Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Bear Hunting => Topic started by: jordanwlee on July 09, 2013, 09:57:38 PM

Title: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: jordanwlee on July 09, 2013, 09:57:38 PM: Hello all,
I recently moved back home to the great PNW! I grew up here and it feels great to be back, especially with the amazing weather! While I was away, I got to hunt a buffalo in CA - that was quite the experience!

Anyways, I relocated to the Kent/Auburn area. I used to hunt in the Gold Bar/Highway 2 area for bear. I am not familiar with areas in southern wa and if anyone could give me some scouting spots that I could check out or general areas that I could put in some time to start looking down here, that would be fantastic! Any areas I should be searching for in the forums to do some reading on would be great too!

Thanks for you help! Really excited to be back in the NW!
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: Paxer on July 09, 2013, 10:27:43 PM: Hi, welcome to the forum

I am newish as well, but here is some info that has helped me sort stuff out.

below look for the area you want to hunt then you can see if the game you want to hunt is in it and how many were harvested in that area, to give you an idea if they are there.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/prospects/ (http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/prospects/)

below is a map that has GMU's - game management units and you can see the area your GMU is in, then you can look up in the regs when hunting season starts / ends, stuff like that.
http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/gohunt/ (http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/gohunt/)

below is the new released trends for 2012 its in pdf link is on the far right. look threw that to see more prospects.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/game/ (http://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/game/)

best way to scout is to just look on the map where game was harvested and go out for the weekend. that's what I have been attempting. good luck and take pics.
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: jordanwlee on July 09, 2013, 11:01:20 PM: Much appreciated! I'm planning on heading out to scout around this weekend! I really appreciate the links!
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: Ripper on July 11, 2013, 11:48:04 AM: Welcome back and good luck
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: johnhart84 on July 12, 2013, 03:29:34 PM: Come up to the Monroe area with us. I'm going out to scout more this weekend.
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: h20hunter on July 12, 2013, 03:46:58 PM: No bears up by Monroe.....shhhhhh......
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: Ripper on July 13, 2013, 07:59:45 AM: I believe the bear H20 shot was the last one in the Monroe area. The closest bear to Monroe is either in Canada or down by Auburn.
Title: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: jordanwlee on July 17, 2013, 06:53:23 PM: Thinking about scouting just west of Rainier and East of Eatonville. Anyone have thoughts on this area?
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: Sideswipe on July 17, 2013, 08:51:39 PM: Watch out Jordan...Ripper & H2O are in cahoots!
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: h20hunter on July 17, 2013, 08:55:00 PM: And Sideswipe is the ringleader!

Yep, I popped the last one....no more left.
Title: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: Moose1134 on July 18, 2013, 06:55:07 AM: Did some scouting yesterday near Monroe area and found sign but I think these were pretty small bears.
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: h20hunter on July 18, 2013, 07:19:33 AM: Hey, at least you are finding sign. Keep at it and good luck.....the season is just around the corner.
Title: Re: Southwest WA scouting
Post by: rangerat on July 18, 2013, 07:41:01 AM: another option is to check the Pope and Young/Boone and Crockett statistics and they will sometimes list where the animals were taken by GMU. Unit numbers and boundaries can change over time but the GENERAL info is there. Just a thought.