Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: fish-on37 on June 24, 2009, 04:40:37 PM
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I drew the Toutle bull tag for the archery season this year. I am wondering what to expect as far as the caliber of bulls that are in there. I dont have a lot of time to scout this year because of work schedual so any info would be great. Maby send a picture of your bull that you have taken in there. Thanks
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This is from last year
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,11671.msg130523/topicseen.html#msg130523
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check out the castle lake area. good luck
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check out the castle lake area. good luck
Too many people on the 3000 line, stay away from there. Shoot me a pm and I'll help as much as I can
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PM Sent
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I hunted the toutle last year calling for my cousin who drew a bull tag on his second year. There are a lot of 220" to 230" bulls in that unit, with a few 280" to 300" bulls and a lot of rags. We ended up only hunting about 2 1/2 days due to vehicle problems and the overcrowding due to the number of cow tags given in the area. The area we ended up hunting was void of all other hunters and my cousin missed a 290" to 300" bull, then shot the 4th bull I called in that day at 6yds. He passed the 2nd and 3rd bulls, he ended up shooting a good five, but probably only cause I told him to and it was a gimme on his second year archery hunting, however his first year he shot a bigger bull. I would post pictures but I am not sure how, anyway if you have any questions feel free to send me a pm. ;)
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My father has drawn the archery bull tag, also. I have not hunted this area, but if it is anything like the Margaret I will likely need a lot of information just to start. My dad is 63 and shoots a recurve. Looking for possible place to put a trailer where we can hike or short drive to hunt. We don't mind putting a few miles on the foot to hunt. I have read the old threads and still have some questions. I would love to talk with anyone willing to share some info so we can at least scout. I am researching the maps to try and get a good lay of the land. Not sure what roads we will use to access the area.
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how many points did you guys have that drew?
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i know a buddy of mine that went in on a few hunts in there, im not sure what season your hunting but if you can call i know you can call up some bulls out of the loo-wit if you set up on the border of the gmu's. my buddy called up a couple nice ones right across the road that makes the border
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now i see the season :DOH: i should pay more attention when im reading. that should be a great tag
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YEah. Me thinks any elks tag is a good tag. You got a chance at a possible trophy and you're in the woods.
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I drew that tag a few years back.. Ya its not the blues, but for a good southwest washington hunt, its fun.. Lots of action, mutiple bulls everyday you can call in.. it does kind of suck that they put cow permits in their at the same time, thats actually bull chit.. If your patient and be ready to pass on some rag bulls cause they come screamin in, you can get a respectable 5 to 6 point.. I personally am all about the quality of the hunt and action, thats what gives me a bowner :drool:!! Nothing like a bull at 10 yrd screamin.. PM me and i can send you some good info..
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I drew a archery tag in there this year with 6 points. I was up there last weekend and saw a few elk and lots of bear sign.Trying to find a good map that shows all the public land in the unit just in case of fire danger. Praying for rain
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No doubt, I've got this tag too and the woods are already getting dry. I hope we get to hunt.
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I drew it 3 yrs ago and the first 4 days were closed due to fire danger than it rained like crazy.. so thank god..
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Dont get mad but I had 4 points including this years. I know I got lucky.
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You all might hate me but last year I drew with no points. :chuckle:
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nice
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If its closed for fire danger you can still walk in, right?
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No. They are really strict about anyone being in there if they have closed it due to fire danger even if you walk, no access means no access to them during hunting season or not. I am not joking or trying to scare you, this is one of the main reasons i don't bow hunt, because you are flirting with the chance of not even having an early season if you want to hunt Weyco property. make sure you know what is going on and check the hotline all the way up to the season.
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Drew the tag in 2004. Camped on DNR land just off the 3000 line and hunted various parts of DNR and Weyco. Took a large 4 point bull on the very last morning after having stuck a 5x6 in the kill zone. (On my 4th day of hunting him, I shot at 22 yards, saw the arrow hit, penetrated to the fletchings; think I misjudged the quartering away shot placement, didn't hold far enough back and only got the near-side lung. Learned a lot re-thinking that shot over the years. Searched for the 5x6 for parts of 4 days. I'm sure he died.) I was just sitting overlooking the shot area watching for coyotes and crows on my last morning before helping my buddy haul his elk out. That morning in two hours of sitting, I saw a 6x6 and 5x5 clash, a big 5x5 move his girls away from me, a small 4 point screaming, and the large 4 point I shot (who was run off by a big 6x6 that my buddy scared up when they went to fetch his elk). Hate the feeling I get everytime I think of the bigger bull I know I killed. Wonder whether I should have shot another or ate tag soup. I shot the 4 point at 10 yards, while walking to meet my buddy and haul his elk, which was a gift I didn't figure I was supposed to pass up.
PM me and I'd be happy to share photos and areas we hunted. If I drew it again, I'd spend a large part of my time hunting a different area, though.
Photo of the 4x4. He doesn't look big, but his body was massive. I've shot 3 other 4x4's and seen others dead on the ground. He was definitely the largest.
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If its closed for fire danger you can still walk in, right?
I drew the Toutle archery bull tag in '01, or maybe it was '02, can't recall for sure. But Weyerhaeuser was shut down due to fire danger and they had guards at the main gate on the South Fork Toutle and they wouldn't let anyone in, even to hunt the big block of state land in there. Couldn't even park at the gate and walk in. So I never got to use the permit. I thought about paying that helicopter at one of the st. helens visitor centers to fly me across the river and drop me off for a week on the state land. Wish I would've now. I'm sure I could've got into a lot of elk and all on state land with nobody else hunting.
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My dad drew the Margaret tag the year the mountain started blowing steam and they shut the entire area down, and he wasn't able to use his permit. WDFW gave him his points back though...
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I heard they were giving peoples points back they were block out too. If it were me I would definately have requested that.
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Yeah, but they didn't give them back until after he submitted his hunter report at the end of the year saying he didn't shoot an elk. Their reasoning was that he could have illegaly snuck in and still used his permit. So having told him that he could have snuck in, used his permit, shot a bull, AND got his points back. :dunno:
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If its closed for fire danger you can still walk in, right?
NOPE, no enty on wherehouser property at all during fire danger.. State land yes, but your screwed cause you have to go through wherehouser to get to it, off the 4700 line.. You will be ok though it wont be smoked out the whole season i can tell ya that, unless this is one hot summer but i dout it..
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I was near there last year in Pumis planes, you shouldn't have any problem getting at least a rag horn like the one in the picture, We saw herds of small bulls like that every day. One day we counted 67 bulls and 40 cows in just one draw :yike:. Obviously we were in a area that was more open and a haven for the elk, but we still saw plenty in the Toutle on the way in and out. Just pray the areas not closed because of fire danger.
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If Weyco closes their land you can still access the DNR land from the east end. Its only about an hour hike, but that just gets you to the edge of the Toutle. The Blue Lake trail/Trail 238, or what is left of it, meets the 216 at the S. Fork of the Toutle. The 8123 road to the Blue Lake Trail head has been closed at the trail head for years and is now destroyed even farther back. If you hike or bike, you can still use the 8123 to get to its end/Sheep Canyon Trail head/Trail 240 and the access to the S. Fork is easy from there. The Blue Lake Trail used to be an easy walk to the S. Fork. I have not hiked it since the mountain fell down about 2 years back.
Once on the S. Fork, you can access the 216 G, which will take you directly to the 3000 road and DNR land. From the truck to the 3000 road, that hike would be about 2-3 hours with a multi-day pack on.
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also because of the early season problems in the past they have added a second season on the special permits
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I drew on a archery group tag as well. And we are hoping to be able to get in there as well. The bad thing about limited access, is getting your animal out before the meat starts to spoil.
We was in the unit a couple weeks ago and saw a couple nice 6x6's :drool: and a few rag horns as well cows with new calves. Hoping to get another scouting trip in before the gates are closed just to learn the roads.
Looking forward to some serious bugling. Having that 10-20 yard screaming tree thrashing eye glazed over Bull coming to kick my butt.
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Is the game trails map better for getting around then the tree farm map? Can I get either in Tacoma? Looked at ordering the game trails map, but the number has a strange answer to it, didn't want to fax my visa to it. I see some have taken trailers into the Toutle, what is the longest you could get in there?
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IT LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR INFO . i have info on the toutle but i dont remember sending you a message i will help if i can. J
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I received a post card from WDFW today saying that they are working with Weyco and theSouthwest Washington Land Coalition trying to get the gates opened. Hope it all works out. :cue:
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Trust me, you really don't want the gates open. :bdid:
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I only want the gates opend so I can go in and camp on the DNR land. Drew archery any Bull as a group, hope to camp as a group, as well. One of the guys in my group was down last weekand and said there was cars and quads everywhere. :dunno:
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You can drive in the 4700 usually anytime except when there is fire danger closure. It leads all the way to the 3000 line above castle lake. It is one of the only places around to ride quads and dirt bikes in the woods so yes this time of the year it is quite popular. Kids running the roads all through the night etc. Don't let that discourage you cause there is still elk running all over the place.
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You can drive in the 4700 usually anytime except when there is fire danger closure. It leads all the way to the 3000 line above castle lake. It is one of the only places around to ride quads and dirt bikes in the woods so yes this time of the year it is quite popular. Kids running the roads all through the night etc. Don't let that discourage you cause there is still elk running all over the place.
Its actually the 4200....
The 4700 leads up into Weyco ground that is closed to motorized public access most of the time...
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Your Right my bad......
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No Prob....
Just didn't want to get someone up the wrong road..
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We were down therelate last month to scout and look for possible campsites. So I kinda have theroadsfigured out plus I have one of the old tree farm maps that show more road numbers then thenew ones. Not discouraged about all the motor vehicles. We want to camp on the DNR land to be closer to the action.
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After seeing one of the ASP's video a few years back, I want to hunt it myself. Haven't seen their latest one, but the one before had some great hunts in the toutle. check it out.
