Washintonian..
 

I'm from Washington state and fairly traveled. I've always respected hunters and wanted to learn to hunt. I'm currently in Iraq. When I get back home I would like to get onboard and learn how to hunt. I know where there's lots of wildlife all over Washington but never had nobody to teach me. Anyhow, I aim to do it and would like advice from folks that know how it's done. Ya'll are the folks. I have an open mind and hope ya'll can help me get started before I get home.

RE: Washintonian..
 

Hey 88N....Welcome aboard..:)...It's heart warming for me to hear from someone that's putting their life on the front line's for me & my family. "God Bless" ya..:)...when ya get your butt back here safe and sound...let me know...I'll take ya hunting for anything ya want to hunt. Are you a bow or rifle or blackpowder hunter..??. I'm in the N.E. corner of the state, and have whitetail, some mulie's, bear, cougar, bobcat, turkey, grouse, quail, and some pheasent..but not many of those....My wife and I go waterfowling just west os Moses Lake....Make sure to keep us posted on how your doing over there....Anything ya need we can send ya..??..Don't be scared to ask....your family here:)

RE: Washintonian..
 

88N,,Welcome aboard, and thanks for your service for freedom. What parts of WA are you from? What are your interests? Here these guys are great at giving a wealth of knowledge and some good hospitality, you'll learn a ton. Also for a local connection you may try the South Sound Longbeards site, it's an NWTF chapter with a lot of good guys on that forum too.

HEy if you need some help, I too would be glad to give you a hand, just look me up I'll be around either this site or the other metioned.

Again Thanks for your service, most of us here know what your sacrificing and why!

What branch of service? I'm a former Salior myself.

RE: Washintonian..
 

Thank you both for your warm welcome. It really means a lot to us over here when ya'll support us. I'm not a hunter.....yet! I don't even have a rifle besides my army issue M16A2 and that's not mine. I'd like to get to huntin some large four legged critters to put in my freezer and on the grill well mid-size from what i learned on this webpage. Elk, deer carabou... something of that sort. I know where there's tons of elk.. but like I said I've never had anybody to teach me how to hunt so I wasn't able to learn that skill.
I don't need for much here. We have a small PX to supplement our needs and small desires. We get three hot meals per day which is more than I can say for these folks over here we came to free. US ARMY trapper 4 years and 4 months, I was stop-lossed in Nov. 3 months before my ETS. Now I'm close to promotion so I'm thinking about being dumb enough to re-enlist... I'm from Snoqualmie WA home of Mt.Si (twin peaks) and Snoqualmie falls.. You can bet I'm pretty upset about the tree huggers takin over weyerhauser's land up round my part and all the development's they've been puttin up on the ridge so when i finaly do decide to settle down it'll probably be round Ellensberg Cle elem area.

RE: Washintonian..
 

acording to this website http://www.wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/elk/northrainier.htm
It seems we might be able to get some black bear or cougars..

oh yeah as for a rifle, i've been thinking about getting either a 308 or 30-06 I think these should have the takedown power I'd be needing for elk or deer.

comments, suggestions, pointers, tips, types
my ears are wide open as are my eyes. oh yeah i also read something about tags and points.. having no experiance in hunting I would like to be enlightened if one of ya'll would be so kind as to enlighten me on these things.

RE: Washintonian..
 

88N...never had a 308...but have had a 30.6, and a 270....I alway's picked to use the 270 first....good fast straight shooting rifle... The point's ya get are only if you put in for a special tag...and don't get picked...But anyone can buy a general tag over the counter for Elk, Deer, Bear, and Cougar. If you hunt with a bow....you do get better and longer season's than with a rifle. We do have carabou...but their protected. Animal's everyone has to put in a special drawing for are...Moose, Goat, Sheep..........re-enlist....wow....bless ya if ya do....I almost did when I was over in Japan....Thank "GOD" the saki wore off...:D

RE: Washintonian..
 

ok, now this post may merit a long reply so please bear with me.
a few questions
1)How to track animals?(I know to look for tracks but i know nothing of age of tracks and other signs)

2)How to dress an animal? (ie deer, elk, cougar)

3)If your bow hunting season is longer can you still use the short time for rifle hunting?
(I am interested in bow hunting but know less about bows than rifles)

Another "Valley Guy"
 

88N,

Great to hear from you! Up until about a month ago I lived in North Bend, so we were neighbors!!! I'mstill pretty new to hunting, but I think I've developed some pretty good skills. One of the difficulties I've run into, especially on the western part of the state, is finding areas to hunt. Lots of public land is closed off or overrun with hunters, so lots of time the trick is to get permission to hunt somebody's privately owned land.

This year I'm transitioning from rifle to bow for deer and elk. The learning curve is there, but I'm picking it up much faster than I thought I would.

If you get rotated back by the fall, give me a shout.

Be dangerous - Stay safe.

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

Yeah, sweet we'll have to linkup and find some deer or elk to shoot.. have you been over the hill lookin for them elk? there's lot's up there but they're on the other side mostly. i rekon we could pack our freezers with a couple of em.:D

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

88N, hey it sounds like your pretty close to me, at least when your stateside, I'm down in Black Diamond. I do hang out over in Cle Elum quite a bit too. I'd love to move there, but the money keeps me on the "left" side of this State.

On your questions about game techniquies, they' are easier to show than to explain, at least for me it is, and your rifle choices aren't bad, but I'd go with the 30-06 it's long been the best all around gun for any game, and in a pinch every store that carries ammo will have 06's behind the counter. And if you can get any info you can on hunting via the internet for now will help, maybe even go to the game dept site, read,read and read some more. That's the best way, take it all in and then you can start to sort what info you find prudent as you go along. Keeping an open mind is great when trying to soak it all in.And remember it isn't about the taking of game(although it's nice to score)but being out there and taking on the challenge of outwitting their sight and smell.

On bow and rifle, WA. state has a declare your weapon policy, which means when you buy a Deer or Elk tag they will ask you what you'll use.Your stuck with that season for that year.But you can say hunt deer with a rifle then pick to hunt Elk with a bow. It may sound confusing but it's not.

Anyway keep in touch, and it's good to here from the Boys on the front,Godspeed And we'll talk at you later.

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

I guess on your 2 questions I can tell you, it's almost impossible to tell age from track, although the larger the track usually means an older animal. Deer I don't think you can acurately tell sex from the tracks but on Elk I've been able to determine you can.

A Bull Elk, will usually have a more rounded track whereas a Cow will have an elongated or heart shaped, the second is BUll Elk will show his dew claws( to smaller toe like apendages on the lower ankle) where a cow w's are higher up. SOme say that shows the weight of an animal but I've seen a large heart shaped track w/out dew claws right next to a rounded shape calf track with dew calws showing. I'have also tracked a known Bull through his major route, shown by all the rubbings he made, and his track also had the dews and rounded shape. Also it is been said that a Bull Elk will actually have red urine, and I've seen that too(in snow)

Gutting an animal is pretty easy and basically the smae, just everyone has their own way, but slit him from the Privates to the breast bone, and yank everything out, save the heart and liver (if you eat those) if not leave'em with the rest. But the major thing here is DO NOT puncture the bladder or colon, it'll taint the meat and makes a mess. The best way I've found is to find the bladder pinch it off with a thumb and figner and then twist it up into a ballon.When you've secured that cut it below your pinch point and toss it away.That works pretty slick, prop open the cavity with astcik or something to let it cool. Cooling off is the single most important thing to do once you've field dressed.

Well there's lesson 1 and 2 and I'm gettin typer's cramp;)

Take care.

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

I know exactly where black daimond is. there's a old loggin road off 18 that's barricaded off me and my buddies used to hoof it up to that lack way back yonder and go fishin...
well thems the old days now..

I really appriciate your typing cramp cause you've helped me a lot.
I know i'll learn better when i see it done my first time. I also agree with you about always gettin something but i got a little digital camera that would be great to get em with if they aren't takers ;)

as for the rifle i wanted to get a bolt action 30-06 but it's looking a little spendy so i was looking at winchester 3030s they also have 30-06 but i'm not sure about a lever action rifle. i know that bolt action gets the best power. can you tell me a little bit about your experiance with the 2 or some knowledge you have about them. that way i know what i want to get before the local gun dealer trys to take me for a fool. :D

thanks again for all your help

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

Welcome aboard 88N. I work in the Physical Therapy Dept at Madigan Army Medical Center, so I've been working with a lot of the OIF soldiers that have come back. Sorry to hear about the stop-loss. You guys do your job and expect to come home when they tell you, but we appreciate what your doing. My wife is AD as a doctor here at Madigan, so I know how the Army does things.

As far as a gun goes, stick with the 30-06. It has the most bullet choices of any caliber ever made. And like was said, you can always find ammo. I'd look at a Remington 700 or Winchester Model 70 in synthetic stock. They are the most reasonably priced without all the bells and whistles. A 30-30 would work fine for deer inside 150 yards, but I'd want more punch and range if I were buying a gun for all animals, especially elk. Another thing to think about if you haven't done it yet is the Hunter's Education course. You'll have to take that before you can get a license, and classes fill up pretty fast. May be something to contact WDFW about since you aren't stateside to do that right now. Keep us posted on your plans to return home. I know somebody on here would offer their services for you as soon as you get everything ready to go.

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

Slee did a good job of describing the rifles, I'd go with a bolt action and look to pawn shops or ask around there should be no problem getting a 30-06 bolt action for around $200, they are common and if your not afraid of having a used gun I'd go that route. The lever gun like he said is good for under 150 yds. I still use a 30-30 lever on occasion for both Elk and deer when I'm hunting the extremely brushy west coast areas, they're nice and short and quick to bring up especially when not using a scope. But if you plan to hunt more toward Cle Elum, I'd go with a distance gun, that '06 will do nicely and you won't have a problem dropping an Elk out to 400+ yards with it. LEt me know when you get home, I'd be happy to run around and help you find a gun too. Also if you do plan to deer hutn say in Cle Elum let me know we usually have a big hunt party up that way the opening week.

Another thing to consider is keeping in mind if the gun you like doesn't have a scope, you'll need to budget that too if your inclined to using one. You can get a decent scope for around $200 also, brand new, I just bought a Weaver a couple years ago for $190 and I love it as much as a Leopould myself....FYI

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

i apriciate all the great help ya'll have been. it's great having a place to go with great people like yourselves willing to give your time and energy to help people like me with little knowledge and experiance in this.

thank you very much slee. I appriciate what you're doing here and at madigan. My son was born Dec 2nd 2003 1 month prior to my deployment. i'll keep you posted on when i start to get stuff put together it probably won't be until well into hunting season so i'll have a year to get ready for the next one.
you know trapper i was just thinking about pawn shops yesterday morning before i went to bed. i don't mind buying a used rifle but i do have a few things i would be worried about with a rifle purchased at a pawn shop.
1. was it stolen
2. how much has it been used/abused/misused
3. does it have any alterations (ie. new barrel something filed)
for the third one i don't really know what to look for. i know basic knowledge of firearms you know, exactly the things you need to know when disassembeling, cleaning, reassembeling, functions check, loading, firing, fixing jams, clearing, disassembeling and cleaning again. M16A2, M249, M9, Mark 19, M2HB,and M203, I only know these because i took a unit armorers course and that didn't teach me much except how to do it and hands on assembly, disassasembly, and functions checks.
So I wouldn't really know what to look for when dealing with the last 2 concerns on my list above.

oh yeah. now that my brain has started to warm up, what do you do for ranges? as in firing ranges. I was told we can't use the ranges on post for POWs (Privately Owned Weapons) i'll ask my squad leader when i see him again what he knows about it and try to find some other hunters here in Iraq that might know that kinda stuff. but how do you go about it? I went to a private range with my friends dad before but he never explained to me about that. he just said something about joining the NRA and you can use it but i can not be sure the truth of what i'm conveying. it was a long time ago.

thanks again for your help friends.

RE: Another "Valley Guy"
 

Well, at the pawn shops I don't know how they determine whether it's "hot" or not, but I don't think that if it is you'd be in any trouble if it was determined that it was stolen. And I'm pretty sure these days the way people look at gun ownership, that those who do sell them professionally will mind their P's & Q's.

With regards what to look for, it can be a crap shoot, but all in all with your knowledge of military weapons, that would transition over to civilian models too. You may find a guy who'll just like a car, let you take it to a gunsmith and let him check it out? But' I've bought used guns before, in fact I have one pistol, a shotgun, and a .17 cal rifle that I got new, evrything else I have or had had was used and killed a decent amount of game with those. My best shooting gun was a Howa 30-06 that was roughly worth about $150 on the market but at 100 yards I could group 3-5 shots within a quarter.

Rnages, there are afew close to your home, Renton has one, Black diamond, and another one or two out towards Ravensdale. Or like me I most of the time just find an old gravel pit out in the woods somewhere. I know the B.D. gun club can shoot out to 300yards. There's also Paul Buyan out in Tacoma.

Sno Valley has an outdoor range
 

There is an outdoor rifle range on 202 between the falls and Fall City. It is usually members only (must be an NRA member to join) but they usually open it up to the public a few weeks before deer season opens so people can sight in their rifles.

RE: Sno Valley has an outdoor range
 

You're talkin about the one right at the bottom of falls hill right zero? That's the one I refered to in a previous post. I did a net search and found there's one on McCord AFB so I'll probably look into that one and if it's free, I'll ask about bringing guests and some of us might be able to get together and I can bring you there. That is if it's not inconvenient for ya.

RE: Washintonian..
 

Oh, I've come up with another question. How do I find where these GMU's are? How do I get maps of these GMU's? The GMU's I'm refering to are located near or in peirce country beins how that's where I live. The following are the GMU's 627 Kitsap, Maso, Pierce,. 652 Pierce and King, 653 White river, King and Pierce.

Also Trapper, I would very much like to get together with your hunting group that goes over to Cle elem area. I'm sure we can exchange phone numbers and stuff after I get back to the states to sort things out.

RE: Washintonian..
 

Sounds good, on the hunt and the gun range McChord only a half hour for me.

As far as the GMU's, if you got access to a printer, the game dept has a download of the regs,all the info your asking about is in the regs.If you don't maybe you can PM me your address and I could snail mail you a copy? There's also a few map companies who specialize in GMU maps, LC Sportsmaps is one.They're out of Maple Valley. Ya I'd be happy to run you out on a deer trip or something.Plus If I don't fair well in Cle Elum I usually hunt down around Yelm(grew up there).Vail tree farm should be if nothing else a good way to get you on some deer anyway.But we usually find a lot over in Cle Elum too.

ANother note on the GMUs is out in Kitsap, I don't know if the whole thing is but there are a lot of firearms restrictions(NO Rifles) due to heavy populations,you can bow hunt and maybe shotgun or muzzleloader? Same with some parts of King and Pierce.

RE: Washintonian..
 

good info trapper thanks again.
when I get back along with hunting one of my other goals is to buy a home. I aim to look in the yelm area because it's a nice small town. So that would work out dandy.
when i found info on the GMUs it was discriptive maybe i was looking in the wrong place. i'll check that website and give you an update.

RE: Washintonian..
 

:) Sorry for being so tardy at welcoming you aboard the forum.....and thank you for your service to our nation! I have a nephew in the Marines in Iraq since Fabruary, and we all are missing him. So keep your head down and make sure you get back here to hunt with us!!!!