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Hey THANK YOU very much for the good info and conscientious post.BACKGROUND:
I have lived in the Auburn/Sumner area for many, many years, and grew up on a small farm near Sumner. My folks moved here in 1968 so my dad could take a job with Boeing. I've done the Forest Service road thing all over the state from Yakima to Forks. Done much camping in these areas, and Greenwater used to be one of my favorite spots because it's close and convenient.
I quit going up to the Greenwater area for a few reasons. (And there is something you should know about the Forest Service rangers who cover that area out of the nearby town of Enumclaw.)
1) In the last ten years or so, there has been an increase in drug-making activity up there. If you reach a dead-end turn-around on some old spur, and see plastic tubing, discarded propane tanks, etc lying around, it means someone was making meth there. If anyone is there when you pull up, stuff it in reverse and get the hell out of there. These people are totally nuts, and since if they get caught they can get more time in jail than for shooting someone, they sometimes shoot first and ask questions later.
2) There has been a proliferation of underage teens stealing cars and taking them up in that area on the Forest Service roads. Sometimes they bring guns and shoot up the cars they steal, or push them down any convenient canyon for laughs. I personally witnessed a group of teens who did this while I was camping above them. They were about a half mile away, and down from me. The car they shot up and dumped was a near-new Escalade. Wasn't anything I could do about it. I was alone up there on this camping trip and they were pretty well armed. I had to settle for watching these jerks through binoculars. But this sort of thing is forcing the US Forest Service rangers into being more militant.
3) You should expect these days that SOMETIMES...these rangers if they see you using a shooting pit up there, are going to ask you for ID and run your name to see if you are on the Washington State Bad List. One of the rangers told me that a retroactive law passed back in 1996 says that ANYONE who was EVER convicted of a felony in WA state and did not specifically go to court to get gun rights restored can now be arrested and their weapons confiscated. And they are sometimes doing that to people now. You see...years ago when people got a felony here, you got your gun and voting rights, all that stuff restored when you got off parole. If you were good with the Feds, who recognize this by the way...you were no longer good with the state. So you can conceivably pass the background check on a Federal level, thinking you are okay to own a gun...and still buy that gun without problems. But...if you get CAUGHT with that gun in WA you are NOT legal now. A more BS law I have never heard of, but there it is. The bad part is they made it retroactive, so you could be out there and not even know you are suddenly not legal. You could go like that for years, until some cop or ranger checks you out. Pretty unfair, huh? However....under those circumstances you are still okay according to the Feds, or any other state for that matter. Such baloney. If this describes YOUR situation, unless you've been in a lot of trouble lately...then it is a rubber-stamp approval at the courthouse where you got your original felony. Costs $1,400 or so with the lawyer, and I have a couple of friends who had to do that. One guy got in trouble clear back in 1980, was released from parole in 1985...buying and shooting guns no problem for many years...and then some Forest Ranger runs him in 2005 and BIG SURPRISE. Even the ranger said it wasn't fair, but the ranger took his guns and he was charged with Illegal Possession of a Weapon and had to go to court. No jail time, but he had to pay the $1,400 later and get restored.
4) Basically, since I-90 corridor areas and Greenwater area are about the closest outdoor shooting spots to Seattle and South King County, more crap has been going on up there...and as a result the rangers and the cops are cracking down. So watch out. There have also been problems with people shooting up the logging equipment at night, etc...costing the logging companies thousands of dollars. It just sucks how a few people can ruin things in an area.
Where do I go today? The Forest Service roads along Highway 101, on the Hood Canal side of the Olympic Peninsula...still lots of Forest Service access up there, and generally you will meet very nice folks, not druggies or crazies. I go there now, not Greenwater or the 90 corridor.
I will heed your advice, i too am looking for "respectable places to shoot"
I cant remember where, it was when i was a teen but i went shooting with my brother and friends and when we got to the spot we all went to four corners to relieve ourselves and one friend said "hey theres a six pack sitting here" or something to that affect. Well that was cue for about 4-5 mexicans hiding in the bushes to pop up and suddenly introduce themselves.
Nothing to see here. Just your friendly neighbors with obvious reasons to avoid authority's. All shooting some "gangster" style pos semi auto.
Wasn't a good situation and one i dont want to repeat anytime soon.
Wood kinda freak me out ever since then. I always make sure i have a loaded gun when heading down the roads. Usually one that means ALOT of business. Im looking for shooting spots to test out a 460 rowland build im finishing soon..
And as to your point of ID. well lately im leaving it at home. Incase i get jumped etc. I have my # memorized they can run it if they want. I just dont want to get eaves dropped on and then have them head to the house too!
Authorities need to realize this is just the way things should be nowadays, we gotta protect ourselves too!