comments

----Are you going to put fishing information on this site? Tina R This site is devoted only to hunting and will not have any information which does not constitute hunting game animals. An entire website could be built around the many fishing opportunities in Washington.

----Being a new hunter (2009), I am very glad to find a web-site like yours. I find that Washington hunters seem very, very reluctant to give even generic advice. This web-site is a great aid. It is my belief that we need to work very hard to maintain hunting as a common-man's activity in this country. Most other places in the world, hunting is only for the rich. We all need to contribute to keeping hunting in the U. S. a common activity. I believe the spirit of what you are doing here is a huge part of preserving the exercise of a freedom that is unique on this planet (that being the access to hunting by the common citizen).
I hope to learn and grow in the sport, and return here to give useful information that will help other new hunters like me, who perhaps, are starting hunting late in life as I am. We need to be diligent in preserving and passing on the legacy of hunting - - and the freedoms that must go with it. thank you for the work you are doing here. Ken H.

-----I noticed in your Huckleberry unit in Stevens County. You recomend (sic) to hunt mingo mountain and the gold Creek area just south of kettle falls. The company I manage owns almost all of that land in your description. Please rest assured any trespassers caught will be prosecuted. And they will have you to thank. -posted by anonymous.

Thank you for the heads up! And is a good reminder to our readers to review our "about" page. As we've stated, more and more lands are being closed off to public recreational hunting. Always know the area you are hunting and if unsure about whether or not it is ok to access the land, assume that it is private and posted. Remember that lands which may have been historically open to generations of hunters may be closed at the drop of a hat due to ownership change or a change in company policy.

----Your site is a great source of info on public hunting opportunities, and I'd love to speak with someone there about more specific guidance on whitetail hunts. Your info for NE Washington suggests you have great familiarity with at least some of the public areas listed. I live in the Atlanta area, so my planning for a possible trip to Washington must be done from afar. I'd be coming with a single cameraman and most likely would be needing to hunt the first week of bow season.

Thanks so much for the prompt and informative reply. It’s extremely helpful to gain “local” knowledge without traveling to a location, and I commend you for making that a priority of your site.
I’ve been through northwestern Montana, northern Idaho and northeastern Washington a number of times over the years, but generally not to hunt. I did hunt the Cabinets in Montana and the Priest Lake area of Idaho back in the early ‘90s, but both were gun hunts during the rut. With our current need to shoot so many whitetail bow and gun hunts, I’m now starting my season as early as is practical and am trying to show some “new” places each year.
We do our share of outfitted hunts, especially in areas we don’t know well, so I’d look at that option if it made sense for all concerned. I’m quite impressed with the quality of whitetails on Sherman Creek’s site but have not talked to the proprietor about a possible hunt. As you can imagine, we like showing DIY hunts when feasible, but with the cost of travel, cameramen and the like, one can’t afford to take too many wild swings. We’re happy with low-end P&Y-class bucks, so if chances at those are reasonably attainable on public land, that’s sufficient for our needs. -GW

----Thank you for this site! I don't know why the regulations in Washington are so complex and confusing. (Rick N.)

Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) have the unique task of managing arguably the most biologically diverse state in the entire United States. The WDFW have to separately manage four distinct deer subspecies, two types of elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, moose, caribou, two kinds of bears, every north american predator species, Pacific Flyway waterfowl, and at least a dozen species of upland birds. The WDFW does this all in the most populous Western State (outside of CA) where less than 8% of the population actively hunts. All of the species are separately managed to harvest levels which can still be handled by the very limited numbers of WDFW staff without jeopardizing the population levels. Their job is difficult, to say the least. In the end, conservative and
carefully measured (complex) game management is required where limited resources are available to manage the resource.

----Over all a good web site. Looked at some of your GMU descriptions for the 200 units, some descriptions are wrong or misleading. Pearrygin unit does not include the Rendezvous area or WDFW lands. Also the Alta GMU does not include the Big Buck WDFW lands. - no name given

We have fixed the two wildlife areas you pointed out. Thank you for keeping us updated!

----I'm in the military and am being stationed in Washington in the summer. I'm really happy I found this site and am looking forward to hunting up there next season. I am from the South and have only been able to hunt whitetails and feral hogs. Your information about all the opportunities to hunt different animals is making me look forward to coming up there! Thanks. - no name given

----I love your site. This is my first year hunting (deer and elk modern firearm) and with no family or hardcore friends I have no idea what I'm doing. Any info is helpful to me. I am thinking of taking your advice and hiring a guide. Thanks. -Rick K

Thank you for your comments. I am very glad that you could find some useful information on this site. We put together this site exactly for people like you. Hopefully some of the tips and information will help you relieve some of the frustration we faced when we were starting out. Good luck and happy hunting

----I am newly retired to WA from VA but have hunted elk for years in Or. This WEB site is a Godsend. I have found some WA F & G staff less than helpful compared to my experience in Or. I live in Spokane but note that the best-closest hunting seems to be in the Yakima area. My problem is finding a place to hunt in WA that is good for bowhunters. I read your excellent briefs about each area but most information about where migratory elk herds might be (especially in the Yakima area) seem to indicate where the elk might be in gun season. -Jim H

----This site is great. I have not seen this before. Get out to some sporting shows and spread the word. I think I found my new home page! I was able to get out to the smith farm, out of Stanwood Wa. on opening day for pheasents. The dog and I need to do a better job of getting into shape for all that walking. I will let you know how my first ever deer hunt [245 gmu] goes. I was fishing the hanford reach area this last weekend and there are tons of ducks and geese down in the Columbia basin. Keep up the good work, hopefully I will be able to send in some photos of a nice buck. -Mike D

----I live in the Olympia area and have been planning a hunt to the n.e. corner of Wash. Having never hunted the area I was happy to come across your web site. I now have some exact areas I want to check out. Thanks for the info , let you know how it turns out. -Scott L

----Make a page that will have video clips, embedded with youtube videos or wmv. I have 2 video clips on youtube now that you can play with. - Brian F (editor note... thanks! done!)

----This site is great! I have been looking for a site like this for some time now. I have been hunting Samish Bay for close to 20 years on private marsh land on the south side and have taken a few years off and want to get back in the swing and try some new grounds around the area. I have a fiberglass flat bottom boat that will hold about 12 dozen decoys that will need a boat launch to launch. Do you have any recommendations for the 2008 season to try? Usually there will be 2 of us hunting. Also I would be a happy contributor to posting current hunting conditions during the season if there's an area in the website to do that. Looking forward to your response and thank you! - Nick S (editor note.. we will be recruiting for field reports for the 2009 season)

----This site is very impressive! I find your access tips and information on the GMU's very usefull. This state is so confusing to hunt in. But now that I have found your site I now have a valuable and easy to use hunting resourse. Thank You! - Jared H

----I will be moving to Washington in November. I am an avid hunter and am finding it hard to obtain information about the opportunities there. Your site is the first that I could actually obtain information from. Since I am from out of state and are being stationed there, I am interested in Public land, places that I will be able to take my kids and hunt. I am a very passionate bow hunter and am also interested in such opportunities. I can already seen that there are a number of game animals that I have never been blessed in seeing let alone have the opportunity to hunt. I want to say that you have a very nice site but perhaps if you have a link with the current hunting an fishing regulations. Perhaps a link with PDF files containing electronic maps of public lands. These are just ideas and I appreciate your time. - James I. (editors note, thanks, we will continue to increase the amount of information on this site.)

----Thank you so much for the info on this site. Your blacktail tips helped me get my first blacktail deer. I was one of 23 hunters with deer at the check station opening weekend. Over 400 hunters were checked before me! I'll send pictures as soon as I get them developed. -Bill M