Roosevelt elk -- how much pressure is too much pressure?

[WaWox]

Context: live in western WA, and want to work towards my first OTC roosevelt elk. This year will be my first time hunting Roosevelt elk. Overall a novice elk hunter. [If you check my forums history, I got my first bull last year but it was a Utah super premium tag I lucked into].

I thought i found a good spot:
- industrial timber land that recently changed hands and now allows public access (vs formerly rather pricey trespass fees), so I thought maybe marginally less pressures than other areas? Maybe not everyone realized it's open now?
- plenty of sign on the ground, can't walk more than a dozen paces on logging roads without stepping in elk poop [but also plenty of coyote and bear poop, so predators are around...]
- pretty good shooting/glassing spots -- plenty of parallel ridge lines with clear cuts or recent reproduction to look into

I went out there this weekend for another scouting run and didn't realize it was muzzie opener.

Every single trailhead had 2-3 trucks parked, most with a couple hunters in them I'd reckon. This is industrial timber land so the spine road is open and the logging roads that branch off every ~500 yards are closed. And literally 2-3 trucks on every single one of these gates for several miles. There isn't much land behind each of these gates, the larger streams and extremely dense old deadfall + reproduction areas that I could not get through even with a machete really cut this terrain into a gris. Basically means you can hike maybe 2-3 miles before it'd be much faster to hike out and come in from another road vs trying to cross very bad terrain.

Is this going to be the same or worse in rifle season? At what point is it better to find a different area ? Or am I overthinking this?

 

[mavinwa2]

Always worse on weekends. More rifle hunters than muzzies too.

 

[NWBLKTAIL]

Welcome to the zoo that is coast rifle season in Oregon and Washington, I’d go look at other spots just to have other plans it can be a big bummer to throw everything at one spot to find out everyone and their dog hunts it

 

[High Climber]

Must be elk there, will be lots of dudes everywhere

 

[MolokoMan]

I would try to find a spot with as little people as possible.

 

[Rogue Bay]

I don’t have any experience in Washington, but have hunted the Oregon coast a fair amount and that sounds about like every coastal rifle elk hunt I’ve experienced. In the areas I have experience with it’s high-impact elk hunting, which is not how I like to hunt. The elk are still there but they get pushed into some nasty hole and only come out after legal shooting hours. It can be terribly frustrating.

Is this timber land you’re scouting bordered by National Forest or is there more industrial timber land around it? That could dictate if/where the elk move when hit with heavy hunting pressure. One of the industrial timber properties I have hunted is surrounded on several sides by decadent National Forest and the elk seem to prefer the intense hunting pressure and just change their habits as opposed to leaving and hanging out on public ground.

As stated above, having a plan B and maybe a plan C would be a good idea, but I wouldn’t entirely rule out this ground you’ve been scouting. The elk will likely be there somewhere.

 

[WaWox]

Thanks! Sounds like this is what I should expect from any plot that looks sufficiently "obvious" on onX.. i am used to it for blacktail (where I stay closer to home.. and thus also closer for hundreds of thousands of other people!) but I somehow thought the remoteness of this spot would help.

Basically, I am wondering how people find less pressure. Is it pay for play ? There is a lot of industrial timerbland in that corner of WA but (fortunately!!) the vast majority is open access, and the pockets that aren't don't seem to have established access policies / seem like small maybe even family operations.

 

[Rogue Bay]

I’ve yet to come across a good elk spot on the coast here that isn’t already well known and hunted hard. We certainly have elk on the national forest but densities are low and the habitat is tough to hunt. Most of the industrial timber lands here don’t allow access so the ones that do get pounded hard. It sounds like a lot of the timber land where you’re hunting is open for access, which is helpful. The elk can’t just run onto the neighboring property and take refuge the entire season. I guess I’d keep exploring, hoping to find a little pocket or saddle where pressured elk may go and try to use the other hunters to my advantage.

There are some great Roosevelt hunters on this forum so hopefully they chime in.

 

[WaWox]

I know Rocky Mountain Elk travel huge distances and might plausibly be pushed into an entirely different GMU by pressure (or just by random wandering around!)

But Roosevelt are more stationary, right?

The GMU i am looking at has virtually no zero-access land but it's neighboring GMUs are bordered by some combination of tribal lands, nat parks, limited entry/no hunting GMUs, and other no hunting areas. Trying to be a little vague to respect the no-naming-GMUs rule but the elk would need to travel at least 14miles as the crow flies to get into an area where only tribal members / park Rangers / very lucky draw winners/ people with a very fancy backyard can shoot them.

That's probably well within range for a RMElk (even if a not straight path walk is closer to 3x the line distance ?) , but might mean Roosies stay put instead?

 

[Rogue Bay]

There are Roosevelt hunters on here that are much more knowledgeable than I am, but I wouldn’t expect them to be blown out of the country by hunting pressure. I don’t know that I’d call them stationary, but the do have a much smaller range on average and I would expect expect them to hunker down in some thick stuff within their range and move very little during daylight hours.

 

[WaWox]

There are Roosevelt hunters on here that are much kore knowledgeable than I am, but I wouldn’t expect them to be blown out of the country by hunting pressure. I don’t know that I’d call them stationary, but the do have a much smaller range on average and I would expect expect them to hunker down in some thick stuff within their range and move very little during daylight hours.

Thank you! That's very good news, I think

So this was my plan:

Get to trail head ~90min before shooting light. Hike in 1-1.5miles to get to good glassing light at least 30min before shooting light. Stare into ~2 year old reproduction edges with thick older growth on the north facing side (?) of the ridge until I find elk. Have shooting distance / wind stuff dialed in.

This might still work, even with tons of pressure then right?

 

[mavinwa2]

have to share with you.
Couple young fellas I know hike in the day before and spike camp several western WA areas. It gets very crowded during rifle.

About 20 years ago, I helped pack out an elk in SWestern WA. Friend often tagged a Rosie bull every year. Got to experience, see the terrain he hunts and it was thick, wet and nasty. As in thick, overgrown, old clear-cut re-prod, a trickle of a creek drainage in the bottom of a deep ravine, lined with waist high devils club!

the main reason I hunt only eastern WA...and that's not much better but at least drier for the most part

 

[Nmarth88]

Look up WDFW harvest rates. That will give you an idea of what you are up against in terms of success versus the amount of hunters and average days hunted. I believe I have a pretty good idea of what area(s) you are indicating and will tell you that rifle will be much more crowded and that is due to more people being successful with a rifle. The area I hunt wasn’t to crowded as years past this year, but over this weekend hunting muzzy with my boy we were on timber land that we pay for access that boarders state land Working a bull for my boy when another hunter started working the bull from the opposite side of the ravine. He ended up closer and shot the bull. Good lesson for my kid to wa state hunting. Hopefully you are successful, but I can tell you that most people do not get out of their trucks and actually hunt, but be prepared for pressure any piece of land you intend to hunt

 

[Rogue Bay]

Again, all I can speak to is what I’ve experienced on the southern Oregon coast but on the heavily hunted timber ground I know, success rates are still quite good. If you’re getting in deep and early, I would think you have as good a chance as anyone, maybe better. Persistence seems to reward the regulars. I would be prepared for some frustration, though, knowing there will likely be a lot of other hunters. Some of you plans are liable to go sideways on you. It’s just the name of the game.

 

[Indian Summer]

I’ve hunted near Rosburg along the Columbia and over near Toledo. The elk definitely knew where the private property was. But they didn’t always stay on it exclusively. Try to find heavy trails coming on and off private… or ask for permission.

 

[hibernation]

Stare into ~2 year old reproduction edges with thick older growth on the north facing side (?) of the ridge until I find elk. Have shooting distance / wind stuff dialed in.

That's a decent strategy for about the first 15 to 30 minutes of shooting light. After that, with all the hunting pressure, they're going to step back into the thick reprod or brush-choked drainages and vanish. In some of those places, they might as well be on the moon for how effectively you can hunt them at that point.

 

[WaWox]

That's a decent strategy for about the first 15 to 30 minutes of shooting light. After that, with all the hunting pressure, they're going to step back into the thick reprod or brush-choked drainages and vanish. In some of those places, they might as well be on the moon for how effectively you can hunt them at that point.

The 'might as well be on the moon' thing is definitely true, probably the same as for blacktail.

Two years ago my colleague and I were in the slightly thinned part of state forest land and staring at a figurative wall of reprod. We were standing in what looked like a deer poop factory, so we knew there must be something somewhere but didn't even think there could be anything inside the tangled mess of blackberry alder salal salmonberry etc we were staring at. And with no warning a buck just steps out of it like the terminator liquifying and getting thru steel bars ... and my colleague floored him with one frontal shot at 10 yards

But I have no clue how to hunt that type of terrain other via the dumbest dumb luck?

Too long a story for the question but: Whats the strategy after the first 30minutes of light? Pray for dumb luck?,

 

[Dark timber]

Thank you! That's very good news, I think

So this was my plan:

Get to trail head ~90min before shooting light. Hike in 1-1.5miles to get to good glassing light at least 30min before shooting light. Stare into ~2 year old reproduction edges with thick older growth on the north facing side (?) of the ridge until I find elk. Have shooting distance / wind stuff dialed in.

This might still work, even with tons of pressure then right?

If you get there 90 min before shooting light, you’ll be the last one there.

It’s super important to “hunt” them in the days leading up to season. Assuming you find elk, keep tabs on them making sure nobody blows them out and put them to bed the night before the opener. Get in there really early and stay back a bit so you don’t blow your scent all over where they’re feeding and kill one at daylight. We always ride mountain bikes in and will drop them at the top of whatever spur we’re down so nobody hopeful comes in on top of us. Also, when looking for elk in western Wa, you can completely disregard north facing slopes and most other logic that comes with hunting Rockies. Rosies don’t typically move a lot, they can live in a crick bottom for a while and have everything they need, completely hidden to guys on the ridge top logging roads. They are also at home in thick dog hair reprod that’s 10+ feet tall. You can catch them moving through gaps in the reprod from across a draw. Tall reprod hillsides are a good place to glass for lone bulls, I’ve found.

 

[coast range]

Yeah finding them that week and watching them the couple days leading up to the season. Sitting at the gate hours before first light then hiking in a couple hours before first light to where you know they are. That’s how my buddies do it year in and year out. They are the 5 percent.
I hate rifle season, the stress is ridiculous. I’m an archery guy

 

[blackveltbowhunter]

I guess I am in the minority. Rifle season had far less pressure in both areas I hunted than the other 2 seasons. Combined with weapon effectiveness and the odds for some help from the weather an argument could be made its currently the best season for tagging an elk in W.Wa. It sounds like you already have the hard part done and have located an area with a huntable elk population. I cant say it will be the same for you, but don't be discouraged just yet!!

Pray for some rain. Don't need a down pour but enough to clean the slate for sign is super helpful. I agree with those suggesting attempting to locate in "glassable" locations early on or prior to the hunt starting. Most areas will have had heavy pressure from deer hunters prior to the opener and this year there is no rest period. If no luck locating them in the open, spend your day cruising areas and looking for sign. I am looking for solo elk sign if I can find it if targeting a bull. I like to get in creek draws with 15 to 20 year old or older trees above. Cruise at the RMZ line checking for sign. A lone track is often a bull that time of year, ( this is where the rain can come in handy and assist in indicating freshness, weather fronts can also be a boon for consistent wind and help in choosing draws that will keep wind in your favor while moving ). If I find something that piques the interest I will look for any areas adjacent that may offer a vantage and shooting positions into feeding areas. I then will plan my hunts to include those spots at first or last light. Back into the creek draws during the day to assess sign, rinse and repeat. Usually doing this for a couple days will turn up an area where you can be confident a bull is living and then you can develop a strategy from there till he is dead or blown out.

Rosies can move the same distance as rockies and I have seen some do it, mainly bulls during rut, but typically they just flat don't need to given the amount of cover options and food at their disposal. I look for areas an elk is living. A herd of elk moves, a single elk will often stay fixed on a bench or bottom for many days.