GMU 681 Bear River

GMU 681 is one of the four strongest elk GMUs in District 17 (WDFW groups it with 658, 672, and 673). It sits in the highly productive Willapa Hills herd, which WDFW helicopter surveys have shown with robust calf:cow and bull:cow ratios (herd-area averages around 20 bulls and 40 calves per 100 cows). 681 was included in the 2018 Bear River survey block. Expect good numbers of elk and reasonable harvest, but mature five-point-plus bulls are scarce herd-wide — trophy hunters are directed to the Olympic or St. Helens herds instead.

• →Hunt the fresh-to-young clearcuts and replant edges where elk pull in to forage at first and last light, then push cover once they bed.
• →Locate a herd pre-season and pattern its feeding cuts and travel through the checkerboard — access boundaries dictate where you can actually follow them.
• →Work the timbered stringers and creek bottoms between cuts during the day; bulls hold in closed-canopy cover once pressure builds.
• →Manage expectations on antlers — take the opportunity at a legal bull; the mature-bull odds here are low compared to the Olympic herd.

One of District 17's standout bear producers — WDFW named GMUs 684 and 681 as the best places to harvest a bear in 2017, and 681 is listed as a regular producer during both general and spring seasons. Bears are common but rarely seen in the thick coastal cover, so success leans on scouting berry-rich cuts and patient glassing.

• →Glass open clearcuts and regen units full of salmonberry, huckleberry, blackberry, and elderberry at dawn and dusk.
• →Hunt the open ground so you can spot a bear at distance before it winds you in the dense cover.
• →Find a fresh-fed cut and sit it for long watches rather than covering ground.
• →Target bears on ripe berry feed early in the fall before deer and elk pressure scatters them.

Columbian black-tailed deer are the only deer here and are present throughout, though 681 is a middle-of-the-pack deer unit for District 17 (the top deer GMUs are 663, 648, 672, and 660). Deer numbers are steady in the maritime climate; historically the unit carried a 2-point minimum, so read current antler restrictions.

• →Glass 3- to 9-year-old clearcuts and replants at first and last light, then still-hunt the brushy timber edge.
• →Time your hardest effort to the late-October/early-November blacktail rut when bucks move most.
• →Scout pockets away from open, road-hunted mainlines — the same cuts that hold elk hold deer and hunters.
• →Hunt the walk-in Hancock and Nature Conservancy ground for lower pressure once you accept the boot-leather cost.

Cougars range throughout the Willapa Hills and are mostly taken opportunistically by deer and elk hunters. The season is harvest-cap managed and can close mid-season, so check current hunt-area status before and during your hunt.

• →Carry the tag and treat cougar as a bonus while glassing cuts for elk, deer, and bear.
• →Hunt where prey concentrates — regen stands and river bottoms hold the deer and elk that cougars follow.
• →Check the cap-managed hunt-area status regularly since it can close once the removal threshold is met.
• →After a rare low-elevation snow, cut roads and landings for fresh tracks to follow up.