Where can I shoot in OR and WA?

[rome_spqr]

Im taking a trip up to oregon and washington state and i just want to know where i can shoot my new gun legally. i dont care much about hunting animals (since I know i will probably need permits to do that), i just want to go out in the wilderness and do some target shooting.

Ive done research online, and I can't find any laws regarding this.

So, where can i shoot my gun?

Thanks.

 

[oldfart]

Both states have vast tracts of public land administered by either the federal government or the state. There are few places where shooting is prohibited, but there are some loose regulations and most of those are based on common sense. Make sure your bullets aren't going to impact somewhere dangerous and you're usually home free. There are lots of places to shoot sidearms and relatively few where you can get a decent rifle shot unless you're on the eastern side of the state where there's zillions of acres of open ground. Even there though, you have to watch for cattle or the occasional tourist.

 

[rome_spqr]

thanks

thanks for the info!

 

[Polishrifleman]

Rome, they are both big places. You might want to give some of us locals a little more information on your travel/overnight plan so we can be more helpful and specific. Like take 410 15 miles East of the bridge and hang a left and there is a gravel pit on your right that is great etc....

 

[Bobarino]

just make sure you stay OUT of King county if you're shooting. bad ju-ju there.

Bobby

 

[Carlos]

Listen to Old Fart and PRM.

You'll have to give us more clues on where you actually plan on visiting.

I might be able to point you in the right direction.

Oregon, in many places, is turning into California.

 

[JJpdxpinkpistols]

State Forests!

You can shoot in any state forest, so long as you follow this:

http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/rules/0405_Bulletin/0405_ch629_bulletin.html

Feel Free to wear your weapon on you, but be polite if the authorities ask you to unload it in their presence.

There have been several shootings in memory of folks out for a good time with their guns. Larch Mountain is the most recent big one--two hunters killed while sighting in their rifles before hunting season. For this reason, the buddy system isn't a bad idea.

The authorities will sometimes stop in and say hi, occasionally asking you to put the weapon in the car or unload it. (never happened to ME, but it did happen to a friend). Don't be offended, they are only there to say howdy and show the flag. Heck, some them also discuss guns with me, comparing sidearms.

Oh, and bring bug repellent. When I was out two weeks ago, I was eaten alive.

Now, as to WHERE: about an hour out of Portland you will find the Tillmook and Clatstop State Forests. Go west on HWY 26 and keep going on 26, you will pass through a finger of Tillamook, then just into Clatsop, you will find a BUNCH of logging roads. I am fond of Section 10 road, personally, but as long as it isn't marked "private drive" you are good to go. Verify BEHIND your target and any ricochet trajectories. Look for families having picnics and hippies hugging trees, and shoot away.

Use your head, be polite (and friendly--wave!), and law abiding and have a GREAT time.

 

[oldfart]

"...hippies hugging trees" don't qualify as targets unless they're from out-of-state. Even then, they require a tag which can be purchased at almost any sawmill. Since it is difficult to discern (even by them) there are no separate classifications for sex. Juvenile tree huggers may not be taken at any time of the year unless they are causing damage to logging equipment.

 

[deanf]

just make sure you stay OUT of King county if you're shooting. bad ju-ju there.

I'm not sure that's really true. There are vast tracts of wilderness area within the jurisdiction of Martin Luther King Jr. County. There is state preemption in WA, so the gun laws are the same all over the state. You should have no more trouble shooting on a National Forest in Martin Luther King Jr. County than you would a National Forest in Ferry County.

(Yes that is the official name of the county. See: http://www.metrokc.gov/exec/news/2005/04/19mlkjrCounty.htm)

 

[c_yeager]

just make sure you stay OUT of King county if you're shooting. bad ju-ju there.

Yeah, but the whole dang place is a shooting range.

 

[p35]

I've seen a lot of "no shooting" signs along Highway 18/Tiger Mountain in SE King County. Of course, that's a popular hiking/mountain biking area, and I can live with not mixing the two activities.

Basically, though, you should be asking "where CAN"T I shoot" rather than "Where can I".

Also, I absolutely agree about being careful to have a safe backstop- beyond the fact that it's common sense, all shooters tend to get tarred with the same brush if some idiot throws rounds where they don't belong. Don't create problems for us residents!