Love your avatar man. Welcome to the forum.
Where are you lacted?
I'm in the Snoqualmie Valley area.
Hey man!
I'm a local in the Snoqualmie Valley area as well. There's lots of great people up here. What sort of hunting are you interested in? Big game? (Deer, Elk, Bear ect...) Small game (raccoon, rabbit ect..) or Upland Birds/Waterfowl?
The first thing to do is take your hunter safety course. I believe both local rifle ranges offer it (Snoqualmie Valley Rifle Club and Issaquah Sportsman's Club).
If you can, find an older/experienced safe hunter who will be willing to mentor you. It will be a lot easier than learning everything from the ground up the hard way (like my husband and I have had to do.
) I know a few hunters and could potentially get you in contact with them, but best to have your parent/guardian okay first.
If you can't find someone, here's kind of the "do it yourself" version (mostly what I did).
After hunters ed, figure out which hunting method you prefer. If you don't have a specific preference in weapon type take a look at what you want to hunt and see when the best opportunities are. For instance, around here Modern Firearm gets the blacktail rut. While archery gets the elk rut. Hunting the rut is nice because the animals are so preoccupied they tend to not be as cautious as they are other times of the year.
Then you will need to get your hunting weapon (going to need mom and dad or another family member for this part since I believe you have to be over 18 to purchase them.) If you can, try before you buy. If you've got a buddy who has a firearm you're interested in, see if he will take you to the range and let you try it out. If you're into archery, both The Nock Point and Cabelas (Lacey) have indoor ranges where you can try bows. Granted, that's a bit of a drive, so if you have a friend with a compound, some plinking in the yard is probably a good first bet.
When you decide what you want to buy start saving your money because hunting gear is kind of expensive. You can get a lot second hand off of places like craigslist and potentially even eastside freecycle (where, you guessed it, things are offered for free.)
Next, read up on your quarry so you know what to look for when you're out there. Do this before you start talking to other hunters, so when you do talk to them you know good questions to ask and are capable of picking up the intriguing bits they drop from time to time. Google/Amazon is your friend for finding books (so are our local libraries believe it or not!) Don't be afraid to read about whitetails. We don't have 'em here, but a lot of basic deer info is similar between species.
After that, study the heck out of the WDFW regs, google maps, topo maps, green trails maps and start working out where you want to go. Best thing if you can manage it is find a private land owner who will grant you permission to hunt on their land (where they see a lot of deer and elk).
There is a local group here called the "Upper Snoqualmie Valley Elk Management Group". They are studying the local elk herd, building elk habitat, and helping residents with elk damage reporting and other things. While not a hunting group specifically, a lot of their volunteer work is done by master hunters getting their WDFW volunteer hours in, so that would be a good group to check out, perhaps even find a mentor?
Good luck!!! And welcome to the board!
