Eastern Washington

[johnnyk]

What I have seen of it is beautiful. Really looking forward to getting this move behind us and start LIVING. I think the wide open spaces are what attracts me the most. We have checked out the area (schools, churches, shopping) as best as we can over the "www." and like what we see. I haven't had a lot of time to check out the hunting laws yet, but that's coming. JohnnyK.

 

[JPRITT]

Welcome!

you are in pretty darn good country for shootin and huntin. I'm from spokane myself (about 2 hours norhteast) but you will be pretty close to the blue mountains which have great elk hunting (if you draw a branched antler tag) and there are mule deer all over your neck of the dessert. dont forget about the coyotes. lots and lots of those.

 

[johnnyk]

I'm just about there fella's. Left Monday and am now in Billings, Mt. for the night. Plan to get on to "home" hopefully by Saturday AM. Wish me luck and talk to ya'll soon. JohnnyK.

 

[bwaites]

Billings to TriCities is doable, but a long day!

Wow, your almost here!!! Good luck in the new digs, keep us up to date!

Bill

 

[koginam]

I have visited several long range shooters from the tri cities and they took me to see some giant elk just on the other side of the mountain the shooting range is located. I took my spotting scope with me but the darn things were only 100 yds off, saw several herds of big bulls 8 points and better. We shot 4 coyotes along the walla walla river in one morning without moving from our hide. I'm going back to bird hunt this fall. It's great country for long range hunting. you will enjoy it there.

 

[johnnyk]

Well, I made it!! Sorry for the delay, got here on the 4th, started work on the 6th and haven't slowed down yet. Still trying to get internet service hooked up. Having to go through my company (they're paying) and the wheels are turning slowly. Otherwise I'd had it hooked up days ago.
E. Washington is a totally different world, but I like it. Lot'sa potential for hunting/shooting. Trying to get everything squared away so I can start reloading again and do some shooting. Still have to get by the range, if I can find it. And hunting season's a coming! I absolutely love the wide OPEN!!
Thanks for all the help and info you guys gave me through this move. I really appreciate it. Hope I can be some help to ya'll. JohnnyK.

 

[bwaites]

Welcome to the wide open part of Washington!! Cross the mountains towards the west and it will look a lot like North Carolina!

I was starting to wonder about you making it!

Good luck on getting things set up and getting out to the range!

Bill

 

[milanuk]

Johnny,

Good to see you made it up. If'n you get an interest in F-Class, Rattlesnake is a good place to shoot at. Douglas Ridge (just outside of Portland) is the next closest KD range w/ pits and all the other claptrap for High Power. Somehow or another I wound up w/ the job of fielding questions about F-Class for the state rifle and pistol association (Loading) so if you have any interest that way, let me know. Bob Gudgel and John Julian run a pretty good HP program down there @ Rattlesnake, so you should be in good hands

Monte

 

[johnnyk]

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, I have always been interested in F-class. Don't really know how to get started but I'm sure there's enough expertise on this forum to get me where I need to be. JohnnyK.

 

[Flybuster]

f-class

I am really interested in F-class, I shot my first match with a varmint tapered 25-06 ackley have never seen a barrel so hot. I scored 581-5x, it was real fun despite the 100+ temperature. I have plans to build a 6mmdasher for an F/Open rifle so I can shoot at Rattlesnake, too. man they have alot of matches there. Its always windy there and I know I should probly should opt for a 6.5x284. Milanuk I am looking for other places to shoot F-class too! I live in Pendleton,OR an hour and a half from Rattlesnake. I know you In Wenachee have 600 yard matches but they are on Sunday when I go to church, so its strictly saturday matches for me. Do they have F-class In Bend Oregon?

 

[milanuk]

flybuster,

Check your local state rifle & pistol association web site. The next closest 1k range may well be Douglas Ridge, on the east side of Portland (Gresham/Boring area). Not a *lot* of wind, but what they do have is evil, twisty stuff that the flags and mirage don't show accurately. I don't know too much more about whats down in Oregon, unfortunately.

I've had some other people comment on the Sunday aspect... unfortunately thats somewhat out of my control, as we share the property w/ a race track... and they pretty much have every Saturday from noon on from the end of April thru the end of September. I've considered running a 'short' Saturday match or practice, maybe a 2x20 w/ an early start time so we can get done by noon and be out of their way. Otherwise... I don't have a lot of options.

Monte

 

[Flybuster]

Snake river sportsmans club 2 miles South of Vale,Or has quite a big crowd shooting from what I hear. Alot of the shooters travel from Boise, La grande, Baker and get up to 30 shooters. It took me almost 2 and a half hours to get there,and don't forget the mountain time zone change! You literally have to brush cow pies and thistle weeds away so you can lay on your mat.
Their target pits are nice, if they are well greased. They have a target vault where they keep supplies which also serves as the target berm.
I definetly want to compete there, although when I shot it was 100 degrees and there were only 5 shooter brave enough.
Im just raising funds right now to build this rifle, so I might be shooting next year with all the wait times involved building one. But really look foward to this new sport.
Good luck at Nationals Milanuk.

 

[Guy M]

Johnny K, welcome to Washington! Some pretty decent hunting, and a very active match-shooting group here. I think the biggest problem with hunting here in Washington is dealing with the large population and large numbers of hunters afield.

Regards, Guy

 

[johnnyk]

Thanks Guy. Yeah, I'm kinda anxious about both, in a good way I guess. Went over to Rattlesnake this past Sunday to check out the range. Really just wanted to get a visual on it. Wife, kid and I went to the Blues on Saturday to see what they were like. Pretty nice. Saw droppings, big droppings!
So how do people around here hunt. Get license/tags and everyone head to the mountains and walk around? Are the areas where you can and can't go clearly marked? Should I try to hunt public or private land? If you kill and animal in a remote area, and don't own a four wheeler, I guess you have to either pack it out or stay a month and eat it on the spot? JohnnyK.