Chelan and Douglas county hunting prospects

This is the first of a three-part series about eastern Washington hunting prospects.

The Columbia Basin Herald Fall Hook and Bullet is scheduled to be a part of tonight's print edition. This is a publication packed full of fall hunting and fishing information.

One section is titled Hunting Prospects and includes information about what hunters can expect to find in Grant and Adams counties, what Fish and Wildlife calls District 5. But there are other counties of interest to Columbia Basin hunters.

Today I will present some prospects for District 7, known as the Wenatchee District, which includes Chelan and Douglas counties. This report was written by David Volsen, Fish and Wildlife district biologist and Jon Gallie, assistant district biologist. I have combed through the original document to bring you the information below.

Split in two by the Columbia River and composed of Chelan and Douglas counties, the Wenatchee District is centered at the heart of Washington State. From the Crest of the Cascade Range to the shrub-steppe of the Columbia Basin, District 7 offers an incredibly diverse range of habitats and hunting opportunities.

Douglas County on the east side of the district is a plateau of shrub-steppe and farm lands. It is primarily made up of privately owned lands, yet offers incredible opportunities to hunt a variety of species. Hunters seeking pheasant, quail, doves, gray partridge, chukar, and mule deer will find ample areas to hunt across the county. Game Management Units in Douglas County are 248 (Big Bend), 254 (Saint Andrews), 260 (Foster Creek), 262 (Withrow), 266 (Badger), and 269 (Moses Coulee).

Chelan County descends from the Cascade Crest in the west to the Columbia River along its eastern boundary. A series of five dominant NW to SE oriented mountain ranges create the terrain in the County; ranging from over 8,000 feet in elevation to below 1,000 ft. in roughly 40 miles.

Home to some of the best mule deer hunting in the state, Chelan County is a destination for many hunters. With its large public land base, the county offers a great opportunity to find a place of your own.

Four of the State's six high deer hunt wilderness areas are in Chelan County, as well as three bighorn sheep herds and an increasing mountain goat population. Game Management Units in Chelan County are 243 (Manson), 244 (Clark), 245 (Chiwawa), 246 (Slide Ridge), 247 (Entiat), 249 (Alpine), 250 (Swakane), 251 (Mission).

Current Species Status

Big Game

Almost all the deer harvested in District 7 are mule deer, with a few white-tailed deer harvested as well. Little known is the fact that in certain areas there are a few black-tailed deer that sneak into Chelan County. Elk are present primarily along the southern and central portions of Chelan County. The elk are an extension of the Colockum herd further to the south.

Black bears roam across almost all habitats in Chelan County, with densities higher in the wetter habitats near the crest of the Cascades and at somewhat lower densities in more easterly, drier habitats. Few black bears are harvested in Douglas County.

Cougars inhabit all areas where deer and elk are present in the district. There are three California bighorn sheep herds in the district. The world's record California bighorn sheep was harvested from the Swakane herd in Chelan County. Mountain goats occupy most all of the high elevation habitat in Chelan County's mountains.

Upland birds

Upland bird hunting is available across the district. Turkey hunting occurs mainly in Chelan County. The hunted grouse species are found in forested environments in both counties. Hunters can pursue blue, spruce, and ruffed grouse across the district. The three other grouse species, sage, sharp-tailed, and white-tailed ptarmigan, are not hunted species in Washington State.

Chukar partridge are hunted in open cliff and talus slope habitats in both counties, as are valley quail. Gray partridge, or Huns, are found primarily in Douglas County.

Doves can be found in both Counties; however, most of the success is from Douglas County. There are two ring-necked pheasant release sites in Chelan County (Swakane and Chelan Butte Wildlife Areas), but there are spots in Douglas County where self-sustaining populations can be found.

Waterfowl

Ducks and geese offer opportunities in different portions of the district. The bulk of the waterfowl hunting is along the Columbia River with ducks being the primary focus. Goose hunting is mainly conducted in Douglas County, but opportunities are also available along the Columbia River.

Elk

Almost the entire harvest of elk in the Wenatchee District comes from part of the Colockum herd in Chelan County. A few scattered elk do get harvested from Douglas County. However, that harvest is not consistent from year to year. Liberal harvest seasons have been put in place in Douglas County to keep elk from becoming established in the farming dominated landscape. The Colockum Herd is currently over its population management objective at an estimated 6,500 elk. While Chelan County elk are the northern extension of that herd, there has not been a dramatic increase in elk numbers and we feel the population is stable.

Hunters harvested 58 elk in Chelan County last year. Success rates between weapon types vary and overall success varies from year to year. In 2013 muzzleloader hunters had an 8 percent success rate while archers had a 7 percent rate and modern firearms hunters 5 percent.

Most of the harvested elk (45) came out of GMU 251, with the remaining few harvested in GMUs 244, 245, and 249.

The recent change to a true spike rule for the Colockum has shown increases in escapement of yearling bulls. Mature bulls use a portion of Chelan County as security and wintering habitat. Recent research has expanded our understanding of the Colockum Herd and there are plans to look deeper into the ecology of the adult bull portion of the population.

Elk in GUMs 245 and 249 occur at low density and in small dispersed bands. Local hunters that live and work the area are often the hunters that prove to be successful in harvesting these elk. Elk hunting in GMU 249 consists of all public land and is within the U.S. Forest Service Alpine Lakes Wilderness. While the GMU offers an opportunity for an over the counter archery tag for a branch-antlered bull, elk are at very low density and occupy extremely rugged terrain that does not allow the use of motorized vehicles.

GMU 251 offers elk opportunity throughout the majority of the unit. However, elk density is not very high. General seasons fall under antler restrictions that make harvesting spike elk more challenging. Harvest occurs across the GMU, however, the majority of the elk hunting occurs between Blewett Pass to the west, the city of Wenatchee to the east, and the mountainous and timbered habitat south of State Highway 2.

The Mission unit does have a significant amount of private lands and hunters are urged to make sure they know where they are when hunting elk in the area. There is also a unique opportunity in Elk Area 2033, where there is an open antlerless season, however this is almost exclusively on private land. It is designed to reduce conflict with orchards, and hunters would need to talk with local landowners to get access.

There are no notable changes in elk hunting opportunities for District 7 in 2014.