Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: wapiti hunter2 on October 07, 2009, 04:27:02 PM

Title: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: wapiti hunter2 on October 07, 2009, 04:27:02 PM: Is elk season as bad as the deer season. Thousands of people here abouts during the modern deer hunt. I know where there are a few bulls but what are the chances they will still be around after the deer hunters go through. Will the week off help this year? I really can't afford to travel this year so I'm think of hunting closer to home. How far in do you think I will have to get?
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: bankwalker on October 07, 2009, 08:12:34 PM: ive never seen a single elk in the tree far. though i have seen a few tracks on opening day about 5 years ago. i have talked to quite a few guys and have seen some pics of elk they have ran into.

i dont think that the tree far is open to vehicle travel during elk season. last i knew it is only open for modern firearm deer season. sometimes opens for youth hunts
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: SkookumHntr on October 07, 2009, 08:18:13 PM: Hike in only for elk, but its *censored*ty at best so You could go for a nice hike but not many elk.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: PolarBear on October 07, 2009, 08:19:02 PM: It won't matter, it is only open during the weekends of modern deer other wise no motor vehicles and limited walk in due to active logging.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: gasman on October 08, 2009, 05:22:19 AM: The only area i have seen elk on WH prperty is Thompson creek Rd and Johnson Creek Rd. (small area that holds elk)
Park at one of the gates and hike in.

Once in a great while you can catch one in the fields at the release site.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: Thefisherman83 on October 08, 2009, 09:17:20 PM: Quote from: gasman on October 08, 2009, 05:22:19 AM
The only area i have seen elk on WH prperty is Thompson creek Rd and Johnson Creek Rd. (small area that holds elk)
Park at one of the gates and hike in.

Once in a great while you can catch one in the fields at the release site.

Not worth the drive. :bdid:
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: wapiti hunter2 on October 08, 2009, 10:07:42 PM: So , Not many elk......Does anybody hunt there? I'm thinking of Mtn. biking in. I hear you saying I'm wasting my time. At least it sounds like I'll be alone. That's something I guess.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: gasman on October 09, 2009, 05:17:44 AM: Quote from: wapiti hunter2 on October 08, 2009, 10:07:42 PM
So , Not many elk......Does anybody hunt there? I'm thinking of Mtn. biking in. I hear you saying I'm wasting my time. At least it sounds like I'll be alone. That's something I guess.

You may get lucky, you never know.

I have archery hunted (deer) WH property for many years and only ran in to elk on maybe a hand full of times.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: LongTatLaw on October 09, 2009, 01:55:22 PM: There are elk but not as many as in the past...

did u say alone...thats not even funny

looks like a walmart parking lot in there this week...modern will be way worse!!

everyone is convince the elk will come walk out in the middle of the release site at 1pm and they will have a 40 yard pack out...

they did some clear cuts up above the res/dam and the elk dont seem to need to come to the bottoms like they used to!

I used to like to hunt it...now i still do on those after work 1.5 hrs in the woods days but overall...when i have time to go elsewhere...I DO!
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: Alan K on October 09, 2009, 01:59:03 PM: There aren't many elk, but a lot of people.

A buddy and I got lucky two years ago and had about 8 cows pushed right to us. He managed to stick her good and she went about 25 yards and piled up.

We haven't been back since. Figure if we want elk pushed to us we'll go to winston . . .
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: wapiti hunter2 on October 09, 2009, 05:39:01 PM: What is this release site? I want to be as far from it as possible. Guess I'll have to get at least 5 miles back.

Long ride but maybe luck will shine.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: gasman on October 09, 2009, 05:44:39 PM: Quote from: wapiti hunter2 on October 09, 2009, 05:39:01 PM
What is this release site? I want to be as far from it as possible. Guess I'll have to get at least 5 miles back.

Long ride but maybe luck will shine.

Phesant release site
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: 72k5blzr on October 09, 2009, 05:55:06 PM: Ive never hunted it for elk, but i hunted it a few times for late buck. As far as crowds go it is the worst ever by far but, I did see alot of deer and a few bucks in there last year. It sucks, you cant see, its wet, brushy and snarly but if you get down into the alder bottoms i guarantee you will push and see deer and not alot of guys are willing to go in there so you can find good spots to push thru without too many other hunters around. I was really discouraged when i went with 2 buddies and there was 60 trucks in a train coming in but after i quit complaining and started to put in work it wasnt bad cuz i did see game and I did see guys get deer. I did see one bull elk and being as im not hunting there if i have it still i will post the gps coordinates. Good place to start.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: TheHunt on October 09, 2009, 06:15:32 PM: Holy cow... Post the GPS... I will go and take pictures of the people there. Should be pretty funny.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: 72k5blzr on October 09, 2009, 06:25:19 PM: oh you know it. :)
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: 72k5blzr on October 09, 2009, 06:37:10 PM: n 46 44.249 w122 39.184 good spot n46 47.417 w122 24.186 another good spot. Im not sure which was the elk spot i wasnt specific enough when i hit the waypoint but both spots should be good hunts.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: gasman on October 09, 2009, 06:40:02 PM: Now everyone knows the secret spot :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: Mike450r on October 09, 2009, 07:14:00 PM: I think those coordinates take you a bit further south than GMU 667, more like 520
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: 72k5blzr on October 09, 2009, 07:16:50 PM: they do you go in through vail tree farm its a haul.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: 72k5blzr on October 09, 2009, 07:18:14 PM: its close enough and i didnt see the point of posting gps coordinates where id never seen animals.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: Antlershed on October 09, 2009, 09:52:01 PM: I've heard you can only shoot an elk in vail if your dad works for WH and takes you in during the week..... :hunt2:
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: WDFW-SUX on February 08, 2010, 08:00:22 PM: there's lots of elk in there.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: deerslyr on February 09, 2010, 08:48:00 PM: ive hunted the tree farm for 8 years and have never seen an elk goin in through the main line, only on the chehalis and pleasant valley sides. although one year during late buck we were up off the 2000 line quite a ways and there was an elk hide draped over a log with the hooves next to it. im thinkin a logger had one staked out and got it the week before during rifle season.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: gasman on February 09, 2010, 08:58:20 PM: I have been hunting the tre farm for 15 years now and only have seen elk along Johnson Creek Rd. I have see elk sign in ther areas but never any animal, only sign.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: SkookumHntr on February 09, 2010, 09:18:05 PM: -Theres pockets of elk everywhere, but they are few and far between! I bet hardly any elk get killed off the vail tree farm, I cant think of any ever and Ive lived and hunted it all my life. :twocents:
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: PolarBear on February 09, 2010, 10:17:43 PM: There are very few that are taken within the tree farm itself. Some are taken in the Bald Hills area and the Skookumchuck. I have only seen them at the very bottom and none up top.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: Ranger91298 on February 10, 2010, 02:41:14 PM: I hunted there with a friend of mine the last day of late buck this year and spent alot of time driving around. We came across a poached elk at the end of a dead end. The head was gone but the rest of the hide was there so I am assuming it was a bull...they took the meat atleast...Along with the elk was the head and hide of a BT Buck, the antlers were cut off of course. If I had to guess I would say that the buck probably wasn't tagged either since the bull was poached already. It takes some real balls to poach two animals like that with THOUSANDS of other hunters around. We found them first thing in the morning so they must have got them the night before and did all the dirty work after dark...
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: gasman on February 10, 2010, 02:56:44 PM: Thats nothing new. I counted 6 deer carcases in one area one year (johnson creek rd area)

People also dump there carcases off after a legal kill also. so who knows :dunno:
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: Ranger91298 on February 10, 2010, 03:03:37 PM: Yeah I wouldn't have thought twice about it if it was just the BT; but there was an elk hide laying there and it wasn't elk season. They were pretty fresh; thinking they were killed the day prior.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: huntmando on February 10, 2010, 03:41:17 PM: I agree with skookumhntr, there aren't many in 667, let alone vail. I would stick with 520. :(
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: SkookumHntr on February 10, 2010, 03:55:43 PM: -Poaching is a big problem in the Skook too, acouple years ago I watched a Huge Bull all regular deer season and found him opening day of Elk with his head cut off! That crap happens alot around here, I hope I can catch one of the *censored*s some day!
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: 257 Wby Mag on February 11, 2010, 06:52:45 PM: The boy and I found 2 bulls, 2 years ago, with the heads cut off while bear huntin. Both were within 1 mile of one another as the crow flys. Nothing else was touched. This was on the SW side of Vail. Neighber found 4 bulls this year during buck season, horns and backstraps taken on Centrailia Alpha rd. I see Scott Shcroder out here quite a bit too, must be chasin his tail quite a bit with all this crap going on. Hard to get your son his first bull when pricks are slickin em up before season....
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: wapiti hunter2 on February 12, 2010, 06:12:20 PM: I found a poached bull this year 5 days after Archery ended. :bash: Head cut off and all the meat left to waste. It was at least ten days old. Head cut off with a clean cutting saw. I suspect a cordless sawzall. All during elk season this year people were going in and out through the Fennel Rd. gate. :bash: :bash: :bash: Some yahoo left it open. There is a private residence through the gate but they are suppose to close and lock it.
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: bucklucky on February 12, 2010, 08:07:02 PM: They killed a nice 5 point by my house a few years back in the velvet and didnt even take the rack. >:( I even had the bull on video the night before. I think the other bull that was with him got poached also but I never seen him again. I hate poachers >:(
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: grousetracker on February 12, 2010, 08:31:10 PM: the blosl or butterworths get nice bulls out of the tree farm every year for about the last 30yrs. or so. just ask mr. lamb if you can hunt by his house, the elk live there all year long!
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: SkookumHntr on February 12, 2010, 08:43:00 PM: Quote from: grousetracker on February 12, 2010, 08:31:10 PM
the blosl or butterworths get nice bulls out of the tree farm every year for about the last 30yrs. or so. just ask mr. lamb if you can hunt by his house, the elk live there all year long!
SSSSHHHHHH, dont tell are secrets on the internet! :chuckle:
Title: Re: 667 Elk, Vail Tree farm
Post by: Alan K on February 14, 2010, 11:46:03 AM: A couple summers ago I came across a poached elk and a poached deer in 667. I had been biking in behind this locked gate every Sunday all summer scouting, and both of these had been poached sometime in the last week since I had been in there last. Quad tracks were still fresh in the road. The quad had turned around right where they left the elk (no head by the way), and a doughnut was done right below the deer (a doe, left untouched). I knew something was up when there were vultures everywhere.

It pissed me off to no end. I was shaking with fury the whole ride out, and I was ready to shoot the next f**cker I saw riding a quad back there. I went home, called the report a poaching hotline, but they didn't answer. I called back on Monday, got ahold of some stupid woman who kept asking me if I was sure it wasn't a cougar kill. . . No lady, I know what cougar kills are, and they don't take the head and try to cover the corpse with logs. Anyways, after about 5 minutes of convincing her I wasn't some *censored* hiker from Seattle reporting a cougar kill as a poached animal, she connected me to the game warden for the area. I explained to him where I was at, he said he knew the area, and I told him exactly where to find the corpses. I also told him the quad tracks were fresh, and I knew for a fact that the poachings had taken place sometime in the last week. I told him I thought for sure it was someone from a house near the gate (who has quad tracks right along the road etc. and the tracks still fresh in the gravel led right to their fking driveway). He basically told me it was not my place to be making accusations, and that he'd check it out. I also insisted he give me his email so I could send him the pictures I took. As soon as I got off the phone with him I sent him like 4 emails full of pictures I had taken. The next Sunday I rode in there for my weekly scouting trip, only to see that there hadn't been any pickups in there since I had last been in. That pissed me off even worse. Needless to say I never heard anything back from the game warden or department, and they never even bothered to check it out while it was fresh and they could have collected evidence. F**k game wardens, we keep hearing they're cutting them back. Hell I say fire them all, they're worthless. >:(

Oh also, I'll throw in a picture of some of the bulls I'd been seeing in there. . . One of which I'd imagine is the one that was poached. I never saw the group of bulls again that summer.

Here are a couple of the pictures I had taken:

1 The elk, headless, with a failed cover-up.
2 The deer, with vultures all over it.
3 The deer up close.
4 The doughnut the quad rider did coincidentally right below the poached deer.
5 The bulls I'd been seeing in there. . .