Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: wackmnstackm on September 11, 2018, 07:31:29 AM

Title: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: wackmnstackm on September 11, 2018, 07:31:29 AM: I havent lived here very long and im trying to find out where other then capitol forest thats public land. i have had no luck so far learning where i can go.
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: Drewski on September 11, 2018, 07:46:25 AM: Buy the hunt on x app for your phone. You'll find more public ground than you can cover. It's $29.99 per year.
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: jennabug on September 11, 2018, 07:47:23 AM: http://apps.wdfw.wa.gov/gohunt/app.html?theme=bigGame
In the upper right corner, select "Basemap" and select "Public/Tribal"

The legend (color key) is under "Basemap" ->"More Info"

Alternately, you can get the OnX map app for your phone. It's a really good resource and worth the money IMO.
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: yakimanoob on September 11, 2018, 08:03:26 AM: +1 for the OnX app. It's worth all 3000 pennies.

You could also check caltopo.com and find the "land mgmt" layer -- it will give you a rough sense of where public and private lands are but it's not as reliable and doesn't have a phone app associated with it. For tricky access and hunting near boundaries, OnX can't be beat.
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: wackmnstackm on September 11, 2018, 01:46:41 PM: i see a lot of "feel free to hunt" in 648, does that mean no permission needed just go do it?
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: WapitiTalk1 on September 11, 2018, 02:07:02 PM: wackm, you're looking for the "white" area I assume. That is open to hunting, recreating, fishing, etc. land. There is actually quite a bit of it in WA.
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: jennabug on September 11, 2018, 04:42:59 PM: Quote from: wackmnstackm on September 11, 2018, 01:46:41 PM
i see a lot of "feel free to hunt" in 648, does that mean no permission needed just go do it?
Correct
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: fishnfur on September 12, 2018, 12:07:27 AM: I believe that if you click on the diamonds indicating the Free to Hunt lands, you get more information about the property, including parking, hours, game available/permitted. Many FTH spots around Skagit Bay for example are free to hunt for waterfowl. (at least that's how I remember it at midnight.) Do more research before committing.

Capitol Forest has some wonderful looking areas. If you get off the roads and hike in a bit, you'll get away from the crowds and have a good shot at finding some action.
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: onmygame on September 12, 2018, 03:14:18 PM: If you are willing to go some 45 - 60 minutes out of town the possibilities are endless.
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: wackmnstackm on September 12, 2018, 03:37:19 PM: Quote from: onmygame on September 12, 2018, 03:14:18 PM
If you are willing to go some 45 - 60 minutes out of town the possibilities are endless.
yes just dont know how to find them
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: Curly on September 12, 2018, 03:46:03 PM: You might look into National Forest lands northwest of Olympia. Check out the areas up by Hoodsport. Also maybe up the Wynoochee area (north of Elma). Those ideas aren't really near Olympia but probably as close as you can get for public lands somewhat "close".
Title: Re: Looking for public land near olympia
Post by: Grant4068 on September 13, 2018, 11:05:37 AM: I live in Oly and I used to hunt capital forest. Did harvest one spike the first year and have found a few spots that I know deer hang out in but there are so many road hunters that last year I decided it was way more enjoyable for me to go elsewhere. Got another spike last year but saw fewer hunters and more deer. There's a lot of Olympic NF land on either side of the peninsula that u can get into in a 2 or 3 hour drive from Oly. Pick a unit, read the hunting outlook PDFs on the WDFW website, and take a day here or there to look around somewhere u think sounds nice. I use also use google earth pro (which is free now) to look for areas I think look good and then go check them out when I have time.