Areas to scout/hunt near Seattle?

Seattle206 · Jan 26, 2014

I just passed my online hunter's ed and will do my field exam soon. I don't know anyone personally that hunts so I am limited to just reading online forums and books. I have a Remington 700 AAC 20" bbl in .308 with a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40, so that will be my primary deer, elk, bear gun. I am not asking for secret spots but general areas that hunter's frequent and is open to the public. I researched and found that somewhere east of hwy 18 is popular for deer, over in Cle Elum is decent but crowded. How is the Snoqualmie area? I had a co-worker who used to hunt bear in passed North Bend. I am willing to travel to Ellensburg/Yakima as well. I remember back when my dad used to run a Chinese restaurant in Enumclaw, hunter's would always stop by and give him the carcasses and bones of deer and bear. I'm assuming most their hunts came from the Mt.Rainier area?

This is just a recreation I plan to do 2x a year and to just limit them to single day trips. I have fished the Columbia WF Refuge and have seen signs where hunting is permitted for waterfowl, upland birds, and deer. That area may be of interest if I decide to do birds but I don't have a dog so it may be a little difficult. I'm open to hunt small critters and varmint as well. And we do eat everything!(family is Chinese), as long as it isn't a city dwelling critter. Coyote, raccoon, grouse, whatever is legal.

Any suggestion is appreciated!

dmv9 · Jan 26, 2014

Right now I think the only thing open is coyotes

Seattle206 · Jan 26, 2014

dmv9 said:
Right now I think the only thing open is coyotes

Looking at the pamphlet, most big game doesnt start until fall. I can wait but in the meantime prep up.

kickstart my heart · Jan 31, 2014

Capitol Forest may not be a bad area for you to scout. I've only been down there a couple times and seen deer (was down there on Tuesday and saw 4 deer). No clue how much hunting pressure it gets, but there's plenty of area and I know there's deer kicking around in there somewhere. I know a guy who claims to have taken a couple bear out of there.

Most of my deer hunting has been done on the Olympic Peninsula because I don't know most of eastern Washington (and every time I've attempted hunting over there on public land I see hundreds of hunters), and I don't know that side of the state that well. In 22 years of hunting in Washington, my observation is this state sucks for big game hunting unless you have access to private land, horses/willing to hike your butt off, or you hire a guide/outfitter to put you in areas that don't have a lot of pressure/high number of quality animals.

I hunted for 14 years straight out near Jefferson County (Olympic Peninsula) and got a deer every year (mostly modern season but did hunt 2 years with a bow, and once with muzzleloader and still got deer). I had a relative who had access to some private land, knew some public area he scouted, provided me with good intel on where he'd been seeing animals, and took me out with him a few times. Then he got a divorce and moved. Lost access to those private spots, lost the intel, lost a guy to go hunting with. Haven't got a deer since (only hunted for deer twice though since and in eastern WA). This year I plan on getting serious about hunting again. Plan on doing some real scouting.

If you want, PM me and I'll shoot you a couple leads on areas on this side of the state. They're public land and I've seen deer in there. Just never bothered to hunt it because it's so thick with brush.

Seattle206 · Feb 7, 2014

Thanks for the info, Heart!

I'm going to send you a PM.

devldogs55 · Feb 20, 2014

So you're looking to hunt big game? If so, remember that the "popular" spots are.. well.. popular. Unpopular spots can still be great for hunting - but will have fewer people hunting them. The further from the city - the better. Live in Puyallup and typically go up in the mountains north of Chinook Pass. There's not a ridiculous amount of hunters, and there is a LOT of land out there.

I am wanting to get back into coyote hunting.. but living on the west side now, and being from Spokane - I haven't seen anywhere over here that looks too promising for coyotes. I'll be heading over to the Yakima area before too long to start some scouting for 'em. Thinkin' about hunting deer over there too since I wasn't a fan of blacktails this last season.

My best advice to you is Google Earth. I've planned backpacking trips in wilderness areas, back country offroading trips, and hunting and fishing trips all using that program - and it's completely free. It is also the only effective way of "scouting" from the living room that I know of.

ZigZagZeke · Feb 21, 2014

devldogs55 said:
So you're looking to hunt big game? If so, remember that the "popular" spots are.. well.. popular. Unpopular spots can still be great for hunting - but will have fewer people hunting them. The further from the city - the better. Live in Puyallup and typically go up in the mountains north of Chinook Pass. There's not a ridiculous amount of hunters, and there is a LOT of land out there.

I am wanting to get back into coyote hunting.. but living on the west side now, and being from Spokane - I haven't seen anywhere over here that looks too promising for coyotes. I'll be heading over to the Yakima area before too long to start some scouting for 'em. Thinkin' about hunting deer over there too since I wasn't a fan of blacktails this last season.

My best advice to you is Google Earth. I've planned backpacking trips in wilderness areas, back country offroading trips, and hunting and fishing trips all using that program - and it's completely free. It is also the only effective way of "scouting" from the living room that I know of.

As Yogi Berra once said, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." :s0114:

mjbskwim · Feb 24, 2014

Well I bow hunt because there is too many rifles out there during deer season,but you will want to travel outside of King county to hunt.
Most of the guys I used to work with went east.Some didn't even hunt this state any more.
I moved out here to the peninsula and again,I bow hunt. Early season the deer aren't scattered yet and nobody but some grouse hunters and an occasional bear hunter
Just go for some drives and find a nice area within your driving range (how many miles you willing to drive to kill deer?) There are deer everywhere,during the off season,lol