Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Waterfowl => Topic started by: Bmcox86 on December 01, 2012, 03:24:23 PM
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I'm new to the area but have hunted ducks and geese since I was 12. I have a boat with a blind and was trying to find some places close to home to go. I've hunted the Stillwater unit but was wondering about hunting the river around the same area. I know there's a reserve on the other side but everything I read seems to not include the river. Tried calling wdfw and king county sheriff but neither were any help. Wdfw just said the boats got to be anchored? Thanks in advance, just trying to make sure I don't break any laws.
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Calling WDFW wouldn't be much help unless it were a wildlife reserve you were asking about. WDFW opens hunting "statewide." As long as it is not in a no shooting zone or a wildlife reserve or sanctuary, you should be fine :tup:
WDFW said your boat has to be anchored, but I think technically it doesn't. I think the rule is that your motor has to be turned off and motion/forward progress (or something) must be stopped. So in a river, the only way to stop moving would most likely be an anchor :chuckle:
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Unfortunately the answers you receive from calling the WDFW aren't always accurate. Sometimes you get a secretary who gives you misinformation that could get you in hot water. Or in one case where I called and asked if it was legal to have two loaded firearms in my duck blind, I was given a definite "no," so I asked if there anyone available from law enforcement and was connected to a Lieutenant. His answer was that as long as each gun could only hold three shells, I was good to go.
The regulations state that you can't hunt wildlife from a watercraft propelled by a motor unless the motor is shut off and forward progress has stopped. This is confusing since as soon as I set off in my boat I would think that I was hunting. It doesn't say anything in regard to shooting.
In a river, if the motor was shut off and forward motion caused by the motor ceased, then drifting and shooting would be legal just like drifting and hunting from a canoe.