Washington Gun Laws/Gun Recommendations

[jds15151]

First, I have already intorduced myself on the "General Discussion" forum, but will do so here also. I am a retired military defense contractor who will be TDY in Yakima, WA for 14 months starting this summer. I am bringing a lot of other gun owners with me and was wondering what your state's laws were? From my limited time on this forum it looks like we should leave our Semi-auto AR-15s, and AK's at home? I know that my Texas CHL license isn't recognized by the state of Washington but are there any other surprises we should be aware of? Second, we are hoping to take advantage of the hunting opportunities while there but were wondering what caliber rifle you recommend? Most of us are planning on bringing a .308 or .30-06, but do we need something bigger for bear, elk, etc? I figure the 06 is plenty but am always looking for an excuse to get another rifle. Thanks

[SilkWWU]

Your AR-15's are completely fine here.  Though they did just propose a ban, but I don't see it getting any legs as long as we keep our eye on it!

A 30.06 should handle everything in this state, but I'm a personal fan of my .338   So there's your excuse to get a new rifle!  Welcome and enjoy.

[shoot-em-dead]

Bring your semi- autos and enjoy some predator hunting. All is good. The 06 is bigg enough for all species. You should really get a gun for each species though just because you can, right. Welcome to Washington

[jds15151]

Great to hear that the semi's are o.k., for now. I was thinking of a 300 Win Mag just wondered what you all shot? What about scopes? When I grew up in the mid-west none of us had scopes on our rifles. When I arrived in Texas every single person had a 9 or 12 power scope shooting at a deer eating at a feeder 100 yards away. From what I have seen on the internet it looks like I should bring both a scoped and an un-scoped gun. Opinions? And thanks in advance.

[atomicjoe23]

Depends on what kind of terrain you are hunting. . .a 4x scope should be enough for pretty much anything. . .you might want a little more magnification if you are gonna be shooting coyotes, prarie dogs, are other small critters at extended ranges though. . .

. . .the .300 Win Mag would be fine for everything. . .have friend and that is all he uses for everything. . .

[jackelope]

my big game rig is a 300wm with a 4-12x scope on it.
a 2-7x or even a fixed 6x would be fine. if you decide you want to try some coyote calling on the yakima firing range during your off time, you'll want a smaller .22 or .24 caliber rifle with good optics. there's a lot of coyote shooting to be had on the firing range.
  anything bigger than a 270 is good enough for any of  washington's big game animals. there's some super thick brush and reprod in this state, and there's also some really wide open sage country too where you can really stretch your rifle's legs out if you want to.

[norsepeak]

I live in the Yakima area and have hunted at the training center many times.  A 270 is plenty of rifle for anything in Wa, I"ve taken elk with my 243.  If ya want to do some long range shooting just for the fun of it, let me know, we a lot of long range stuff just for fun.  Bring your AR's, we burn a lot of 223 with ours all the time.  Theres a lot of good hunting around if ya look in the right spots.  Look me up when ya get here and maybe we can burn some powder together.

[actionshooter]

 Welcome to Wa. your in a good area.
 I use or have used a 300wm with a 4.5-14 power scope for every big game animal I have hunted here. I don't mind being a little over gunned though.     I also think you 06 would be just fine unless you need a reason to buy a new gun, then it sucks 

[carpsniperg2]

howdy, your AK-47 are fine like said and most of us on here are AR-15 buffs you are right they do not honor your chl here. you will be fine with anything 27 cal or better i like 30 cal myself or better 300 win mag my fave. one of the only things is no autos and no gun that can shoot bursts.

[follow maggie]

Welcome to Washington.  When you talk to people back home, please remember your obligation to tell them the weather here sucks all the time.    But seriously, welcome to Washington.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

[NWWABOWHNTR]

God Bless Texas!  Ok,  now that is out of the way.  Welcome to God's country!   Your 30-06 is more than adequate for any big game animal.  Back when I used a gun,  I killed elk/deer and bear without a problem, used a 3x9 scope.  I have since graduated to traditional archery only,  and still find a way to take elk, deer and oh well not a bear yet..... welcome and feel freee to PM for any help.