Christian Valley Elk (private land)

[Spruce Grouse]

Yahoo......after years of trying I finally got a LEH tag. Is there anybody with experience hunting elk in the Christian Valley willing to share some advice on how they went about hunting for a cow elk on private land? The regs say I can hunt 400m around the private land also. Do I need the ranchers ok to hunt on the 400m too?

any tips greatly appreciated

newbie

[KB90]

I can answer one question.

You do not need permission to hunt 400m crown land around private land.

[Spruce Grouse]

I can answer one question.

You do not need permission to hunt 400m crown land around private land.

Thanks for getting back, that's good to know KB90 and it makes sense.
Does anyone know if it's more likely to find elk at Westbridge or further up the Christian Valley?

[bighornbob]

If there is no snow to push them down it can be a real tough hunt.

BHB

[Prowler]

I hunted A LOT just past west bridge for white tails, above Lost Horse Creek, and in all the time I put in there over a period of maybe 8 yrs, I only once bumped in to elk. There were several cows together and a small bull that didnt make the 6 point requirement at the time. I was there every year around now. rememberance day... It just got to busy for my liking and I quit going... I did see a guy drag a dead bull down from the top with his quad 2 years in a row, right above where I was hunting, but even his friends told me the guy is like an elk wisperer, and is the only one in the crew to consistantly find the big bulls.. I tried to go up there following his quad trax the next day, but it was pretty steep, and didnt end pretty....:?

[Hydrojet]

I actually ran into more elk and elk sign this year up CV than I have ever before...it was weird as usually you have to head up way high and east of the valley to get to them...I heard of three this year taken rather close to the valley....very odd....or stories!

[dedapair]

For easy access just ask at the Boss RANCH...... Just kidding, most, if not all the ranchers in the valley are NOT very receptive to people hunting on their property. You'll never know until you ask though, maybe you will get lucky but plan on hunting crown land.

Cheers, Dedapair

[trevstar33]

I was lucky enough to get that draw a few years back, of course there was no snow so all the Elk were still up in the hills. That hunt was created because of some of the Ranchers complaining about Elk eating all the hay. Best advice I can give you is call the CO in Castlegar and he will give you names of a couple " Hunter Friendly Ranchers " That's what I did. And if there is snow you might need a swowsled not a quad. Good luck.

[Elkaholic2010]

There is little to no snow up the CV right now. If you have the November tag you may have a tough time finding the elk within the 400m zone of private land.if you shoot one up at higher elevation,technically you would be hunting illegally as most if not all private land is valley bottom and low elevation.Do your homework though and you may be rewarded!