Similarly, the Wenaha/Snake Zone, which contains units on the west and north sides of the Blues and Wallowas, posted an 18-percent success rate in both 1997 and 2004. But recently, the harvest ratios in some specific units have climbed to around 30 percent.

"We're looking at a pretty good elk season," said Pat Matthews, wildlife biologist with the ODFW's Enterprise district.

The Sled Springs unit has recently been the most productive unit for both modern-firearms and archery hunters in the Wenaha/Snake Zone. It yielded 301 elk to modern-firearms controlled-tag hunters in 2004 and had an impressive 27-percent success rate. Only 17 percent of the unit is public land, most in pockets of Wallowa/Whitman National Forest on upper Joseph Creek. But Matthews says that the bulk of the land is owned by a timber company that still allows hunting access.

More than 95 percent of the Snake Unit, which extends between the Snake and Imnaha rivers, lies within the Hells Canyon Wilderness and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area.

"It's a real backcountry unit," Matthews said, adding that horses offer the most effective way to access and hunt it. The Snake Unit gave up 192 elk to rifle hunters and had an impressive 42-percent success rate in 2004, while the Chesnimnus put out 162 elk (24 percent).

In most of the Wallowa Zone units, elk numbers have been below management objectives due to poor calf survival. But hunters who draw tags still enjoy relatively good chances for success. The Imnaha and Minam units are above objectives, and yielded 185 and 157 elk, respectively, with 25 and 19 percent success rates.

The Catherine Creek, Pine Creek and Lost Mountain units also accounted for more than 100 elk, with harvest rates above 18 percent. However, low calf survival in the Pine Creek, Lookout Mountain and Keating units will result in low spike numbers once again this year.

The Mount Emily Unit turned out 235 elk (11 percent success) in 2004, but last year it posted its lowest ever calf-survival numbers. The Wenaha Unit, which is almost entirely wilderness, yielded 67 elk.

BLUE MOUNTAINS OF THE EVERGREEN STATE
North of the Oregon border, elk haven't fared any better than Beaver State herds, declining from a peak of 6,500 animals in the late 1970s to around 4,500 in 1999.

But more restrictive management strategies, codified in the WDFW's 2001 Blue Mountain Elk Management Plan, set a goal of 5,600 elk for the Washington portion of the region and seem to have improved conception rates of cows and increased bull-to-cow ratios.

"Most herds are close to management objectives," said Pat Fowler, the WDFW's regional wildlife biologist. "They seem fairly stable."

As in Oregon, the only way you'll get a chance to drop an adult bull elk in the Blue Mountains is if you draw a permit hunt. Now that the original shock of the 1989 implementation of spike-only regulations during the general season has subsided, many hunters concede that the Blue Mountains are less crowded, and they're seeing more bulls.

In fact, most serious Blue Mountains elk hunters have become avid students of permit-hunt applications. This is because your odds of taking a bull in a permit hunt typically range between 50 to 100 percent.