More Elk Hunters Than Elk

It's a fact: Washington elk hunters outnumber Washington elk.

Last year, 78,000 Washington hunters headed into the woods, ridges and rain forests to hunt an estimated 52,000 elk.

And when fall elk hunts get under way, starting next Wednesday with the Colockum area, you can expect a similar number of hunters to go after a similar number of elk.

Isn't something terribly out of whack? Not really, say state wildlife officials.

The fact elk are the state's only big-game species that are outnumbered by those who hunt them is just part of the paradoxical picture.

In the 1970s and early '80s, the hunter-to-elk ratio was far greater. Some years, 110,000 or more elk hunters took to the field.

With that kind of hunting pressure year after year, aren't elk next on the endangered list?

No way, because another part of the paradox is the fact elk populations have changed little over the past 20 years.

In fact, say wildlife officials, there is not enough suitable habitat left for more elk.

``We've had elk trampling golf courses in King County, knocking down fences and tearing up vegetable gardens in Pacific County and trotting across the parking lot of a Dairy Queen in Pierce,'' said Doug Zimmer, a Wildlife Department information officer.

``Our habitat is chock full of elk, and we have no more place to put them. Human-population expansion is jamming elk into more remote and smaller areas, and nobody is making new land.''

Minor declines in elk populations have been in Western Washington, mainly on the Olympic Peninsula, and attributable mostly to changes in forest practices, such as more and larger areas clear cut.

``What this means is that there has been an increase in forage, but a decrease in hiding cover,'' said Rolf Johnson, a department biologist who specializes in elk and deer management.

Another part of the elk paradox is that elk seem to be everywhere when you don't want them and nowhere in sight when you do.

That's why the odds for success are overwhelmingly against the hunter.

Consider 1989, which was a fairly decent year for the elk hunter. Only 11 percent of them bagged elk.

Furthermore, the average number of hunter days per harvested elk was 48. The worst average was 82 days spent per elk in the Puget Sound region, where elk are hunted mainly in the White River drainage north and east of Mount Rainier and in the Nooksack area of Whatcom and Skagit counties.

The best was the Yakima and Colockum area in Central Washington, with 45 hunter days per elk.

Johnson and other wildlife biologists say they expect this year's elk seasons to be average to slightly better than average.

The outlook, by area:

Colockum

``Everything points to a good opener,'' said Roger McKeel, regional wildlife biologist at Yakima, referring to early snowstorms and reports of deer sightings by deer hunters.

Best game units: Naneum, Upoper Swift, Coleman Creek drainage, Quilomene.

Season: Oct. 24-Nov. 2.

Estimated elk population: 6,000.

Yakima

Average, perhaps better than average, said McKeel. Hunter success in the canyons and on the ridges west of Yakima depends a great deal on weather - the worse, the better - up to a point, which means enough snow to force elk off the high country, but little of it in low and intermediate ranges.

Best game units: Little Naches, Rimrock, Rattlesnake, Taneum and Manastaxh.

Season: Nov. 5-13.

Estimated elk population: 12,000.

Blue Mountains

Hunters for the second year in a row will be limited to spikes only, so a below-average season is forecast.

Best game units: Wenaha, Mountview, Couse, Eckler, Blue Creek.

Season: Oct. 31-Nov. 11.

Estimated elk population: 7,000.

Western Washington

Mixed outlook. Average to above average for the Olympic Peninsula, the coast, Mount St. Helens and south Rainier. Average to below in the Nooksack and White River drainage.

Best game units: Stampede, Snoqualmie and Cavanaugh in the Puget Sound region; Dickey, Goodman and Matheny on the Olympic Peninsula; Copalis and Wynoochee in Grays Harbor area; Palix, Nemah and Long Beach on the coast, and Washougal, Yale, Toutle, Lewis River, Coweeman and Stella in the Southwest.

Season: Oct. 31-Nov. 11.

Estimated elk populations: 27,000 in Western Washington, including 4,500 for Rainier herd, 1,500 for Nooksack, 7,000 for Mount St. Helens area, 4,000 for Willapa Hills and 10,000 for Olympic Peninsula.

Outdoor calendar

-- Sept. 29-Nov. 30, Western Washington pheasant season; Oct. 15-Nov. 17, Fall coastal razor-clam season, with digging allowed only noon to midnight and on odd-numbered days; Oct. 24-Nov. 2, Colockum elk season; Oct. 31-Nov. 11, Blue Mountain elk season; Oct. 31-Nov. 11, Western Washington elk season; Nov. 15-18, Late buck season, much of Western Washington.

If you have outdoor-related items, such as club or calendar announcements, send them to Fishing and Wildlife Notebook, c/o Brad O'Connor, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle 98111.