GMU 340 Manastash

One of District 8's top-four units for mule deer harvest and hunter numbers (alongside Teanaway, Naneum, and Umtanum). 2023 general-season success ran about 4.4% archery, 5.4% modern firearm, 8.8% multi-weapon, 11.4% muzzleloader. Managed under mule deer rules with some mule-blacktail intergrades; the strong elevation gradient means deer use everything from timbered ridges to sage breaks.

• →Glass the open scabland and sage/grass breaks of the central and southern unit at first and last light — terrain built for covering ground with optics
• →Early season, hunt the forested north around Manastash Ridge and Quartz Mountain where browse and cover are better; deer drift lower with snow
• →Work the timber-to-sage transition lines and brushy draws as midday bedding
• →Muzzleloader and multi-weapon windows post higher success than crowded modern-firearm opening weekend
• →Scout the Black Canyon Fire footprint — burns can either concentrate or scatter deer

Part of the greater Yakima elk herd, one of the largest in the state (>10,000 animals). GMU 340 is a moderate elk unit (2023: 4.4% archery, 4% modern firearm, 9% multi-weapon, 1% muzzleloader). Once seasons open, elk push higher and away from roads, seeking security cover; the mix of forested north and open south means hunting cover, not open glassing, is usually the play during the season.

• →Hunt drainages with dense cover far from roads — elk here scatter into security when pressured
• →Push into the higher forested north around Manastash Ridge/Quartz Mountain once the season opens
• →Time later hunts to snowfall, which shifts elk down and concentrates them
• →Opening weekend is crowded; the last days of modern firearm and the quieter archery/muzzleloader seasons are less pressured
• →Glass the open south only at the edges of shooting light — elk avoid that open ground midday during the season

Black bears occur in the forested north of the unit (2023: 5 bears harvested — 2 females, 3 males — over 1,943 hunter days by 246 hunters, about 2% success, a high-effort/low-yield bear unit). Bears climb in fall following ripening berries and mast; the shrubsteppe south is fringe bear habitat.

• →Scout the forested north for fall food — huckleberry and other berry brush and forage openings
• →Glass old clearcuts, the Black Canyon burn, brushy openings, and meadow edges near water early and late
• →Combine with a deer or elk hunt; most bears here are taken opportunistically
• →Do not shoot a sow with cubs, and remember the required premolar tooth submission to WDFW after harvest

District 8 is a popular cougar area thanks to expansive public land, and Manastash's deer base supports resident cats — mule deer are the primary cougar prey in the district. Most cougars are taken opportunistically by deer and elk hunters carrying a cougar tag; dedicated late hunting after fresh snow, often with calls, is most productive.

• →Hunt where the deer concentrate — the district's densest deer numbers raise your odds of crossing a cat
• →Go early after fresh snow when tracks are easiest to find and follow, and note cats follow deer/elk to lower winter range by mid-November
• →Try calling when snow is on the ground; a fawn bleat won't spook nearby deer/elk
• →Carry the cougar species option during general deer/elk seasons for the opportunistic encounter