Hunting Washington Forum

Other Hunting => Upland Birds => Topic started by: GCRocketman on August 03, 2011, 03:27:19 PM

Title: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: GCRocketman on August 03, 2011, 03:27:19 PM: Greetings all!!

I'm a Texas transplant, avid hunter and fisherman and this will be my first hunting season in Washington.

Any .... Advice? General areas for birds? I live in Graham - near puyallup in Pierce County ... Any areas down by me or should I be looking East for bird season? (I did see Ft Lewis has a pheasant release area which I'm gonna investigate)

This will be my first opportunity to hunt grouse and I'm looking forward to it ... Any tips/tricks for these birds? I've hunted dove, quail and pheasant for years.

Anything offered up is appreciated!!!

R
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: Bofire on August 03, 2011, 03:43:49 PM: Lots of people hunt the Fort Lewis sites, must be pretty good. Dove season here is short, best on the east side, hunt them by getting into flyway between food and water. Wenatchee Quincy area.
Pheasants used to be good here when I was akid.there are several release sites and farm hunt places. many for a fee. Scatter Creek is close. Most grouse I think are killed incidently to other game, not many dedicated hunters for grouse but there are some. They are kind of scattered out. We have ruffed and Blues close by the Blues are good sized. Welcome to Washington
Carl
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: carpsniperg2 on August 03, 2011, 03:55:45 PM: Welcome to the site. I don't know any bird areas up there but good luck to you.
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: WCTaxidermy on August 03, 2011, 04:26:09 PM: Welcome to the site GCRocketman. Not familiar with the area your in, sorry. John
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: D-Rock425 on August 03, 2011, 05:10:41 PM: I though it was y'all in Texas not all.
greeting y'all
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: hunter12 on August 03, 2011, 08:29:21 PM: Fort Lewis release sites are okay you line up with about 30 people and wait for hunting time. Then it's a war zone. People yelling at dogs and guns going off. Very interesting. Best bet is to wait for them to get there birds then hunt after they all leave.....if you have a dog it can be good. If you head east of pack wood you should find decent grouse hunting Good luck Washington is a interesting place to hunt. Being a transplant myself I almost gave up on it and went to other places tO hunt. If you give it time you will find decent areas. We do have a long duck season and decent public access
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: fethrduster on August 09, 2011, 08:33:47 AM: Grouse hunting has always been spotty for me, but I do well on pheasants, huns and quail, from Wenatchee south to Klickitat and over to the Snake River near Pomeroy. Still trying to find some chukars, so I usually just give up and hunt them in Oregon where I do well.
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: GCRocketman on August 11, 2011, 10:47:39 AM: Quote from: D-Rock425 on August 03, 2011, 05:10:41 PM
I though it was y'all in Texas not all.
greeting y'all

It is y'all ... but the Yankee's up here don't seem to understand me when I speak correctly ;)

Thanks for the responses ... I'm looking forward to a good bird season this year ... and hopefully a good big game season too. Been a bit since I've managed to fill the freezer with venison.
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: jackmaster on August 11, 2011, 10:55:14 AM: welcome to washington, if you want p.m me and maybe i could point you in the right direction, i also live in graham and have my whole life.... but i can tell you this ruffed grouse in this neck of the woods aint so easy to come by anymore..
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: Curly on August 11, 2011, 11:06:23 AM: You could head up Hwy 410 east of Enumclaw and hunt the timber company lands and National Forest lands for grouse. One tactic is to just drive the logging roads and look for grouse sitting on the roads.

Ruffed grouse are found in the lower elevations and blues are usually in higher elevations. Seems to be not a great year for grouse numbers though, due to the wet spring, but there are always a few around.

I bet NW Sportsman Mag will have some grouse articles pretty soon. Workman likes to write about grouse and sometimes has maps of areas to try.
Title: Re: New to the board....new to the state
Post by: GCRocketman on August 11, 2011, 11:16:46 AM: Quote from: Curly on August 11, 2011, 11:06:23 AM
You could head up Hwy 410 east of Enumclaw and hunt the timber company lands and National Forest lands for grouse. One tactic is to just drive the logging roads and look for grouse sitting on the roads.

Ruffed grouse are found in the lower elevations and blues are usually in higher elevations. Seems to be not a great year for grouse numbers though, due to the wet spring, but there are always a few around.

I bet NW Sportsman Mag will have some grouse articles pretty soon. Workman likes to write about grouse and sometimes has maps of areas to try.

Sweet! Thanks ... I "generally" know the area you're talking about ... sounds like an after work scouting trip is in order!