Codger scouting for elk

[Okanagan]

I drew a senior citizen cow elk permit for the last two weeks of December this year.  It is a second choice draw, in an area I don't know much about except that it is nearly all private land and less than an hour's drive from home.  I've never heard of anyone getting a second choice, didn't expect to draw it and didn't have permission to hunt anywhere out there.  Hmmm...

Went to the only cafe in the permit area, a country place with a doe crossing the parking lot, and after a sumptuous late morning breakfast I asked the friendly waitress if she knew anywhere I could hunt elk with my codger permit.  She beamed a smile and replied "Do I ever!"

She and her husband have become friends and lined up four small parcels for me to hunt, including their five acres.  One big herd of elk comes through their place about once every two weeks, damaging their fruit trees.  Hope the herd comes through during my two week season.     

[bambam]

Good luck !! 

[Hawks Feather]

I hope they come looking for you so that all you have to do is help them to your freezer.

[FinsnFur]

Well THAT all seem to fall right into pace, didnt it?
With any luck things will continue that way. Best of luck.

[Okanagan]

FWIW here is an update on my cow elk permit hunt.  Haven't even seen an elk so far.

 Two landowners have offered to phone me if the elk show up on their place or anywhere around.  This morning one of them phoned to say that the largest herd of elk was about a mile from his place last night, but had not moved his way this morning.  Whoever saw them said that a momma cougar and two cubs were following that herd. 

The permit area is about 8 miles by 3 miles along a salt water coast.  A problem is that the elk are bunched up in two big herds, one on each end of the area.  There are at least 122 elk in the herd that visits land I have permission to hunt, and at least 90 in the second herd.  If the elk were in smaller bunches of ten or so there would be 20 herds wandering the area instead of two.  Also, the only road that extends through public land is closed due to logging.

I went out and hunted opening morning and also yesterday morning, mostly driving, some parked and watching a bit of public land.  It is all heavily forested except for house lawns and small pastures, hard to find the herd.  The permit is intended to reduce elk numbers and reduce elk damage to orchards and landscaping on the small farms and house lots.

Good pie in the only restaurant out that way.

[bigben]

I was curious how you were making out.  Hopefully things work out for you.

[nastygunz]

Drone?

[Okanagan]

Don't think drone is legal in Washington State.  I went out in the rain this late afternoon and saw three elk in chest high brush about 40 yards off of a road.  No permission to shoot there, where the big herd has been hanging out for nearly three days. 

[bigben]

Get one of those old wind up alarm clocks and set it for later and chuck that sob into where they are bedding on a string.  once it rings and spooks em out go retrieve it.  LOL

[Okanagan]

No elk for me and apparently no one who had one of the five hunter permits got one. 

It was not hunting.  Whatever it was, it was kind of strange. 

The best part is that my wife and I found some new friends with one of the landowners and his wife.  That will continue.  They are good people whose company we enjoy.  He would get up each morning two hours before daylight and drive around looking for elk.  He would phone me an hour before daylight if he found any, and I'd be there with donuts before daylight, but the elk never went to a right place to shoot.

I had permission from six landowners to shoot an elk if it showed up in their yard, and would have asked some others if I had seen elk on their place. No elk cooperated.

The game department gives out a lot of permits to landowners to shoot elk on their property and there were four elk killed with landowner permits over the past three weeks.  Three of those were shot within a few seconds from a big herd in a small cow pasture.  Don't know how many landowner permits there are but I know for sure of 20 (one man told me that he had four landowner permits), plus another 5 for the local Indian tribe, plus the 5 hunter permits like mine:  that's 30 permits that I know about in an area 7 or 8 miles long and 3 miles wide.  I'm sure there are more landowner permits among the many property owners I did not talk with.

The tribe permits are good till March, the others ended last week.  The tribal men offered to wait and not hunt till the hunter permit season was over.  Nice of them.