Indeed, during several recent winters, the upper Toutle River Valley herd has experienced significant winter mortality. This occurred after the herd size increased in recent decades with the succulent forage that flourished in the wake of Mount St. Helen's 1980 eruption. But that vegetation has matured and is no longer quality winter forage.

In late 2006, the WDFW responded by scheduling more cow permit hunts and other controlled and damage hunts this year.

Although they are lumped with the Toutle Valley's herd under the name of Mount St. Helens, elk are widely distributed throughout the region. During 2005, more than 300 elk were killed in the Winston and Coweeman units, more than 200 in the Ryderwood, and more than 100 in the West Fork Klickitat, Packwood, Lewis River and Siouxan units.

You can hunt in all of these GMUs with a general season tag.

What sets these units apart from other western Washington units is active timber harvest rotations on industrial forests. Elk are most productive on stands of timber less than 30 years old.

Young and varied-age stands of timber were common throughout western Washington between the 1960s and early '80s. But much of the federally controlled national forests have subsequently been converted to late-successional reserves to protect fish and spotted owl habitat.

However, private timber companies control much of the low- and middle-elevation forests in the southwest, and they continue to produce high-quality elk forage.

The Willapa Hills may be slightly below its management objectives, but it turned out 268 bucks and 53 cows, and it will once again be one of the best bets for westside elk hunters this fall.

On the Olympic Peninsula, the Clearwater, Matheny Ridge, Sol Duc, and Quinault Ridge units were once legendary for the number and size of elk they gave up. Declining quality of habitat, poaching and increased predation combined to knock Olympic herds to record lows in the 1990s.

The herd has rebounded in recent years. In 2005, the WDFW's Region 6 status review claimed it's generally close to objectives.

But the most productive units have shifted significantly in recent years, and this year, hunters will enjoy better odds in the units in the southern half of Region 6 -- specifically, the Williams Creek, North River and Bear River units.

YAKIMA HERD
Regardless of how many elk are killed in western Washington, the ponderosa forests and rocky draws of eastern Washington will always be the state's elk country for many hunters. And when hunters think of eastern Washington today, the Yakima elk herd probably comes to mind.

You could probably win a lot of bar bets by claiming that more elk are killed in western Washington than east of the Cascades.

The Yakima herd is the state's largest. Its range extends from the foothills west of the Yakima River to the crest of the Cascades.

The Yakima herd's numbers speak for themselves. During the 2005 general season, hunters killed 932 bulls and 523 cows in Region 3. The high antlerless harvest reflects the population-management strategy of increasing cow harvest to reduce population productivity. The WDFW has been actively reducing the elk population over the last few years because elk have been the subject of increasing damage complaints.

Interestingly, there is a long and depressing history of the elk vs. human controversy in the Yakima area. Washington's first elk fence was built in the early 20th century, and wildlife managers have been forced to deal with angry landowners ever since.

The Naneum Unit is usually the most productive unit, and it produced 151 bulls in 2005.

Also popular with hunters are the Manastash, Bethel and Teanaway units, and they will give up their share of Yakima herd elk in 2007.

At one time, the Colockum herd, which ranges just north of the Yakima herd, was one of the state's most productive. Its numbers have been depressed for a number of years. The herd is rebuilding gradually, but biologists said it is still below management objectives.