to give me the best odds.  I thank you guys again for all the help and hope to post a pic of my 1st elk this year.

[deerslyr]

thanks chesapeake.  I just tt the lady at weyehouser who updates the info line and she said she doesnt think they will open any gates at all this year because of damage last year. She said she will update closer to hunting season.  she said you can always hike in or use a non motor bike.  I dont mind hiking in.  I planned on hunting this unit the 6-12th of Oct.  I thought about camping near there and hiking in each day.  The reason I picked that unit is because of the harvest report.  Some of the units open to muzzy had 0 kills and ryderwood had lots.  I guess most of the kills were from modern.  I have yet to kill a elk so I am doing all my homework now to give me the best odds.  I thank you guys again for all the help and hope to post a pic of my 1st elk this year.

If you like to hike a lot its a good unit, good numbers of elk. One of the better west side muzzy units imo if you dont take the late season into consideration. I dont care much for the late archery or muzzy elk seasons any ways.

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

You better do your home work and scout a bunch! I've never just looked at a harvest report and said yup I'm gonna hunt that unit and never been there. You may scout that unit and not see an elk especially if your not sure where to go. Another thing is hoof rot. This is a major problem in the unit. Lots of private ground too that is not hunt able. If your going on Weyerhauser keep in mind that you may be 5 miles in and a Weyco employee may drive right past you. There is a decent elk population but as bow bender said they don't come easy. Good luck

[IBspoiled]

Dont bother walking in past the gates, just drive a quad or motorcycle in there. everyone else does!!!

[kentrek]

Dont bother walking in past the gates, just drive a quad or motorcycle in there. everyone else does!!!

 

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

Ya that would be best just hop on a quad & join them ; )

[mrmoskillz]

You better do your home work and scout a bunch! I've never just looked at a harvest report and said yup I'm gonna hunt that unit and never been there. You may scout that unit and not see an elk especially if your not sure where to go. Another thing is hoof rot. This is a major problem in the unit. Lots of private ground too that is not hunt able. If your going on Weyerhauser keep in mind that you may be 5 miles in and a Weyco employee may drive right past you. There is a decent elk population but as bow bender said they don't come easy. Good luck

Lol I have never looked at a harvest report and said yup 0 kills for the last three years I think I'll spend my summer scouting that winner

[Huntbear]

Ummmmmm Ryderwood has a crap load of state land in it...  We hunted deer in there this year, drove anywhere we wanted to go to take off hiking.  A lot of clearcuts and older clearcuts and reprod..   you can spend a lot of time glassing.

[Chesapeake]

In this case (you never harvesting an elk, and I assume dont have a better place to hunt lined up) then I would say, YES go for Ryderwood.

Get yourself a game cart and a mountain bike. Go and scout, look at maps, ect...... Its a fine unit, with good elk numbers. Get off the roads and work the reprod. Find the holes the elk like after they leave the cuts.

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

Be prepared to see lots of hunters after the elusive rag horns!

[Swatson]

I will never hunt this unit again after seeing the circus that goes on down there!

[Huntbear]

I will never hunt this unit again after seeing the circus that goes on down there!

Not as bad as the Winston!   

[deerslyr]

I will never hunt this unit again after seeing the circus that goes on down there!

Be prepared to see lots of hunters after the elusive rag horns!

I think you both just summed up any west side unit with a decent number of elk during any given season 

[Swatson]

Yea pretty much and some are just a tad bit worse than others!  To each his own though and I'm sure if your willing to put the miles on you can find your own little peace of heaven just about anywhere!

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

We should call it circus city lol.

[iRem]

I will never hunt this unit again after seeing the circus that goes on down there!

Be prepared to see lots of hunters after the elusive rag horns!

I think you both just summed up any west side unit with a decent number of elk during any given season 

And this is why I'm going back over to the east side!  Yes there are A LOT of elk on the west side but it's become a Circus for sure. Don't get me wrong I have put in a lot of time and miles but I know the east side as well so off I go for early archery elk!!

[Chesapeake]

I will never hunt this unit again after seeing the circus that goes on down there!

Ryderwood is a massive unit dont pigeon hole it.

[Swatson]

I will never hunt this unit again after seeing the circus that goes on down there!

Ryderwood is a massive unit dont pigeon hole it.

hahaha and Vails a massive tree farm!  Again to each his own, just adding what I thought of it!

[Chesapeake]

Never been to Vail so couldn't say.

To me it's about learning how the elk and hunters use an area. Then using that info to be successful.

Every unit I've hunted has crowded spots and spots you can be alone. Riderwood has a good mix of both.

Heck, even Alaska has crowded spots. Lots of them. And it's a massive state. LOL!

[funkster]

I have hunted ryderwood and winston during archery and ryderwood during muzzy.  Ryderwood does not have nearly as many hunters as winston does. With that being said, it is all how you hunt. I can tell you I am one of, if not the first rig at the gate daily, go in with a head lamp on my bike at O dark thirty and go in 7-10 miles. I really don't run into any other hunter all day long. I would rather deal with a few guys on bikes behind lock gates all day than eat dust from all the road hunters and see little to no elk on the eastside.

I would say if you have never been in the unit get a few maps. The wey. co maps are good but some of the road numbers have changed. Mix those maps with topo maps and satellite maps and look for water,food and shelter. Look for small secluded clear cuts near creeks that have some reprod to older timbers. If you can find that on a south to southwest facing slope, you have a good chance elk will be around. Remember elk are big and leave prints. You can start by scouting early a few times a month until season. While scouting try to not be seen or smelled by the elk, and what ever you do, don't call out of season. Mark on the maps where you are seeing elk activity.Also, remember hunting activity will push the elk into places they normally would not go so look for nature escapement routes. Nine times out of ten, elk will take the easiest escapement. If you can learn these areas and be there it could work out good. Elk hunting is very mental, it will test you every mile you go, especially around the 4th day of the hunt but don't give up and keep at it, it will pay off

[Swatson]

From the pm I sent the OP sounds like he already knows how to hunt the unit better than a few of you guys.  If we compare to Coweeman or Winston, nowhere near the same pressure, and hoof rot isn't half as bad, and ive seen better quality bulls come out of Ryderwood, Willipa Hills than Margaret.  Also the biggest bucks I've seen came from Ryderwood, compared to the 3 other units I mentioned, and ive hunted every inch of all of them.

I've never hunted the Winston but if it's hoof rot problem is worse than Ryderwoods thats scary!  I saw 4 elk that were taken out of Ryderwood and all 4 had hoof rot, one was limping around on 3 legs and the stories I heard about hoof rot from others is sad to hear!  Good luck to the OP, wasn't trying to scare you away, just advising you its a unit that gets hunted pretty hard.  For me there are plenty other better units out there to learn with better quality elk, that's all I was trying to get across.  Good luck to ya and I hope you can put your tag on one!

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

Well I grew up in the valley & I hunt Winston more than Ryderwood! I've seen way less hunters in the Winston than in Ryderwood.  Ryderwood has been my stomping grounds my whole life & I get farther and farther away from it every year due to the people, fire danger, hoof rot, and the Weyerhauser employees having keys to the gates.I've yet to see hoof rot in Winston myself but I'm sure they are there. 

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

I am sure hoof rot is the worst in ryderwood. Look at the fields in wildwood. seems like every elk in there has hoof rot.

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

I wish I still had a picture of a bull we got about 4 years ago. We called it club foot it's hoofs we're enough to make u wanna puke. 

[Chesapeake]

I'll agree ryderwood is thick with hoof rot. Only seen one unit that was worse and it borders ryderwood. We see a lot of the elk with one goofy long deformed toe in there along with the nasty club foot looking ones.

[Chesapeake]

I hunt it in muzzy so couldnt speak for archery crowds. But the OP was asking about muzzy........

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

Crowds in muzzy are worse. If you go to any locked gate u will see a minimum of 10 rigs.

[kentrek]

in any unit there's going to be crowded spots and uncrowded spots,its up to the hunter to walk/pedal himself to the uncrowded spots. hoof rot sucks but it seems like when there's lots of hoof rot there's also lots of elk. as far as places to camp your best bet would be a campgrounds or small truck pull offs along county roads. i mite be able to help more if i knew the closest town

[mrmoskillz]

Thanks to all of you for the help!  I have received a few pm's with great info and think this will be my year!   

[Chesapeake]

10 rigs at each gate??

I believe the skew between my experience and others likely has to do with entry point.

I'd bet you folks are entering from the north or east sides. I dont...........

[BowBender87]

I'll agree ryderwood is thick with hoof rot. Only seen one unit that was worse and it borders ryderwood. We see a lot of the elk with one goofy long deformed toe in there along with the nasty club foot looking ones.

Ive noticed the farther away from the gate/fields you get, hoof rot isnt as common.  Alot of the elk that buddies have taken and had hoof rot were elk that were pretty close to the fields and gates.  Never have run into that problem myself.

[Chesapeake]

That could well be. I never considered it. But many that I remember were in close proximity to the lowlands with houses, farms, ect.