Washington Elk 2819 — GMU 653
White River — Bull Elk Hunt, Any bull (Western Firearm) · White River
- What you may take
- White River — Bull Elk Hunt, Any bull (Western Firearm) (male)
- Weapon
- Rifle
- Season (2026)
- Oct 12 – Nov 6, 2026
- Nonresident tags (2025)
- 54
- for 1,283 first-choice applicants
- Muzzleloader hunter success here (2025)
- 30%
- 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. 54 tags, 1,283 first-choice applicants. Source: 2025 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2820 - White River'.
| Points | Your chance | Applicants | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 | 4% 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)
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)
How this tag has hunted
Across every license type in GMU 653, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife counted 70 elk taken in 2025. Full GMU 653 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 | — | 38 | — | — |
| Type general_season | 34 | 14 | 41% | 11.0 |
| Type general_season | 46 | 5 | 11% | 52.0 |
| Type general_season | 57 | 17 | 30% | 21.0 |
| Type special_permit | — | 32 | — | — |
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 | 54 | — | — | — | WDFW Hunt Planner 'Regulation'... · LicenseYear=2026;PermitHuntNumber=2819 |
| 2025 | 54 | 1,283 | 23.8 | — | 2025 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2820 - White River' |
| 2024 | 48 | 1,389 | 28.9 | — | 2024 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2818 - White River' |
| 2023 | 44 | 1,337 | 30.4 | — | 2023 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2818 - White River' |
| 2022 | 44 | 1,302 | 29.6 | — | 2022 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2818 - White River' |
| 2021 | 45 | 1,210 | 26.9 | — | 2021 Elk individual hunts —... · table '2818 - White River' |
Other licenses valid in GMU 653
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.
Spot a data error on this page? Tell us.
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.