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Howdy all, just moved from Texas to Vancouver, WA. I was spoiled in TX, as I knew folks who owned hundreds of acres of barren ranch land where we could set up steel out to 1,000 yards. I've been reading about shooting on public lands in WA and have been blindly scouting for locations in Gifford Pinchot NF but haven't really found anything convincingly accessible and ideal for safety and target setup.

Do any of you longtimers in the area have suggestions or care to share a location where a responsible & respectful admirer of public lands could set up for zeroing and target shooting a 308 up to 200 yds or beyond?

Thanks so much!
 
Get on Google Maps satellite view and scout for clear cuts or rock pits.
Then grab the coordinates and punch them into your favorite navigator on your phone.
Have 4WD and chains if you go out now.
 
Tillamook State Forest.
Look up Trash No Land. Donate & volunteer. They are heavily involved in maintaining, expanding and finding new shooting areas.
Was out today with one of their members, @Reno911, at a site where TNL is actively lobbying DNR to convert into a long range shooting area. There, you could easily hit 300 and with creative use of the land, 600.
In that same area I have scouted locations where you can shoot up to 1000 yards safely, and if you don't mind hiking, up to a mile.
 
Do any of you longtimers in the area have suggestions or care to share a location where a responsible & respectful admirer of public lands could set up for zeroing and target shooting a 308 up to 200 yds or beyond?

Thanks so much!
Yeah, the long range stuff is really hard to get around the Vancouver area. Like said above, go East or try the Tillamook route. I can take you around the Yacolt Burn and show you some places, but, not much more than a 100 yrd shot here and there. Just give me a holler sometime.

Look up Trash No Land. Donate & volunteer. They are heavily involved in maintaining, expanding and finding new shooting areas.
Thanks, P7! We like it when Texans' join up with us! Welcome aboard, Centa!
 
Thanks @Cogs , I'd be happy to take you up on that some time. Regarding the Yacolt Burn, I was just watching some of the videos that Trash No Land had produced for their past clean up events which included two Yacolt Burn shooting locations....the Arrowhead Pit and L-1500 road. Are these locations, that are considered to be within the Yacolt Burn technically a part of a Yacolt Burn State Park or Gifford Pinchot?
 
Thanks @Cogs , I'd be happy to take you up on that some time. Regarding the Yacolt Burn, I was just watching some of the videos that Trash No Land had produced for their past clean up events which included two Yacolt Burn shooting locations....the Arrowhead Pit and L-1500 road. Are these locations, that are considered to be within the Yacolt Burn technically a part of a Yacolt Burn State Park or Gifford Pinchot?
Yes. Yacolt Burn State Forest is managed by the State DNR, (Dept of Nat Resources), and Gifford is Federal land by USFS. Those places we cleaned up will have map links too. There's also some BLM lands here and there but I don't get out on them much.
 
Unfortunately you will have to drive a couple hours East to the desert.

Well, I've visited the Arrowhead Pit and the English Pit range....I guess you're right about heading to the desert, as it doesn't look like anything much further than 100 yards will be easily found. I did have an enjoyable day as the only shooter on the 100 yard range at the English Pit.
 
I can turn you on to a place where you could get more than 100 yards, but, I'd have to kill you if I told you! :)
Really, I do have a couple spots in mind where we could get 150 to 200 yards and be perfectly safe and legal about it. PM me and we'll work it out.
 
So i know that the cowliz county gun range in toutal has 300 yards set up ... I was getting 550 on tarbell but last i went up there i seen about 6 rigs a camper and a hole lot of tents set up right where i put my target ... Now i know there are some spots in washogal you can get long rang like that but for the most part your 1000 yards is going to be cross canyon... I know of plenty of spots to shoot 200 ish and 300 ish that are "safe" ...
But if all elts fails you can just do what everyone elts dose and set a target up in the middle of the road and shoot down if... Or be sneaky and pack in a target and chains and set it up in a tree somewhere...
 
But if all elts fails you can just do what everyone elts dose and set a target up in the middle of the road and shoot down if... Or be sneaky and pack in a target and chains and set it up in a tree somewhere...

Not good advice and depending on how it was interpreted and implemented it would also be illegalo_O.

I wouldn't want to be the guy shooting down at a road when a forest ranger turns the corner...

Nor does a tree make a decent backstop...

Both will get you in legal trouble.
 
Not good advice and depending on how it was interpreted and implemented it would also be illegalo_O.

I wouldn't want to be the guy shooting down at a road when a forest ranger turns the corner...

Nor does a tree make a decent backstop...

Both will get you in legal trouble.
True, but, I took Halftard's comment to be one of a sarcastic nature (which I thought was rather funny). I really don't think it was a serious recommendation.

I'd stay away from that Tarbell area. Trail system all over there and if you set up for 500+ yards, you'd better really know where those trails are and that you're no where close to them! Shooting out to 1000, across a canyon, usually means a body of water (creek) at the bottom of the canyon, which means it would be against the public land rules. That stuff could get you some hefty fines or a criminal misdemeanor record for reckless endangerment!

So yeah, choose wisely. And if you don't know the area, stay with short range shooting until you learn the trail systems. Larch Mtn area, in the Yacolt, is pretty well all given away to trails of one sort or another. Not many safe places left to shoot that aren't right next to a trail. Gotta go deeper now.
 
I have to be honest I agreed with Joe until I went back and reread the comment. It would make it a little easier to read as sarcasm if it was a separate paragraph and had an emoji or something to let us know.

There are certain people that read this forum that know nothing about guns that would take it as fact and loop all of us together as stupid gun owners. Just my .02;)
 
Yeah larch got wrecked from all the hikers and tarbell is starting to become the same... Ive started to exsplore the 6600 rd and there are a few spots to get 200+ but then you look at the compass and your shooting twards the lakes ...

I would,hope the name gives away the sarcasm lol
 
Also it was mentioned earlier, but just north of Vancouver, Cowlitz Public Shooting Range has benches, goes out to 300, and is relatively cheap. It would be a good place to sight in a rifle.
 

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