Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: Drifterat on December 13, 2010, 04:03:56 PM

Title: Skookumchuck success
Post by: Drifterat on December 13, 2010, 04:03:56 PM: Successfully screwed that is. Last year on the same weekend in December there was 4 trucks parked at the few gates on Thompson Creek Rd. I went there on Saturday morning to park at my usual gate and walk into some Weyer land and there was 10 rigs already there. This was 30 minutes before shooting light. We counted 27 rigs total parked on Thompson Cr. Rd. as we drove out to go someplace else...

What happened I asked myself? Why so many more people that I've seen in the nearly 20 years I've hunted that area?

The Westside Bull Down thread here, where the hunter said his friend shot the bull in the Skook, is the only logical answer I could come up with.

I know the area is no secret, but I've never seen that much pressure there. Ever.

People need to realize how much impact these forums can have.

By the way, I heard that big bull killed in the thread mentioned was shot off Hyw 7 :bash:

Allways how, never where...
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: chester on December 13, 2010, 04:07:21 PM: Very good point
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: bobcat on December 13, 2010, 04:12:17 PM: Part of the problem may be that it is open at the same time for both archery and muzzleloader. :dunno:
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: TikkaT3-270Shortmag on December 13, 2010, 04:23:03 PM: ya not sure why cause I can think of plenty of other units that have way more elk!! There was a ton of people last year too
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: Drifterat on December 13, 2010, 05:18:18 PM: This post has been read over 100 times in a little over an hour. Get the point?

I do not think 667 was open for muzzy's on Saturday, could be wrong though...
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: kenbell27 on December 13, 2010, 05:44:01 PM: I dont think that post had much of a difference, during Muzzy regular season i went down Thompson Creek Rd and there was 15 or more vehicles parked by one gate and 6 or 7 at the end of the road. :dunno:
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: bobcat on December 13, 2010, 05:49:26 PM: GMU 667 is open from Nov 24 to Dec 15 for muzzleloader, 3 pt. minimum, bull elk only.

Archery hunters have the same season dates, but can take antlerless elk as well.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: GEARHEAD on December 13, 2010, 06:02:43 PM: 667 Is such a big unit and i have never been sure where to start as i have never hunted it. thanks for the tip. sounds like good access off that road. ;)
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: Button Nubbs on December 13, 2010, 06:27:48 PM: Quote from: Drifterat on December 13, 2010, 04:03:56 PM
Successfully screwed that is. Last year on the same weekend in December there was 4 trucks parked at the few gates on Thompson Creek Rd. I went there on Saturday morning to park at my usual gate and walk into some Weyer land and there was 10 rigs already there. This was 30 minutes before shooting light. We counted 27 rigs total parked on Thompson Cr. Rd. as we drove out to go someplace else...

What happened I asked myself? Why so many more people that I've seen in the nearly 20 years I've hunted that area?

The Westside Bull Down thread here, where the hunter said his friend shot the bull in the Skook, is the only logical answer I could come up with.

I know the area is no secret, but I've never seen that much pressure there. Ever.

People need to realize how much impact these forums can have.

By the way, I heard that big bull killed in the thread mentioned was shot off Hyw 7 :bash:

Allways how, never where...

that was insane. say an average of 2 guys per rig plus some people that were driving in, thats 60+/- people in there. i had to count on the way out. it looked like i-5 down there, and im sure they were still rolling in after we left...
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: ML_Hunter on December 13, 2010, 06:47:29 PM: Quote from: GEARHEAD on December 13, 2010, 06:02:43 PM
667 Is such a big unit and i have never been sure where to start as i have never hunted it. thanks for the tip. sounds like good access off that road. ;)

Gearhead...i'm not trying to discourage you from the area. But its really not that big!! If there are more than 5 rigs on that road then there are too many hunters in the area really and people just push the elk further and further away.

I hunt 667 after the 8th only for...where else am I to hunt :dunno:. We are so limited on available units that hunters are forced to crowd. I went deer hunting over the weekend and went to an any deer unit, but I heard there were a lot of people on Johnson Creek.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: deerslyr on December 13, 2010, 06:48:37 PM: the skook has always been packed for years anyways off of thompson and johnson creek roads. Between archery deer and elk and muzzy deer and elk theres alot of people that are going to be in there. I never seem to run into people when im hunting the skook, I just dont go to the typical popular areas are easy to access areas.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: Ihuntelk2 on December 13, 2010, 06:51:01 PM: Actually I have hunted skook for a few years now and have stopped because i counted like 15 during ealry archery season...lame To small of an area, access anyway.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: ML_Hunter on December 13, 2010, 07:04:19 PM: not to even mention the pheasant hunters, and all of the fisherman, and the folks who ride bikes and quads back there. Its a crowded area...
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: belkaholic on December 13, 2010, 09:31:58 PM: i was there Saturday. seen allot of the same people that are usually there. by noon most of them were gone. most of them were glued to the roads. it is a small area but it is close. i also noticed that some units that have been open in the past were eather close to archery or closed early, which pushes more people to this area. its the only reason i was there. we saw some deer and a muzy hunter missed a good one :dunno:. the amount of cars there did not surprise me at all. typical last weekend.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: bucklucky on December 14, 2010, 09:29:43 AM: Dude, I live right in the middle of the area you guys are hunting and i dont even hunt it anymore it is so bad with people and pressure. I have watched retreads in the field behind my house with bows walking right through the middle of the field flinging arrows at the heard flock shooting, elk running in circles toungs hanging. Rigs hauling ass chasing the elk down the road trying to get close enough to jump out and shoot them. In the dark, rigs running elk down in the road for no reason. Its a joke. The past 4 years have been absolutely insane with people. Im pretty sure people think Im just trying to keep everyone from my "honey holes" but in all reality my honey holes are no where near or around the Skookumchuck. Bad poacking issues (wich the game department is trying to rectify ) quads/vehicles behind gates in walk in areas (game department knows all about this also and have a hard on for quads) . Trespassing on private land is another big issue, people just dont care anymore wether its private or not, if there is elk there they trespass. I dont like hunting elk that are running around with there tounges hanging out. I have counted over 60 rigs parked between thompson and the release eight (not including the bird hunters ) at times.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: bucklucky on December 14, 2010, 09:36:55 AM: Id save a ton of gas money since I dont have to drive anywhere but I still drive an hour and a half to where I hunt elk. ;)
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: deerslyr on December 14, 2010, 03:53:31 PM: I live close to the area also and have only hunted it a few times. To me its just to dam hard to hunt a small concentration of elk with a *censored* ton of people unless you scout the area year round, its far more worth it for me to drive another hour or 2 west to actually hunt an area with a good amount of elk. If I cant do that then I either stay home or go deer hunting. Im glad alot of people hunt there because that keeps them away from the areas I hunt.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: MLhunter1 on December 15, 2010, 09:49:00 PM: I wouldn't necessarily think the internet makes a huge difference in crowds. Most hunters have their holes they hunt. If I hear that a big bull was shot in the 667 that makes me think even less of hunting that area, or maybe it was 2 big twin bulls killed very close to each other ;). The 667 is what it is. I will hunt it 1 or twice a year if I am short on time and want badly to hunt, but when I go I expect lots of company. Its just too close and easy for most of us.
Title: Re: Skookumchuck success
Post by: belkaholic on December 16, 2010, 09:22:24 PM: Quote from: MLhunter1 on December 15, 2010, 09:49:00 PM
I wouldn't necessarily think the internet makes a huge difference in crowds. Most hunters have their holes they hunt. If I hear that a big bull was shot in the 667 that makes me think even less of hunting that area, or maybe it was 2 big twin bulls killed very close to each other ;). The 667 is what it is. I will hunt it 1 or twice a year if I am short on time and want badly to hunt, but when I go I expect lots of company. Its just too close and easy for most of us.

you said it best, it is what it is, and its just somewhare close to hunt deer and maybe see a elk. look at the nuts in the winston this year. unfortuneatly the only unit i know well is the meshel and its closed.