Western WA Opportunities

[roger1042]

Family and I just moved her from Arizona a year ago. My oldest is 12, youngest is 9. My oldest doesn’t much care to be in the woods, but my 9 year old is obsessed. We’re going to take him to Hunter’s Ed in Yelm in February.

Being that I didn’t grow up in WA (or in a hunting family). Do y’all have any ideas or GMU’s for good first time opportunities for my son? I’m used to getting my tail kicked by the woods and eating tag soup, but I’d like to foster some success and build skillset for him.

I’ve also got two 23 year olds (not mine) that I’m mentoring, but Western WA is VERY different from Arizona.

[LDennis24]

Start this spring and summer spending more of your free time with them in the woods. Go to the national forest and do some hiking and scouting. Get to know the layout of an area and you will start figuring out where all the deer sign is and where the deer like to hangout. Blacktail deer are like ghosts in the woods. You will see them flee out of the corner of your eye after you walked right past them sometimes. Sometimes you won't see them at all. They will stay motionless until you are far enough away to flee. You want to learn to be stealthy and quiet in the woods and have keen eyes to spot the deer or deer sign. Find logged areas and setup on them before dark and sit until it is dark and observe where the deer come out from and look for a good cover spot to hide near there. You will figure out their habits if you spend enough time where they are at. Good luck!

[jrebel]

For the 9 y.o., after he passes hunters ed...you should really consider a weekend trip to the NE corner to do a turkey hunt this spring.  If possible, do a guided hunt with Bearpaw outfitters, you will not regret it.  If not, do a DIY hunt and call in a nice tom for your son.  Turkey hunting is a great way to get kids going and the NE has a target rich environment. 

Though I grew up on the west side, I can't offer much help for deer / elk over there.  I know it can be frustrating because you just don't see the numbers of animals due to the brushy nature of that area.  Good luck and have fun.

[Boss .300 winmag]

This was posted in another thread, but it’s in eastern Wa.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=212267.msg2825707#msg2825707

[cem3434]

Get onXmaps or go to the WDFW hunt planner website and start looking at local pockets of public land or feel free to hunt private land near you. Depending on where you're at in Kitsap County, there are a lot of decent areas that are accessible that hold animals within 30 minutes of you. Like LDennis suggested, blacktails are called ghosts for a reason. If you put the time in to learn their habitat and habits, you can be successful at harvesting them.

[roger1042]

Thanks folks! We’ll try all of the above!

[Bearhunter308]

I know this is an older thread but I wanted to chime in. My sons are 9 and 10. My 10 year old just passed hunter ed this summer and will be hunting deer next week when modern rifle season starts. I want him to be successful and get a deer, but I also got him a small game license. We were out in the evening last week looking for grouse, and the rabbits started coming out. He was able to bag 2 of them, which he was pretty excited about- and they tasted pretty good too! I hope we’re both successful this deer season hunting with our sons, but maybe also consider doing some small game hunting with him. More opportunities for success and making memories.