GMU 564 - Battle Ground, Washington

Rolling lowland hills transitioning to gentle Cascade foothills on the eastern and northeastern borders. Elevation ranges from approximately 100 ft along the Columbia River bottomlands to roughly 2,000 ft on the eastern fringe. The dominant landscape is a mosaic of cleared farmland, rural residential acreage, and remnant Douglas fir woodlots. Steep terrain is limited; roughly 80% of public acreage has slopes under moderate grade. The unit straddles Cowlitz, Clark, and Skamania counties.

Public land access is extremely limited at approximately 5% of the unit. A DNR parcel exists in the northwest corner of the GMU. PacifiCorp offers walk-in hunting access on some lands along reservoirs in the northern portion of the unit. No National Forest land falls within the core of GMU 564 — Gifford Pinchot NF boundaries are to the east in adjacent GMUs. The vast majority of productive habitat is privately held in small parcels. Hunters should verify land ownership using onX Hunt or WDFW's MapQuest before entering any parcel.

Douglas fir forest on the higher ground to the east and northeast; cleared agricultural land, pasture, and single-family residential acreage across the majority of the unit. Native understory includes sword fern, Oregon grape, salal, and red alder riparian corridors. Non-native grasses and ornamental vegetation dominate residential fringes. Black-tailed deer thrive in the brushy edge habitat between timber and open agricultural land. Recent clear-cuts or thinning units attract deer and elk browse.

Black-tailed deer use the brushy edge habitat along timber boundaries and move through agricultural bottoms at dawn and dusk. The rut runs from late October through late December, which coincides with late archery and muzzleloader seasons — prime timing for calling and rattling. Elk numbers are low; the herd is dispersed and hunting pressure pushes animals to the heavily wooded private parcels on the eastern fringe. Bears are present but not abundant; most likely encountered in the northern DNR timber tracts and near PacifiCorp reservoir lands.

This is a challenging unit due to the extreme scarcity of public land (~5%). Best strategy is securing written permission on private agricultural parcels bordering timber on the eastern edge near Battle Ground and Amboy. Archery hunters have the advantage of longer seasons and easier private-land access. No special limited-entry elk permits are offered for this GMU. Elk hunting is generally poor (3.7% success in 2024). Deer hunting is the primary draw (42% general-season success in 2024).