Gun store Shooting Locations It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 2:34 pm



Rules WGO Chat Room Gear Rent Me Shield NRA SAF CCKRBA
Calendar




Reply to topic  [ 14 posts ] 
 Varmint Hunting with a .22LR Advice Needed - Where & What 
Author Message
User avatar

Location: Renton
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020
Posts: 39
Real Name: Ron Martinsen
I was one of those lucky kids that grew up on a big chunk of land that was against even bigger chunks of land, so starting at age 10 years old when I bought my Ruger 10/22 myself (after a lot of $2/hr blue collar labor), I would just walk into my back yard and do target practice or hunt rabbits and squirrels. That was the South in the 80's, not the cancel culture world full of helicopter parents we are in today.

That said, my son put in some hard work to get his hunters safety license so we took a Uplands Hunting 101 class at Red's near Ellensburg where he got to hunt Pheasant with a 20 gauge. However, he's put about 1000 rounds through my Ruger 10/22 and he's eager to hunt with it instead. I'd love to make that happen, but I need help.

We live in the Eastside area and I've not got a clue where to go to take him nor what is legal to hunt that doesn't require hunting permits that we've already missed the boat for this fall.

Simply put, I need advice. Put yourself in my shoes and let me know where you'd go and what you'd hunt for? (and yes, we'd plan to eat what we kill as we did for the Pheasant hunt)

Yes, I did buy OnX Hunt for my iPhone which tells me who owns the land, but I'll admit to being a newbie to go from seeing who owns a piece of land to actually knowing what I can hunt there and if the owners are friendly to it without just randomly picking some piece of land, googling the owner name and address and cold calling them say "hey, can I hunt on your land"? My shy side is crazy uncomfortable with that, so I need help.

If there are other King County (or bordering county) hunting forums that I should consider joining to pose this question, I'm open to that.

We are both very comfortable with firearms and go to the range at least twice per week with 1000's of rounds shot per month (yes, even with these ammo prices), so we practice gun safety often. As I mentioned, he also completed the state hunters safety course and has had a successful hunt, and I've done the same (to support him) as well as completing hunters safety 4 times in my youth in Louisiana and Mississippi. So we are newbies to hunting opportunities, not newbies to firearms and firearm safety as well as hunters safety.


Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:57 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Maple Valley, WA
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011
Posts: 9234
Real Name: Young
What I am piecing together is that...
Your child wants to shoot something with your 10/22.

Small Game:
Grouse (Sep 1 - Dec 31)
Rabbit (Sep 1 - Mar 15)
https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/regulations ... small-game


Then you asked where?
It’s all legwork. One has to put in the time and go around and get to know the farmers/property owners to ask for permission etc. No easy process.

My brother decades ago would take weekends driving around non hunting time and just stop and chat with folks. Get a feel and over time. Would get folks to allow us to hunt. He would be very gracious and find out what they liked and get something as “grease to smooth things out” so everyone gets something.

Shooting with a .22 is limited to what and where.
Know your backstop and what is beyond. As you may remember that .22 can travel “about a mile”. So grouse are shot on the ground so impact of round is into the ground.

You can certainly pay to join clubs that have acres and multiple property owners signed on to allow hunting for that group. But those are not cheap.


And limiting yourself to King County. Nope. Not likely to find a place. Not impossible but highly not likely.

I would extend to Eastern WA or other counties.

Good luck.


Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:42 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Renton
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020
Posts: 39
Real Name: Ron Martinsen
Thanks OldKim!

Yes, he and I had a long talk about the difficulty of hunting with a 22LR given that one mile bullet travel reality.

Going out to neighboring counties that are within 90 minutes is reasonable as ideally I'd like to avoid having to spend the night in a hotel.

Thanks for the recommendations on Grouse and Rabbit - that helps.

As to where, I was hoping to get recommendations - even if they were PM - from others who might be able to say "hey, contact <so and so> - they are friendly to hunting <rabbit | grouse> on their property" or "I've got X acres in Y, and don't mind if you come by once to hunt <rabbit | grouse>". Perhaps I'm too optimistic, but I'm still holding out hope that someone reading this might be able to chime in even if its via a private message.


Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:12 pm
Profile
Online
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Lynnwood/Bothell
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2014
Posts: 8552
Real Name: Curtis
If you just want to pop something, I know there are some fruit farmers in Eastern Washington who would gladly let you eradicate as many of the ground squirrels as you can find, but those little bastards wouldn't make the best table fare. I can't really help you with finding something worth eating...I only hunt winged creatures with a scattergun.


Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:14 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Renton
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020
Posts: 39
Real Name: Ron Martinsen
Guns4Liberty wrote:
If you just want to pop something, I know there are some fruit farmers in Eastern Washington who would gladly let you eradicate as many of the ground squirrels as you can find, but those little bastards wouldn't make the best table fare. I can't really help you with finding something worth eating...I only hunt winged creatures with a scattergun.


Honestly, that would work! I'm open to suggestions.

That said, oldkim sent me down a successful path where I found this gem of a page - https://privatelands.wdfw.wa.gov/private_lands/ - this gives me something to start with as they have Feel Free to Hunt spots marked.


Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:23 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Maple Valley, WA
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011
Posts: 9234
Real Name: Young
Do some research on Crows (as nuisance). Some quick look on squirrels comes up with different ones being protected etc. (native gray)


Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:29 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Renton
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020
Posts: 39
Real Name: Ron Martinsen
Yeah, I saw during hunters safety training that gray squirrels were prohibited which is just unbelievable to me as there's tons of them.

I noticed on the link you sent that crows are pretty much fair game, but I am trying to teach him that you don't kill just for the sake of shooting something. As a result, I'd like to at least make an attempt at shooting something we could clean and eat or use the pelt (fox, coyote, rabbit).

Rabbit's are seeming like a good candidate unless we got lucky and saw a coyote. I'm not expecting to see any foxes.

Ron


Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:40 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Seattle Washington USA
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2020
Posts: 126
I would echo the suggestion that Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife would be the best source for information regarding seasons, if there is a bag limit, if a license is required for that species ect. They would also be a good starting point for finding land to hunt on. I have to think they would be extra helpful because of getting a young hunter started on a good path...
I am more familiar with the Columbia Basin in the central part of the state where there is lots of open space, public areas well suited for the activities you are describing. Areas adjacent to lower and middle Crab Creek come to mind, but it's a long way for a day trip.
The website "hunting-wa.com" may also be of benefit to you, I am on my cell phone or I would include a link.


Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:18 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Renton
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020
Posts: 39
Real Name: Ron Martinsen
catfishmoon wrote:
I would echo the suggestion that Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife would be the best source for information regarding seasons, if there is a bag limit, if a license is required for that species ect. They would also be a good starting point for finding land to hunt on. I have to think they would be extra helpful because of getting a young hunter started on a good path...
I am more familiar with the Columbia Basin in the central part of the state where there is lots of open space, public areas well suited for the activities you are describing. Areas adjacent to lower and middle Crab Creek come to mind, but it's a long way for a day trip.
The website "hunting-wa.com" may also be of benefit to you, I am on my cell phone or I would include a link.


Thanks for the tips - I appreciate it!

I like the Columbia Basin, so that's good to know should we decide to make a trip out of it.


Tue Nov 03, 2020 4:35 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: Maple Valley, WA
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011
Posts: 9234
Real Name: Young
This was just posted by WDFW

Finding, identifying and hunting forest grouse in Washington state
A four-month season with at least one of the four forest grouse species found in nearly every county means you won’t want to skip this opportunity.

https://wdfw.medium.com/finding-identif ... 41bb2e9d10


Thu Nov 05, 2020 8:17 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Renton
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020
Posts: 39
Real Name: Ron Martinsen
oldkim wrote:
This was just posted by WDFW

Finding, identifying and hunting forest grouse in Washington state
A four-month season with at least one of the four forest grouse species found in nearly every county means you won’t want to skip this opportunity.

https://wdfw.medium.com/finding-identif ... 41bb2e9d10


Excellent - thanks! Now, I just need to find a good place to go where my son won't kill some body with his .22LR trying to shoot a grouse on the move. Personally, I'd have to bring my shotgun for those as I'd rather increase my odds. Nevertheless, I'm all for giving that a try.


Thu Nov 05, 2020 9:42 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: hell... er, western washington
Joined: Thu Feb 9, 2012
Posts: 216
Take a look at OnX maps for state/federal land off of SE Kent Kangley Rd. The whole area is walk in only and only one of the gates allows access that doesn't require crossing private land on the way in. But, I have seem both grouse and rabbit in there, as well as deer. Earlier in the season there are a ton of people in there walking, biking, etc - but late season when the weather sucks I'd expect you won't have too much pressure.


Wed Dec 30, 2020 8:59 pm
Profile
User avatar

Location: Renton
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020
Posts: 39
Real Name: Ron Martinsen
jbauch357 wrote:
Take a look at OnX maps for state/federal land off of SE Kent Kangley Rd. The whole area is walk in only and only one of the gates allows access that doesn't require crossing private land on the way in. But, I have seem both grouse and rabbit in there, as well as deer. Earlier in the season there are a ton of people in there walking, biking, etc - but late season when the weather sucks I'd expect you won't have too much pressure.


I'm seeing lots of houses.

Is that the area labeled King County Roads or Kent Watershed managed by Issaquah Game Unit 454?

Feels like that wouldn't be legal to shoot a .22LR there, but that would be great if it was possible as that's not to far out.


Wed Dec 30, 2020 10:31 pm
Profile
Site Supporter
User avatar
Site Supporter

Location: hell... er, western washington
Joined: Thu Feb 9, 2012
Posts: 216
Look to the east of the point where SE Kent Kangley Rd and Kanaskat Kangley Rd SE intersect, there is a gated road you can walk in on that leads to a bunch of state or federal land (mixed with a couple lots of tribal land) you can hunt on. That is one of the few places in lower elevation that I have seen grouse around here, but it's admittedly been a few years since I went tromping around that area so things may have changed.


Wed Dec 30, 2020 11:13 pm
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic   [ 14 posts ] 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 46 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum



Rules WGO Chat Room Gear Rent Me NRA SAF CCKRBA
Calendar


Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Designed by ST Software for PTF.
[ Time : 1.416s | 18 Queries | GZIP : Off ]