I am toying with the idea of relocating to Washington. Pretty much a dream right now, but there are more positions for what I do rumored to be upcoming in the next few years. Really enjoy New Mexico and the West in general. Horses, dogs, and hunting. Land is Federal and very abundant. Hunting reg here are really liberal. Not even illegal to shoot out of the truck for jacks and 'yotes.

What type of shooting opportunities are there?? Been kind of enamored my rockchucks(marmots) as of recent. Sounds like a good way to stay in shape by packing a rifle and gear up a mountain. Kind of like a REAL poor man's sheep hunt???

How long does it take (in general) to get from the West side to the East side of the mountains and does it really change in climate and habitat??

Seems to me the squirrels are abundant up there???

Also what big game, let me rephrase that. I know B.bears are probably more abundant that I think, blacktails, and lion out the wazoo, a sub-species of elk.

What else? I thought you have Mountain goat? Are these tags like 5 a year and an impossible draw???

Jesse
There's plenty of varmits in Washington, don't know what the season is or what the bag limits are. To give you an idea of what's available
There's the White crested blow hard usually found in front of large flocks of Benumbed vote casters making lots of noice but making no sense. Then there's the Split tail chaser usually found in close proxiemity to young female Snorkle biters making mating noices. The most dangerous is the Shreaking ball buster usually found in groups of the same sex making loud and obnoxious noices when confronting male member of the same species.
I'm sure the rest of the fellows can name or species of varmits in Washington.
Jim

[ 03-02-2003, 07:58: Message edited by: arkypete ]

Jesse I dont live in Washington but just south in Oregon and think I can give you a feel for the North West.
About a two hour drive east from Seattle will put put you in the high desert where you will find lots of BLM land and ranches that may let you hunt their land. You will be comming from deep evergreen forest to sage covered high desert.
You will find some jacks(they are on the decline in Or.) ground squirrells, rock chucks and yotes.
Durning regular hunting season you can hunt cougar,B.Bear,whitetail - blacktail and mule deer,rocky mtn.and rosavelt elk. mtn.goat and bighorn are there but dont know about tags or how often you may put in for them. In Or.a bighorn tag is a once in a life time thing and there is only a few offered a year.
Hope this helps.:::::::MV

Arkypete-

That's some funny shit!!!

Multi Vis-

Can you explain the difference in CA Bighorn and Rocky Mtn?? I thought one was much easier to tag than the other in Oregon?

Jesse the bighorn sheep in Oregon would be the same as the Ca.bighorn sheep but know they are transplants and not sure where the state got these animals. The Rocky Mtn.I was talking about was elk. I dont think that Oregon has any Mtn.Goats.:::::MV

I've read a lot and heard a lot about the state, and it's supposed to be great for varmint hunting/shooting.

Multi vis, Oregon has mountain goats you just can't see them.
Jesse Jaymes have any idea what towns or city's in Washington you might relocate to?

Any Washingtonian could clarify if the Roosevelt and the Olympic elk are different sub-species or the same?

Rocky Mountain elk on the east side of the state and Roosevelt elk out on the Olympic Penninsula. I'm not sure that it's a real well defined geographical line between them though. Roosevelt are typically much thicker, heavier animals.

Other big game avail includes mule deer - they've had some hard winters the herds suffered, but are making a comeback. There is a growing whitetail population - north of Spokane they're thick enough that a flatbed truck with a hoist runs the highway most mornings, picking up roadkill whitetail. Most of those are on private land though.

Moose, sheep and mtn goat are here, but not easy to get a permit for. A friend of mine did take a great ram in 2001. Black bear are over abundant. Cougar sightings are not uncommon.

Varmints? 'Yotes are all over eastern and central Washington. Quite a few bobcat too. Rockchuck population in my area has thinned out considerably. I may be partly to blame for that.

If by squirrels you mean the bushytail kind that live in trees and can be eaten - they can't be hunted here. Just look at 'em and imagine crosshairs and smile. I haven't come across ground squirrel here.

Washington has some decent big game opportunities, but should not be considered a mecca for hunting. The game dept has to work under a lot of political (left wing) pressure. I don't see a lot of good management practices in the field.

Too many hunters for a fairly limited amount of game. The local elk herd area, the Colockum, looks like a cross between a Cabelas sidewalk sale and a free fire zone during elk season. Then all the elk go run and hide in the no-hunting preserve at the top of the mountain until the end of the season anyway. Hunters here try to break down the elk with the first shot so it doesn't run 200 yards and get tagged by someone else. Fistfights over downed elk happen. Me? I try to draw for my elk permit elsewhere, out of state.

Washington has game. Has tremendous potential to become a great state for hunting, but is falling short. That said there are some big mulies hiding in canyons out in the desert half of the state.

It's about a 2.5 - 3 hour drive east from Seattle to the Columbia River. By then you've crossed the Cascades and are in wheat growing country. Total change in climate, terrain, and political values. Regards, Guy

[ 03-02-2003, 16:50: Message edited by: m700 ]

Also, a lot of Federal and State land open to hunting, fishing, backpacking & camping. My county is something like 85% public land. Fly fishing opportunities are excellent, salmon, steelhead, several species of trout and we've got some bass & other warm water species as well.

Waterfowl hunting isn't bad either, and there are quail all over the sage covered hills. They're supercharged here though - ya gotta be quick! Regards, Guy

Fugetabboudit! Washington is the smallest western state with the second highest population (behind California). Our fish and game department is a joke. The state motto should be 'no hunting', given the jillions of said signs posted all over the place (both in the west and east). Most serious hunters here have decided to hunt elsewhere years ago.

Quite an interesting set of responses. I've heard the same from a few people, but thought it was just a matter of opinion from some who didn't know. I've got a papered degree in Environmental Science, but could care less about an owl. I eat meat, and occassionally shoot stuff for pleasure.

The squirrels I was mentioning were ground squirrels. I thought there were several that could be shot like prarie dogs up there, Belden's??

The other would be a bonus. Used to call myself a fly fisherman, but New Mexico took care of that. If you've never seen the Rio Grande, it's a joke. High top tennis shoes would be sufficient to cross it. Also have a Chesapeake Bay duck fetcher, but New Mexico has taken care of him too. Now he's an $800 jackrabbit cruncher, but he get's his exercise.

What about piddly shit, Safety Orange requirements, loaded guns in trucks, hounds, etc.?

Jesse
It's pretty much all been said but to recap. WA has more huntable, native NA species than any other state in the Union. Black tail, Whitetail and Mule Deer. Roosevelt and Rocky Mountain Elk, Shiras Moose. Mt. Goat, California and Rocky Mt. Bighorn. Black Bear, Cougar. Three types of Turkey.

We have Mt. Caribou that are no longer hunted because of Cougar depridation and Columbia Whitetail. Grizzly Bears and wolves are moving in. Also too many Southerners and Easterners (defined as anyone South of Oregon or East of Idaho)

We also has the worst run, most politically currupt Game Department in the West. Shootshell is right. Most serious hunters go elswhere for opportunities.

FYI I-5 is the official, recognized, boundry between Roosevelt and Rocky Mt. Elk, although the due interbreeding, I-5 to the Cascade crest is a hodgepodge of genitic experiments.

Hunter Orange, no loaded weapons in vehicles, no hound hunting. Ground squirrels (not sure of type)are protected but Columbia Ground Squirrels are not and are shot in the N. E Corner. Coyotes everywhere and Cougars are a pest animal.

[ 03-02-2003, 22:25: Message edited by: Mickey1 ]

Resident fee for a cougar tag is something silly like $5 - not $500, just five bucks. They want us to shoot 'em... I will if I see one with a rifle or a handgun instead of a fly rod in my hand... I could be wrong on the price, but it is so inexpensive most deer hunters just get a cougar tag too - in case one wanders by while they've got their rifle with 'em. Guy

Got this Chuck last weekend.

Hit two more this weekend, I haven't found a really hot spot yet and it is still early, and shot 50 to 60 sage rats on Saturday. I haven't seen too many Coyotes in my immediate area, though I know that they are around. If you do come to this area, send me an email, maybe I can show you around.

knightcrawler, I live in the tri-cities, and the only chucks around here are in peoples yards. There are also afew on the Old Inland Emp hwy just east of prosser up against the ditchbank. There again- next to somebody's house-they don't want them controlled-I asked several years ago. There are a few sage rats around,mostly in town, but a few outside city limits. Got a couple yesterday w/ my AR. Can't wait until June-Pdogs in MT

I work in the Tri-Cities and drive OIE everyday. I've seen the chucks that you are talking about on numerous occasions, it's damn near impossible not to stop and blast away with my Mark II. There is also a field right off of the highway just north of Prosser that is full of chucks. You can stop and count into the hundreds easily, of course there are houses around not to mention the highway. I may be getting access to some property that is overrun and I'll be able to use centerfire. Also, I have some new in-laws that claim to have shot over 400 off of there property last year with 22LR, I'll be able to shoot there this year.

Carvarelli, do you have a guided hunt in Montana, or do you just know where to go? Pdogs in Montana has always been a dream of mine, hopefully I will get to go in the next couple of years.

no, guided hunts. I prefer to get an "in" somewhere. And then branch out my possibilities. Case in point- we were eating dinner at the local restaurant in Roundup, MT and there was a guy next to us we were talking to before our meal arrived. Conversation got around to " haven't seen you here before". WE told him we have driven from Wa state to hunt pdogs and wondered if he had pdogs on his place. Long story- short version- the next day we met him about 10 miles outside of town oer his map and had a wonderful shoot. We, Dad and I, were guests of anothre feller from TRi-Cities, and have since parted ways. So were trying to find our own "in". I've heard about some good shooting south of there in Wyo or maybe east in SDakota. We'll have to see.