New to Eastern WA

[Prairie Rambler]

How's it going? Just moved to the Spokane area for work from SD. Thought I'd throw a post on here in the hopes I'd find a partner or two to maybe help show me the ropes a little(or ride the struggle bus learning lol). Plan on hunting everything with a season and have a strong back. Looking forward to turkey season next month!

 

[JohnCushman]

Welcome!

 

[Prairie Rambler]

Welcome!

Thanks John! I'm not entirely new to hunt talk, I just read alot more then I post/comment

 

[kwyeewyk]

Welcome to Washington, we've got a lot of people but the hunting isn't too bad. You shouldn't have much trouble finding whitetails and turkeys over there, and the any elk/any bull units can be pretty good too if you spend the time to figure them out. Plenty of opportunities for most other game as well. Lots of cool areas to explore right around Spokane, some great mountains in the NE corner. I don't know any hunters that live around there anymore though.

 

[Prairie Rambler]

Welcome to Washington, we've got a lot of people but the hunting isn't too bad. You shouldn't have much trouble finding whitetails and turkeys over there, and the any elk/any bull units can be pretty good too if you spend the time to figure them out. Plenty of opportunities for most other game as well. Lots of cool areas to explore right around Spokane, some great mountains in the NE corner. I don't know any hunters that live around there anymore though.

That's the general consensus from what I've read online(turkeys and whitetail being easy) . I've been creeping on NE WA online for a couple months now. Everyone seems to talk alot of trash about the any elk/any bull area's but I'm sceptical myself. I haven't gotten a chance to get out and explore yet, hoping to go this weekend.

 

[kwyeewyk]

I suspect that the few hunters who really have those areas figured out are going to guard them pretty close, considering the relatively low (for Washington) hunter densities in those units. The elk are definitely far and few between, a different kind of elk hunting than most people are used to. I've always wanted to spend more time over there, just a long drive, so instead I just hunt closer to home and go archery so there's a chance for a cow in these units that are spike only for rifle. The wolves have gotten pretty well established in the NE, not sure how much that has affected elk, but presumably a little.

 

[HUNTNNW]

I have 30 plus years knowing the elk in NE WA and I share it with no one, not even my closest friends know. If you are looking for elk near Spokane then you better know land owners. There is a reason the NE elk harvest is usually around 1% its hard to find them in extremely thick and steep areas and lots of country with no elk, allot try and give up. It will take years to learn and miles on boots to develop these spots. And all of NE WA is a mere fraction of deer and elk numbers from just 6 years ago. Pretty sad to see whats happened around here. Areas I had hunted for decades for whitetails are all but gone, some areas are down at least 60-70%. Doe tags are almost non existent anymore. Way more info on the Hunt Washington.com forum

 

[Prairie Rambler]

I suspect that the few hunters who really have those areas figured out are going to guard them pretty close, considering the relatively low (for Washington) hunter densities in those units. The elk are definitely far and few between, a different kind of elk hunting than most people are used to. I've always wanted to spend more time over there, just a long drive, so instead I just hunt closer to home and go archery so there's a chance for a cow in these units that are spike only for rifle. The wolves have gotten pretty well established in the NE, not sure how much that has affected elk, but presumably a little.

I'm definitely with you there. I'm still weighing my options on what unit/area I want to hunt. Might just go for a spike only unit

 

[Prairie Rambler]

I have 30 plus years knowing the elk in NE WA and I share it with no one, not even my closest friends know. If you are looking for elk near Spokane then you better know land owners. There is a reason the NE elk harvest is usually around 1% its hard to find them in extremely thick and steep areas and lots of country with no elk, allot try and give up. It will take years to learn and miles on boots to develop these spots. And all of NE WA is a mere fraction of deer and elk numbers from just 6 years ago. Pretty sad to see whats happened around here. Areas I had hunted for decades for whitetails are all but gone, some areas are down at least 60-70%. Doe tags are almost non existent anymore. Way more info on the Hunt Washington.com forum

I've been reading alot on that forum actually. I'm assuming the hunting in WA is similar for other states I've hunted in, 90% of the people are within a mile of the road. I'm just trying to stay optimistic about the area and see for myself. Thank you though

 

[ntodwild]

How's it going? Just moved to the Spokane area for work from SD. Thought I'd throw a post on here in the hopes I'd find a partner or two to maybe help show me the ropes a little(or ride the struggle bus learning lol). Plan on hunting everything with a season and have a strong back. Looking forward to turkey season next month!

Colville! look to the area to spend your days Turkey and White Tail hunting. Some fantastic hunting in the area. Colfax has some really good mule deer hunting and you're surely not far from the Cascade mountain range, Yakima (largest Elk Herds in Washington) as well as the Ellensburg area which has some great Elk Hunting. If you are looking for black bear look no further than south of where you are in the Blue Mountains of Washington. It's also a hop skip and a jump to Idaho for some amazing big bull (late season) elk hunting. Plenty of "areas" to explore. As many have said, you won't get people on this forum to give you their honey holes but hopefully this will give you some starting points to look at.

Welcome to the forum

 

[Prairie Rambler]

Colville! look to the area to spend your days Turkey and White Tail hunting. Some fantastic hunting in the area. Colfax has some really good mule deer hunting and you're surely not far from the Cascade mountain range, Yakima (largest Elk Herds in Washington) as well as the Ellensburg area which has some great Elk Hunting. If you are looking for black bear look no further than south of where you are in the Blue Mountains of Washington. It's also a hop skip and a jump to Idaho for some amazing big bull (late season) elk hunting. Plenty of "areas" to explore. As many have said, you won't get people on this forum to give you their honey holes but hopefully this will give you some starting points to look at.

Welcome to the forum

Thanks for the pointers! I wasn't looking for a hand out, just a hunting partner and someone to possibly learn from. I have next to no experience elk/bear hunting but I'll figure it out I'm sure.

 

[Irrelevant]

Way more info on the Hunt Washington.com forum

Way more BS too.

 

[JLS]

Thanks for the pointers! I wasn't looking for a hand out, just a hunting partner and someone to possibly learn from. I have next to no experience elk/bear hunting but I'll figure it out I'm sure.

Fall bear hunting is fun. Find the fruit, find the bears.

 

[Salmonchaser]

If you’re going to be there for a while start applying for the limited entry bull hunts in the Blues, there are some dandy’s in there.
I’ve retired back home to Oregon but hunted Washington for twenty years. There are lots of white tails from Conconely to Colville and down into the blues. We used to have pretty good luck knocking on doors after opening weekend getting access.

 

[ntodwild]

Just a pointer. Oct 1st is open application for the following year in Idaho for out of state applications. So Oct 1st. 2020 you can apply for the Idaho 2021 season. Keep that in your mind.
You will learn plenty about Elk hunting on this forum. I would caution you from asking "general question". General question will do nothing more than get you a bunch of opinion on peoples favorite this or that. Be specific about your questions and you will get specific answers. It's a great educational forum if you use it to your benefit.

Welcome to Eastern Washington (The better side of Washington for sure).

 

[HUNTNNW]

to apply for a ID controlled permit isnt until may, to purchase just a general elk and deer tag I am pretty sure that is Dec 1

 

[HUNTNNW]

The highest density of black bears in the lower 48 reside in the NE WA units, 204,101,105,113,108,121 ..if you want to predator hunt WA is your state, full of bears, cats,yotes and wolves. PM me if you want tips on bear hunting.

some on here commenting must not be in touch with whats going on with herds in WA, this is the second season in a row that quality bull tags have been cut in half in all yakima and blue mountain herds. The herds are a fraction of what they were. drawing one of those tags now is pretty much once in a lifetime.

 

[ntodwild]

to apply for a ID controlled permit isnt until may, to purchase just a general elk and deer tag I am pretty sure that is Dec 1

Yep, my bad. It is Dec. 1st.

 

[kwyeewyk]

I think in general people commenting here are trying to have a positive outlook and encourage Prairie Rambler, anybody who has hunted WA for elk knows the challenges, it's down right tough, but if you come into it with a defeated attitude you'll never have any fun. Yes numbers are down following big drought years in 2014, 2015, yes wolves are having some effect on numbers, and probably more effect on behavior. Yes, special tags have been cut, and were already hard to draw. But, numbers can come back up, maybe someday we'll be able to properly manage wolves, and our special tags use a squared bonus point, so yeah, some may never draw, but others will draw twice, and sometimes with very few points. Learning to hunt elk in Washington is a great way to build skills because it will rarely be easy.

 

[kwyeewyk]

Here's some numbers to ponder,eastside general season only, no special tags other than the Multiple Weapon permit....District 1 is true NE WA, Any bull, thick trees/brush and steep terrain, a lot of pubic land. It's not an easy hunt, I will attest to that. District 2 is around Spokane, any elk, lots of private property, easy terrain to hunt for the most part, if you can get access. Higher success rates are likely attributed to private property/local knowledge of elk use patterns, and any elk. District 3 is Blue Mountains in SW WA, spike only (general rifle), I've never been there, but my understanding is a mix of private/public, public land is a lot of steep canyons/hell holes. District 8 is Yakima and Colockum herds, spike or true spike (Colockum) only, plenty of public land, terrain from open, to mixed, to forested, level to steep, probably densest elk numbers, but also by far most people. There are other districts with elk too.

	# Hunters							% Success							DPK
	5 yr average	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014		5 yr Average	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014		5 yr Average	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014
Dist 1 Archery	942	990	862	984	927	947	Dist 1 Archery	6.64	7	5.7	8.2	6.6	5.7	Dist 1 Archery	98.8	93	124	86	88	103
Dist 1 Modern	2419.4	2416	2250	2449	2631	2351	Dist 1 Modern	4.64	3	6.1	4.7	4.7	4.7	Dist 1 Modern	94.6	133	71	96	86	87
Dist 1 Multiple	52.2	61	72	64	18	46	Dist 1 Multiple	31.24	21	23.6	18.8	66.7	26.1	Dist 1 Multiple	35.4	48	43	50	10	26
Dist 1 Muzzle	544.2	509	348	520	687	657	Dist 1 Muzzle	5.56	8	5.2	6.2	4.7	3.7	Dist 1 Muzzle	87.6	54	90	75	94	125
Dist 2 Archery	455.4	496	457	417	466	441	Dist 2 Archery	9.22	10	12.3	8.4	8.6	6.8	Dist 2 Archery	61.8	57	44	73	59	76
Dist 2 Modern	1376.4	1331	1311	1297	1407	1536	Dist 2 Modern	12.92	13	12.1	13.2	12.5	13.8	Dist 2 Modern	30.6	32	33	30	31	27
Dist 2 Multiple	26.2	34	44	26	4	23	Dist 2 Multiple	34.66	50	31.8	15.4	50	26.1	Dist 2 Multiple	22.6	15	26	40	4	28
Dist 2 Muzzle	615.6	599	546	545	715	673	Dist 2 Muzzle	12.42	14	13.6	14.1	9.9	10.5	Dist 2 Muzzle	38.6	33	34	37	47	42
Dist 3 Archery	673.6	494	672	692	705	805	Dist 3 Archery	5.02	2	4.9	5.6	7	5.6	Dist 3 Archery	143	277	139	113	85	101
Dist 3 Modern	2286.4	1884	2178	2163	2535	2672	Dist 3 Modern	3.64	3	2.5	2.6	5.8	4.3	Dist 3 Modern	148	161	205	189	80	105
Dist 3 Multiple	23.6	18	37	27	5	31	Dist 3 Multiple	26.54	0	0	33.3	80	19.4	Dist 3 Multiple	12.2	0	0	25	4	32
Dist 3 Muzzle	200	232	269	235	212	52	Dist 3 Muzzle	5.9	5	1.5	3.4	6.1	13.5	Dist 3 Muzzle	137.8	86	351	153	66	33
Dist 8 Archery	5527	5018	5379	5569	6407	5262	Dist 8 Archery	8.86	7	9.6	9.4	10.1	8.2	Dist 8 Archery	72.4	96	66	72	56	72
Dist 8 Modern	12465.4	10618	11480	12694	13888	13647	Dist 8 Modern	4.28	4	2.8	4.5	5.6	4.5	Dist 8 Modern	133.6	148	199	120	90	111
Dist 8 Multiple	213.6	244	257	254	64	249	Dist 8 Multiple	24.44	14	11.3	13.8	71.9	11.2	Dist 8 Multiple	47.4	55	72	51	7	52
Dist 8 Muzzle	2223.2	1964	2071	2286	2223	2572	Dist 8 Muzzle	4.64	5	3	4.3	6.2	4.7	Dist 8 Muzzle	108	94	159	115	73	99