How do you hunt the coast range??

[Hookset]

Can someone give me a clue? Really, I'm beat, sore and tired from trying to locate some elk in that inpenetrable forest along the coast.

I didn't see or hear a thing. The mid-coast is so darn brushy and steep it's just very very tough hunting.

My old hunting grounds haven't been logged in years and there doesn't seem to be anything moving around those areas. The best sign I saw was close to people, down low and closer to farms and pasture.

From my perspective, I'd say there are fewer animals there today then 20 years ago.

Anyone have any secrets they'd be willing to share?

Thanks,

Gregg

[Bootstrap Bill]

Welcome to hunting in the coast range! From my experience hunt the lower elevations near a water sources.

[Snakebite]

Yup! Most of the herds are on private land, and if you don't have permission, you're screwed.
I know some of those land owners and they just laugh about it.

[kodiakfisher]

I scouted an area for three years made calls to find who owns all the land to figure out public from private. I went and found all the boundry markers and a section corner marker. Then I learned the wind figured out how to get down into this area set up a camera hauled in tree stands to get ready for this year.

In previous years I called a bull up while just learning to call elk. Then they logged it no problem only a slight adjustment made last year and on the last day we were close to elk. So this year it was supposed to be game on! I have spent 7 days in this area and nothing to show for it. Opening morning I heard the cows and calves chirping but they vanished and have not been back and I have no idea where they went. The closest thing to fresh sign is some Bull poop at the beginning of one of my scent trails. I believe he is too old and wise for me...

I have hauled my gear out and if I want to eat elk I will hunt the eastside. If I would like to be able to brag about killing an elk I will try and hunt Rosies in the coast range. Elk on the east side I have found to be fairly predictable and elk on the west side anything but predictable. With pleanty of water, food and escapement cover it is difficult at best.

To say that I'm frustrated would be an understatement last year we had three bulls bugling all around us and this year I haven't heard a bugle once!

Rant over good luck,

Kodiakfisher

[Hookset]

That figures......elk on private land. Doesn't seem to matter if your hunting east or west, lots of elk on private grounds.

On the coast years ago there appeared to be lots of elk; finding ample elk sign throughout a unit wasn't a problem. The commom theme back then, "every drainage held a heard of elk" seemed to hold true.

Now fast forward to today and there appears to be large amounts of forest devoid of both deer and elk. There are no fresh tracks, no fresh droppings and no recent bull rubs in what used to be traditional elk habitat along the mid-coast.

Who knows for sure, but I do know elk hunting has changed. You can no longer wander around and expect to run into some elk.

Any advice/help is greatly appreciated.

thanks,

Gregg

[gottafish]

WOW, I have had a different view. Rosies I have hunted are very predictable but don't hang in the same area every year. I have found areas that hold lots of elk one year will be void the next. why? Clear cuts mean food and they change there patterns areound them and pressure. also I have found if timber co. have there lands closed due to fire danger. most of the elk will be pushed out of NF lands after the first week. and they will hold till rifle season on timber properties. Most of the rosies I have killed have been down in the deep holes with lots of down timber and water, eastern elk have all been on the upper 2/3 of the mountains. Rosies are dumber than rockys they usually give you a chance even if they hear you comming. the hardest part about bow hunting rosies is friggin signs "closed to fire danger" If land is open opening week then there is going to be rosies killed. hunt the old growth timber along clear cuts. its more open and the elk are usually not far into it. I had a stretch 4 years running where I huntind one canyon one day a year and killed a elk every time I went in there. the next year I hunted it 5 straight days and never saw a elk. Why on the 6 day I found a new clear cut about 1/2 mile away and it changed the area the elk hung out. scout new ground within a mile or two and you'll find your bulls

[Hookset]

kodiakfisher,

You have obviously done your home work. After spending all that time and energy it's to bad the hunting didn't work out.

If you go east, hopefully you'll have some better success.

What I find interesting is the ODFW states Roosevelt elk numbers are increasing. That must be in selective areas because not all areas support an increasing elk herd.

Ok, I guess I'm ranting a little, but hey, I still have some more days to hunt.

Gregg

[GL2]

Pre season scouting works :grin: but you can find them like this. I like to hunt high up in the coast. The steeper & deeper the draw the better in my book. Alot of time the Elk will feed up htop at night and drop in to bed down. Especially when hunters are in the woods up top and on the roads all day. Find some good game trails leading into some big deep draws. I like speed scout the whole top of the draw if I got a road running around it. Get out and scope out the game trails if you see a Elk super highway then you know they are using that route in and out alot. Then you got to get a handle on the wind, and where you can drop in from. I like to drop in and look for fresh sign on a game trail heading down. If you find poo thats steaming then your on them. I like to drop down about a third of the way before I cow call. I'm trying to get a bull to come and check me out or a cow to call back to me. I drop a little more and call some more. If I go to the bottom depends on whats going on.
You could allways not drop to far in and try to bugle a bull up to you, but that aint ever gonna work for me. I aint ever gonna get a bull to leave his cows with my luck.
I got a spot over in Saddle Mt. unit up about as high as I can get, pretty big timber. I droped into a sick deep draw last Thursday. The draw has to spur ridges that run together part way down, and they make a little saddle. There is a spring fed crick & a bunch of alder in this saddle. It's a really wet lush spot, and a bull has just been rubbing & raking like crazy. Polishing up his tips for the girls! I found a rub of this bull up top last weekend of the season last year. This year I found his living room, and the bottom of the draw right below the wet little saddle is his bedroom. I cow called a bit from the saddle, but pulled out when nothing happened.
I plan on droping all the way in late next week. Got to have the wind right or I'll have to hunt some other spots I got. But before the close I'm going in all day, out in the dark.
I just got to make up my mind, do I set up in his living room be quiet & wait for him to show. Drop all the way to his bedroom & be quiet & ambush him at his bedroom door. Or do I go get in his bedroom and cow call him over.
Getting him out is going to take part of two days If I can kill him. It's gotta be 750 veticial feet plus to the bottom. I aint shooting a cow down there that's for sure. I'm gonna try a to find a road down lower I can cut over to, if I get him.

[GL2]

:grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:


I guess the Rosies just are used to other Elk busting thru and over that stuff.
they must think "here come some more elk"
Good post you made.

[Hookset]

gottafish,

You have got to come down and check out the Alsea unit along the coast. From Walport to Florence and east to Five Rivers, there are almost no new clear cuts. I say almost because there are a couple of small ones. In fact one clear cut I remembered from 2004 and happened to see some elk sign there. So after spending a grueling day hunting another location, I traveled 30 miles last night so I could hunt there this morning. Your not going to believe what was going on in that clear cut at 10:30pm at night. I saw lights, smoke and red flashing lights. There were 2 sheriff cars, 2 large fire trucks and 1 small fire truck putting out 2 fires that must have been delibrately set, so scratch that. I drove by them expecting the sheriff to stop me wondering why I just happened to be in the area but they didn't even bother looking at me. So I found a nice quiet area to pull over and get some sleep.

Guess that extra commotion is part of the new variables that go with bow hunting.

Thanks so far for all the helpful advice and very informative post.

Gregg

[sooslaw]

Gregg, I was on that fire this morning. Are you the two guys I talked to this afternoon standing by the rub that I gave directions into the spot I killed mine this year?? I am sorry its not working out for you. I work in the area mentioned above and the elk numbers are really up. There aren't alot of big herds though. Without the big clearcuts, the elk are in small groups, 5 -10 cows and a bull. They are held up in the big timber. alot of the central coast range has big benches in the timber. THer are viney'ed up, hard hunting in alot of it, but stick with them and eventually you will get a shot. THe coast elk will allow oyu to trail them and get back in the mix over and over by cow calling. Dont worry about making noise. THey dont like sneaky little sounds, it makes them uneasy. Only their predators sneak around. I crash through the brush without thinking twice, just cow call alot.

[GL2]

Rock creek, five rivers, Yachats river upper drainage.
There's gonna be Elk. Deep down & big timber.
Try north in the Trask, or Wilson unit. Once again upper drainages like the Tucca of the Trask, feeder creeks, ridges a few over of the main drainage. Cuts or no cuts there's Elk.

[elkslayer]

Elk will most always be in the immediate area of a resurgent clearcut with good amounts of grass, and good access to heavy rugged hiding areas.

[gottafish]

"THey dont like sneaky little sounds, it makes them uneasy. Only their predators sneak around. I crash through the brush without thinking twice, just cow call alot. "

Truer words have never been spoken that is why rosies are easier than eastern elk. I do the same thing. but this time of year I bugle instead until I find them then cow call

[kodiakfisher]

Gottafish and Gl2,

You are both right and also very good advice the elk highways running through this place are big enough to drive an atv on and lots and lots of old sign. While learning the way into this spot I bumped (meaning they just got up and moved) 7 elk and where they went it seemed they should have still been close. I guess the problem this year was my mind set. I put in the pre-season time, played the wind and didn't even see fur. The intent was to hunt a much smaller area actually about 1.5 miles square area, instead of the old stick and move type of hunting. Trying to re-set and find the energy to go find some new area when if Mt. Emily was allowing cows to be shot I would likely be done by now is very hard.

This spot is really good reprod areas, recent clear cut, with mature timber surrounding it with nice cool water in the bottom. What did surprise me and my hunting partner the deeper into the mature timber we went the less elk sign we saw meaning old or new sign. I bet during rifle season this area would be like being at an Elk bachelor party.

Kodiakfisher

[kodiakfisher]

I think I found out what I need to adjust. I have been sneaking around like I'm hunting on the eastside and only calling when in a position and ready to shoot in case something is close by.

I can crash around and cow call with the best of them. Now that I think about it in that thick stuff as long as your hunting into the wind you will smell them when you get close and can then really slow down. Makes sense point taken!

Kodiakfisher

[Hookset]

sooslaw,

No, that wasn't me, I was hunting by myself. I drove close to the fire area again this morning but turned west to avoid that area.

That's good advice about moving and calling. I've always found Roosevelts will let you approach almost close enough to see them before heading out. I can even remember playing a game like cat and mouse. I saw a group of elk move into thick re-prod and no matter what direction I approached, they would counter in the opposite direction. They could hear me and I could hear them, really a hopeless case so I left and waited outside until dark and they never did come out.

What still plauges me about the mid-coast, is typicaly you can travel all the roads and usually see bull rubs and elk droppings along the road plus lots of trails leading uphill or downhill indentifying locations that elk have used in the recent past, some are at least a month old but that's still ok. At least it's always worked in the past. But over the last couple years, I hardly see any sign anywhere. I traveled lots of roads and put over 200 miles on the truck looking for likely areas to hunt with at least some sign idenfying elk are within the general vicinity. This is the same tactics that GL2 is using further north on the coast.

With the amount of roads disecting the coast range it's hard for elk to keep from crossing roads. Even if they move around, you can at least pin point a few general locations. Now enter this year and I'm still having some difficulty. And really, I'm not a road hunter, I like to pound the brush. Except I also hate taking on to many fruitless long treks downhill or uphill in such rugged country.

Now if I was hunting over east, no problem, that land is for cupcakes compared to the steep brushy terrain along the coast. :grin:

Ok, guess this really is a rant.....

I know I know, get off my butt and start pounding the brush.

Gregg

[sooslaw]

Please pound the brush. I will agree with you on the amount of sign on the road. The elk are getting smarter. Over the past few years some really quality bulls have been taken in the coast range. This bring added pressure from out of town folks. Alot of guys do road hunt. They bugle from every head wall on the main roads and spur roads. The elk figure it out. They stay off the roads, hide in a hole, and dont leave until pushed out. They may stay in one spot all season. There is plenty of forbes and forage in the timber and creek bottoms. I tend to think they also are more responsive to calls if you are underneath them. They dont seem to have a problem coming down, but dont like to go up for a call?? They are very vocal if you step into their back door, but not if you are two ridges over. I have had good luck by cow calling and jumping them. Once found, then I bugle and if there is a bull with the bunch, you will know this time of the year. The area your hunting has bulls in it. We are working right in the area of the fire just to the East a 1/4 mile and there is a bull stomping around there tearing stuff up. We are in a 40 yrs old reprod unit, check the powerline roads in that area off of beamer creek rd.

[osulogger]

We are in a 40 yrs old reprod unit

Ummm, that's not reprod anymore Sooslaw; some companies consider that merch!

not mine though.... LOL

From the land of Big Sticks,

Osulogger

[Rank Amateur]

You mean somebody let's them grow past 30???

[uhmw]

When I hunt the coast range I look for a trail or closed road that will allow you to get into the big dark timber where its easyer to manuver and look for sighn. I look for well used animal trails and try to follow them-many times it is impossiabe so go back to the truck and look for a new one. I also look to walk along clear cuts then when you get far from the road you cut in to the thick stuff and see how far you can get in thats where you see sighn. Once you find a way into the thick stuff remember it for next time- I have trails alonge a route that I drive and mark it on my gps. These trails do fade out as time goes bye so you always have to look for new ones to add to the gps- I love to explore new logging opperations for trails like this that will produce next year I have seen lots of logging activity in scapoose and tillamook this year and have scouted some new trails for next year-good luck.
this is what I do in the coast range when I dont get one in north eastern Or. I think the rosies are way dumber than their cousins and more plentifull so that makes up a little for the difficult terain except when you watch a stuck bull tumble down a ravine in five rivers Thats why the chain saw winch was invented. and where the term 3 day pack out comes from.

[Hookset]

Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement.

Yah, I don't like people bugling from vehicles, it's a poor tactic, educates the elk and I really seriously doubt it even works.

The coast range is really big country, so many ridge lines, so many draws and valleys, it's very hard to get a handle on the elk over there. If the mid-coast area had been regularly cut over the years it could help narrow down some locations.

I'm either going back to the coast and give it another try or head to the Cascades. I really would like some meat for the freezer this year, tag soup is getting old.

Thanks everyone for the help, some really great advice.

Gregg

[Blue Tip Spinner]

heck, just do what my brother and i did a couple saturdays before:

wake up really late, leave beaverton at 730, get to the spot at 930, cow call while walking for an hour and a half, have a bull bugle back, walk 7 steps to have the bull run at you, shoot the bull at 28 yards, bull dies 25 feet from where he is hit and be home by 730 with a 6x6 bull in the back of the pickup. don't forget to walk in 2 miles to get to them. once you are that far from people, the elk pay no mind to noise.

don't try to be quiet on either side of the cascades. elk are NOT quiet at all. they may not call, but they are always breaking sticks and making noise. i take 5 steps then listen. it may take forever to where you are going, but i saw elk up close and personal every day i hunted on both sides of the cascades. good luck!!!

[Snapset]

Actually you sound like me after I have hunted long and hard and haven't seen hide nor hair. It is sometime after I get to this point that I find 90 percent of my elk. I wish I was hunting right now, and if I were hunting that mess around 5 rivers, with the 8 foot walls of Salmonberry and viney maple from Mordor, I would drive until I found the best trail I could, get out and walk it out as far as I could. If I found some finger ridges to follow, I would, and if I found fresh sign I would do circles on the ridge.

Another good tactic is to get to the top of a drainage into the Cummings creek wilderness and follow the profiles of the hill shoulders, hopping from 1 headwater to the next. There is more open country in that area.

Try to stay positive. They are there, and you will eventually intersect.

[dla]

This may sound dumb, but here's how I find the elk: I grab my cow call and call loud once and then listen. If I hear nothing I move on another 1/4 to 1/2 mile and try again.

What I'm hoping for is a calf answering. Calves will answer up nice and loud. Cows will answer softly and sometimes I can't hear them. But I can always hear a calf.

Once I find a calf, I get real sneaky to zero in on the herd. And this time of year, if you find those 5 or 6 cows you can bet that there is a bull nearby. Unfortunately bulls have heard so many bugles that you may never get a challenge.

I don't have any magic method of getting the bull to come - cow calling is the only method that has worked for me.

After awhile you'll get to the point where you can spot elk area fairly quickly and start your search in productive forest.

[Coastalfisherman]

In the area that you talk about, there are tons and tons of timber that is very open and easy to hunt. I have found that the elk will stay in more open timber if it is around, until they are pushed into the thick stuff. I have been hunting one bull and his herd for the last 5 years. I have had numerous people drive the roads around this drainage and try to bugle, but they get no responce...or they can't here it. That old bull screams everytime someone bugles, but you can only hear him if you are down in the hole. As you said, it's time to get out and beat the brush...And yes, the elk numbers in this area are at an all time high.

[tag-a-long]

We usually glass alot. Since we have been hunting deer for several years over there, we have a decent idea hwere to get started. We cover lost of roads gettng to landings, and have a few good landings off of overgrown roads. The big thing is time... gotta put it in, and if you are gonna hunt the coast, be ready to hump the steep ones.. It comes with the country.

[Last Call]

Hang in there and keep hunting. You'll get into them. Good luck.