Elk Area 1054 Blue Creek
Winter-wheat and foothill country on Walla Walla's doorstep, where the Blues' state-line elk herd meets the plow.
Region 1 (Eastern) — District 3, Walla Walla foothills of the Blue Mountains · Last reviewed 2026-07-17
Area
61
sq mi
Public land
1%
approx.
Elevation
750–2,800
feet
Motorized
moderate
access
Overview
Elk Area 1054 'Blue Creek' is a WDFW special elk area — not a GMU — covering roughly 61 square miles of the southwest corner of GMU 154 (Blue Creek): the block bounded by Mill Creek Road, Highway 12, Highway 125, and the Oregon state line, wrapping the south and east edges of Walla Walla itself. It exists for damage management: GMU 154 is 99% private, its elk are 'heavily hunted due to conflicts with agricultural activities,' and WDFW has deliberately shifted the GMU's antlerless opportunity south of Mill Creek, where roughly 500 elk from the Oregon-shared Blue Mountains herd concentrate along the state line in winter and spill onto wheat, CRP, and hay ground. Expect a permission-based, largely late-window hunt on farm and foothill parcels — including a lot of small, subdivided acreages near town — rather than anything resembling a backcountry elk hunt. WDFW is blunt that hunters should secure access before applying for permits in this country, and it lists a Feel Free to Hunt property ('Blue Creek,' about 1,270 acres) inside the GMU as a rare no-permission option.
Terrain
Valley-floor agriculture grading into the first rolls of the Blue Mountains. The west half along Highway 125 is flat to gently rolling wheat, alfalfa, vineyard, and orchard ground around College Place and the Stateline area; eastward toward Kooskooskie and the Mill Creek Road corner the country steepens into bunchgrass foothills and brushy creek draws at the mountain front. Elk work the foothill fields and creek bottoms mostly at night and hold in the draws and along the state line by day.
Cover: Dryland wheat, CRP grassland, hay, vineyards and orchards on the valley floor; bunchgrass slopes with hawthorn, wild rose, and cottonwood-alder stringers along Mill Creek, Blue Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Russell Creek, and Yellowhawk Creek; conifer timber only at the far southeast fringe toward the Blues.
Landmarks: Mill Creek and Mill Creek Road (northeast boundary) · Kooskooskie · Blue Creek · Cottonwood Creek and Russell Creek · Highway 125 (west boundary) and US Highway 12 (north edge) · Washington-Oregon state line (south boundary) · Walla Walla and College Place (city edges inside the area's north/west boundary)
Access
GMU 154 is 99% private land, and this elk area is the ag-and-foothill corner of it — there is effectively no general public land to fall back on. The workable paths in are WDFW's private-lands program (several large landowners in the GMU are enrolled; the 'Blue Creek' Feel Free to Hunt site offers about 1,273 acres of walk-in, dawn-to-dusk access with no scouting, blinds, or tree stands allowed) and direct written permission from farmers along the state line and the foothill roads. WDFW specifically encourages hunters to contact landowners well before the season and to lock down access before applying for special permits here. Be warned that this GMU is 'rapidly being subdivided into small parcels,' so ownership maps go stale fast and elk regularly stand on ground you can't touch.
Managers: Private farms, ranches, vineyards, and rural-residential parcels (nearly the entire area), WDFW private-lands access agreements (including the Blue Creek Feel Free to Hunt property)
Access points: Mill Creek Road east from Walla Walla toward Kooskooskie and the state line · Highway 125 south from Walla Walla/College Place to the Stateline area · Cottonwood Road / Russell Creek Road network into the southeast foothills · WDFW Blue Creek Feel Free to Hunt property (register/park per posted rules)
Species notes
Rocky Mountain Elk
limited opportunityElk here are a seasonal, damage-driven presence: bands from the Oregon-shared Blue Mountains herd — including roughly 500 animals wintering along the state line south of Mill Creek — push onto foothill wheat and CRP mainly from late fall through winter. This is an antlerless opportunity area for herd and damage control, not a bull hunt; success hinges on being on the right farm the week the elk are.
- →Build landowner relationships along the state line and the Mill Creek/Kooskooskie foothill front in summer — WDFW says to secure access before applying, and the advice is doubly true here.
- →Expect elk on green winter wheat and CRP edges at first light; they bed in brushy creek draws and across the Oregon line by day, so set up on travel routes between feed and cover.
- →Watch the weather: cold snaps and snow in the high Blues push elk down to the state-line winter range — the later and harsher the conditions, the more elk on this ground.
- →Use the Blue Creek Feel Free to Hunt property as a legal fallback, but treat it as one piece of the puzzle — the elk pattern shifts field to field with hazing and hunting pressure.
- →Glass from the county-road grid at dawn rather than walking parcels blind; in this open country you can find the herd first and then chase permission on the specific field.
Whitetail Deer
common opportunityThe Blue Creek foothills and creek bottoms are solid eastside whitetail country — GMU 154 consistently produces a couple hundred deer a year, mostly whitetails off the ag edges. The same private-land access problem applies, but deer permission is often easier to get than elk permission.
- →Still-hunt or stand the hawthorn and cottonwood creek corridors (Blue, Cottonwood, Russell creeks) where whitetails bed within sight of alfalfa and wheat.
- →Hunt field edges the first and last half hour of light; midday whitetails hold tight in the draws.
- →The late-October into November rut gets foothill bucks cruising the creek bottoms — the best window for a mature deer.
- →Ask elk-access landowners about deer too; adding a deer hunt is often the easier yes that opens a gate.
Pro tips
- →Treat this as an access project first and an elk hunt second: the hunters who fill these tags are the ones with a farmer's phone number saved before the drawing results post.
- →Scout by glassing from public county roads at dawn after the first real snow — the wintering herd is visible on green fields, and you can map exactly which parcels they're using.
- →Know your boundary cold: the Oregon state line is the southern edge, Mill Creek Road the eastern, and elk cross both freely — your tag stops where Washington and your permission do.
- →Check WDFW's private-lands website right before the season; enrolled properties and rules around Walla Walla change year to year.
- →Report any limping elk or elk with deformed hooves — treponeme-associated hoof disease was confirmed in this exact foothill country (Walla Walla County Blues), and WDFW wants sightings reported.
Watch out for
- !Nearly zero public land: without landowner permission or a WDFW private-lands property, you have almost nowhere legal to hunt in this area.
- !Rapid subdivision — WDFW flags that this GMU is being carved into small parcels, so expect houses, safety-zone considerations, and patchwork ownership right where the elk feed.
- !This is an urban-fringe hunt in places: fields back up to Walla Walla and College Place neighborhoods; know what's beyond your target and expect non-hunting public.
- !Elk presence is boom-or-bust and weather-dependent; a mild winter can leave the area nearly empty of elk during your window.
- !Elk hoof disease (TAHD) has been confirmed in the Walla Walla Blues — report limping elk to WDFW and follow carcass-handling guidance.
- !The Blue Creek Feel Free to Hunt property prohibits scouting, blinds, and tree stands, and is walk-in dawn-to-dusk only — read the posted rules before using it.
Logistics
This is the easiest logistics of any Blue Mountains elk hunt — the area literally borders Walla Walla and College Place, with full services, motels, fuel, and groceries minutes from any field. Milton-Freewater, Oregon sits just across the line for the southern end. There is no meaningful camping inside the area (it is private farm country); day-hunt from town. Roads are paved or good gravel county roads, though foothill routes near Kooskooskie can be icy in the winter hunt windows. Cell coverage is strong except in the deeper foothill draws.
Nearest towns: Walla Walla, College Place, Milton-Freewater, OR, Dixie
Seasons & regulations
This page carries no season dates or regulations. Get current rules from the official Washington sources:
Research sources: WAC 220-415-040 — Elk Area No. 1054 (Walla Walla County) boundary description · WDFW 2025 District 3 Hunting Prospects — GMU 154 access/elk/deer, state-line wintering elk, antlerless shift south of Mill Creek · WAC 220-415-050 — 2024-2026 elk general seasons (Elk Area 1054 antlerless listing) · eRegulations — Washington elk special permits (Blue Creek antlerless hunts, Elk Area 1054) · WDFW Private Lands Hunting Access — Blue Creek property (Feel Free to Hunt, Walla Walla County) · WDFW news release — elk hoof disease (TAHD) confirmed in the Blue Mountains of Walla Walla County
FAQ
- How big is Elk Area 1054 in Washington?
- Elk Area 1054 (Blue Creek) covers about 61 square miles, ranging from roughly 750 to 2,800 feet in elevation. Area is computed from the unit boundary polygon.
- How much public land is in Elk Area 1054?
- Approximately 1% of the unit is public land. Primary managers: Private farms, ranches, vineyards, and rural-residential parcels (nearly the entire area), WDFW private-lands access agreements (including the Blue Creek Feel Free to Hunt property). Always verify ownership boundaries on the ground.
- What species does the catalog list for Elk Area 1054?
- 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 1054 on your map.
Boundary lines, public/private ownership, topo, and offline maps for this unit — in Baseline Maps, free for 14 days.