Hunting Lakes Question

[Kola16]

I know that there are obvious lakes that you can duck hunt at like Lake Terrell, the Pot holes, and lakes like that. I know that you can't duck hunt at lakes that have houses on them and stuff like that. My question is, how can you tell if it is legal to duck hunt on a lake. By the way, here is a pic. of a youth hunt this morning. One is better than nothing. Not much of a story. Driving to the duck fields, and saw this one in a ditch. Snuck up, flushed it up, and bang. End of story.  bad phone. I can't download it

[bobcat]

I think you need to check with the county where the lake is located. If it's not huntable, it would be due to a county no shooting ordinance. If it was here in Thurston County I would just log on to the county's GIS and you can click on a parcel and it will tell you if it's in a no shooting zone. I think Pierce County has the same type of system. I don't know about the others. You could always just call the county and ask.

[PatoLoco]

I think its best to call the county or your regional dfw office and ask if you can hunt a particular lake(s). I don't think your idea about if it has houses you can't hunt it is entirely true, but don't quote me!
 

[goosegetter79]

Eloika lake here in spokane county has houses around it and you can hunt it but I don't know how you would go about finding out what lakes you can hunt.

[h2ofowlr]

I would find out from the County the lake is on and see what restrictions they may have.  There are many lakes that offer hunting that may have houses on them.  They may have restrictions where you can hunt on the lake if it is offered along with potential restrictions on how close or far out from the shoreline you may hunt.

[Kola16]

Ok, I know that I brought this up a long time ago, but I tried calling the county first (snohomish). They said to call the sheriff. I then called the sheriff, and they said call wdfw, so I did that. They said that it is ok to hunt on that lake if the sheriff says that it is ok to discharge a firearm in that area. So, I called them again, and they redirected me. After that, nothing. No responses. I sent them an email a couple days ago and they have not responded  I have found a shotshell wad on the lake, but I know that does ot mean that it is legal. What's next  Do I just say screw that lake?           

[bigtex]

Ultimately it is the COUNTY. The two big county regs you need to look for are no hunting and no shooting regs for that area, these are not in the WDFW pamphlets since they are not WDFW regs.

[Kola16]

Ultimately it is the COUNTY. The two big county regs you need to look for are no hunting and no shooting regs for that area, these are not in the WDFW pamphlets since they are not WDFW regs.

Where do I find this info?

[nwdp]

Try this, but if it is in city limits then that city's rules will apply
http://sheriff.snoco.org/Documents/NoShooting_Full_County.pdf

[TG509hunter]

I had the same problem..... County sheriff, to wdfw, back to county sheriff, back to wdfw, then back to the sheriff's department again.  After wasting over an hour of my time I finally got upset with the sheriff and asked what my tax dollars are actually paying for and why this question cannot be answered by any departments.  So, I told the sheriff I was going to hunt the "lake” that next week and if there were any consequences I was going to bring up his name, being he could not answer my question.  Finally, he asked if he could call me back with an answer to my questions with-in the next hour.  Now …… that’s the answer I was looking for over an hour ago.  I told him thank you and I appreciate his help.  The lake was legal to hunt 

[bigtex]

Ultimately it is the COUNTY. The two big county regs you need to look for are no hunting and no shooting regs for that area, these are not in the WDFW pamphlets since they are not WDFW regs.

Where do I find this info?

Best contact would be the county sheriff's office.

[Camp David]

Ok, I know that I brought this up a long time ago, but I tried calling the county first (snohomish). They said to call the sheriff. I then called the sheriff, and they said call wdfw, so I did that. They said that it is ok to hunt on that lake if the sheriff says that it is ok to discharge a firearm in that area. So, I called them again, and they redirected me. After that, nothing. No responses. I sent them an email a couple days ago and they have not responded  I have found a shotshell wad on the lake, but I know that does ot mean that it is legal. What's next  Do I just say screw that lake?         

Start shooting and see what happens  Really I would get to face with the WDFW and an officer...pin him down and get a true answer...trust me they know where and where you can't shoot.

[bigtex]

Ok, I know that I brought this up a long time ago, but I tried calling the county first (snohomish). They said to call the sheriff. I then called the sheriff, and they said call wdfw, so I did that. They said that it is ok to hunt on that lake if the sheriff says that it is ok to discharge a firearm in that area. So, I called them again, and they redirected me. After that, nothing. No responses. I sent them an email a couple days ago and they have not responded  I have found a shotshell wad on the lake, but I know that does ot mean that it is legal. What's next  Do I just say screw that lake?         

Start shooting and see what happens  Really I would get to face with the WDFW and an officer...pin him down and get a true answer...trust me they know where and where you can't shoot.

It is not in WDFW's hands. Counties and cities adopt ordinances as far as where you can hunt, WDFW does not get involved in this process. And in some areas WDFW can't even enforce these regs, only county/city officers can.

[JLS]

Ok, I know that I brought this up a long time ago, but I tried calling the county first (snohomish). They said to call the sheriff. I then called the sheriff, and they said call wdfw, so I did that. They said that it is ok to hunt on that lake if the sheriff says that it is ok to discharge a firearm in that area. So, I called them again, and they redirected me. After that, nothing. No responses. I sent them an email a couple days ago and they have not responded  I have found a shotshell wad on the lake, but I know that does ot mean that it is legal. What's next  Do I just say screw that lake?         

Start shooting and see what happens  Really I would get to face with the WDFW and an officer...pin him down and get a true answer...trust me they know where and where you can't shoot.

Most Counties have all of their ordinances available online.  Nothing is prohibiting anyone from looking up the information.

[Kola16]

Try this, but if it is in city limits then that city's rules will apply
http://sheriff.snoco.org/Documents/NoShooting_Full_County.pdf

This helped. Thank you  I guess that I am going to fire away and hope for the best  I have only ever seen a couple ducks on that lake anyway. Thanks everyone