Rabbits on the Yakama Reservation?

[Goshawk]

We're still hunting rabbits, but my 2025 rabbit season was more of a miss than a hit mostly due to Weyerhaeuser closing rabbit season in Vale.  I have a few backup areas we've been trying to connect with but the numbers where you can actually hunt them tends to be thin.  Seems like everyone has rabbits everywhere until you show up, and it's either just a garden, or not nearly enough room to run a dog, or hawk.

To that end, I purchased a Yakama Reservation permit for the 2026/27 season.  I'm hoping to at least find a few areas of brush that hold enough rabbits to make a weekly trip worth while.  Has anyone else hunted that area? Might you have some advice regarding how non tribal hunters are received?

Thanks for reading.

[Kingofthemountain83]

I've hunted the Yakima valley a lot for upland, ducks, yote and rabbits... But not recently... I can only recall one issue with an Indian lady on feel free to hunt land out of White Swan on the rez... 29 years ago... Saw a couple jack rabbits in the sage even... There use to be a lot of feel free to hunt acreage available checkered all over around there... We ran across the most rabbits bordering orchards on feel free to hunt land... Satus or Toppenish Wildlife Refuges as well if they're still open... Always kicked rabbits around on both of them quite a bit...

[Limhangerslayer]

Unfortunately rabbit season is closed on the reservation as of the 25th of January.  New this year

[Kingofthemountain83]

Unfortunately rabbit season is closed on the reservation as of the 25th of January.  New this year

They close cotton tail season to us but hunt deer and elk year round... Make perfect sense...

[Whitefoot]

We're still hunting rabbits, but my 2025 rabbit season was more of a miss than a hit mostly due to Weyerhaeuser closing rabbit season in Vale.  I have a few backup areas we've been trying to connect with but the numbers where you can actually hunt them tends to be thin.  Seems like everyone has rabbits everywhere until you show up, and it's either just a garden, or not nearly enough room to run a dog, or hawk.

To that end, I purchased a Yakima Reservation permit for the 2026/27 season.  I'm hoping to at least find a few areas of brush that hold enough rabbits to make a weekly trip worth while.  Has anyone else hunted that area? Might you have some advice regarding how non tribal hunters are received?

Thanks for reading.

Get a hold of Sarah Bartell in goldendale or right outside goldendale.

[metlhead]

I see plenty on the rez while quail hunting. Used to shoot em but too many were covered with fleas

[Kingofthemountain83]

I see plenty on the rez while quail hunting. Used to shoot em but too many were covered with fleas

Had the same experience... Blasted a bigun... Put it in the game pouch and not 5 minutes later the back of my neck and head are covered in fleas... This thing had hundreds of fleas on it... Infested... That were now on me... Had to strip down top layers and have my dad help get them off... Never seen so many fleas on one animal before... Left it lay till we came back a couple hours later and it had a few dozen I noticed while skinning... I'm itching now thinking about it...

[Goshawk]

I see plenty on the rez while quail hunting. Used to shoot em but too many were covered with fleas

Had the same experience... Blasted a bigun... Put it in the game pouch and not 5 minutes later the back of my neck and head are covered in fleas... This thing had hundreds of fleas on it... Infested... That were now on me... Had to strip down top layers and have my dad help get them off... Never seen so many fleas on one animal before... Left it lay till we came back a couple hours later and it had a few dozen I noticed while skinning... I'm itching now thinking about it...

Well that sure would be an instant deal breaker!

[Kingofthemountain83]

I see plenty on the rez while quail hunting. Used to shoot em but too many were covered with fleas

Had the same experience... Blasted a bigun... Put it in the game pouch and not 5 minutes later the back of my neck and head are covered in fleas... This thing had hundreds of fleas on it... Infested... That were now on me... Had to strip down top layers and have my dad help get them off... Never seen so many fleas on one animal before... Left it lay till we came back a couple hours later and it had a few dozen I noticed while skinning... I'm itching now thinking about it...

Well that sure would be an instant deal breaker!

I didn't shoot many around there after that... I saw a Meat Eater episode they were sage grouse hunting and Steve blasted a cottontail... Same thing just not near as bad... Fleas crawled up him... Guy he was hunting with was cursing them calling them nasty rats and stuff... Not to shoot those things they're bird hunting... Thought it was comical... I have shot others around there that I didn't notice a flea on... But guess it's common...

[buglebuster]

There is a TON of cottontails right out of the parking lot for the refuge off pumphouse road. My experience has been the same with the fleas. Insane how many of them are on those rabbits!

[pianoman9701]

Incidentally, the spelling of the reservation (and the people) is Yakama. The city is Yakima.

[Kingofthemountain83]

There is a TON of cottontails right out of the parking lot for the refuge off pumphouse road. My experience has been the same with the fleas. Insane how many of them are on those rabbits!

 

Same experience... When we shot rabbits here we left em lay till we came back... My GSP got infested here over one long weekend... I'm sure the Red Apple room 112 we stayed in did too... 

[Goshawk]

These "Flea Stories" are making me think I just wasted my money!  I'm also fighting the urge to scratch my head! DANG!!!

Back to the question, are non tribal members received well, or is it more like a don't leave anything in your truck once you leave? I had a tire flattened hunting Idaho last year and some garbage tossed in the back. The next time out, we took my buddies truck with Idaho plates. No more problems.

[buglebuster]

These "Flea Stories" are making me think I just wasted my money!  I'm also fighting the urge to scratch my head! DANG!!!

Back to the question, are non tribal members received well, or is it more like a don't leave anything in your truck once you leave? I had a tire flattened hunting Idaho last year and some garbage tossed in the back. The next time out, we took my buddies truck with Idaho plates. No more problems.

I have never had an issue hunting out there and used to hunt every weekend. They don’t really car out there as long as you’re in the valley.

[Kingofthemountain83]

Over the 20+ years we hunted the Yakima valley and surrounding area we only had that one incident with a tribal lady when I was 13... Other then the time we found out you had to be a member of Ducks Unlimited to hunt this cool place we found quail hunting after 5 years... But that was the only other issue we had...   

[metlhead]

Hunted the rez since '78. Seen a lot but never had an issue.

[Goshawk]

Hunted the rez since '78. Seen a lot but never had an issue.

That's sounding a lot better. I guess I'll find out this fall.