Hunting Fort Lewis and Surrounding area

[szairborne]

Hello All,
 My name is Shayne and I was recently stationed on Fort Lewis (JBLM) back in February.  I was then deployed shortly there after to Afghanistan. I was wondering if anyone could help a few of my Soldiers and myself with some land to hunt on or where to hunt on Ft Lewis. My Soldiers and I are avid bowhunters and really looking for a place to hang a tree stand and put some meat in the freezer. We really not concerned with a wall hangers for now. We redeploy the end of Nov thru the beginning of Dec, so I know we will be getting there late in the season. If you can provide some land near Fort Lewis or some hunting locations to go to I would be very grateful. Please message me on this forum if you can possibly help.

Thanks in Advance.
Shayne

[Wildsau]

The best thing I can suggest is for y'all to get in touch with the Northwest Adventure Ctr. to get you orinentation, to start with.  They will give you the low-down on "hanging tree stands" and hunting on Ft. Lewis.  There are going to be a bunch of us, with bows out there, hope to see you there.

Good Luck.

[szairborne]

Wildsau,
 Thanks for the heads up. We not looking for your honey holes but could you PM me with a idea where we need to be looking?  Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Shayne

[rebal69972]

What r u planing on hunting?

[szairborne]

We are planning on Whitetail for now, but are open to suggestions if you think elk, blacktail or something else would be a better choice. Were not looking for wallhangers, just put a little meat in the freezer after a year long deployment.

Thanks
Shayne

[wraithen]

You ARE NOT hunting whitetail on this side of the state. If you do it's because someone caught one and trailered it to your spot. There's only blacktails over here. I would love to help you out but the only time's I've seen bucks instead of deer are my secrets. (It's my first year as well so I'd like to get something or the wife will pawn all my guns.) If you're looking for does (I haven't checked the bowhunting seasons for the area you're talking about so it may not be an option,) I can tell you I've seen them running around every single training area and some of them are really big girls. I do get an unfair advantage of aerial scouting being part of my job though.

[szairborne]

I can understand. Last year was my first time hunting in forever in Kentucky. It seem only my youngest daughter is the hunter in the family with 3 deer and a turkey. I was hoping to redeem myself but it this deployment is cutting out almost all of hunting season. Plus the fact im at JBLM doesnt help any since i dont know the area. If you have seen deer could you please PM me where you would say to go. Looking at the JBLM seasons, deer is open till dec 30th. For either antlered or non. I don't want to intrude into anyone's special spot, but really any help would be great!

Shayne

[wraithen]

That's the thing man, there really is no secret spots. You never know what training area will be open and on what day. Most guys seem to pick about 4-5 areas that look great and get after it. If you find a highway trail get a stand near it. Otherwise you probably gotta stalk. They refuse to move though so you pretty much have to kick them to flush them out. As for nearby areas I have no clue myself. I plan on jblm, mashel, and packwood myself, but mostly because I've been hiking through them and know the areas well enough to not get so lost I starve to death. I have yet to actually stumble across a deer or elk on the ground that wasn't in the air. It's tough going in our area, but for me that's going to make it all the sweeter. If I stumble across any area that would do well for you I'll let you know. I'm a gun hunter so you won't be in the woods the same time as me so no worries. Just shoot me a pm so I can remember who I was talking to later in the season. Oh, and work decided I didn't need to hunt the early season so I can aerial scout in yakima for people too 

[szairborne]

I sent you a message.

Thanks again
Shayne