My buddy and I have a bunch of game cameras out, more for our entertainment than anything else. Gives us an excuse to be out in the woods. Most are in the Willamette National Forest, some are over in the Crescent Lake and Wendigo Pass areas. Over the past 20 years the decline in elk numbers has been staggering. One year, must have been 7 or 8 years ago, we stumbled across several dead elk while just wandering around checking our cameras. We used to have some pretty good-sized herds on our cameras. Now we rarely see groups over 7 or 8 elk. Usually, the groups are 4 or less. The number of bears, cougars and wolves we have on video has increased exponentially. On the bright side, the deer populations don't seem to be too bad currently. Maybe even better than they were five years ago.
With the number of elk we see on our cameras, we direct our elk hunting efforts toward the eastern side of the state. It's a bit of a crap shoot over there as well. Two years ago there was fresh wolf sign all over our chosen hunting area. We saw two elk in the week we were there. This year, only older wolf sign, and one of the best years for elk sightings ever.
With the number of elk we see on our cameras, we direct our elk hunting efforts toward the eastern side of the state. It's a bit of a crap shoot over there as well. Two years ago there was fresh wolf sign all over our chosen hunting area. We saw two elk in the week we were there. This year, only older wolf sign, and one of the best years for elk sightings ever.
Last Edited:
