How's the hunting in Washington State?

[Nala]

Hey all,

I may be spending some time in Washinton state, in the Seattle area.  Heck if things go well I msy get a job there and stay.  So I'd like to hear how the hunting is before I make a move out there.  I just read that they have White tail deer, bear, elk, moose, cougar, blacktail deer and sheep.  From what I see the moose and sheep require draw tas and the others are over the counter.  Is that right?  I am ofcourse tsalking about for residents.  Too expensive for non-residents.

What is your experience in Washington state?

Thanks

Nalajr

[Ragnarok Forge]

Challenging, fun, frustrating, easy, fast, slow.  In one word awesome!  Tons of government and timber lands open to hunting.  That would be hundreds of square miles of land open to hunting.  Elk all over the place if you know where to look.  Deer, Elk, Cougar, and Bear tags over the counter and cheap to residents.  Other tags are draw only.  Coyote hunting year round, excellent bird hunting, excellent fishing, including bowfishing.  I have lived here most of my life.  I plan to stay here for the rest of it.  There are elk in all parts of the state, though far west and far east sides have the most.  Deer are simply everywhere.  Whitetails are easier to hunt on the east side.  Blacktails are a challenge and a real trophy because of that on the west side.  Cougar and Bear are found throughout the state.  

Downside, no hogs.  You have to run to northern California to get into those.

[clayton95]

From someone who grew up there and has moved on to bigger and better things it is not that great. There are lots of places to hunt but most of the time game is hard to come by.

Whitetails are all on the east side and the best hunting is on private land.

Elk is over the counter but there are a lot of areas that are draw for a bull tag. And some are spike only even for archery.  West side is over the counter but it is thick and wet.

Bear and Cougar are just a bonus if you happen to get in on one when hunting something else. No bait or hounds allowed.

Moose , Sheep, and Goats are all draw with the odds in 1 in 150 in the easiest to draw areas. If you are lucky you may get to hunt one of the three.

Small game and birds are there and are plentiful. If you hunts waterfowl then you will enjoy long seasons.

It will take some travel to get away from the crowds of the big city and the best places are miles from any paved road.

If you need some more info I'll be glad to help you out.

Clayton

[Mike/Columbia Basin]

Claton is correct. There are plenty of deer but not a lot of big horns. Elk is mainly spike only and you have to put in for branched antler bull tags on the east side. Waterfoul hunting is great in the columbia basin with goose hunting at the top of the list.

[stabow]

Find a local hunting buddy that knows where to go, makes it much better. When I lived their my hunting buddy hunted all over the state he knew where to go......stabow

That's quite a spread, from fantastic to iffy.How about just over the border, where you find Vancouver BC and Vancouver Island?

[jim/wa]

make sure you like alot of rain

[Blackhawk]

Of all the western states nearby (ID, OR, MT, WY, UT) or even Canada, Washington ranks last in my opinion in good hunting and fishing opportunities. The Seattle area is too crowded and congested, too wet...and too liberal.

[PaddyMac]

I live in northcentral Washington in Okanogan County in Twisp. It's good mule deer hunting on public land and very good whitetail hunting if you can get access to private riparian land (but it's really hard). I think the elk hunting is better in Oregon and Idaho. And the moisture on the wetside I don't think is that much of a problem. At least it's quiet. The big benefit is all the public land. The turkey hunting is getting better all the time.

[Ragnarok Forge]

Black hawk is most certainly right about Idaho having better hunting for some species, though the wolves are carving into that.  Last years reports from Oregon were not good for some reason.  Perhaps I am an optomist, or perhaps my lifetime of hunting here has left me with an ability to find animals here.  I have deer on open land 5 miles from my house.  I have elk within 20 miles and large groups within 40.  Within 90 miles I am into some of the densest elk herds in the country.  Also some of the densest brush.  I love hunting in the rain, the world is quiet and if you listen you can hear God speaking to you while deep in the rain forest.  Nothing in the world matches watching a big roosevelt bull or cow walk out of the fog and slowly into range.  Each person has their own take on awesome.  Mine is Washington.  Now if your talking about where to live.  Seattle would be my last choice in the state.  

Others are correct if you want easy hunting, or animals close to the road then Washington is often not the place to be.  Then again if you invest the effort and spend time scouting finding animals becomes easy.  Harvesting them is another story.

[Blackhawk]

I'm sure I would have a different outlook if I didn't live in the Puget Sound area.  A home in the Seattle area is not my ideal place either, but family and jobs dictate a lot of where and how we live (and hunt and fish.)

[Yeoman Bowman]

Blackhawk said -  The Seattle area is too crowded and congested, too wet...and too liberal.  

I'm still laughing over this.    

Blackhawk: you are definitely right about that. Only the rain doesn't bother me.

Other than that and the high cost of housing, WA is a great state! But I can't speak to the hunting question. Not yet anyway.

[Stryder]

Dowside:  WA has the highest population density and the least amount of public land of the western elk states.  

Upside:  there's still a lot of forest service land and good hunting opportunities, especially the farther you get from the I-5 corridor.

IMO, archery elk hunting in the Blue Mountains (SE WA) can be as good as anywhere.  And because of its remote location, the hunting pressure during archery season is low.    

You have to draw for a special bull tag.  This year there will be 43 archery tags for the Blues.  Typically about 1,000 hunters apply.

When you draw a bull tag, the archery hunting is outstanding.  A 6X6 herd bull is the norm--and 7X7s are fairly common.

[Warberg]

No need in repeating all the positive info, dreams are made every yr. The varity of small game mixed in your big game tags,  The fun continues to grow every yr, as well as the ridges getting back to elk camp.    

[PaddyMac]

I'll second the notion about getting out and walking. Even over here. If you can't see a road, you've pretty much left 75% behind.

[Cootling]

I lived in Seattle, Yakima, Prosser, and the Tri-Cities.  Did quite a lot of hunting in the Cascades and Blues while I was there.  Shot whitetails, mule deer, blacktails and elk, and had the good fortune to draw--but not fill--a mountain goat tag.  Did a lot of fishing, too.  In other words, I made the most of opportunities that were available to me and I had a ball.

Still, I don't think of Washington as a "go to" place for bowhunting.  Lots of people, lots of roads, relatively low game densities, and relatively restrictive seasons.

[huntinoly]

If your willing to walk there is great hunting for Elk and Deer here I have taken both with my self bow and the steelhead fishing is also good. Spend some time is the woods there is alot of land to to search. Good luck. Greg