Mt. Rainier/Nisqually range

[humanure]

Has anyone else gone into the open wilderness on the other side of the Nisqually(if your coming from highway 7)? I have been trekking there and have had lots of sightings(no kills yet). I'm not talking about Vale(or the Pumpkin Patch, if you've known about its over-use by hunters), it's more toward the mountain near Nisqually dam. I've seen deer, elk and bear. My friends encountered a mother cougar and two cubs as well crossing the service road right in front of them. I'm gonna hunt it again this year, but am wondering if anyone else has hunted there.

[Jellymon]

If your talking about the dam on alder lake then everything southwest of there is the vail tree farm. Or are you talking about south of ashford, east of mineral?

[humanure]

I believe it's right in between the two, if not the latter. I enter through service gates to get to the river near Le Grande.

[gotshot]

Is it across from the pack forest.

[humanure]

I go in a few miles before that, but that entrance leads to the same area I'm talking about.

[Jellymon]

Yes, everything south of the river there is part of the vail tree farm. Across from pack forest, between mountain highway and mashel river is also part of pack forest, which is closed to hunting jan 1 to july 31. Just east of mashel river, south of Mountain Highway, there is also a big area of land where no hunting is allowed. Not sure exacly where. So I would be careful in that area and make sure your allowed to hunt where your going.

[humanure]

Good to know.

We have alot of elk come through the river alittle further south when it's low and once through, they travel through this passage way between acres of property and then finally behind my house to the neighboring pastures and lake. Part of me wants to take advantage of that and catch them in that area behind my house, but I've grown up depending on them to come through their and allow me to wake up to their bugling in the fall/winter months. So out of respect for that sentiment, I also don't want to hunt them there.