What about all that other land not privately owned

[ThomMedic]

I have been doing a lot of scouting for possible coyote hunt sites. I noticed there is a lot of land that belongs to the state through various agencies. They are not state parks or state forests such as Capitol Forest. Some belong to the State Board of Resource Planning, City of Tacoma, State of Washington Real Estate Office. Are these public for hiking, camping, and/or hunting?    Are there any rules I should be aware of?

[bigtex]

I have been doing a lot of scouting for possible coyote hunt sites. I noticed there is a lot of land that belongs to the state through various agencies. They are not state parks or state forests such as Capitol Forest. Some belong to the State Board of Resource Planning, City of Tacoma, State of Washington Real Estate Office. Are these public for hiking, camping, and/or hunting?    Are there any rules I should be aware of?

You have to contact each entity, some will be open some will be not. Generally, city and county property will not be open to hunting, and in some cases (watersheds) closed to all access.

Mapping programs such as OnX have been a blessing and a curse. Lots of trespass cases are being made because people simply think they can hunt/fish/etc any land shown as being owned by a public entity. Guys need to do their homework and actually contact the agency responsible for the land and ask if they can hunt. Just a couple weeks ago guys got busted for hunting on "state land" that was actually part of a state facility (I believe a DSHS state hospital.) They thought since OnX showed the land as being owned by the State of WA they could hunt it, no questions asked...

[Dan-o]

I would pay attention to what Bigtex said.

He posts a lot of really credible info on questions like this.

[pianoman9701]

This could be a major liability for OnX. The whole point of their software is being able to go hunt. 

[outdooraddict]

not sure how onX can be responsible. they declare when you sign a contract that land ownership changes and they cannot guarentee anything.  the onX system doesnt say "huntable or not huntable" it just pulls lnd ownership names, im not sure how they can be responsible for a person not asking permission

[cougforester]

I have been doing a lot of scouting for possible coyote hunt sites. I noticed there is a lot of land that belongs to the state through various agencies. They are not state parks or state forests such as Capitol Forest. Some belong to the State Board of Resource Planning, City of Tacoma, State of Washington Real Estate Office. Are these public for hiking, camping, and/or hunting?    Are there any rules I should be aware of?

You have to contact each entity, some will be open some will be not. Generally, city and county property will not be open to hunting, and in some cases (watersheds) closed to all access.

Mapping programs such as OnX have been a blessing and a curse. Lots of trespass cases are being made because people simply think they can hunt/fish/etc any land shown as being owned by a public entity. Guys need to do their homework and actually contact the agency responsible for the land and ask if they can hunt. Just a couple weeks ago guys got busted for hunting on "state land" that was actually part of a state facility (I believe a DSHS state hospital.) They thought since OnX showed the land as being owned by the State of WA they could hunt it, no questions asked...

I did a lot of work on that piece the last couple years. Saw some toad black tails out there and always wondered if I could hunt it. Glad I didn’t.

[wolftrapper]

What I don't understand, is why the State doesn't post these accessible public lands as "Feel Free to Hunt".  In my opinion lack of hunting access is the biggest impediment that new hunters face.

You might check with your area's wildlife biologist.  They usually know if a State parcel is open or not.

[pianoman9701]

A bio might know and might not. Bigtex's suggestion of contacting the specific agency whose name is on the tract is what I'll be doing if the question comes up.

[Fl0und3rz]

I have been doing a lot of scouting for possible coyote hunt sites. I noticed there is a lot of land that belongs to the state through various agencies. They are not state parks or state forests such as Capitol Forest. Some belong to the State Board of Resource Planning, City of Tacoma, State of Washington Real Estate Office. Are these public for hiking, camping, and/or hunting?    Are there any rules I should be aware of?

You have to contact each entity, some will be open some will be not. Generally, city and county property will not be open to hunting, and in some cases (watersheds) closed to all access.

Mapping programs such as OnX have been a blessing and a curse. Lots of trespass cases are being made because people simply think they can hunt/fish/etc any land shown as being owned by a public entity. Guys need to do their homework and actually contact the agency responsible for the land and ask if they can hunt. Just a couple weeks ago guys got busted for hunting on "state land" that was actually part of a state facility (I believe a DSHS state hospital.) They thought since OnX showed the land as being owned by the State of WA they could hunt it, no questions asked...

Good points.  Thanks.  I just installed OnX and it is indeed a blessing, if you heed the above.

[TheStovePipeKid]

First hand experience. I pulled up the GIS for my county, before onX was popular, and there was a piece of state land right up the road from me. It had been donated to be a state park but the the agency holding it had not done anything with it, including designating as a park. I contacted the agency and they said no shooting even though it was still generic state land. If I had just gone shooting or hunting I would have been in hot water. I got a quick, concise response when I reached out so I can vouch for the process.

[Buckhunter24]

Like others are saying, contact the entity directly for an answer. Email is best so that it is in writing. Concerning county lands, it varies widely by county. The less populated counties I am familiar with allow hunting on lots of land so it is worth looking into..

[fireweed]

First hand experience. I pulled up the GIS for my county, before onX was popular, and there was a piece of state land right up the road from me. It had been donated to be a state park but the the agency holding it had not done anything with it, including designating as a park. I contacted the agency and they said no shooting even though it was still generic state land. If I had just gone shooting or hunting I would have been in hot water. I got a quick, concise response when I reached out so I can vouch for the process.

These are the type of pieces of land that could be open to hunting.  The WDFW should have a public land access coordinator to ferret out these parcels and then post them feel free to hunt.  They have private lands access specialists--but not public.  There are other types Soil/Water conservation districts; watersheds; community forests, county forest land that could be coordinated to be open to hunting.  many of these agencies have no real official policies, just knee jerk employee reactions saying "no" to pretty much anything.

[ThomMedic]

from Fireweed>>>>  There are other types Soil/Water conservation districts; watersheds; community forests, county forest land that could be coordinated to be open to hunting.  many of these agencies have no real official policies, just knee jerk employee reactions saying "no" to pretty much anything.
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That is just my fear I have experienced so often in this area. Some gatekeeper will not confirm their assumption with the boss and will answer with their prejudices. That happened to me on JBLM, some snowflake kept informing me what I saw was a coyote or a loose pet. That hybrid two months later  killed a lot of domestic animals at the Madigan research lab. 

Thanks every one.

[nwwanderer]

Some time ago DNR attempted an inventory, never was completed.  The point is you may not fiend an answer.  Be careful out there

[bigtex]

not sure how onX can be responsible. they declare when you sign a contract that land ownership changes and they cannot guarentee anything.  the onX system doesnt say "huntable or not huntable" it just pulls lnd ownership names, im not sure how they can be responsible for a person not asking permission

OnX is certainly not responsible for incorrect land ownership on their program, that's stated in their disclaimer. There is not a 100% correct system, even the county assessors are not 100% correct. I have areas in my area that are shown as public on OnX when they are actually private, and I have areas that are private but they are actually public. I have contacted OnX about these issues and sometimes they are fixed, sometimes they are not, and sometimes they are fixed but then revert back to the old incorrect version when the app is updated. This all comes down to "well I saw it on the internet..."