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bobbyrwatkins 09-21-2008 11:07 PM

Elk Hunting in Washington
 
This is my 1st year hunting elk and my dad and I are going to Republic. Does anyone have any knowledge or tips for this area?

bobbyrwatkins 09-21-2008 11:24 PM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
can anyone give me some pointers for elk hunting in general?

jacob_april 09-23-2008 11:30 PM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
I am headed that way mself. I have hunted se of yakima and looked into to many hunters scopes. plus the good roads make the winabago factor high. I would rather go east and get to a harder spot and get to shoot any anamal I want.
plus the ground cover there is easier to get through than ALL ofthe west side. if you are going over there I have not been told of a good honey hole there. I am still looking for mslf. I have heard of some good spotsnear bumping and tannaway, manastash. but they are all spike only. I dod not hunt there bc of prevously stated hunting experances. plus the -23 f morning and the generator running two camps away. not good.

not to rain on your hunting

god luck and I will check back for tips as well.

jacob_april 09-29-2008 07:04 PM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
bbt

Power 10-03-2008 10:15 AM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
I'm not 100% positive but I don't believe they have any elk near Republic. They do have a small herd NE of Spokane that is any elk but it's pretty thick and there's not a lot of elk there.

I hunt the Colockum area. Mostly sagebrush and rocky hillsides in the desert but we have about 4k in our herd. They are hunted pretty hard from all sides though including surrounding the reserve where most of the elk try to go. It's spike only for the general season tags.

You can hunt the Yakima herd but I've never hunted there so don't know much about it.

They also have a fair number of elk on the West coast (Olympic Rain Forest). They are Roosevelt elk so they are larger bodies but smaller racks and thicker. And speaking of thick, the forest are rain forests so it's very hard to hunt that side with all the brush and trees. But I've not hunted it either so dont' know much. Oh, and in SE Wa. in the Blue Mountains is another herd that is hunted.

Basically the best advice I can give you is find someone to take you to their camp, if you can, at least to get you started. That will give you enough to get going. If you want to try it yourself you'll have to pick an area and contact the WDFW for some advice on good areas to try. Just don't expect very much, success rate for Wa. is around 5% and most of the areas are spike-only. Don't bother coming here for trophy hunting, spend your money for a Idaho or Colorado tag, that's what I've done in the past and going to Colorado next year. This state sucks pretty bad for hunting in general, although bird hunting can be good at times, especially ducks and geese.

finnbear 10-08-2008 10:10 PM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
where in the hell were U that it was -23f ........thats OK U just go up to republic and hunt the large herd they have up there LOL!!!!! I'll stay and hunt the manashtash, nice rolling hills covered with sage, beautiful elk area!!! and so what if it's spike only, they do have branch antler bull tags along with cow tags as well!!! out of the 13 elk I've gotten I've never shot a big bull....they taste horrible!! them spikes and cows are nice and tender and very tasty!!:D

Power 10-09-2008 09:44 AM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
True, the spikes are probably one of the best elk you'll ever eat! I've only shot 3 in the last 12 years of hunting but I've enjoyed everyone of them! Too bad those big bull tags are so hard to get (11 points and counting, 1 point per year). And it certainly doesn't help that the native american's are up by the reserve shooting quite a number of big bulls (confirmed talking to a warden during labor day weekend). Kind of makes our odds of ever being drawn just about nil.

finnbear 10-09-2008 09:33 PM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
wellI won't get into the indians killing an inordinate number of elk, just as I won't get into the white hunters sending runners into the reserve to chase the elk out on opening morning!!! There are bad hunters....(no lets call them what they are, scum sucking poachers!!) from all walks of life and they give us all a black eye!! the indians are not to hunt the preserve either but some, not allbreak the rules, just as some not all whites break the rules!!! yes the indians are allowed some extra perks but they have also gotten a bad rap from some, I always hear that they stretch their nets clear across the Columbia and thats why we have no salmon!! I have never seen this, the Columbia is a navigable river with barges running up and down it every day, kinda raise hell with them nets all the way across don't ya think?? But I digress...I do agree that we have some issues with the fish and wildlife dept. and them having their craniums up their rectums!!! do U remember when we had a month to hunt deer and a month to hunt elk?? I thought we had more animals around back then! I always hunt the exact same area every year, never shot an elk in the timber after walking 10 miles in from a road!! hell I can see my house from where I hunt! ....plus if i shot a big bull I'd have to build a bigger house to hang the horns in ...and at this point in my life ...that ain't gonna happen

BTW what areas are U putting in for? just on the clockum side...or the ZOO as the locals call it??? have U tried the observatory unit lotsa big bulls up there if thats what U're looking for

finnbear 10-17-2008 10:42 AM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
Just drove thru the clockum on the way to the mission GMU to see if we could find a doe for a 11 year old to shoot...no deer outside the wind farm, but elk all over the place!! lots of spikes, a few big bulls, camps allready moving in for the open day of the zoo!!!!

Power 10-19-2008 12:21 PM

RE: Elk Hunting in Washington
 
Very true, I hate to use generalizations like that, always a few bad apples making the rest look bad. I heard some more tales of signs that the indian's put up by their camp. I won't go into it but lets just say if those few continue with those kind of antics it won't be long before some redneck hunters do something drastic. I know I'd not want some of the elk hunters I know getting too riled up.

yes, I hunt the colockum herd but way at the bottom near the river, not up by the zoo. I see hunters on opening day then usually no more the rest of the season. But then I'm in the sage way at the bottom but we do pretty good since we come in low across private property to access state land that others have to walk and drive a long way to get to, then it's all up-hill for them to get an elk out if they get one.

Just too bad not everyone is playing by the same rules. It is so frustrating to apply these last 11 years for a big bull tag and never get one, and then to hear of many big bulls being killed for what? Are the few bad apples shooting all those dozens of big bulls for the meat? I highly doubt it...


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