New to hunting in Washington

[grandma]

Hello all,

    My name is Shane and I have been stationed at JBLM for several years now. Due to operational tempo and marital constraints I have never really had the time to hunt here. I was wounded in 2010 and have been recovering ever since. Spent a lot of time on my back thinking about what hobbies I can still due and hunting and shooting in general has come back to the fore front. Now that I am getting around a lot better its time to start getting out there. The issue is the WDFW website is harder than chinese math to figure out for those us not native to the state. I am looking for any pointers, or partners on future hunts. I am also looking good public access hunt areas areas to get started scouting. I have all the tags and licensing for all that walks (modern firearm), flies, or swims in this beautiful state a safe full of guns and room of the house dedicated to reloading. I have done a faire amount of wing shooting and quite a bit of coyote hunting in other states. I am getting a very late start this year in scouting for deer/elk so any game harvested is gravy to me as I would be happy to have sorted out spots for next season. The forums in here are a wealth of knowledge and I appreciate all of your input in other sections. Any and all advice as well as some sarcasm is much appreciated.

V/R
Shane

[BOWHUNTER45]

 Well shane welcome to hunting in Washington .... we all spend countless hours in trying to figure out what we can do in Washington ... Nothen easy in this state ....welcome to the site 

[grandma]

Thank you much.

Trying to pick the "grey beards" minds when ever I can.

[Woodchuck]

Hang in there, someone will jump out and get you some info and maybe a partner. I would if I was anywhere near there. Keep trollin and just read the reg book when you can and post questions you may have here, Lots of knowledge around.
Thank you for your service 

[ELKBURGER]

Welcome to the site There are others on here from JBLM, maybe you can meet up with a fellow serviceman.
Lots of good folks here who can help decipher washingtons rules and regs.
Thanks for your service and sacrifice

[pianoman9701]

Thanks for taking one for team USA. We owe you a lot for your service and wounds. I hope your recovery is complete.

There's a great app called Sports Regs if you have an IPhone. The app is free and it'll cost you $5 or something to download the WA regs. Then, you put in the game you're hunting and it gives you all the details for where you're standing at the moment - takes out all the guesswork. If you're hunting somewhere else, you just find it on the map and it'll tell you everything for the animal you choose, and has all of the available animals for that GMU. It gives weapon restrictions, antler restrictions, season dates, everything. I suggest you get it.

I'm a bow hunter, so deer and elk is out. But if you want to come down later in the season, we can try to call in some coyotes or bear fairly nearby. Vantucky is about 1.5 hours south of JBLM. There's a great range down here, but I suspect you have a few of those on base. Good luck and let me know what you need.