I got a forked horn over in GMU 588 - Grayback unit on the last day of the regular season. It was only the 3rd buck that I saw in 6 days of intense hunting.

I saw maybe 4-5 does and 2-3 fawns. There was some rub, but not a great lot.

A gamey who checked me out said that I was lucky to get a deer, that they had not checked very many during the season. The gamey said that in her opinion, the cougars were getting the deer.

I saw plenty of cougar tracks this year, as I did last year. Some folks in our camp saw a large cougar south of camp. I talked with one guy who had a cougar walk through his camp. He was located about halfway between Glenwood and Trout Lake.

Did any of you hunt either 588 or 578 - West Klikitat? What was your impression of the deer and cougar populataions?

The elk were a little scarce in all the areas that I hunted in 578 and 588. Quite a bit of sign, but couldn't catch any of them that wanted to see my freezer

Also...where did the turkeys go this fall? Last deer & elk season I must have seen 50-75 turkeys just in Grayback alone.

I am heading to 578 this wednesday - to see if my boy can get close to either an elk or deer with a muzzy...need freezer meat. Do you think that with the snow it will be easier - maybe even get the herds moving?

Bullelkkllr:

I spent some time in the eastern edges of 578 - West Klikitat during the last week of deer and during modern firearm elk.

Saw some good sign here and there. I only saw 3 bucks in 578. The only elk of any numbers that we ran across were in the Quigley Peak area, located north of the Glennwood-Trout Lake Hwy.

The elk were both on Quigley Peak (Steep and Brushy) and in the thinned timber areas around the peak.

There's a big ol' 6x7 hiding out in the general area. I also saw a gnarly big ol' 4 point blacktail over that way. I watched him mount a doe 4 times going across a clear cut. He was a big ol' boy.

Should be plenty of snow. It started snowing in Vancouver this morning. THe freezing level is supposed to be around 500 ft or so.

578 could get dumped on. Hard to say what the elk will do. Most likely a lot will head for the Conboy Lake Refuge.

Good Luck!

Let me know how you did.


Hog

ps: There have been some new land acquisitions by the refuge that are not yet marked clearly. Be careful hunting on the refuge borders. If you screw up, Harold will bust yer butt in a hurry! The man can see around corners and through bull****!! He's like Santa Clause...he knows when you've been bad!

In case you don't know, Harold Cole is the refuge manager and is also a reserve Klikitat County Sheriff. (Limited sense of humor when it comes to "His Elk")

Hog -

thanx for the information - having never hunted there myself, any info is great info. The guy that I am tagging along with knows the area pretty good from the way it sounds.

when hunting new areas I am pretty careful about keeping track of where I'm at....I really prefer large expanses of forest or wilderness that I goto in Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado - then you just have the worries about crossing into private ground.

Also - so if the new aquisitions are not yet marked how is a person to know those boundaries? Is there a map that can be bought and/or looked at for reference?

Those refuges are supposed to be real good huntin Just kidding!

Are the elk migratory in the area? Do they move into this refuge when the snow falls?

Time for some mapwork.

thanx again

Another question (am I annoying yet?) -->

Can you hunt on the Yakima Indian reservation?

I see that some hunting is actually allowed on the refuge, and a place to write for a map:

http://areas.wildernet.com/pages/area.cfm?areaID=WANWRCLK&CU_ID=1

Aha - I got Harold's email and I am going to ask the questions to him directly - nothing better than getting the info from the horses - or uh, managers mouth.

Bullelkkllr:

Do NOT hunt on the Yakima Indian Reservation!! Bad, Bad thing to do!!

The elk are migratory and a lot of them do head for the refuge. There are some good areas to intercept them. You don't need to crowd the refuge for good elk.

There are some locals and townies who do crowd the refuge on opening day and have a legal slaughter. Not my style. I've heard some disgusting stories from witnesses.

The herd bull on the refuge is a huge 6 x 2, he has 6 on one side with a spike and a big drop tine on the other. He is seldom observed near the roads.

Yes, parts of the refuge are open to duck and deer hunting. There are signs along the road that say public hunting area. Be very careful. Those areas are NOT open for elk hunting. If Harold (aka Deputy Dick ) catches you on the wrong side of the fence, you'll wish that you were on the Reservation talking to tribal police!!

Saw lots of Cougar tracks and 2 animals this season. There's some big cats out there.

If the Bird Creek Inn is open in Glenwood, they have some pretty good tacos on Wednsday night. Say "Howdy!" to Amanda for me.

Also, the Logs down in BZ Corner has good grub. Say Hello to Lori for me! Tell her we'll see her in camp next year! (She'll know who I am!) Nice lady!

Good Luck!

Hog

We won't get there till wednesday night - we typically prep our food prior to the trip and then heat it up at camp...but should something fall on the ground we would make a trip to the local pub/restaurant for some grub and a game of pool and bs'ing.

I did sent the email over to Harold.

I don't like the sound of the refuge edge hunting - sounds somewhat like lateseason at Gardiner MT....not my cup of JD.

Thanx for the info - with this snow I am really starting to get antsie - I love tracking down elk in the snow.