Opening Day

[WoolSocks]

Hello! I’m new to Washington, and getting back into hunting after some time away (kids!).

Question. How intense is the hunting pressure on opening day of bow season? I’ve scouted out some timber company spots (free access, hour and a half from Seattle, walk in only). There’s deer, and enough land to get a mile or two in, but I’ve heard even with walk-in only, it’ll be nuts on opening day of gun season and the deer that are there now will likely move out. How does opening day of bow season compare? I’m hoping there are significantly fewer bow hunters, and generally less disturbance during bow season so I’ll only be sharing the woods with a few others, not a crowd.

[2MANY]

Just think Boston Marathon.

[bobcat]

Mostly archery deer season has very few people. It's archery elk season that can be pretty crowded.

[MeepDog]

Rifle season is when the orange army wages war against the peaceful countryside. Early archery is when seeing one other person is enough to bug you.

[mburrows]

Early archery deer mule deer seem to get the most attention for deer. Archery elk is busy just about everywhere

[WoolSocks]

Thanks. Good info. Yeah, I saw lots of elk sign and some deer sign, but in different places. I’ll stick with a black tail for my first foray into the woods in awhile. Happy to share the locations I saw elk sign if you PM me.

[Special T]

Blacktail can be found almost everywhere. Find a copy of Byod Iversons Blacktail Trophy Tactics 1 or 2. They are out of print so search used bookshops EBay and else where.  I belive scouting is key.  On scouting and hunting trips I always bring a sharp pair of hand primers.

I also highly recomend hitting the 3d archery events. I'm fairly biased but I Belive Silver Arrow Bowman in Mount Vernon has the best walk through course. 50 targets 3 mile trail $5  to shoot a day, membership is cheap and it's right off I5.  They have a web page and FB page.