Closed Gate/Road Questions

[teej89]

Hey guys, new to washington(intro link: https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,241027.0.html ) I picked out the unit I want to hunt for general deer and another unit I'm considering for the late blacktail hunt this fall. However my game plan has always been to find a gated road/walk in only area and get far back off the trail head then hike and glass and repeat. However without stepping foot in the units I'm having difficulties on finding closed roads. Are there any MVUM(motor vehicle use maps) or any published maps from the WDFWA that show which roads are closed/gated during the hunting seasons? Or should I call the regional office associated to the unit? I'm looking at two-forty-seven for general and six-sixty-three for the late blacktail hunt.

[Stein]

If it's national forest, there is a published Motor Vehicle Use Map.  You can pick one up at the ranger station or get them online.

[7mmfan]

   That is part of the problem, especially in Western WA is that there are many different land owners, even state owned land, and they often have different vehicle restrictions. Eastern WA is a little more straight forward as most of that ground will be National Forest with straightforward vehicle use rules.

OnXmaps or other land ownership information sources like the county assessor, will be a big help in finding out who owns the ground you are interested hunting, and then going from there to figure out what their specific vehicle restrictions are.

Good luck, its frustrating, but once you get the hang of it, you learn that putting a little more work into finding your way into ground often leads to finding places where other people don't go.

[teej89]

  That is part of the problem, especially in Western WA is that there are many different land owners, even state owned land, and they often have different vehicle restrictions. Eastern WA is a little more straight forward as most of that ground will be National Forest with straightforward vehicle use rules.

OnXmaps or other land ownership information sources like the county assessor, will be a big help in finding out who owns the ground you are interested hunting, and then going from there to figure out what their specific vehicle restrictions are.

Good luck, its frustrating, but once you get the hang of it, you learn that putting a little more work into finding your way into ground often leads to finding places where other people don't go.

Yeah it's tough, fortunately if on onx I can select the hiking trails to show the gradient and from there I can locate where trail heads are as it shows only hikable  trail. Tracing back to where the hiking gradient starts typically you can clearly see a parking lot and where the trail isn't as visible but again not 100% certain that's accurate.

Where we hunt in Montana the MVUM is clear as day and makes scouting a helluva lot easier. If I can't find anything for these units I'm just going to zoom in online on the roads and see if it looks like a used road and deem it drivable, in other words, avoid it.

[7mmfan]

I also use Google Earth and do exactly what you just said frequently. There are a few roads that I use for access that show on the National Forest page as a road maintained for vehicle use, but they have been gated for years. It's pretty obvious on Google Earth where the transition is.

Another issue, and I haven't found an answer to it yet, is differing vehicle use rules within a department. Take DNR for example. I hunt a lot of DNR ground all over western WA, and some places are never open for vehicle use, some are always open for vehicle use, and others are open at different times of the year. I have come to learn which are which, but have never seen a publication or vehicle use breakdown on the website for different areas. Just had to show up and learn.

[bobcat]

GMU 663 is mostly DNR land (state.) You need a Capitol Forest map. It will show all roads and trails, and where the gates are. I have a Capitol Forest map on my phone that I use with the Avenza app. But you can also get paper maps. I think gas station/convenience stores near Capitol Forest will have them, like the Chevron in Littlerock. Or, check REI in Olympia. I was in there a couple weeks ago and they had Capitol Forest maps for sale. You can also buy them online from the Department of Printing in Tumwater.

[dreadi]

I suggest getting a map and camping out for a few days or weekends and drive/hike as much as you can during day light hours and learn the land. There’s a lot of roads that lead to nowhere in Cap Forest and if you rely on tech to get you around or out, you might get in a sketchy spot. Of course, I speak from personal experience.


Some of those roads to nowhere can lead you to areas that others won’t go because it’s not convenient and you might want to hunt there after you get your bearings and generally know what’s up.


Good luck.

[teej89]

http://file.dnr.wa.gov/publications/eng_rms_cap_forest_scan_full_08.pdf

I ended up finding this for capitol peak, I love vehicle access maps, really helps narrow down hunting locations.

Is this the map you guys were talking about or is there a further detailed one?

[Stein]

Don't assume there won't be motorized vehicles behind closed gates.  I've made that mistake a few times now.

[teej89]

Don't assume there won't be motorized vehicles behind closed gates.  I've made that mistake a few times now.

ha great... gotta love abiding the law to be outplayed by ignorance

[7mmfan]

Don't assume there won't be motorized vehicles behind closed gates.  I've made that mistake a few times now.

ha great... gotta love abiding the law to be outplayed by ignorance stupidity and disregard for anyone but themselves.

Fixed it for you.

[Bango skank]

Don't assume there won't be motorized vehicles behind closed gates.  I've made that mistake a few times now.

Such a joy to hike several miles up from a locked gate in the dark, only to have some *censored* come driving by at 8am with a hot coffee and a bag of mcbreakfast sandwiches

[JimmyHoffa]

Don't assume there won't be motorized vehicles behind closed gates.  I've made that mistake a few times now.

ha great... gotta love abiding the law to be outplayed by ignorance

Usually it's not from ignorance...they know exactly what they're doing.

[7mmfan]

Don't assume there won't be motorized vehicles behind closed gates.  I've made that mistake a few times now.

I dealt with this last year on one of 2 days I got to hunt blacktail locally. I was 5 miles in on my bike when 2 pickups came by. They had bikes in the back but the gate was left open from the loggers so they drove in. Luckily they didn't head where I was headed. I got the last laugh an hour and a half after dark when I came out and there they were trapped, and I mean trapped, behind the locked gate. No way to get a vehicle around it. My guess is they were there all night until the loggers came back next morning.

[bobcat]

Don't assume there won't be motorized vehicles behind closed gates.  I've made that mistake a few times now.

ha great... gotta love abiding the law to be outplayed by ignorance

In Capitol Forest, that may not be illegal. Look on the map, it says "motorcycles are allowed on gated roads shown on this map unless posted or abandoned."