Washington Elk 2042 — GMU 618

Matheny — Quality Elk Hunt, 3 pt. min. (Western Firearm) · Matheny

What you may take
Matheny — Quality Elk Hunt, 3 pt. min. (Western Firearm) (male)
Weapon
Rifle
Where
GMU 618 — Matheny
99% public of 62,673 acres
Season (2026)
Sep 26–30, 2026
Nonresident tags (2025)
1
for 127 first-choice applicants
Firearm hunter success here (2025)
6%
of everyone who hunted the area

Showing nonresident results. Switch to resident

Odds by point level — 2025 draw · 2026 draw pending — showing 2025 odds

Prior-draw probability for a first-choice nonresident applicant. 1 tags, 127 first-choice applicants. Source: 2025 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2042 - Matheny'.

Points Your chance Applicants Drawn
0–10 <1% the pool average — a floor for anyone holding points, since each point adds entries

Unweighted tags ÷ applicants — state did not publish pools. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife publishes no per-level counts for this hunt; each point adds entries ((points + 1)²), so the pool average is a floor for anyone holding points and an overstatement for a first-year applicant. How we compute these.

What it costs (2025 nonresident fees)

Cash to apply
$837.90
Out of pocket if unsuccessful
$837.90
Total if drawn
tag fee not on file
Refunded if unsuccessful
$0
Nonresident special hunt permit application (per category) · paid at application $152.30 source
Nonresident elk license · paid at application $685.60 source

Next application window: opens Apr 20, closes May 27, 2027 (expected) · results ~June 30. Last cycle's schedule rolled forward — confirm when the agency publishes.

Point creep & years to draw

Insufficient history (0 of 3 draws) — a creep trend needs at least three draw years with a published drew-out level.

Seasons (2026)

Split 1: Sep 26–30, 2026 p. LicenseYear=2026;PermitHuntNumber=2042

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in GMU 618, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife counted 9 elk taken in 2025. Full GMU 618 profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →

Hunters holding this license type (2025) — the rest of the area's hunters held something else:

What they hunted Hunters Harvest Success Days per animal
Type general_season 8
Type general_season 40 3 8% 92.0
Type general_season 89 5 6% 90.0
Type general_season 39 0 0% 0.0
Type special_permit 1

Washington's figures come from mandatory hunter reports. WDFW credits a multi-GMU special-permit hunt's harvest to every GMU it spans rather than splitting it, so unit totals add up to more than the statewide total. Source: WDFW Hunt Planner 'BigGame' harvest table (WP_HuntPlanner/Harvest/MapServer/1)

Year by year

The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year.

Year Tags Applicants Applicants per tag Points needed Source
2026 1 WDFW Hunt Planner &#39;Regulation&#39;... · LicenseYear=2026;PermitHuntNumber=2042
2025 1 127 127.0 2025 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2042 - Matheny'
2024 1 145 145.0 2024 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2044 - Matheny'
2023 1 115 115.0 2023 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2044 - Matheny'
2022 1 130 130.0 2022 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2043 - Matheny'
2021 3 184 61.3 2021 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2046 - Matheny'

Other licenses valid in GMU 618

Legal cartridges for elk in Washington

From the Washington hunting laws rules on file for a rifle. "Depends" means the rule turns on your specific load — check the state page.

.22-250 Remington
.223 Remington from $0.42/rd
.243 Winchester from $1.11/rd
.25-06 Remington
6.5 Creedmoor
6.5 Grendel
.270 Winchester from $0.16/rd
7mm-08 Remington
7mm Remington Magnum
.30-06 Springfield
.300 AAC Blackout from $0.56/rd
.300 Winchester Magnum from $1.25/rd
.30-30 Winchester
.308 Winchester
.338 Winchester Magnum
.350 Legend from $1.07/rd
.35 Whelen
.360 Buckhammer
.400 Legend
.444 Marlin
.450 Bushmaster from $2.00/rd
.45-70 Government from $1.97/rd
.50 Beowulf
Spot a data error on this page? Tell us.

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

How to read these numbers

Every percentage on this page is a prior-draw probability: the chance an applicant with that many points would have drawn in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results. It is not a forecast — quotas, applicant numbers, and point creep change every year. Every figure links to the agency document it came from. Where a state does not publish a number, we show a dash, never a zero. Hunts with fewer than five tags show counts instead of percentages. Fees show the fee year used. Read the methodology for the engine details.

Not an application service

This page is informational only. Draw rules, quotas, fees, and deadlines are set by the state agency and change by commission action — confirm everything on the agency's own site before you apply, and apply through the agency, not here. We disclaim all liability for reliance on this page.