Wapiti Hide-And-Seek

[Superman]

Thinking about returning to big game hunting. Grew up in what was, at that time, the most productive elk hunting section in Idaho. There, hunting was more like shopping.
Became a man (at least technically/legally), moved away and did not do much hunting after that. Interested in perhaps getting back into it. Looking for advice.

Things have changed since 1975. For example, the rate of idiocy out there has sharply increased. I wonder whether hunting these days is just a bad idea because of this. The likelihood of getting shot should be very low, but I am not confident of this now.

Here is a wonder: I have seen guys setting out for big game wearing green/grey camo clothes. Knowing that big game are color-blind (and don't actually see all that well to begin with), failing to wear orange seems to me like a massively bad idea.

For local guys, and of course one in particular, I'd be interested to hear about hunting in the Peoples' Republic of Washington State. Are there general elk/deer tags that do not require a draw/special permit? Reasonable success rate? A guy who worked for me went out every fall during center fire season and he never came back with a success story.

In my youth, big game hunting made financial sense. Licenses and tags were not prohibitively expensive and, as I mentioned, success rate was good. One day, dad and grandad come home with three elk strapped to grandad's Willys Jeep. Not kidding. (Mom had a license and tag, but probably never held a firearm in her life). But does it still make sense? Or is it now just a sporting thing to affirm one's manliness?

Is there a hard limit to only one? Or can one take an animal during archery season, and another during rifle season?

Or should I just stick with fishing / clamming / crabbing?

[id10t]

Each states game laws are a confusing beast on their own.

That said here in Florida orange is required on public land any season except archery. No requirements on private land. As far as quotas, some WMAs have them for some hunts but not others, some are quota only and some are quota-less or have so many available that they are basically esed for use tracking not limiting access

[Dantilla]

I grew up on elk meat. Dad was very successful.

Any local sporting goods store, Cabelas, whatever, has Washington state's game regulations for free.
Grab a copy, and spend some time going through it thoroughly.
More to be said, but not while typing on this tiny phone

[911 Rod]

Sure looks easy on the hunting shows.

[Rusty Heap]

I heard WA state now requires you to use Barbless Bullets for easy release.

[Superman]

You live in a great place now, Dan. There should be deer in your yard often enough. Perhaps you could take up meditation in the Fall. In a chair at the edge of a clearing with elk sign. And rotten apples.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Superman

You live in a great place now, Dan. There should be deer in your yard often enough.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Well, sure, if you hide a salt lick in your yard.

[Wetwork]

I get a elk or deer every season. Sometimes both. Your questions can really only be answered by your local wildlife dept and for the unit you intend to hunt. Elk herds and deer herds out west here are in decline. So it takes a bunch of work to find a "secret spot." Most of the game is on private property for the free hay.

Nobody really knows what animals can actually see, whether they are color blind or see in color. Its a guess based on the number of rods or such. But they really don't know. Its a educated guess. We kinda know how a mind works but who knows how a critter brain translates what it sees? I think more than anything prey animals see movement above all else. Next comes scent.

For archery I camo up (no face paint) and for rifle I just wear whatever is confortable.

It saves me money to hunt big game for food. But I have the things in my yard and I already have all the gear.

I do know, I'd hate to carry out a elk alone..I'm lazy as heck. I have help.-WW

[Superman]

Thanks, Wetwork. Good info.

Color blindness can be determined pretty conclusively and without regard for retinal anatomy. Also, I'd guess we both know that elk and deer can't really see very well to begin with. Sight is their poorest sense by far. They don't really even see shapes. Many, including myself, have been within 25 feet of them, right out in the open, without them seeing us. But holding still is key. They can see movement VERY well. I wear orange when in the woods during hunting season. Because I totally do not trust hunters.

I totally hear you about the carrying part. Seriously. I'm not a big young man. I am a small-ish older gentleman. I'd have to cut an elk into about twenty pieces.

[Wetwork]

This is YardCow she's off limits according to my lady. I do not ever recommend hand feeding elk, it was dumb and she's a pest now. Its spooky going out at night as she'd have no problem stomping ya in the dark.

[Superman]

YardCow.

[Jeff Higgins]

I started hunting in Washington as a kid. I gave up hunting in Washington at least fifteen years ago. It just isn't worth it anymore.

Yes, there are seasons open for all of our big game animals wherein we can just buy a tag and go. No drawings, no lotteries. They are divided into deer seasons and elk seasons, they never overlap. We can hunt black bear and cougar essentially from late summer to early winter, both requiring their own tags.

Deer and elk seasons are divided into three distinctly separate seasons by hunting method - general season which allows the use of any legal weapon, muzzle loader season, and archery season. We have to pick one, we cannot hunt all three. Muzzle loader and archery seasons used to be "bonus" seasons, but that changed 30 years ago. So now we have to choose one or the other.

We only get one each, one deer of any kind (we have mule deer, whitetail, and blacktail) and one elk. Success rates in Washington are dismal, running about 15% on deer and about 8% on elk. Seasons are very short, about ten days to two weeks. And, on public land, crowded as hell.

We do have a permit system as well, wherein we can apply for "special permits" every year. We are drawn on a weighted system, so the longer you don't get drawn, the more you get weighted in the system. That said, the more desirable permits hover around a 10,000:1 likelihood of ever getting drawn.

I had a great time hunting here when I was younger. I enjoyed success literally every year on deer, many on elk, and many on black bear. But, hoo boy, did I ever work for it. Back packing a couple of days in much of the time, getting in well past the "great unwashed masses". That's kinda why I gravitated to the revolver.

I'm here to tell you, though, with only a single partner, maybe two in camp, downing an elk can be a major, major undertaking when it comes time to pack it out. I just don't have that in me at my age anymore. And, well, not being able to commit at that level anymore would have me out there with those "great unwashed masses", and sharing their success rate to boot. No thanks.

Which is not to say that I don't continue to "dabble". I still know folks who own orchards, wheat fields, and the like. We'll hunt their properties as I make myself at home in their guest bedrooms. Stuff like that.

[Superman]

I guess that's what I was expecting.

[Bill Douglas]

Super, I know it's a bit of a commute. But in NZ we have deer running around like rabbits. Available for hunting all year 'round. Wapiti, Red Deer, Sika Deer, Wallabies (NOT the rugby team) and Thar. And it's summertime here

[KFC911]

If ya want to hunt deer around here .... you will NOT find it much of a challenge .... bring a bag of rocks .

My uncle (now 74) quit using a rifle decades ago (when they were actually NEVER seen) .... 'cause people "reek" ... now my dawgy gets "nose to nose" with them (literally) at my back fence on occasion and with me getting within a few feet of 'em. A bow became his deer "rifle" decades ago.... he's bagged probably close to 200 and has passed on 10x that many. No challenge for him at all .... none.

"Catch & Release" arrows have the rubber suction cup tips fwiw ...

Go fishin' Supe

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by KC911

If ya want to hunt deer around here .... you will NOT find it much of a challenge .... bring a bag of rocks ...

Like many/most of us that live on or around the surburban-wild interface, we're thick with those hooved rats. Mulies here. I almost tripped on one leaving my workplace at dusk a week or so ago. I joked to a neighbor that someone with a bow should come and do some pest removal - the kind older lady pointed out that, given their destruction, nobody would even "hear" a 30-06.

We have herds of elk in the backcountry of the Los Alamos lab property. "Behind the fence" would be the casual term - I guess those elk must be good enough mammals that they can get a Restricted Data clearance. They summer higher up in the mountains but are surely in the 40-or-so sq miles of protected space when the hunt starts.

As one of my hardcore hunter colleagues points out - they're everywhere until you're actually out to harvest some.

[Jeff Higgins]

Washington as a whole has never had much of a population of what we consider to be "big game" animals. Oh, we have a huge variety, just not many of any one kind. Even Lewis & Clark noted in their journals the scarcity of game once they crossed the Snake River. They had to put the entire party on starvation rations for the lack of game. We enjoy a number of unique climates in this state, none of which are really all that supportive of these kinds of animals. That's what they found then, and, well, our climate has not changed.

Today, in addition to less than favorable climatic conditions, we find that poaching seems to be the predominant reason for our noted lack of game. It is said that poachers take several times the number of game animals every year that legal hunters take. There is no real way to police this. So, coupled with naturally low numbers, things don't look great here in Washington.

[Superman]

Bill, NZ strikes me as a cool place.

Deer are numerous pests in some areas. My FIL lives on a golf course near Shelton where the locals have exacerbated the problem by feeding them. They walk around with impunity. It's probably against the rules to kill them. Unless Jeff suggests otherwise, I imagine deer are fairly easy to shoot in WA. And they make good salami and such. But one elk is worth ten deer, in my view.

N Idaho is a better habitat for sure. More mountainous/steeper, cooler, denser forests.

[Sooner or later]

We have about a 1000 free range elk in the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge in SW Oklahoma. Probably a similar number that have escaped the refuge and now live on private land or Ft Sill. Also, about 800 bison and several hundred longhorn cattle. Easy to see the bison and longhorn on the sides of the roads. The shy elk are much more difficult to find/see even with their higher numbers.

There is an annual elk hunt. Drawing for participants. They usually have 30,000 applications for only a few hundred permits. The following are the results on last year's hunt.

It was a very successful year with 207 elk tags filled in 5 hunts, 63 bull/either sex tags and 144 cow tags. Below are the success rates from each hunt.
Walk-in (1030/31) - Either sex 80% (8/10), Cow 54% (25/47)
Walk-in (1040/41) - Either sex 90% (9/10), Cow 66% (35/53)
Walk-in (1050/51) - Either sex 70% (7/10), Cow 48% (27/56)
Walk-in (1060/61) - Either sex 88% (7/8), Cow 67% (33/49)
Traditional (1020/21) - Bull 82% (32/39), Cow 44% (24/54)