NE Washington Turkey Advice

[dmmarti3]

Good afternoon all,

I understand this is a very broad request, but I'm simply looking for NE Washington turkey hunting advice.  I'm a Juneau, AK resident and am meeting a friend in Spokane this spring for a 3-day hunt.  I moved from North Carolina to Alaska five years ago, and despite the incredible abundance of game here, I miss the turkey woods tremendously!

I will be flying into Spokane, and my buddy is picking me up from the airport with a pop-up camper and we're heading to the mountains.  Tentatively thinking of hunting Colville National Forest, but that is about where my plan ends.  So here are a few questions I'm hoping to get answered:

1. It seems most/all campgrounds and maintained dispersed sites in the area open May 15 or Memorial Day weekend well after my trip.  Having never been to these mountains/woods, how accessible/realistic is dispersed camping with a pop-up camper trailer?  Are there easily navigable forest service roads that would allow for this?

2.  Harvest statistics say NE Washington is the place to be for spring turkey, but I'm curious what sort of habitat I should be looking for on OnX for these birds?  In Carolina, turkeys loved the urban/rural interface, so you didn't necessarily need to go deep into the woods.  It also seems like the country is very steep.  Do you typically see these birds at high elevation, deep in the woods, or congregating near meadows and open areas?

3.  I fly into Spokane April 17 and leave the 21st.  What sort of weather should I be expecting?  Will there be snow at the higher elevations?

I'm sure I have more questions, but hopefully there's some generous folks out there willing to educate me a bit on the basics of the state.  In return, I'd be happy to provide any hunting/fishing advice for your next Southeast Alaska trip!!!

Thanks all!

[hughjorgan]

The pend oreille wild life refuge has camping, starvation lake is also another easy spot to camp that will put you in easy driving distant to turkeys to hunt. I also believe the fair grounds in Colville has camping.

You can expect snow up high opening weekend

[Russ McDonald]

So that time of the year is unpredictable, you could have snow, or you might have 70-degree weather by noon.  Travel again depends on the weather.  You might have snow at 3000' and FS roads might be a bit muddy.  Most established camp grounds don't open on FS land until Memorial Day.  I would hunt public close to ag land or the snow line.  Also don't be afraid to know on some farmers doors.  They do not like turkeys.  Good luck.

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[brokentrail]

You can probably find state land to camp on with the pop-up that won't have snow since as you have seen, the campgrounds aren't open yet.  I would do as Russ suggested and try hunting low public land adjacent to private ag.  That time of year, at least ime, the turkey flocks haven't broken up yet and are still in their wintering places down low.

[WoodHacker]

Have to agree with the above comments.
The LPO (Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge) roads open on April the 15th and camping is allowed at designated areas. Even "dispersed camping" is at designated areas only.
Last year there was snow and no turkeys above the 3,000' mark at the start of the season.  But the LPO has plenty of open forest below 3,000'.  It also has no hunting areas which you can find by using OnX Maps.
Note that camping at Starvation Lake can get crowded AND it's a state park with no hunting allowed in the park.  One half mile or so down the road is the LPO where you can hunt. Starvation Lake Road ends to the North at Hwy 20 and across the hwy it's nearly all public land all the way to Canada.  A lot of it may have snow also.

Electronic turkey calls are not allowed in WA.

[CedarPants]

Is your buddy local to Spokane then and can he do some pre-season scouting? The birds in my area start doing their thing typically in early to mid-March, snow or not. But the less snow the more active they seem to be. I'd say if your buddy can spend some time trying to locate some flocks ahead of your hunt you'll have a good start. Same as others have said as well, don't need to go too deep into the woods or too high up. I'd focus in the foothills adjacent to fields, or even on openings within the woods as turkeys love to congregate there to show off (think logging roads, clearcut edges, etc). My advice as well if you only have 3 days is to pack a lunch and spend sunup till sundown in the woods. Often times the birds will quiet down after the morning flurry of activity but they haven't gone anywhere. I've shot more birds late morning/early afternoon that came in silent or didn't gobble until they were on top of me.

[ghosthunter]

Have to agree with the above comments.
The LPO (Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge) roads open on April the 15th and camping is allowed at designated areas. Even "dispersed camping" is at designated areas only.
Last year there was snow and no turkeys above the 3,000' mark at the start of the season.  But the LPO has plenty of open forest below 3,000'.  It also has no hunting areas which you can find by using OnX Maps.
Note that camping at Starvation Lake can get crowded AND it's a state park with no hunting allowed in the park.  One half mile or so down the road is the LPO where you can hunt. Starvation Lake Road ends to the North at Hwy 20 and across the hwy it's nearly all public land all the way to Canada.  A lot of it may have snow also.

Electronic turkey calls are not allowed in WA.

Side note : You have to camp in one of their campgrounds on LPO. Dispersed camp sites are only open in October. If you camp on a dispersed site during turkey season the Ranger will tell you o pack up . At that point on the Opener you will have to leave because all campground sites will be full.
On April 15 folks will be lined up at the gates to get first serve campsites.  There are less than 40 sites available. One year they did not open the gate till noon because they were grading roads. Also no atv s allowed.

[Parasite]

Since these birds are merriams and rios, or hybrids of both .... they definitely are riparian birds which means they like the river bottoms. Which also means getting access to private land.

[dmmarti3]

Thank you all for the advice!  I really appreciate it!  The Pend Orielle area looks pretty neat but sounds like there may be some heavy pressure in there.  Maybe it is the most obvious place to hunt, and lots of other folks will have the same idea.

Seems like consensus is we need to stay lower in elevation, which rules out a bit more public land than I expected.  I see some other lower areas in Unit 117 too thankfully.  I do worry about the camping situation.  Anyone familiar with North Fork Chewelah Creek Campground just south of Pend Orielle?

Much appreciated all! 

[Billy74]

Any public land around LPO has a good chance of holding turkeys.  If you don’t have pre season info just Park at a turnout and walk old roads calling every 100 yds.  Not always the easiest to call in but you’ll find ‘em


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[Rob]

Bring a chainsaw...  might help get thru some roads that are recently snow free but have windfall trees on them.

[bearpaw]

If your friend is from Spokane I would have him do some preseason scouting closer to Spokane, there are a ton of birds close to Spokane too!

[Ghost Hunter]

Bring a chainsaw...  might help get thru some roads that are recently snow free but have windfall trees on them.

   I cleared 5 miles just to get out in November.

[GeoSwan]

  Also don't be afraid to know on some farmers doors.  They do not like turkeys.  Good luck.

I've hunted NE Washington a couple times. I hunted just SW of Colville. Tons of turkeys but also tons of private. Our most fun year we had great luck getting on private land, I mean people were walking up to us and telling us to hunt their property, and I ended up bagging a Jake. The next year though, the same people were all no's.  I got on some of the limited public land and had two toms run in front of me on their way to a non accessible private field where a ton of toms were. I shot, but my pattern was too tight. Ate my tags that year.

I don't hunt NE anymore. It's beautiful country, but you can find incredible pockets with less competition elsewhere in the state.

[hunter399]

Sounds like some pre-season scouting would be a great idea.
Maybe send some pins to your friend to check out.
I have helped people with turkey spots before.
Last guy was a youth hunter with his son,he PM me that his son was able to get a double and filled both his tags.
Giving spots away is frowned upon on this site,but will say all the advise above is spot on,Good luck.