I posted a few months ago, predicting a move to the eastern side of Washington, near Colville, and concentrated most of my efforts there. I've been selected to transfer to the Bellingham/Lynden/Sumas area. Never been up there before. I know Washington has several species of big game, but is not generally known for any, other than salmon.

What kind of animals can be hunted in the NW corner area??? And if there are locals listening, what's the hunting pressure like??? I know Vancouver Island (Can) is close and has several bears, and Washington is know for lots of blackies, but can one spend a day glassing and expect to find a bear?? Or rather can one possible pass on lesser bears in a season looking for a mature boar??

Do the Mulies range over to the NW corner of the Cascades or do the generally inhabit the drier east slope only???

Basically, do I need to store my rifles and buy fishing tackle???

From Bellingham over Stevens Pass, it is only 3 hours to the East side. We have Elk, mule deer, Whitetail deer, quail, chukar, grouse, bear, coyotes etc. Am not too sure about the NW part but know you are right about bear and blacktail deer.

Hi Jesse, we have chatted in the past. When is the move?

Lots of bear in the Cascades from the Canadian border south to I-5. JJHack hunts this area with great success. Plenty of cougar also, a very large cougar (photo posted on AR last year) was taken by JJHack's friend only a few miles from Bend, while JJ was calling yodle dogs.

Head east for Mulies. South to Chic's area for Elk. One of the guys here owns land near Cedonia (Stevens county, NW of Spokane) he sees turkey, WhiteTail and Mule Deer, black bear, coyotes, on a regular basis.

We have Rooselvelt elk here on the Olympic Peninsula, but it is tough hunting (poor management, too many hunters, too many cougar killing calves, etc.) We have a fair Black Tail Deer population, but you have to know the area very well to be successful. (Saw a 3 pt. Black Tail down the road from the shop last week).

So, put in the time, you will find some hunting grounds. Study the hunting regs that I sent, you have to know the rules to stay out of trouble. Out of Bellingham, you can be in hunting territory in 2 to 3 hours across HiWay 20 East.

Speaking of hunting, now is the time (Providing one can find a season open!) as the snow has been falling in the mountains for a few days, pushing the deer lower. Predicted to have 8 inches at my location tonight, I am at 800 feet.

John-
Figured I'd hear from you. Didn't intend to repeat same questions, but really did focus on Eastern Wash. I was offered the Curlew position, but turned it down. Still happily married. Figured the "more settled" lands on the west coast would keep me from having someone else raising my son, and him getting a step-father.

Can't believe I am looking at houses costing $225,000. I think I am sick in the head.

I am sure I'll have plenty of "scout" time on the "line". Didn't expect to hear that I'd have to drive hours to hunt. Kinda dissapointing.

I found out I got the spot on Saturday, Uncle Sam then told me I have 41 days to get two dogs, two horses, three trucks, and a wife and kid 1900 miles to Lynden without a house to move into.

People that have deer in their yards in this area, are they Blacktails??? I saw a few pictures in an Alaska hunt link. Very nice looking with the dark contrasting faces and bright neck patches. But it looks like a 3X3 with brow tines and 15" wide is a big one??

Jesse, John knows tons more about the Wet I mean West side of the Cascades than me. There is just some good diversity within easy drving. You will like Bellingham a LOT more than Curlew. Did talk to some folks who were staying and hunting up around Curlew this fall. There were some very nice mule deer in town. Problem was they would not leave. Smart deer. There were few bucks outside of town and it is a 3 point min on the east side for mulies. Have a good move and welcome to Washington.

You are going to really like Washington State! The peninsula has a real rain forest on it, the ocean environment, the Sound environment (which is somewhat different than the ocean), two different mountain ranges, the dry plains of Eastern Wa, and the Northeast forested area. Don't limit yourself to one area, enjoy it all! Plus, Idaho is next door, what more could you want? Oh yeah, Alaska is close enough to make it doable, too. Lots of public land, be sure to try some high mountain fishing while your at it. You may be spoiled for ever living on the Eastern seaboard again. Be sure to visit the Leavenworth/Wenatchee area, you may find a new home. The sacrifices we make in life, eh? I honestly never enjoyed the coastal regions as much as the rest of the state, to much brush and rain. The only place I have lived that I liked better was Alaska, and I would be much more serious about that if I was 30 years younger. Main thing is to take advantage of living in this area, it is great.

Depending on if you live in or out of town you will see alot of Deer. If rural you will bump into the occasional cougar and Black Bears are everywhere. More Blackies in WA than any other of the lower 48. Roosevelt Elk around Lyman and north if the Indians haven't killed them all. Great Duck and goose hunting within 5 minutes of Bellingham.

Good skiing on Mt Baker and 2 hours to Whistler in BC.

Bellingham is a colege town full of liberals and students who haven't learned to think yet.

Weather is colder than farther south as the nasty stuff comes down the Fraser River Valley from the North Pole. It's those damn Canadians cross ventilating. People around Lyndon are mainly Dutch and very nice. Lots of farmland.

Now if you had only been able to see and experience all of that area in the 1970s.

I fell in love with Washington when I was stationed there in the military in 1977 and 1978.

However went back there after a divorce in Minnesota to live in 1988, and was shocked. Where did all the liberal California people come from? Did the good life in Washington get discovered.!!!

The attitudes went from conservative to Liberal Liberal Liberal.

Caused me to relocate to Southern Part of Oregon in 1995. Left Washington in 1990, after 2 yrs, could not take it any more. At least Southern Oregon is as close to what Washington was.

Washington is a good example of how liberals, and yuppies can destroy even Heaven.


[ 11-20-2003, 17:49: Message edited by: seafire/ B17G ]

Hi Jesse, welcome to the I-5 Corridor and high real estate prices!!!

Chic is right, your marriage will stand a better chance of survivial in the Bellingham area than in the Curlew area.

Yep. Blacktails. Everywhere. Lots of them around, but the surburban deer tend to be small in horn. Even the big bucks are smaller than an average mulie. The big guys are up high, and know how to hide. Lots of cougars too, but they are pretty crafty and most are never seen. We had a mom and three kittens denning about 1/4 mile up the creek behind my shop, I saw the mom once but never found the den. Neighbor up the road saw the whole tribe when they moved out. Like ducks walking across a field!

Wet side, yep, it do rain. And that Skagit valley does funnel some cold down, now I know where it comes from: Canadians venting!!

Hey !
I'm a Dutch boy born and raised in Lynden, the old Lynden. Was a great place to hunt and fish and still is if you know where to go. I don't, I moved to eastern WA in the late 70's, been there ever since but now I work (and hunt and play) in WY.

That corner of Whatcom County is growing like a bad weed. Places I've hunted ducks and pheasants are now developments. One would need to get acquainted with some locals to find good hunting. In the last decade or so, the local Canada goose population has exploded and there is some good shooting to be had. Sadly, these geese have crossbred with domestics and I've seen a few hybridized weirdos out there.

There's some salmon left but you gotta be ready to go when the openning happens. Seasons are really restricted and close when harvest quotas are met. This is not the salmon fishing I grew up with. Even the humpy runs on the Skagit River are hurtin'. Go north into BC for salmon or east/south to the Columbia for chinook or cohos. There's some fishing there on specific runs and rivers that can be astounding.

Forget the elk on the Nooksack drainage. Somethings happened to that herd, it has dwindled to barely a 1000 animals. The bear/cougar populations may well be the problem for calving and calf survival. And, I have heard for many years that this herd is hybrid roosevelt X Rocky Mountain but that's just hearsay. I have seen some nice blacktail up in the Nooksack country from Mt. Baker and down towards Lyman. If one hunts that country, get ready to get wet.

Eastern WA has lots to offer as others have posted. I particularly love the goose hunting, a childhood dream come true for me. There's decent mule deer hunting for those willing to work at it and the whitetails are starting to overrun some places. Bear hunting in the NE corner is great, one can fish walleyes along the upper Columbia and carry a rifle for the potential bear sighting.

I think one could survive the B'ham/Lynden area with a bit of research for the hunting/fishing opportunities. I couldn't, the place is just not what I remember or now want to deal with. I-5 traffic sucks all the time, Everett through Tacoma.

I do hope your move goes well. Email me and I may be able to put you in contact with some old friends that still hunt that country.

I think the Lummis and Nooksacks had far more to do with the elk decline than anything. You won't hear them own up to it, or the local press challenge them on it though.

Lifelong resident of that area. I've never given the west side a fair shake during deer season, but I hear (like everywhere) that the roads are a zoo. Guys do well becoming familiar with closed-to-vehicles logging roads and other limited access areas where they actually have to hoof it.

Big game in this state is what you make it, I've found. Barring knowing a farmer/rancher on the eastside, you'd better get some elevation. I'm 6-for-6 on mule deer the last six years, and precisely one of them made it back to my vehicle intact, and that was because it was snowy and downhill 1000+ vertical feet. The others came out in pieces on mine and my friends' backs. Lower elevation areas closer to the roads, in any part of the state during any rifle season, are a bona fide zoo.

I don't hunt birds, so can't comment on that...

Don't know what I got myself into, but my job forces me to some part of the international boundry around United States properties. Not at all interested in CA, AZ, or Texas. Could have had some spots in NY, VT, ND and Montana. Wife definately said NO to Montana. New Mexico was or is OK, but game is very scarce. I'm 3 for 3 mulies here in a GMU with an average of 5-9% sucess, but I am not passing up "ratchet heads" inhopes for a bomber either. Like to hear the expensive guns go boom. The damn Gila Wilderness is sooo rocky, it make hunting miserable. I am not afraid to sweat, and get sore, but packing gear across a slope of billard balls gets discouraging.

Kinda put off by all of the suggestions to travel 3 hours or more to hunt the East side, but it is what it is. I guess keeping a wife and kid should be worth it. Of course now I'll really have to nickel and dime Ricks on my project(s). Hope there's overtime during the winter.

Thanks for all of the input. I'll ultimately find out what it's like in 39 days like it or not. It just helps qwell the brewing ulcers of moving a family by daydreaiming of the unknown possibilities.

have heard there are wannabe cowboys in this area. Should make thing interesting.

Was it Kesselrig's or something like that, that is supposed to be the Ultimate Gunshop???? Will have no leftover money to buy anything, but nice to look.

Jesse, Kesselrings is a great place. Here is a link for it. You don't have to come over to the dry side to hunt. I am sure you will find some good places over there.