My Favorite Elk Hunting Area

[Swede]

I would like to start a series of elk hunting favorites. The theme will change, but it is intended to focus on people, places, tactics and things related to elk hunting.

Probably my favorite hunting area for both deer and elk is in the Wallowa Mountains of eastern Oregon. My second favorite are the Blue Mountains of Oregon. There are some very limited places there with long waiting lines for entering, but I have not gone there. I started hunting the Wallowa Mountains in the early 1960s with my dad and brother. The hunting is great there even if I don't get an animal. It is several years between sightings of a rather large bull, but I enjoy the scenery, the small towns around the mountains, my camp, and my hunting companions.
I worked and hunted in the Blue Mountains for years. They were handy as they were so close to home, and I served with the Forest Service there. I also enjoyed hunting over the semi-desert water holes and springs I found in the forest.

[Lefty]

Ive chased elk on St Helens: and the Blues too of Washington State.

The Wasatch Front and Monte Cristo ranges in Utah. Idaho! The Bear River range, the Bannocks, and Centennials, Montana just the Gravelies and Centennial's
also the Arco desert in Idaho


Favorites,,, Every place is beautiful in its own way and I have fond memories of each area.

[WapitiTalk1]

Agree with what Lefty said: "Every place is beautiful in its own way, and I have fond memories of each area". If I were to choose my favorite, although I haven't hunted there in many, many years would be NW Montana. Used to be very good hunting pre-wolf introduction but not so much nowadays from what I hear. The area itself is both rugged and beautiful. Lots of creeks containing brookies, high mountain lakes with the brightest cutthroat you've ever seen, lotsa huckleberries in late summer, and some sort of a FS or an old pack trail on each major ridge in a given drainage. This is the area I grew up hunting and it will always be a special place for me.

[Indian Summer]

I love your thread idea Swede. I’ve hunted Southwest Washington along the Columbia River, Northeast Washington in the Blue Mountains, wilderness areas in Idaho, western Montana, Western Wyoming and eastern Wyoming. They all had their differences and pros and cons. Hunting in different areas makes you a more well-rounded elk hunter. I’ve taken tactics I’ve learned in one area and used them with success in other areas. Of course that doesn’t always work. I’m out the door right now, but give me a minute and I’ll get back to this thread.

I think it could be a really good one for people learning how to hunt elk. We get so many questions about gear and tactics. But the answers all depends on where you were hunting. A timber hunter would recommend eight power binoculars while an open country hunter would suggest 10 power or even 15. Have a happy Thanksgiving and talk to you soon. Deer season starts in three days here in Pennsylvania.

This bull is from private land on the edge of the Bighorn Mountains in eastern Wyoming. Most boring hunt ever. It was deer hunting. I’m an explorer! I would never go back. I sat there for a week dreaming about the mountains until I pulled the trigger. Lol

[Tigger]

Geez, I just cannot answer this question with a place name. I don't want any more hunters than there already are. But I will say, I like it for the elk. It is mostly dark timber so it isn't exactly a beautiful place to hunt. No glassing to be done. Other places I have hunted are much more fun to hunt and scenic. Desert elk sound really fun. Would love to try that sometime.

[Swede]

Tigger: Do you hunt an OTC area or is it a part of a draw unit?
Where I hunt, the hunter numbers are controlled. Cow tags are monitored to limit the elk numbers and maintain a decent cow/bull ratio.
You can come and hunt where I do. The chance of killing an elk is far from spectacular, but it is doable. Do not expect to get a big bull on opening morning very often. I am averaging one for about every three weeks of steady hunting.
My advice to anyone thinking they will discover my honey hole by monitoring this thread is in for a rude awakening. I have no honey hole. A friend of my son was trying to figure out how I can be successful so often. He gave a one-word response. "Perseverance." I would add the word "Patience." The tree stand book has more than enough information to give you a head start and to keep you from wasting a lot of time making many of the mistakes I have made over the decades I have spent in a tree. It is no substitute for perseverance and patience.

[wawhitey]

Hi there, first time posting to this forum. My favorite elk spot is right in your honey hole. Not asking for your honey holes or anything, but if you could give me exact gps coords to where i could kill a 360+ bull ina day or two on an otc tag within a couple hundred yards of a road id sure appreciate the help. Thanks in advance!

[WapitiTalk1]

Hi there, first time posting to this forum. My favorite elk spot is right in your honey hole. Not asking for your honey holes or anything, but if you could give me exact gps coords to where i could kill a 360+ bull ina day or two on an otc tag within a couple hundred yards of a road id sure appreciate the help. Thanks in advance!

I’m your huckleberry. I’m gonna send you a few grid coords in a few elk states, there are big bulls in each spot with no hunting pressure, none. Pay no attention the those National Park boundaries, I’m pretty sure they’re off. Go get um . This post will self destruct in 10 seconds.

[Elkhunttoo]

I really like the area I’ve been hunting the last several seasons…I’m just not sure that it likes me

[7mmfan]

My elk hunting locals are fairly limited. I've hunted the Central Washington Cascades for general season spikes and an occasional bull or cow tag. Haven't hunted elk in Washington since 2017 though. I love knowing the ground like the back of my hand, where the elk are likely to be and where they go when pressured, but I got tired of having to hunt for unicorns with 1000 of my best orange friends.

In 2016 we jumped ship and started hunting in Central Idaho. The ground is huge, but very conducive to how we like to hunt and there is game there. We have managed to fill every elk tag we've purchased since 2016 except two. Those tags used to be a sure thing to buy, but now are very difficult to get, which has left our group in a bit of a lurch, scattering us out to wherever we can get tags. Considering trying to rally the group to start focusing on draw states like MT or WY where we can expect to hunt together every couple of years at least, I just don't like the idea of starting from scratch on an area again. My Dad is 67 years old this year and fully admits, the mountains are taking a toll on him. I want to be able to hunt familiar ground with him for last years he has of climbing those mountains with me.