Ive bumped into Elk twice at the upper end of eight mile creek in 18 years of bowhunting over there and I know the local farmers in the valley between early winters and winthrop see them every now and then. I think there are just a few and very few small herds around there. It allways seems to me were the mule deer herds are realy strong the elk herds are not and vice versa. So being that the largest mule deer herds in the state are in okanogan that could be the reason for the lack of Elk and like you said it is great habitat for elk. But none realy to speak of. Any other opinions out there. by the way how about all the bear over there. I think the hound ban has made it great for us guy's hew don't have dogs to get a shot at a real trophy. I've seen alot of nice bears in the past several years. And if they start to over populate let us take 2 on the east side. just my 2 cents.