What's busy?

[PNW bow hunter]

I have hunted WA my entire life and started hunting out of state in 2017. I started with Idaho and have since moved on to Montana. Will hunt Wyoming one day soon and probably Oregon at some point as well as back in Idaho. What I find interesting is other states idea of "busy" or "crowded". In our time out of state, we have been fortunate enough to have people help us and give us tips on where to hunt. We hear about areas being busy a lot and when we get there we will find 5 to 10 camps.

In WA that would be almost no pressure, yet in Idaho that area would be considered heavily pressured. So my question is, what do you consider a "busy" or "crowded" area?

In all my years of hunting, the craziest place I’ve ever hunted was in Washington. I went on a Roosevelt rifle elk hunt with a buddy up in the blast zone of an un-named mountain the erupted in The 1980’s. There was over 20 trucks at and around one gate the night before the opener. We hiked out about 5 miles that night. The first 30 minutes of daylight I heard the most spectacular barrage of gunfire I have ever heard!

That seemed crowded to me!

 

[huntingaddiction]

In all my years of hunting, the craziest place I’ve ever hunted was in Washington. I went on a Roosevelt rifle elk hunt with a buddy up in the blast zone of an un-named mountain the erupted in The 1980’s. There was over 20 trucks at and around one gate the night before the opener. We hiked out about 5 miles that night. The first 30 minutes of daylight I heard the most spectacular barrage of gunfire I have ever heard!

That seemed crowded to me!

Oh the good ol' WA pumpkin patch! Rifle elk is the worst as you are only going to find elk in so many places that you can hunt here.

 

[Northpark]

When I drove out of an otherwise empty drainage with a rack in the back of the pickup and there were ten trucks there by the time I made it back from the butcher.

I tried to sneak a nice 6x6 out of a busy trailhead one time. Before I could leave I had 15-20 dudes hanging around asking where I shot it because they hadn’t even seen an elk yet. I made up some BS story about shooting it in some crappy drainage. Before I left all of them had rifles and were racing each other up that drainage. Kinda pathetic looking in all honesty.

 

[Elkangle]

In all my years of hunting, the craziest place I’ve ever hunted was in Washington. I went on a Roosevelt rifle elk hunt with a buddy up in the blast zone of an un-named mountain the erupted in The 1980’s. There was over 20 trucks at and around one gate the night before the opener. We hiked out about 5 miles that night. The first 30 minutes of daylight I heard the most spectacular barrage of gunfire I have ever heard!

That seemed crowded to me!

I remember a similar hunt most likely in the same area...the headlights before dark was unreal...then 75% of the elk died off from hoof rot and it seems pressure has died down abit

But with that said colorado was unbelievable compared to alot of Washington...it was disgusting

Every state has areas of pressure..Washington is one of the easiest to get away from the crowds in alot of ways

 

[CJohnson]

Colorado first and second rifle in a popular unit in the NW part of the state is the only place I’ve ever been worried about being shot while field dressing an animal. And, I hunt public land white tails and turkeys in SC.

 

[Wags]

Colorado first and second rifle in a popular unit in the NW part of the state is the only place I’ve ever been worried about being shot while field dressing an animal. And, I hunt public land white tails and turkeys in SC.

This is accurate..... I've hunted around in different states and to this day I've never seen anything less sporting & ethical than some of the shenanigans I've seen in that area. Mostly by Elk hunters. Craziness.

 

[b0nes]

North Idaho panhandle rifle elk season. My dad used to hunt a unit south of CDA and seeing 3 to 4000 elk hunters in the same unit in a 2 week period is insanity. Idaho fish and game needs to get with the times and make these draw units. I hunted with him for a long weekend a few years ago and we saw elk every day but you couldn’t help but feel bad for them. Every time you saw them they were running. Wolves are of minuscule impact compared to hunters.

 

[Tjdeerslayer37]

not out west, but theres been many years ive heard 200+ shots by 9am on gun opener here in michigan, with 580,000 hunters it makes for scary times on public ground sometimes

 

[LookinforDirt]

First year elk hunting: went the third week of the season, thinking it would be peak rut. Hunted fire one week. Elk sign everywhere, no elk. Must be due to hunter pressure. Decided to make a different plan for year #2.

Second year elk hunting: went to the same place as year #1. Ran into 21 hunters in the drainage I was hunting. In ONE week! That explained the lack of elk the year prior. Decided to make a different plan for year #3.

Third year elk hunting: went to a different state, hoping for less pressure. Picked out a “super top secret” trail head using digital scouting. Got there the day before the season and there was 32 trucks parked at the trailhead.

That is what I call busy.

Yikes. My take on digital scouting is if I can find it, no matter how obscure it may seem, others have found it.

 

[huntingaddiction]

Yikes. My take on digital scouting is if I can find it, no matter how obscure it may seem, others have found it.

Agreed but have they hiked into it...I found an area in WA where I have never seen anyone and the only human sign is an old fire pit from many years back. Not really a day trip area and it is a long ways from any trail.

 

[87TT]

See a hunter or vehicle, too crowded.

 

[huntingaddiction]

See a hunter or vehicle, too crowded.

Unless you are hunting private property or have pack animals you, how do you hunt? Or is just every place you go too crowded?

 

[87TT]

If I see a hunter or vehicle parked, I go somewhere else. Not saying it doesn’t happen but my idea of too busy.

 

[bluetick78]

I've been hunting a spot that's a vehicle-restricted area in Idaho for quite a few years. Every year there seems to be a few more hunters. Problem is, they are openly ignoring the vehicle restrictions and using atv's to day hunt illegally. You can pack camping gear in and back out, and pack out downed game with an atv, but you cannot ride one for hunting outside of these 2 exceptions. Most years I'll see 5-10 guys over the course of the season that hike in, camp a few days and hunt, then hike out. Since '20, it's been non-stop increases in hunters, with most of them using atv's illegally. Driving old 2 tracks with closed signage on them, bugling from the 4 wheeler, etc. It's really difficult to see the lack of enforcement, and the hunters that know they are breaking the law because the risk of getting caught is low. Soon the Forest Service will gate and lock the area to motorized use to deal with the issue, and then I'll have my "spot" back along with a few other motivated hunters, till then I'll be in an area that simply doesn't have roads. As to the crowding, 5 years ago I saw 7 hunters in that spot in 18 days of hunting....all on foot. Last fall I saw 64 other hunters....and I was the only one on foot hunting legally. The crowding is real, it is being felt everywhere no matter where you hunt.

 

[jgilber5]

This spring set a new record for me. Ran into 20 people in 4 hours turkey hunting, had my decoys shot, and encountered a "turkey drive". Guys walking in a line ridge to ridge blowing the most awful crow and coyote calls you've ever heard at about noon