Elk Area 1021 Fruitland
A brand-new antlerless elk damage area on private ranch country between Lake Roosevelt and the Huckleberry foothills.
Region 1 (Eastern) — District 1, southern Stevens County above Lake Roosevelt · Last reviewed 2026-07-17
Area
30
sq mi
Public land
—
approx.
Elevation
1,500–3,500
feet
Motorized
moderate
access
Overview
Elk Area 1021 "Fruitland" is a roughly 30-square-mile special-permit area carved out of the southern end of GMU 121 (Huckleberry) in Stevens County, created new in 2024 for one purpose: knocking down localized crop, fence, and haystack damage from a growing pocket of Selkirk-herd elk. It sits in the Fruitland Valley country east of SR 25 above Lake Roosevelt, bounded on the south by the Spokane Indian Reservation and reaching east toward Fruitland Valley, Turk, and Coyote Canyon roads. This is essentially all private farm, ranch, and timber ground — WDFW is blunt that hunters should secure landowner access BEFORE applying and contact landowners well ahead of the hunt, with the Region 1 office (509-892-1001) able to help match hunters to access. It is an antlerless management hunt, not a destination hunt: come to help a landowner solve an elk problem, and treat any freezer elk as the win it is.
Terrain
Open valley farmland and pasture along the Fruitland Valley, rising through ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir foothill ridges toward the Huckleberry Range on the east and breaking west toward the Lake Roosevelt shoreline bluffs along SR 25. It hunts like classic northeast-Washington fringe country: hayfields and fence lines in the bottoms, timbered draws and brushy canyons (Coyote Canyon, O-Ra-Pak-En Creek country) just above them. Elevations are approximate — the community of Fruitland sits near 1,800 feet with ridges climbing a couple thousand feet higher.
Cover: Irrigated and dryland hay ground, pasture, and CRP-type grass in the valleys; ponderosa pine parkland on south slopes; denser Douglas-fir and mixed conifer with brushy understory in the draws and higher foothills.
Landmarks: SR 25 (west boundary) · Lake Roosevelt (Columbia River) · Fruitland Valley Road · Turk Road · Coyote Canyon Road · Spokane Indian Reservation boundary (south) · Huckleberry Range foothills (east)
Access
The area is on private land, full stop — WDFW's prospects say so directly and urge hunters to lock in landowner permission before ever applying, then re-contact landowners well before the hunt. There is no meaningful public-land fallback inside the area; scattered DNR ground exists in the general vicinity but this is a knock-on-doors (or Region 1 office-assisted) hunt. Landowners suffering elk damage are often motivated to host antlerless hunters, which is the whole design of the area. The Spokane Indian Reservation forming the south boundary is closed to non-tribal hunting, and the Lake Roosevelt shoreline below the high-water contour is National Park Service-managed with its own rules.
Managers: Private ranches and farms (dominant), Private timberland (Manulife manages much of GMU 121's private forest), Washington DNR (scattered parcels; a DNR property line forms part of the boundary)
Access points: SR 25 north from Davenport/Fort Spokane or south from Kettle Falls · Fruitland Valley Road east from SR 25 · Turk Road and Coyote Canyon Road (county roads through the area)
Species notes
Rocky Mountain Elk
common opportunityA localized, growing slice of the Selkirk elk herd that works the valley agriculture hard enough to trigger this area's creation in 2024. Elk in northeast Washington run in small, mobile, scattered groups — numbers are trending up district-wide, but on any given week the bunch causing damage may or may not be on the ground you have permission to hunt.
- →Do the access work first — a drawn permit here is worthless without a landowner relationship, so line up ground before you apply and call the Region 1 office (509-892-1001) if you need help.
- →Ask landowners exactly where and when elk are hitting fields; damage hunts succeed on current intel, and the rancher watches these elk daily.
- →Glass hayfield and pasture edges at first and last light, then set up between the feed and the timbered draws the elk bed in.
- →Be ready to move fast when you get a call — these elk shift between properties and off toward the foothills, and the window on a specific field can be days, not weeks.
- →Watch the boundaries: the reservation to the south and neighboring unpermitted ground can be one fence away from where the elk stand.
Whitetail Deer
abundant opportunityWhite-tailed deer are the most abundant deer in northeast Washington and thick in this valley-agriculture-and-pine-fringe habitat; general-season deer hunting here follows GMU 121 rules and the same private-access reality. If you build a landowner relationship for the elk hunt, it often doubles as excellent whitetail ground.
- →Still-hunt the pine/field edges and brushy draws off the hay ground at dawn and dusk.
- →Late October into November rut movement makes bucks visible crossing open valley ground midday.
- →Ask the landowner about EHD/bluetongue die-off history on their creek bottoms — drought-year outbreaks (2015, 2021) hit some drainages harder than others.
Pro tips
- →Treat this as a service hunt: the landowner's problem is your opportunity, and showing up respectful, flexible, and on short notice is what gets you invited back.
- →Secure written permission and save landowner phone numbers before the draw — WDFW says plainly that access is the hunter's responsibility here.
- →The Region 1 office (509-892-1001) may be able to connect drawn hunters with landowners seeking help — use it.
- →Scout from SR 25, Fruitland Valley Road, and Coyote Canyon Road to pattern which fields elk are using, then ask permission on exactly those parcels.
- →Bring a plan for cooling and hauling an elk out of a hayfield — this is truck-and-winch country, not backcountry packing, but warm early-season days spoil meat fast.
Watch out for
- !Do not apply expecting to freelance — there is effectively no public land inside the area, and a permit without private access is a wasted draw choice.
- !The Spokane Indian Reservation along the south boundary is closed to non-tribal hunters; know exactly where that line runs.
- !Lake Roosevelt's shoreline below the high-water mark is federally managed by the National Park Service with different rules — don't assume the lakeshore is huntable.
- !Elk groups here are small and nomadic; the area can be genuinely empty of elk during your window.
- !The area was new in 2024 and boundary or hunt details can be adjusted year to year — verify the current legal description before hunting.
Logistics
Fruitland and Hunters are tiny SR 25 communities — a post office and not much else — so plan fuel and groceries around Davenport (south, via Fort Spokane) or Kettle Falls/Colville (north). Motels are in Davenport, Chewelah, Colville, or Kettle Falls; Spokane is roughly an hour and a half. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area campgrounds (Hunters Camp, Fort Spokane) are the handy camping options. Cell coverage is spotty along SR 25 and in the draws — download maps and confirm landowner contact plans in advance.
Nearest towns: Fruitland, Hunters, Davenport, Kettle Falls, Springdale
Seasons & regulations
This page carries no season dates or regulations. Get current rules from the official Washington sources:
Research sources: WDFW 2024 District 1 Hunting Prospects — Elk Area 1021 Fruitland (new 2024, damage purpose, private-land access guidance) · WDFW 2025 District 1 Hunting Prospects — Elk Area 1021, GMU 121 ownership (Manulife, DNR/BLM), elk and whitetail status · WAC 220-415-040 — Elk area descriptions (Elk Area 1021 Fruitland boundary: Spokane Reservation, SR 25, Fruitland Valley/Turk/Coyote Canyon roads) · Washington State Register 24-05-082 — rulemaking creating Elk Area 1021 (2024) · Fruitland, Washington (location on SR 25, elevation ~1,824 ft, Stevens County)
FAQ
- How big is Elk Area 1021 in Washington?
- Elk Area 1021 (Fruitland) covers about 30 square miles, ranging from roughly 1,500 to 3,500 feet in elevation. Area is computed from the unit boundary polygon.
- What species does the catalog list for Elk Area 1021?
- Rocky Mountain Elk, Whitetail Deer. For seasons, tags, and regulations, use the official Washington agency resources linked on this page — this page carries no regulatory information.
Put Elk Area 1021 on your map.
Boundary lines, public/private ownership, topo, and offline maps for this unit — in Baseline Maps, free for 14 days.