New to hunting in Washington

[Atroxus]

I am going to learn to hunt this year and am looking for some info/advice. I am in my mid 30s now, and have wanted to learn how to hunt since I was a kid, just never had the opportunity. I plan on getting my hunting license this January. I have taken the online exam, and just need to take the skill and attitude evaluation portions of the hunter safety class now. I have zero hunting experience though. I have been reading up online. I have also tried picking the brains of people I run into at local ranges and gun shops but the information I get this way has been pretty minimal. I don't think I have BO, or an abrasive personality, but I have not had much luck in getting people to chat with me about hunting. I got one guy to chat for a good 45 minutes about .22 rifles and target shooting, but he doesn't hunt.

I have a Marlin 60 that I am planning to use on small game to start, with the hopes of buying a .30-06 in time for deer/elk season. My plan is to start out hunting squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons until big game time. I figure this will get me some experience in the woods, and while hunting the small critters I am hoping to scout out potential spots to hunt deer/elk when those seasons come. I am mainly interested in hunting things I can eat, and that can be hunted outside of deer/elk season for now. According to the WDFW web site squirrels, and european rabbits are open year round for hunting, and cottontail, snowshoe hares, raccoons are open till mid march. I am hoping some people here will have some advice/pointers to help me get started. I also have no idea where to start looking for animals to hunt. I live in Marysville and am hoping maybe somone can tell me some areas where I might have some success finding small game within a few hours drive. Also if there are any other edible critters that could be hunted with a .22 I am open to suggestions on that as well. I am not really interested in bird hunting though since I don't own a shotgun, and will be saving all my spare change towards deer/elk rifle this year.

I am also curious about the edibility of certain animals. Just about everyone I talked to that has eaten it says that rabbit is tasty, so I feel pretty good about hunting those. I am gettign mixed messages though about squirrels, and very little at all about raccoons or any other small game. From what I read online squirrels are supposed to be pretty tasty if prepared properly. I have had several people tell me not to hunt squirrels in washington though because they "eat trash". I am wondering if I get far enough into the woods to not be getting "city squirrel" if the trash eating would be less of an issue? Same for raccoons; according to internet they are tasty, but the few people I got to comment in Washignton have said "You don't want to hunt those, they eat trash." Anyone here eat washington squirrels and/or raccoons? If so how do they taste, and how far into the woods do you have to go to avoid the trash eaters?

 

[sumpnz]

Good news about hunting WA is that, unlike AZ where I used to live, you don't have to draw a tag in the lottery system to be able to go hunting. Bad news is, the bulk of the public land gets rather crowded (not quite nuts to butts but it can start to feel like that after a while). The huge numbers of hunters on the public land means that if you want a quality, safe hunting experience you have 2 choices. Find someone with a large chunck of land that will let you hunt it, or get to the harder to reach areas of public land.

Try to find an area where you have to hike or horseback at least a couple miles to get to the good hunting areas and you'll likely be a pretty good spot. I've heard that something like 90% of hunters never get more than 100 yards from a road. Go where trucks/ATV's can't and a whole lot of hunters will not be there.

I've got a spot in the Methow Valley that meets that criteria for mule deer hunting. I'm not the only hunter back there of course, but it's a lot lighter pressure than a lot of other places. I've found another area for elk near Mt Rainer that looks promising, as long it doesn't snow 3' in 2 days like it did this year, and is even lighter on the pressure.

Can't help you too much on where to go for small game. I haven't rabbit or squirrel hunted since I lived in AZ. Probably best to just head out to some public land and wander around to see what you can see.

 

[wyohome]

Hunting-Washington.com is a great forum. I used to live in Marysville..