Is it Worth Paying for Access to Timber Company Lands?

[IslandStorm62]

I'm curious, how many hunters pay to access Timber Company Lands to hunt. And, is it worth it?

[Longfield1]

I did it once and I didn’t use it except opening weekend and got a little blacktail buck. If you live close by then it might be worth it. I personally won’t do it again though.

[RB]

Have purchased multiple access permits over the years and have not harvested a single animal with them. To be honest something always comes up and the last three times they have been purchased the envelope never got opened. The one most purchased is close to my home, but never seem to have the time to go out. Used this permit to drive my kids up in the hills where we used to go for free when I was younger, so it was fun for a couple trips. One reason the permits have been purchased was in case a special permit was drawn for the area, because the access permits are sold out by the time special draws are done. 

[Hunter mike]

I’ve had the WH permit locally for about 5 years. This will be my last. Unless you’re a road hunter, there’s not much hunt quality. Countless times, I hike down a spur road and there’s either a truck already down in there or one drives in behind me. Hard to have what I consider a real hunting experience when people drive down every road, slam the door, throw out a couple bugles (and usually take a crap in the middle of the road). It makes the hunting really tough and the animals mostly hunker down. I’d rather drive further and be less successful to get the experience I’d prefer but that’s just me. As mentioned above, it’s not a terrible way to hunt with your kids - that’s the only reason I’ve been purchasing.

[blackymaster20]

It's good if you like to road hunt. That's just not my thing. I've had several permits over the years but no longer buy t
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[Crunchy]

I pay for two different permits.  Both within an hour of home.  One of the two I haven't set foot on in two years lol.  Its like a place to hunt and a back up place to hunt. 

[Angus]

Its worth it to me, I live 20 minutes from a Weyerhaeuser/ St Helens tree farm gate and have paid for a key for the last 5-6 seasons, I've killed a buck all but 1 of those seasons and that year I passed on a spike and missed a forky. I've stepped out of my rig and shot 1, all the others were while still hunting or out of a tree stand.
If I didn't pay $350 for a key to hunt here I would be making numerous trips to eastern WA to hunt which cost me $200+ per trip in gas, plus other expenses that all adds up quickly, it also allows me to hunt a lot of afternoons after I get off work and maybe the best thing, I get to sleep in my own bed every night. 

[GOcougsHunter]

Bought a WEYCO key in 2023.  The area I focused on in region 5 was advised as very high probability of car break ins on the public land access.  $400 replacement window + stolen gear is more expensive than an access key.  And with WEYCO, you get some firewood thrown in to bring home.  Almost pays for itself.

[CarbonHunter]

I used to but I didn’t like how they are shutdown most of the summer and during bear season. Also most of the camping on their land isn’t any good.

I’ve killed a couple of bucks off of permit land but at the end of the day there was way more pressure than I like to experience during deer season and I really never had any success predator hunting so I just choose to drive East.

[Humptulips]

I bought the Promised land permit from Rayonier for like 6 years and it would be a tough call for me if it was just hunting. I am in a unique position because I trap and pay for the permit with what I catch. In those 6 years I harvested one elk and another elk on FS land adjacent that saved me a lot of packing because of the access the permit afforded.
This year I bought Rayonier's Polson Camp permit, and it is a desert in there as far as hunting. I did OK with the trapping, so it was worth it.
Hunting has deteriorated and I don't know that either would be worth it for hunting but locally here it isn't any better anywhere. Seems like you are kind of forced into buying something just for a place to go if you want to hunt close to home.

[Cspahman99]

Me and my hunting group have got the Rayonier permit for a long time now. We have enjoyed it and been quite successful, get about 2 elk a year and our deer if we don't get them in Eastern Washington or high hunt. Definitely caters to road hunters but if you learn the area there are walk in only areas and pockets that are tough to hike into that yield good success. It is not prime hunting by any means but we are grandfathered in now for early access so it will be hard to stop buying it.

[Sundance]

I bought a Rayonier permit this year for my son and I to deer hunt on. He had a youth tag for that area, so I gave it a go. Decent numbers of deer but I never saw a buck that broke the 100" mark. We didn't take any deer off the permit area, probably hunted it 15+ days this year. It's a 45 minute drive to the gates, which for after school hunts was just too far for my liking. There are no elk in this permit area, and we saw very few bears or sign of bears. For a large family looking to fill the freezer on spikes and forkies I could see making it pencil. The main reasons I wont buy it again are because the poor communication from Rayonier and the 4-month window for usage. The map they sent was all wrong and after numerous phone calls and emails all I got was radio silence. I had to drive around for a day figuring out which gates to use because the map was incorrect, felt like they got my money so why bother with customer service. Also, to only have access for 4-months is a bummer compared to other timber co's that give you the whole year. Between waterfowl, trapping and cougar I could still be using the permit January through March, let alone cutting firewood. Rayonier really ticked me off, can't say I'll look to buy a permit from them again.

At the end of the day the money I spent on gas and the permit will be put towards trips to Montana and Alaska. Buying an access permit in Washington doesn't magically make our seasons and quality not suck. 

[bigtex]

Yes. Only about 45 minutes from the house to the gate. Saves a lot of gas $ compared to having to go to different parts of the state.

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[addicted1]

Think it’s great for those that want to hunt from a vehicle. I prefer locked gates with no vehicle access. As other mentioned closed during fire season, no camping, access times not conducive to setting up early. I’ll take public land with difficult to access or lower quantity of deer any time.

[Katmai Guy]

I buy one every year, mainly for the fishing.  Might get into trapping the area.