Ryderwood help please

[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.