Question about "Hunt with Written Permission" private lands

[Cervus]

I'm headed up to NE Washington this weekend to chase gobblers (and possibly whitetails). Since I've seen huge flocks of fall turkeys on private land up there before, I looked into WDFW's private hunting lands tools and identified some good looking turkey spots

Several of the places are listed as "Hunt With Written Permission" properties. The WDFW system makes it sound like there are paper forms somewhere on these properties that interested hunters can fill out to request permission.  I'm not really clear on how this works: where to find the paperwork and how to contact the respective property owners (mail the form, stop by somewhere in person, call them?).

Anyone out there have experience with this system who can shed some light?
Thanks!

[Rainier10]

I don't but they have people that you can talk to in Olympia that will be able to explain it in depth.  Give them a call before they close and please come back and post what they say.

[HereDuckyDucky]

Many of the properties have WDFW signs that say "Open to Hunting with Written Permission" (or something like that) and provide contact information on the sign.

RW

[cougforester]

You have to physically drive to the properties, obtain the landowner contact info, then call the landowner. They're likely full for this year. Save their number and call em back in spring. WDFW cannot give out contact info, you must pull it from the sign yourself. Landowner can limit who many people they give permission to, WDFW has no input on that.

[ELKBURGER]

I have talked to someone in WDFW.... As expected, its a joke. They cannot give out any landowner info. You must call the number on the sign at the posted property. The couple numbers I have called say they have enough hunters hunting already. You need to call them early in the year to be considered.

[brocka]

I spent a good amount of time with this last year. I ended up googling the farm name, found a facebook page for the farm, called an office number listed on the facebook page, talked to the son who then gave me his dads number because he was the one that made the call on the "permission to hunt" stuff. I spoke with the dad for about 30 minutes one night, real nice guy. At the end of the conversation he said "sorry son, I dont know you so I cant let you on my property". To be fair he did have a fair amount of land nearby that was "feel free to hunt" and he told me to go hunt that and if I still needed permission this year to call him back. I highly doubt he will remember me so I dont know if I will call him.

Anyway, there has got to be an easier way?

I have not called fish and game about it though.

[Cervus]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like I need to put in my time making contacts earlier in the year. At least I'll stop by properties and collect phone numbers this weekend!

[linxx77]

Email: teamspokane@dfw.wa.gov and request the turkey nuisance list. You have to provide them with the GMU you plan to be in. They will give you a list of landowners and their contact info. They ask you do not share the list.

The landowners placed themselves on this voluntarily and that’s why WDFW can give you their numbers.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cervus]

Linxx777 that is great info: thanks!

[Russ McDonald]

I can tell you though those farms will only allow turkey hunting no deer hunting.  You can just go knocking on doors outbthere and most will let you hunt turkeys.  They pretty much hate them especially in the fall when they flock up. 

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

[linxx77]

Yep. Russ is right on that one. Turkey only I’m afraid.

I can tell you though those farms will only allow turkey hunting no deer hunting.  You can just go knocking on doors outbthere and most will let you hunt turkeys.  They pretty much hate them especially in the fall when they flock up. 

Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheStovePipeKid]

I've got almost all of the written permission properties in the Colville/Chewelah area in my phone at this point. The signs are at the property near where the access mark is on the WDFW website. They are white with a large yellow stripe on the top. Once you've seen one you'll be able to spot them fairly easily. Turkey flocks are as thick as sagebrush around this time and they are flocking up for winter near the cattle farms. Pack a nice shirt and spend the first day knocking on doors. You will get permission. If you have a bow or crossbow you can get into peoples front yards and shoot turkey. As always, make sure you have at least two tags. Be ready to chat woth the landowners and you'll end up with great hunting spots for years to come. Good luck and post your success.

[Cervus]

Here's my fall turkey update. Following some great advice here, I went and collected Written Permission contact info from a couple of the NE units. The landowners I talked to were full for this year, but generally very nice and open to the idea of providing access in the future. The nuisance turkey property list provided by WDFW didn't pan out--some of the participation information seems to be out of date, or birds weren't on those properties this fall.

Driving around, spotting flocks of birds, and asking private landowners for permission yielded mixed results. Two of four landowners said yes. TheStovePipeKid's point about visiting was key--chatting with folks for 30 mins about their property and livelihood is a really nice way to get to know landowners and to audition for the role of "trustworthy hunter who can remove some of those 200 pesky turkeys currently destroying the pasture/yard/field". Also, some landowners were willing to let us cross their property (not hunting) to get to landlocked public land where we could hunt.

All in all, three of us each bagged a bird this weekend, including my first turkey! Thanks again for the folks who responded to my original post--your advice was a big part of making it happen.

[huntnphool]

 If/when you actually do obtain the card with permission, be sure to hang onto it. Quick story...a generous member got my daughter permission from a landowner friend a few years back, who’s land we hunted. A few weeks after we hunted, a couple WDFW officers came to our house asking about our hunting private land. Seems another neighbor saw our truck parked, footprints in the snow, got our license plate and called it in.

 The officers asked if we had permission, and I happened to still have the card signed by the landowner. I showed it to them, they said “thanks” and were on their way.

[idahohuntr]

If/when you actually do obtain the card with permission, be sure to hang onto it. Quick story...a generous member got my daughter permission from a landowner friend a few years back, who’s land we hunted. A few weeks after we hunted, a couple WDFW officers came to our house asking about our hunting private land. Seems another neighbor saw our truck parked, footprints in the snow, got our license plate and called it in.

 The officers asked if we had permission, and I happened to still have the card signed by the landowner. I showed it to them, they said “thanks” and were on their way.

Obviously you resolved the issue quickly and with minimal hassle...but...sadly, I would be increasingly reluctant to provide any information, answer any question, or produce any document that you are not legally required to provide to a warden.  Especially a wdfw officer...