Elk Area 6010 Mallis
Antlerless damage-control elk permits along the SR 6 dairy-valley corridor between Frances and Menlo — knock on doors, then hunt.
Region 6 — District 17, Willapa Hills / SR 6 corridor (Pacific County) · Last reviewed 2026-07-17
Area
48
sq mi
Public land
—
approx.
Elevation
20–1,200
feet
Motorized
moderate
access
Overview
Elk Area 6010 "Mallis" (WDFW also calls it the Raymond elk area) is a roughly 48-square-mile special-permit area strung along the State Route 6 corridor in Pacific County, overlapping parts of GMUs 506 (Willapa Hills), 672 (Fall River), and 673 (Williams Creek). The legal boundary is a ribbon: all land within a mile and a half of SR 6 between the east end of Elk Prairie Road and Mallis Landing Road, plus land within a half mile of Elk Creek Road down to Monohon Landing Road. It exists for one reason — chronic elk damage. WDFW established it to alleviate elk damage on private agricultural lands, and its permits are antlerless hunts meant to check herd growth in the localized farm ground of the Willapa River valley around Menlo, Lebam, and Frances. The Willapa Hills elk herd here is healthy and stable, so finding elk is realistic; the work is access, since the elk causing problems live on private pasture and the surrounding timber tracts (where elk are not problematic) are permit- or walk-in-access ground. This is a freezer hunt with a landowner-relations component, not a wilderness experience.
Terrain
A low, wet valley floor — Willapa River bottomland pasture and dairy ground along SR 6 — flanked immediately by steep, brushy Willapa Hills timber slopes rising several hundred to over a thousand feet within the area's narrow corridor. Elk feed in the fields and meadow edges at night and first light, then pull back into the young timber and creek draws. It hunts as edge country: field margins, gated spur roads, and clearcut faces above the farms.
Cover: River-bottom pasture, hayfields, and brushy sloughs on the valley floor; industrial Douglas-fir and western hemlock plantations with red alder draws on the hills, in all age classes from fresh clearcut to closed-canopy regen choked with salmonberry and blackberry.
Landmarks: State Route 6 (the area's spine) · Willapa River · Elk Prairie Road (east end of the corridor, near Frances) · Mallis Landing Road (west end, near Menlo) · Elk Creek Road and Monohon Landing Road (southwestern lobe) · Willapa Hills State Park Trail (rail-trail paralleling SR 6) · Towns of Menlo, Lebam, and Frances
Access
Access is the hunt. The damage elk live on private agricultural land, and WDFW's own prospects advise permit holders to scout well in advance and speak directly with farm owners about accessing their property; the Region 6 private-lands biologist can sometimes connect permit holders with landowners currently experiencing elk damage. The timber uplands inside the corridor are a different story: Weyerhaeuser ground in GMUs 672/506 (its Pe Ell Unit) is fee-permit access only, DNR parcels are open, and the GMU 673 side is a mix of Manulife/Hancock (walk-in, some mainlines opened during modern season), FIA (lease and fee areas via American Forest Management), Hampton, and Campbell Global (dot system). Ownership and fee policies change irregularly — verify each company's current program before the season. Remember WDFW's note that the timber tracts inside the area hold elk that are not the problem animals; the purpose of the hunt is the farm fringe.
Managers: Private farms and rural residences (Willapa River valley floor), Weyerhaeuser (Pe Ell Unit timberlands, GMUs 672/506 — permit access), Washington DNR, Manulife/Hancock, FIA, Hampton, Campbell Global (GMU 673 side timberlands)
Access points: SR 6 corridor between Frances and Menlo (paved, year-round) · Elk Creek Road south off SR 6 toward Monohon Landing Road · Gated timber-company spurs off SR 6 and the valley county roads (permit/walk-in rules vary by owner) · Private farm gates — by landowner permission arranged in advance
Species notes
Roosevelt Elk
common opportunityWillapa Hills herd elk that concentrate on valley pasture — the 2023 herd surveys showed a healthy, stable population across the Willapa Hills, and this corridor was designated precisely because elk numbers on the farms are more than the landowners can live with. Expect antlerless-hunt expectations: real chances at an elk for the freezer if you secure ground to hunt, not an antler hunt.
- →Start with people, not terrain: contact farm owners along SR 6 between Frances and Menlo well before your hunt, and call the WDFW Region 6 private-lands biologist, who may know which landowners currently have elk problems.
- →Pattern field-feeding elk — glass pastures and hay ground at dawn and dusk from the county roads, then set up on the field-to-timber travel edges once you have permission.
- →If you are limited to the timber uplands, hunt the clearcut faces and creek draws just above the farms where valley elk bed; behind-the-gate walk-ins hold less-pressured animals.
- →Roosevelt elk in this country rarely move far — a bumped herd is usually within a mile or two, so stay on the same drainage rather than relocating.
- →Rainy, cool weather moves elk onto the fields earlier in the evening and holds them later in the morning; use the first hard fall rains.
Blacktail Deer
common opportunityThe GMUs this corridor overlaps (672, 673) are among District 17's better blacktail producers, and deer use the same field edges and young cuts. For a Mallis elk-permit holder the deer are mostly something you see; general-season deer hunting on the surrounding timberlands is subject to each company's access program.
- →Still-hunt alder draws and regen-stand edges above the valley farms in the first and last hour.
- →The late-October rut window puts bucks on their feet in the same edge cover the elk use.
- →Confirm timber-company access rules separately for deer seasons — archery and muzzleloader hunters often get less access than modern-firearm hunters.
Pro tips
- →Do the landowner legwork the day you draw, not the week of the hunt — the whole value of this permit is unlocked by farm-gate permission, and WDFW explicitly encourages contacting farm owners in advance.
- →Call the WDFW Region 6 office and ask for the private-lands biologist; they have historically brokered contact between Mallis permit holders and farmers with active elk damage.
- →Learn the ribbon-shaped legal boundary cold — 1.5 miles either side of SR 6 and a half mile off Elk Creek Road — and load it in your mapping app, because nothing on the ground marks it and the same herd drifts in and out of the area.
- →Scout from SR 6 and the valley county roads with binoculars in the evenings before your hunt; field elk are visible and patternable from pavement here.
- →Budget for a Weyerhaeuser Pe Ell Unit permit only if your plan actually needs that ground — much of the corridor's huntable fringe is farm permission or walk-in timber instead.
- →Have a plan for a wet-ground pack-out and meat care in warm early-season rain — this is low-elevation valley hunting, not cool mountain air.
Watch out for
- !Almost the entire area is private land; hunting without explicit farm permission or a valid timber-company permit is trespassing, and prosecution plus a permanent ban from the landowner is the standard outcome.
- !The elk-area boundary is a mapped corridor, not a fenced or signed one — it is easy to follow elk out of the legal area without noticing.
- !Timber-company fee and access programs here change irregularly (Weyerhaeuser permit-limited Pe Ell Unit, FIA/American Forest Management fees, Manulife walk-in) — verify the current policy for the exact parcel you intend to hunt.
- !The Willapa Hills State Park Trail parallels SR 6 through the corridor and carries non-hunting walkers and cyclists — know where it runs and mind your backstops near it.
- !Houses, barns, livestock, and a state highway thread the valley floor — safe shot angles are a genuine constraint on field hunts.
- !Hoof-diseased (TAHD) elk are common in the Willapa herd; the disease is confined to hooves and does not affect the meat, but be prepared for what you may see and harvest.
- !This is a damage-control antlerless hunt — go in expecting farm-fringe meat hunting, not a backcountry bull experience.
Logistics
Raymond, ten minutes west of the area on SR 6/US 101, has the motels, fuel, groceries, and hardware; South Bend adds a few more options. Menlo, Lebam, and Frances are farm hamlets with little or no services, and Pe Ell (east, over the county line) has a store and fuel. There is no camping inside the corridor — the ground is private farms and gated timber — so plan on lodging in Raymond or camping at Rainbow Falls State Park east on SR 6 toward Chehalis. Cell coverage is decent along SR 6 but drops fast in the timber draws. Winter-wet county roads and farm gates mean mud: bring boots for pasture work and keep vehicles on pavement or approved roads.
Nearest towns: Raymond, South Bend, Menlo, Lebam, Frances, Pe Ell
Seasons & regulations
This page carries no season dates or regulations. Get current rules from the official Washington sources:
Research sources: WDFW 2024 District 17 Hunting Prospects — Elk Area 6010 (Mallis/Raymond) purpose, access advice, Willapa Hills herd surveys, timber-company access programs · Washington hunting regulations (eRegulations) — Elk Area 6010 Mallis legal boundary description (Pacific Co; GMUs 506/672/673, SR 6, Elk Prairie Rd, Mallis Landing Rd, Elk Creek Rd, Monohon Landing Rd) · WDFW — Deer and elk special hunt areas index (Elk Area 6010 Mallis map PDF) · WDFW 2019 District 17 Hunting Prospects — Elk Area 6010 damage purpose and Region 6 private-lands biologist contact guidance
FAQ
- How big is Elk Area 6010 in Washington?
- Elk Area 6010 (Mallis) covers about 48 square miles, ranging from roughly 20 to 1,200 feet in elevation. Area is computed from the unit boundary polygon.
- What species does the catalog list for Elk Area 6010?
- Roosevelt Elk, Blacktail 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 6010 on your map.
Boundary lines, public/private ownership, topo, and offline maps for this unit — in Baseline Maps, free for 14 days.