It’s quality, not always quantity here

Northeastern Washington is not overflowing with elk, and it probably never will be.

But while their numbers are not huge, a hunter has a chance of bumping into one just about anywhere in Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens counties and well beyond.

“That’s the big change in recent years,” said Steve Zender, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist in Chewelah. “Used to be that when you talked about elk in this region you were talking about Sullivan Lake or Mount Spokane. Now they’re showing up in small groups all over the place.

“We’re finding elk at Deer Park, the Hunter-Springdale Pass area and around Colville and Northport. East of Chewelah, there’s good hunting north and south of Flowery Trail Road and Cliff Ridge and Cottonwood.”

The hitch is that the elk are widely scattered, and they often roam across small parcels of private land owned by a number of people.

“But hunters are getting the job done, and harvest has been increasing,” Zender said. “There’s no reason the harvest shouldn’t go up again this fall. This might be about as good as it gets” in this region of marginal elk habitat, he said.

A rule change two years ago gave muzzleloaders a shot at elk during the end of the rut in Pend Oreille County Unit 113 in addition to Units 108 and 111. That season opens Oct. 1 this year.

Muzzleoaders also could apply for permits in Unit 117, where they can take an antleress elk and do the area a service by stirring up elk so they’re not standing in an alfalfa field by the road outside of Chewelah on the opening day of rifle season.

Archers have had two years to get the hang of hunting during the rut with a northeast season that started Sept. 8 and ends Sept. 21.

“If you’re from Cusick, Usk or Newport, you don’t go all the way to Sullivan Lake to hunt elk because you’d be passing more animals than you’d find. There’s significant elk numbers from Usk north, places like Mill Creek, LeClerc Creek and CCA Creek.”

Hunters should pay attention to the cycle of logging activity, he said. While some of the clearcuts up Slate Creek in the northeast corner of the state are relatively fresh and not working for elk yet, timber sales in Mill Creek and Loop Creek are 10 years old and producing the forage and cover that attracts elk, he said.

Mount Spokane Unit 124 is among several units with Washington’s most liberal modern rifle general elk season, which is open to either-sex elk Oct. 29-Nov. 6.

Hunters don’t take as many bulls out of Mount Spokane as they take out of Unit 113, but they tend to be getting a high percentage of the bigger bulls, said Howard Ferguson, WDFW biologist in Spokane.

“We’re actually a little concerned about it,” he said, noting that while there’s quite a few elk in the Mount Spokane area, there appears to be a shortage of the big breeding bulls.

“Access is the big problem around in this area,” he said. “There are so many small land holdings and you have to go out and knock on doors. Then you have to hope the elk are where you can hunt during the season.”