The photo above was taken Sunday afternoon in the park. Cow elk wading the Queets River, the only solo elk we saw all day. My son thinks that she is close to having her calf and is looking for a private place to be alone for the birth.

Below, a few elk near Lake Quinault. The young bull just above center has shed his antler on one side.

Very cool.😎

Hey your boy is right, the cows are singling off from the here's at my place calving too.. Doesn't your boy live up there?

Thanks. Yes, a have a couple of sons and some grandkids in that area and I just moved near them myself.

Good deal, I love that part of the state.... Trying to draw a rut Roosevelt tag up there.... Prettiest elk in the world are up there...

You need a dry suit and snorkel to hunt there in November! LOL!

Yep, it gets kinda wet. Don't tell anybody from Idaho to Australia however because they know that their water is just as wet and it might irritate them. In a few hours drive out there plus some meandering back roads on Sunday, I lost track of rivers we crossed, but remember the Hamma Hamma, Quilcene, Queets, Quinault, Hoh, Sam, Duckabush, Dosewallips, Lilliwap, Matheny, Clearwater, Salmon, Wynoochie, Chehalis, Calawah, Bogachiel, Humptulips and some whose names I can't recall. Lotta water running off of those mountains.

Along that line, a bunch of my grandsons spent spring break camping in NW Idaho. I mentioned the abundant firewood and one of them said, “It was amazing! There was a lot of melting snow still around and it had just rained but it was the easiest campfire I ever started.” He is used to building campfires on the West End.

Boy you covered some ground

I'd like to 'pick your brain' about high quality rain gear some time, OK. I have a hunch you've some opinions that way?

We did a loop around the Peninsula, actually started Saturday afternoon from up near Port Angeles down Hood Canal for a stop in Shelton. Then to the coast through Hoquiam and meandered back to PA. I left out several rivers crossed on that loop, like the Elwa, etc.

340boy, my family mainly uses Grunden's commercial fishing rain bibs and coats for heavy rain elk hunting during the regular rifle season, plus Muck boots a lot. For backpack hunts we will go to Goretex type breathables and hiking boots.

OK what type of Elk were transplanted in the Willamette Valley in Western OR near Salem Talbet area. Horns do not look like Roosevelt?

Okanogan Great pictures - takes me back to some happy times I have spent Black Bear Hunting, Elk Hunting and Steelhead fishing on the Olympic Penninsula.
Must forewarn others though that the sunny pictures you so generously shared with us do not relay the fact that many places there in the Olympic "Rain Forest" get over 220 inches of rain per year!
Thanks again for the pics.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Okanagan,

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated.

There’s really no rain gear that works when it’s “raining “... 😂

I know, but I figured you Western Washington gents would have a better idea than most on how to at least keep *somewhat* dry?

Ya I run HH impretech pretty durable but ya still get wet

I've hunted and soldiered on the wet side of Washington for close to 35 years. I'm wearing Sitka lately, but plenty of other things work. The thing to understand is that you WILL get wet, mostly from your own sweat, but you can still be warm if you have good polypro base layers, uninsulated GoreTex boots, and fleece as your insulating layer. Gaiters are a must.


Okie John

I use Helly Hansen when fishing and lots of goretex and waders waterfowl hunting. For big game hunting my best rain gear recommendation is stay out of the rainforest 😂

I drew a cow tag for January in thee Forks area but decided to pass on that ML hunt since I scored a bull in Colorado in November. Happy Trails

My grandson wears Sitka gear but the rest of us don't want to pay as much! I wore out a pair of Impertech rain pants, good stuff. I just moved back here and have mostly been fishing this spring, wearing a Columbia rain parka and non-breathable Columbia rain pants, but both are light for a real November elk hunt. Pants take a beating in brush, thorns and if you ever sit on rocks, and mine don't last many season, 3 if I'm lucky. Because of that I am generally willing to pay more for a rain coat on upper body than for pants. I recall coming down a scree and snowfield with a good friend one time, and his $200 Goretex pants didn't hold up any better than my $40 Canadian Taiga pants.

Grew up hunting the Olympic peninsula, then southeast AK and now prince William sound AK, tried many wet weather ensembles. Found if its rain I'll be wet, for many years now have used filson wool with synthetic long underwear, I get wet but stay warm.

I’m hoping to snag a muzzy bull tag in that neck of the woods. This season tossed in with 15 points 🤞

One from my corner office view. Kicks ass. .

Good luck, Fred!

Thanks
Its like winning power ball.

Cool!!

Belfair?

Boston harbor

Nice office view!

Ford truck😉 I can’t spell well enough for a office.

+1

Beautiful up there for sure. And the seafood bounty is seriously wonderful. Oysters and shrimp my personal fav...