Eastern WA Small Game Questions

[Vapor63]

Hey All,

I grew up half-city, half-country in Maryland, and I now find myself in Eastern WA for school. Been here a few years but have yet to hunt. I wanted to take the Savage .17 out (assuming I can get it to eject casing reliably!) and kill some small game (preferably edible). I'd love to know which small game is popular/available out here, how it is typically hunted, etc... There's plenty of land around here with "free to hunt" signs, mostly rolling hills with large plains.

Suggestions? I have no idea what to even look for; seen a few rabbits and squirrels, that's about it.

 

[Polishrifleman]

You're better off getting a couple hundred buck shotgun and shooting birds. We have rabbits, coons, possum, squirrels and the like just not like you see back East and especially not where you are at.

Get a 12 ga, shoot, dove, grouse, chukar, pheasant, geese, ducks, quail, turkeys, crows, spotted owl, ok maybe not the owls.

Anyway, you are in wheat country.

It's a great state to hunt but the Game Dept. leaves some room for improvement.

 

[JuryRig]

A shotgun makes small game hunting easier. I have hunted grouse and rabbits with a 22, and sometimes they hold still so you can shoot at them.

I believe there is a fall turkey hunt down your way, but WDFW won't let you hunt them with anything but a shotgun or bow.

 

[MichaelK]

Well, you must be at WSU in Pullman. I graduated from there. Congratulations! There of course are rabbits, but not many squirrels in the mostly treeless Palouse. In terms of upland birds, you have ring-neck pheasants to hunt. In the mountains to your east you'll find grouse also.

Mostly though, right outside of Pullman, you'll be shooting ground squirrels. The farmers will he happy to let you shoot them, as long as they aren't afraid you're going to shoot one of their cows. Sorry though, I wouldn't put them too high on the list of edibility. You should also be very very concerned that they could potentially be infected with plague! I know the ground squirrels down here in California are plague infected.

Time to start shopping for both a shotgun and a rifle. Lots of the breaks that lead down to the Snake river are stocked with trees, and there are mule deer to be had. Is TriState out on the Moscow Pullman highway still there? They had good prices on guns back in the 1980's when I was there. Also check out "White Elephant" in Spokane. That's where I bought my very first reloading equipment. Also check out Lewiston. RCBS used to have their outlet there and you could by bullets in a paper bag cheaper than in the regular stores.
Good luck to you.
Michael