Elk Area 6014 Puyallup
Winter damage-control elk on the Buckley–Enumclaw farm plateau — a knock-on-doors permission hunt, not a timber hunt.
Region 6 — South Puget Sound (District 11), Buckley–Enumclaw plateau · Last reviewed 2026-07-17
Area
47
sq mi
Public land
0%
approx.
Elevation
300–900
feet
Motorized
extensive
access
Overview
Elk Area 6014 is a 47-square-mile WDFW special-permit area in District 11, covering the farm plateau between the White River and South Prairie Creek — the Bonney Lake, South Prairie, and Buckley country running toward Enumclaw, framed by Highways 164, 410, 162, and 165 and a pair of power-transmission corridors. WDFW's GIS layer carries no name for it (it is simply 'Elk Area 6014'); the permit hunt tied to it is the Puyallup antlerless elk hunt. The area was expanded in response to growing elk numbers and elk damage off the Muckleshoot Reservation around Buckley and Enumclaw, and it now supports roughly 150-200 elk living on agricultural lands, hobby farms, and ranch homes, with both general-season opportunity and winter antlerless damage hunts. This is the definition of an urban-fringe damage hunt: elk are plentiful and visible, but virtually the entire area is private, and WDFW is blunt that hunters should secure landowner access before applying. Expect pastures, fence lines, and houses — not backcountry.
Terrain
A low glacial plateau of pastures, hayfields, hobby farms, and rural subdivisions, dropping off into the wooded White River valley on the north and east and the South Prairie Creek valley on the south. Relief is gentle; the hunting problem is parcel boundaries, not topography. Elk shelter in river-bottom timber, brushy ravines, and transmission-line corridors, then feed onto green pasture at night.
Cover: Improved pasture and hay ground broken by blocks of second-growth Douglas-fir and hemlock, cottonwood-alder bottoms along the White River and South Prairie Creek, and blackberry-choked field edges and powerline scrub that elk use as day cover.
Landmarks: White River (north/east edge) · South Prairie Creek and the town of South Prairie · Connells Prairie Road E · SR 410 (Bonney Lake–Buckley) · SR 162 (South Prairie–Buckley) · SR 165 (Buckley–Wilkeson) · SR 164 (Enumclaw–Auburn, along the northern boundary) · Power-transmission corridors forming parts of the legal boundary
Access
Essentially no public hunting ground — WDFW describes the area as mostly agricultural lands, hobby farms, and ranch homes, and states plainly that access is limited and hunters should obtain permission before applying for the permits. Permission is the whole game: WDFW staff will not hand out landowner names, so scout properties, knock on doors weeks ahead of the season, and line up more than one farm since the herds shift between properties. Landowners suffering pasture and fence damage are often receptive, but many parcels are small, and Pierce County firearm-restriction zones overlay parts of the plateau — check the county's GIS firearm-restriction maps before assuming you can hunt a given field with a rifle. The Muckleshoot Reservation country to the north (Elk Area 6013) is managed for tribal purposes and is not part of this opportunity.
Managers: Private farms, hobby ranches, and rural-residential owners, Small private timber parcels
Access points: SR 410 corridor through Bonney Lake and Buckley · SR 162 / South Prairie Road through South Prairie · SR 164 (Enumclaw plateau approach) · County roads off Connells Prairie Road E (all hunting by landowner permission)
Species notes
Roosevelt Elk
common opportunityWDFW pegs the area at roughly 150-200 elk — part of the North Rainier herd country, with animals moving between the White River bottoms and the plateau farms and causing enough damage that the area was expanded and given winter antlerless hunts. Elk are easy to find and hard to legally reach; this is a freezer hunt on private ground, not an antler hunt.
- →Drive the plateau at dawn and dusk before you apply — pattern which pastures the herds are using around South Prairie, Buckley, and the Connells Prairie country, then pursue permission on those specific parcels.
- →Secure access to several properties, not one; damage herds rotate between farms week to week, and a single 40-acre permission can go cold.
- →Hunt the first and last hour when elk are on open pasture; midday they hole up in river-bottom timber, ravines, and powerline brush where small-parcel access rarely reaches.
- →In the winter permit windows, cold snaps concentrate elk on the greenest hay ground — recheck your fields after each weather change rather than sitting a dead pasture.
- →Talk to landowners about where elk enter fields (fence crossings, creek corridors) and set up on those edges; shots are typically short and shooting lanes matter more than optics.
Blacktail Deer
common opportunityBlacktail are common in the same farm-edge and creek-bottom habitat, and WDFW manages the urbanized western District 11 GMUs (this ground lies in GMUs 652/653) with liberal deer opportunity to curb conflicts. Deer hunting here falls under the underlying GMU seasons, but the same landowner permission that gets you on elk often comes with deer.
- →Still-hunt cottonwood-alder bottoms along South Prairie Creek and the White River at first light.
- →Watch blackberry field edges and powerline scrub — plateau blacktail bed within yards of pasture.
- →Late-October rut movement is the best window for a decent buck on small parcels.
Pro tips
- →Do the access work before you apply — WDFW explicitly warns that access is limited and hunters should line up permission first. If you can't get on a farm the elk actually use, don't burn points here.
- →Carry a parcel-ownership map at all times; the boundary follows transmission lines and county roads, and properties change hands in this fast-developing corridor.
- →Offer landowners help beyond the hunt — damage documentation, fence repair, quick clean recovery — and you'll be invited back; these hunts run on relationships.
- →Plan the pack-out like a suburban operation: a cart or wheeled game hauler beats a backpack when the cow drops 300 yards into a muddy pasture with a house in sight.
- →Check Pierce County's firearm-restriction area maps for your specific fields — parts of the plateau restrict discharge, which can dictate where (or with what) you can legally shoot.
Watch out for
- !Virtually zero public land — every hunt here happens by landowner permission, and WDFW will not provide landowner names.
- !Pierce County firearm-restriction zones cover portions of the area; verify your parcel on the county GIS before hunting with a rifle.
- !Houses, roads, livestock, and traffic are everywhere — backstops and shot discipline matter more here than in any timber unit.
- !The Muckleshoot Reservation lands to the north (Elk Area 6013) are closed to this opportunity; know the boundary along SR 164 and the White River.
- !Herds shift between farms constantly; a property that held 60 elk in September can be empty in January.
- !The legal boundary follows powerlines and minor county roads — study the WDFW hunt map (Elk_6014) closely, because 'close' isn't legal.
Logistics
This is day-hunt country 40-60 minutes from Tacoma and under an hour from most of the south Sound — no camp required. Bonney Lake and Enumclaw have full services (fuel, groceries, motels); Buckley and South Prairie cover the basics. Cell coverage is solid nearly everywhere. The real logistics are social: door-knocking time in late summer, a parcel-ownership map on your phone, and written permission in your pocket.
Nearest towns: Buckley, South Prairie, Bonney Lake, Enumclaw, Orting
Seasons & regulations
This page carries no season dates or regulations. Get current rules from the official Washington sources:
Research sources: WDFW 2025 District 11 Hunting Prospects — Elk Area 6014 purpose, 150-200 elk, ag/hobby-farm ownership, access guidance · WAC 220-415-040 — Elk area descriptions (Elk Area No. 6014, Pierce County, legal boundary) · WDFW Deer and elk special hunt areas (Elk Area 6014 listing and hunt map) · WDFW Elk Area 6014 hunt map (PDF)
FAQ
- How big is Elk Area 6014 in Washington?
- Elk Area 6014 (Puyallup) covers about 47 square miles, ranging from roughly 300 to 900 feet in elevation. Area is computed from the unit boundary polygon.
- How much public land is in Elk Area 6014?
- Approximately 0% of the unit is public land. Primary managers: Private farms, hobby ranches, and rural-residential owners, Small private timber parcels. Always verify ownership boundaries on the ground.
- What species does the catalog list for Elk Area 6014?
- 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 6014 on your map.
Boundary lines, public/private ownership, topo, and offline maps for this unit — in Baseline Maps, free for 14 days.