An estimated 12,000 hunters will head afield beginning Saturday as the elk season begins its 12-day run in Southwest Washington.
Shooting hours on Saturday and Sunday are 6:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., then shorten to 6:40 a.m. to 5:05 p.m. for Nov. 9 through 15.
At least the weather is cooperating with rain having returned in the past week after an extremely dry summer and early fall.
Weather monitoring equipment recorded 12 inches of rain last weekend at June Lake, elevation 3,400 feet on the south side of Mount St. Helens.
“The colder, rainy weather has caused leaves to drop and visibility has increased,’’ said Mick Cope, game division manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. “That should help hunters quite a bit in some places.’’
The National Weather Service is predicting rain for opening weekend in the Mount St. Helens area, but with temperatures too warm for snow at the upper elevations.
Elk hunting — with its single-digit success rates — is also about elk camps, hunting companions and enjoying the outdoors in the fall.
Lewis River unit No. 560, the top bull producer in Southwest Washington, has a 6.4 percent hunter success rate. Siouxon No. 572 isn’t much better at 5.7 percent.
New this season is the change of Margaret unit No. 524 to general season hunting for bulls, instead of being managed as a permit-only unit. Antlerless hunting in Margaret is still managed on a permit basis.
The easternmost portion of the Margaret unit in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is closed to general season elk hunting. The portion not open to general season hunting is identified as Norway Pass elk area No. 5066 in the regulations.
Cope said a big concern of his is that hunters take care when accessing private lands.
“Over the past five years, there have been many changes in access rules on private forest lands, especially in southwestern Washington where thousands of acres operate under restricted access rules where access permits must be purchased,’’ he said.
“The department recognizes the rights of private property owners and we emphasize that hunters must gain permission before hunting on private property. While we also recognize the importance of the habitat and hunting opportunity provided by private landowners, the department continues to encourage landowners to partner with the agency and allow free, or at least low-cost, unlimited access.’’
Elk season ends on Nov. 18.
Late buck deer season is Nov. 19 through 22.
