Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Elk Hunting => Topic started by: TwistedTree on June 22, 2011, 04:11:03 PM

Title: Toutle access
Post by: TwistedTree on June 22, 2011, 04:11:03 PM: I have been signed up on the site for about a year but haven’t posted much. I enjoy reading everyone’s stories and I’ve learned a lot from them. Some of the recent threads have made me a little hesitant to post a request for information, but here goes. As a little background, I got a late start in hunting - I’m 40 and this will be my 6th year bowhunting. I’ve managed to kill 2 elk in the last 5 years (the last 2 years; I think I’m getting the hang of it), but no bulls. My buddy and I usually hunt the Lewis River unit and have called in quite a few bulls, but haven’t managed to get a shot. I’m hoping to change that this year cause I was selected for the Toutle quality elk permit.

I’ve never been in the Toutle unit and am trying to find out about access into it. I know there have been a few other posts about access into Toutle, but they were for muzzy or modern seasons and I’m going to be there for early archery. As far as I can tell, access is fairly limited. I have hunted in the Winston unit so I’m familiar with Weyerhaeuser’s general policies, but every time I’ve been there the stated policy or access status doesn’t match the ground truth. According to the Weyerhaeuser info line on June 21, the 4100 line is open to the bridge over the S Fork of the Toutle, but other than that access is non-motorized only.

Is the unit ever completely opened to motorized access once the fire danger is low? I saw a thread from a couple years back that they sometimes open the roads only on the weekends.
If it is opened, are all the roads/gates opened or will they do something like open the mainlines, but keep the rest of the gates closed and restricted to non-motorized access?
Will Weyerhaeuser provide access to their land for special permit holders even if the unit is closed, or is that just to access the state land in the north part of the unit?
Is access from the south better/easier?

I guess what I’m getting at is: Do I need to start riding my mountain bike to prepare for some epic number of miles or will I be able to drive through most of the unit then hike or bike the last few miles? Or is it going to be more of a road hunt?
Or does everything change year to year and I won’t know until the time comes what is open and what isn’t?

Thanks.
Title: Re: Toutle access
Post by: YoterHunter on June 22, 2011, 04:18:33 PM: the 4100 usally is open .u can access a lot of the unit from it i had the mud flow cow t5ag last .had go threw the tutale to get their good luck.
Title: Re: Toutle access
Post by: Rainier10 on June 22, 2011, 04:34:09 PM: My father in law had that tag last year in the Toutle and to get to where they wanted to be they hiked in from the Lewis River side. They got a decent 5X5 in the early season and ended up with two spikes in the late season. Your tag is good again in the late archery season correct?
Title: Re: Toutle access
Post by: MADMAX on June 22, 2011, 04:51:38 PM: I have the same permit tag and yes its good from 6-18 Sept and 1-15 Dec
I will be down scouting Friday near Cougar
Title: Re: Toutle access
Post by: TwistedTree on June 22, 2011, 05:42:35 PM: Rainier10,
I have been looking at the map at the Lewis River side and was wondering about the hike in option. Do you know if it would be possible to bike in on any of the logging roads from that side? I'd actually prefer to hike, but can cover a lot more ground on a bike.

Do you know if the USFS roads are/were open all the way to the Sheep Canyon trailhead?
Title: Re: Toutle access
Post by: Deer slayer on June 22, 2011, 09:21:48 PM: Look at the state land off of Rock Creek Road. There is a lot of land and elk in that area. Just watch the boundary there. If they allow walk in from the gate at the edge of state land its fairly flat on top.
Title: Re: Toutle access
Post by: bobcat on June 22, 2011, 09:30:47 PM: It's possible that Weyerhaeuser could completely close their land to public access due to fire danger. They did in 2001 when I drew the same permit you have. Except back then there was only the September season. Even the 4100 was closed, and they had a guard posted at the gate. They wouldn't even let me walk in and hunt the state land. But, I don't believe they have done that since then. From what I've seen, even if Weyerhaeuser is shut down due to fire danger, they are still letting people drive in on the 4100 and access the large block of state land.
Title: Re: Toutle access
Post by: ryoshi on June 23, 2011, 05:23:25 AM: I've got an archery cow tag so have been reading this with interest. Glad someone else is doing the asking, LOL! Can't make it up in Sept. just the Dec. portion unfortunately. Are the roads generally open in the late season?