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First of all, please excuse my ignorance, I have never shot an animal in my life and I am new the the NW, but I'd love to experiment with hunting and see if it is a hobby I can get in to. I am not new to guns, I've done plenty of target shooting in my day, and I am not new to the outdoors, I am an experienced backcountry hiker/backpacker/survivalist.

I live in Vancouver, WA, and I have a 20 gauge shotgun that I have never hunted with and I would just love to stick it in my backpack on a Saturday morning, or perhaps a Friday/Saturday overnigter, drive somewhere within 30-45 minutes or so from here, find a trail to hike, walk 1-5 miles and see if I can find a squirell or a bird or something to shoot and eat.

I don't have a hunting license, so I was wondering if there is anywhere around here that I could legally do that, and which types of small game I could legally shoot without a license.

Am I just dreaming or is this possible?

Thanks!
 
Go on down and get a small game license, and you can drive up to siouxon and shoot yourself some squirrels, and make a squirrel gumbo at one of the campsites.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest, is where Siouxon area is. Anywhere in the state is going to require you to have a hunting license, if you are walking the trails with a shotgun. I always carry a pistol up there, when hiking and camping, for protection, but not planning on shooting anything/anyone, hopefully.
 
Ok, so I'll go get a small game license and I will check out the Siouxon area.

Are there any other nearby areas I will be able to find squirrels and shoot? Once I have a license, am I allowed to shoot anywhere within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest (when there are no people around of course), or are there designated areas I need to be aware of?

Aside from the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, are there any areas further west closer to Vancouver or Battleground that I am allowed to shoot?

One more question, would any of this change I were to take an air rifle instead of a shotgun?

Thanks,
 
Make sure and check things out with the old game department, some squirrels are protected. Make sure you are able to identify them. If you just want to do some varmint hunting, there are a few areas up the gorge, around BZ Corners, that have some fair ground squirrel hunting. The locals call them grey diggers or mountain beaver, what ever you want to call them, they are a pest. They do not inhabit trees, but they do like old stumps and root balls. You can get some 100+ yard shots on them. One thing to remember if you do go after diggers, they are not edible.
 

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