Western WA Varmint hunting / Pest control

frosty · Feb 7, 2014

I came across a thread for hunting sage rats in OR...It sounds like a blast to take the kid out and waste an afternoon. Are there any similar situation in western WA? Don't care what pest it is, just want to take out the .22 and enjoy a day with the boy.

Thanks all!

2ndtimer · Feb 7, 2014

I don't think there are any legal small varmints to shoot in Western Washington. You have to get east of the Cascades to find sage rats, grey diggers, ground squirrels or rock chucks. Good luck finding some and getting permission to shoot them. (and, yes it it is a blast though they are more plentiful in eastern Oregon, Idaho and Montana.)

Swedish K · Feb 7, 2014

about the best varmint population to target in WA is coyotes - a few years ago when I stopped in at the WDFW I asked the game wardens about coyote hunting and they were all in agreement to eliminate as many as you like - it costs them a good part of their budget to hire "professionals" to hunt / trap problem coyotes in and around the Vancouver area each year. Don't think I would use 22 on them so you don't end up with an injured suffering animal though.

coop44 · Feb 7, 2014

Coyotes in AZ got smart pretty fast, hunting them in open country hunting got tricky. They would move out of range, so it required longer reaching calibers. A challenge but I did pretty good. BTW I went from 243 to 30-06 to 300 win mag in two weeks. Max range was about 400 yards, got a few twofers with the 300.

quiet one · Feb 9, 2014

had a blast for years hunting them between Phoenix and Wickenburg, last time I was there a lot of my old hunting areas are now subdivisions

frosty · Feb 11, 2014

Thanks guys! Looks like I'll be driving

dirtyd · Feb 11, 2014

Gophers in Montana can be a pretty good time. Wa is mostly about Coyotes like others have said.

rdb241 · Feb 12, 2014

2ndtimer said:
ground squirrels .)

The western grey ground squirrel is federally protected. You can not shoot them. Rock Chucks require a small game license to shoot. I have no idea what a grey digger is. And as far as I can remember, there are no sage rats in eastern Washington.

sagerat-shooter · Mar 12, 2014

rdb241 said:
The western grey ground squirrel is federally protected. You can not shoot them. Rock Chucks require a small game license to shoot. I have no idea what a grey digger is. And as far as I can remember, there are no sage rats in eastern Washington.

Well I guess al those sage rats I shot in EW last year were something else? And what the heck is a "western grey ground squirrel"? I have heard of Western Grey Squirrels but they are a tree loving species. I have heard of Grey Digger Squirrels but they are not pretected anywhere. Could you please reference the "western grey ground squirrel" of which you speak? the latin name would be nice.

Nickb · Mar 12, 2014

There are plenty of sage rats over here, I just ran one over headin to range today. I believe a gray digger is a marmot... Looks like a squirrel but the size of a cat. I had a buddy that told me he had a good spot to shoot them but haven't been out there yet.

Nwcid · Mar 12, 2014

Next time you head out let me know. I had the number of a guy that was letting my shoot up in the Cowichie area but that was a couple years ago.

Nickb · Mar 12, 2014

Nwcid said:
Next time you head out let me know. I had the number of a guy that was letting my shoot up in the Cowichie area but that was a couple years ago.

I need to find some places myself, we shot a pile of sage rats last summer. We had permission from the land owner but it was close to a few slummed out rentals so we used .22s, I want to get out with my AR and try out the Varmint Grenades.

2506 · Mar 12, 2014

There's always crows on the west side. Ask around at the dairy farms, you can shoot them year-round if they are in the act of depredation.

rdb241 · Mar 13, 2014

2506 said:
There's always crows on the west side. Ask around at the dairy farms, you can shoot them year-round if they are in the act of depredation.

Dude! Crows are like seaguls. You can't shoot them in the state of Washington either. A crow is not a preditor. A crow is a scavenger like the seagul. They are protected becuase they eat the garbage that humans through out.

2506 · Mar 13, 2014

rdb241 said:
Dude! Crows are like seaguls. You can't shoot them in the state of Washington either. A crow is not a preditor. A crow is a scavenger like the seagul. They are protected becuase they eat the garbage that humans through out.

The ignorance, it burns....

The crow is classified as a predatory bird (WAC 232-12-004). A hunting license and an open season are required to hunt them legally in Washington. However, under federal regulations, individuals may kill crows without a hunting license or permit when the birds are found committing, or about to commit, depredations on agricultural crops, or when concentrated in such numbers and manner as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance (16 U.S.C. Sections 703-712). For more information, see WDFW's "Living with Wildlife: Crows" fact sheet.