I Have hunted and fished the Pacific Northwest for 17 years! Ask me anything!

Have you seen anything during your hunting that would indicate that Bigfoot is real?

Honestly in all my trek's out and about I have yet to see anything that could convince me of his existence. I personally have an open mind so I can't say entirely whether he exists.... but I don't think he does as of yet!

as of yeti

Moms spaghetti...

He's nervous, but he keeps on forgetting!

Good, good. Keep thinking that and I won't have to throw any rocks at you. I'm watching you, human.

I thought that was the squirrels... shit.

What is the biggest/hardest fish you ever caught?

I'd have to say a sturgeon. They are massive fish and kick the shit out of you trying to reel them in. I felt like I just lifted for an hour after catching one 5-6 feet or more!

I've fished the Columbia for those beasts. We just let it tow the boat around for an hour while we held on

Probably the best strategy, we decided to use a break line on a big rock and paddle the line out and drop it over. Reeled them in from shore, watched my dad and uncle mainly, they got worked and they are big dudes.

How often do you find sturgeon with recoverable caviar?

I never did, but I never did much of it but my dad might know the answer! I'll get back to you on this with his answer!

Do you have any interesting stories while hunting? Any scary stories as well?

I have quite a few! 1 of the most interesting one's being when we were butchering the 2 moose up my father and a friend got growled at by a cougar. I actually wrote a ~3 page article on the moose hunt with the cougar incident vividly described which can be found here! But TL;DR... The moose hunt my father and I harvested both animals around 1-2 P.M. within a couple minutes of each other, 150 yards apart. So in return we got some friends to help (they are massive animals and we knew we had a lot of work ahead.) it was real late into that next morning, i'd guess about 2 A.M.? Anyways My friend and I were down the hill about 200 yards taking a break when we see a flashlight strobing at us. My dad yells over the wind and rain that a cougar just growled at him and the other guy while they were cutting up the 2nd moose. I am used to being around predators but it still sent chills up my neck. When we returned I had my pistol drawn and my friend and i stayed close together. When I got back to my dad he told us they heard it growl from about 20 yards away in a thicket of jack pine trees. (This guy seriously looks like a mountain man and acts like one, 0 fear) He pulled his pistol and shined the light where it came from as my other buddy hid behind him hahaha. He went to the thicket in search of it but later we discovered it ran off and only growled to test the waters and see if we would leave the kill. It knew there was to many of us and wasn't that desperate obviously. Predators tend to act and be dominant but if you show you aren't scared they typically don't want to fuck with you. My dad has charged a bear that was charging him when he had only a knife, that takes more balls than I own.

Fuck Cougars, I personally don't hunt, but I spend a lot of time in the woods in Western WA, and nothing sends chills up my spine like a cougar. At least three times I've been followed by them, evidenced by paw prints (one time was in snow, another in a muddy area), birds flushed toward me from bushes 50 yds away, and the general prey response that grips your body when you can subconsciously sense a predator nearby, yet of those three times I never laud eyes on a cat once. In fact the only time I've seen a cougar was when I was driving up a gravel mountain road near dusk and managed to sneak up on him by coming around a bend just as he managed to slip into the brush along the shoulder. I've been close to bears and coyotes, but neither made my hair stand on end like knowing a cougar was watching me but not showing itself.

I too have had one stalk me. Never ever have I seen one in the wild (minus one time that I don't entirely know what it was) but I always have said, if you see one it is generally bad news. Unless of course you're in a tree stand and it walks by or something. Nothing like that feeling that you're being watched!

Yeah, I know they are generally more curious than aggressive, and I have heard the stories of cougars with tracking collars resting for hours just 20' from popular hiking trails, probably just to watch the people go by all day. But the first time I had a "feeling I was being watched" rush over me and then had it confirmed on my walk back to the truck seeing paw prints crossing over and walking next to the trail that hadn't been there on my way in was one of the most primal reactions I've ever experienced. Just gut-wrenching, hair raising fear and realization that you are not the top predator.

When I'm with another person I don't fear much as I figure that only a very desperate cat would attack two or more humans as prey, but being alone I do worry about making the wrong move or cornering a cat in a way that may cause it to show itself aggressively.

Agree with every point in your reply. We are top on the food chain but we are not the top predator. They HAVE to kill to live and we have options to do differently. They are the masters and we are the guests of the woods. When the hairs on the back of my neck stand up (which they just did at the thought haha) it is an eerie feeling unlike any other. I always trust my instinct out there, it is a 6th sense that could save my life.

Edit: My first reddit gold :') Thank you so much! I appreciate it!

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That they are!

Nice. How about creepy stories while hunting?

Creepy? A couple things come to mind. When sitting in the woods you have a lot of time to think... and to sleep haha! I fall asleep often in the woods but one time in particular I snapped awake hearing the tail end of a noise I wasn't familiar with. It isn't very often I haven't heard a noise out there, 17 years of hunting keeps me pretty honed. Anyways I still can't quite identify the noise but i've never heard anything like it. It sounded like a predator but at the same time it didn't. I still can't tell you what it was. It was distant but regardless it made me sit up straight and stay awake. Another time I woke up disorientated and had no idea why I was in the woods or where for a few minutes. It eventually came back to me and I have extensive survival knowledge and skills but being lost is every hunters fear.

PNW hiker/backpacker here. Coyotes make the most unreal and alien sounds. Foxes too. Just unholy. Wide variety of sounds. Freaks me the hell out on a quiet night.

That they do! If you haven't heard a pack of Wolves go nuts yet that is a chilling sound indeed.

Lol yea creepy or the paranormal type.

Wow that do you think that predator was bigfoot?

Nothing of the paranormal feels, although I do believe in the paranormal! Honestly I think it was a cat of some sort. They make some weird noises. They scream which is described to sound exactly like an old lady screaming.

I've heard those types of screams coming from house cats when they fight. Animals can make some pretty gnarly sounds. I've heard a cougar in the wild as well, it was far away, but nonetheless sent my hackles straight up.

Fellow PCNWesterner here! Skagit valley in washington specifically.

Another fellow PCNWesterner! Yeah, it never ceases to amaze me what noises you hear out there! Beautiful country on the coast if you get away from the cities!

Absolutely! I love driving down the coast. Get off the 5 around Olympia, hit up long beach. You can go north to the peninsula, or drive south into Oregon. The Oregon coast is probably my favorite area.

Ocean Shores and Long Beach are some of my favorite vacation areas in the state! Drove down the whole beach in my old 91 Ford Ranger when I was 16! The Sea Lion Coves are awesome on the Oregon Coast!

Tell your dad some random dude on the internet says he's his hero.

He gets that from a lot of people, not on the internet, the man doesn't know how to turn on a computer. He should be doing this AMA not me!

I'm sure they would like a whole moose but isn't a gut pile and head nice for them? And I didn't know Oregon had moose.

They received only a gut pile :P I hauled the moose head out on my back pictured here! The moose hunt was in Washington, i'm pretty sure there is a small population in Oregon though?

I'm assuming this already but I'll ask it anyways, is your ultimate goal to hunt a dragon?

FUS RO DAH! ;)

I've been tromping the PNW forests since the 1970's. If you caught a a person poaching/baiting/snagging, would you report them?

I commend you for pioneering the path of adventurers prior to my generation! Poaching. Yes 100%. As a hunter I believe animal preservation is also top priority. Although I highly disagree with some of the rules and reg's WA forces down us hunters throats but that's one I think should be followed. I do think there should be certain permits in areas of overpopulation for additional doe tags for those who have provably low income. It could help out a lot of poor families. Snagging is brutal for the fish. I don't agree with it at all because I think the right way is still an easy way to fish so yeah I would. Baiting is questionable. I miss bear baiting and such but I think it would be per situation on baiting anything. I don't think it is fair chase baiting most animals and it takes away from the hunt.

Well you need to remember that if every WA resident took a deer this fall, there would be no deer left at all. Same with salmon. Sturgeon. Elk. There are 7,000,000 humans in our state and wildlife is just barely hanging in with all the development and logging. If everybody in the state went out blasting elk, there would be nothing left whatsoever. So it needs careful management. Some dummies here don't fathom the gravity of how many people 7,000,000 is. There sure isn't 7M deer. Besides, seeing the way some grub steaking scum suck "sportsmen" hunt and fish in our state, if given half a chance, they'd use dynamite to fish and machine guns and night vision to hunt. If it wasn't for wdfw salmon would be extinct. EDIT: the most fucked up thing I've ever heard a WA resident say: "I wish I had my shotgun! That there Eagle's eatin' all our fish!"

Agreed! I was raised in the way of hunting as an art and a way of life. My success rates are much higher than most. In my county 2 years ago 22% of tag owners harvested their deer. I have incredible coasty friends and I ain't bashing them as a group but the coasties seem to be the worst over here when it comes to dirty hunting.

What does coastie mean?

A term locals in my area use to describe hunters from the cities of western washington. They have 0 idea on what they are doing, shoot horses thinking they are elk, that sort of thing!

tl;dr - want to hunt, don't know how

Hey man, great AMA, lots of helpful stuff. Bit of a back story on me, most of my family on both sides and even my parents are vegetarian; some for animal rights reasons, others for health blah blah.. Personally, I'm into meat and don't feel any need or desire to stop eating it (we're omnivores dammit). But I've started to see the benefits to eating natural and especially the points about the meat industry and disrespecting animals so I'm looking to hunting to satisfy my needs and allow me a bit of personal satisfaction that I'm doing what's right. So without any real guidance, (i was a cub scout, went camping a lot as a kid and feel pretty comfortable out in the woods for extended periods, NO HUNTING EXP) where would you recommend looking for introductions on hunting (I border NH / MA and plan to bow hunt if it helps... I've looked up YouTube videos, online guides but per your quote, I don't want to kill anything needlessly, I respect these animals and want to do this right)

You're already on the right path! Keep researching the animal and areas you want to hunt in. Remember hunting takes a lot of time and patience. Here is a good place to reference to when getting started and make sure you make friends who hunt, they will be one of the best tools to learn through about areas if they are the right kind of peope! Wild animal meat is incredibly healthy too! Good luck!

do yall have a wild pig problem in WA? I have family up there in the Willamette valley and every time I ask they say they don't know. would love to hunt up there in WA

Maybe somewhere in the state they have them but I have never seen one or heard of them personally! If you ever get the chance come this way and take a hike at least!

How hard would it be for someone to move north and try living completely off the land?

Would you suggest it? If so what type of skills would you suggest a person learn before venturing out?

Living off the land is tough business. I would love to try but unfortunately our laws inhibit you from legally doing it... If you were to try though I highly recommend you look into books that help you decipher what's edible and what's not. Grubs, roots, plants, bugs and things like that. Mushrooms seem like a good option but ~90% of them are poisonous and they contain so little nutritional value it isn't worth the risk. Also understand animal behaviors, especially predators. Learning how to make shelter, find water and identify North without a compass, and Making a fire without a lighter or matches are essential skills. Flint and steel is 100% reliable if you know how to use it but you should take it even farther down to rubbing sticks which is incredibly hard in Washington due to our lack of hard woods which is way easier to work with in that style of fire making. Lastly make sure you're in incredible shape, the woods tests even the most experienced adventurers. Here is a good website for some of the more common edibles! http://www.northernbushcraft.com/plants/

Thanks for the response man.

Yea I'm leaning more towards having a cabin and living off the land then how mick dodge does it, considering it's -30 in the winter. I prefer to keep my balls lol.

I worked in ND for a year and it got to -60 there. I love the winter but not that winter 20-30 is fine. No problem! That's awesome you are considering the idea!

Not only lack of hardwood, but a lack of dry hardwood.

Good revision!

"~90% of mushrooms are poisonous"

uh... where do you live again? I think we have like 10 not eatable mushroom species here and hundreds of perfectly good...

Not 90% by volume but by species. Not saying i'm right but I am fairly sure in the northeastern corner of WA a lot of our mushrooms aren't edible by my readings. Coral and Morels are everywhere though and easy to identify and here is a list of ones beyond those Like I said I could be wrong but the nutritional value simply isn't in a mushroom to make it worth risking if you aren't 100% sure.

Do you think it is sad we have to label hunted game pictures NSFW?

Reddit has rules and I am a guest so I will follow them. However I think it is sad that society has labeled hunting to the point where it is considered not safe for work. Hunting was once essential for life. Now it has a bad label as "sporting" which it is a sport, but it is so much more than just that.

"I am a guest, so..." The world, and especially the internet, needs more people like you.

I would love to see more people that respect differences in others.

Have you encountered any grizzly bears in WA? If so, what happened?

I personally haven't. The sporting goods store I worked at had a few people bring in photo's of them they had taken while out fishing or hiking though. I have seen 500-600 pound Black Bears though! We hunters have a saying that goes something like "If you get attacked by a grizzly, play dead if you don't stop it before it gets to you. If get attacked by a black bear, fight for your life." Playing dead won't work on black bears 99% of the time. If you are being attacked by one it is because it is starving, wounded or has cubs and it is trying to kill you. Oddly enough I fear moose more than any predator, wolves are quickly encroaching on overtaking the 1 spot though.

That looks like a huge moose in your proof pics, so I can understand!

I almost walked into a huge black (but brown) bear this summer in the Columbia gorge but thankfully it already had it's back to me and was running away. I was stunned and didn't move. I hope I can follow your advice for the next bear :)

I respect every animal in the woods. Without my rifle a good chunk of them could put the serious hurt on me! Thanks for your question!

I've seen black bears in WA about 4 times...each time I only see their backside because they are running away. In MT I spotted brown bears (grizzlies? In Glacier Natl Park) and they were not nearly so timid.

Grizzlies are big animals and they are probably less timid. I don't fear Black bears near as much as most animals, but if they do attack you you got problems. That being said, i'll take a black bear attack any day over a grizzly.

I saw a video some where, where a lady demonstrated how black bear warning charges are confused with an actual attack. The lady deliberately got charged, she stood her ground and it ran away.

If a Black Bear charges me, I will not hesitate when pulling the trigger to wait find out if it is a bluff charge or not. It may very well be one but I cannot take that risk. However everyone I talk to that has been in that kind of encounter and all the read ups I have done suggest bluff charges are common to test and see if you are going to act like prey.

Interesting that wolves are taking the number 1 spot from moose there.

Are your wolves getting extra aggressive there? Or is food that short? Our local wolves are still very very timid of people.

Here are some of the recorded wolf encounters in WA state for 2014, and believe me, that isn't all of them. They are becoming less and less afraid of humans around here and I fear them because there are usually more than one and that would be almost impossible to handle by yourself.

Interesting- I live in Alaska and have heard the opposite. Play dead with black bears, fight back with grizzlies. I wonder if there's a difference in the bears geographically or if I'm wrong.

Pretty sure that's backwards, even in Alaska. Grizzlies just want to prove dominance so if they actually complete a charge (often they stop partway if you stand your ground) once you're down they're content that they won and will often just stroll away. A black bear is attacking you because it's hungry or protecting cubs or plain pissed.

This is the way I was raised to believe, and in my experience with black bears it holds true. I have 0 experience around grizzlies though.

AK bro checking in. Scariest brown bear experience I had was when a beaut of a blonde wandered close with not one or two but three cubs. She could have plowed through us in no time. My two friends and I were glad she and her cubs ran off, considering all I had was my single action .44 and my shotgun pal froze and wouldn't grab his 12 guage 6 steps away in his tent. Momma's scare me.

Momma bears scare the fuck out of me. Walking up on them is one of the more possible bad encounters out there and nothing protects it's kids like a momma bear. I would have been sweating balls in your shoes, any sensible man would have. One shot on a big Ak Browney has to be perfect to stop her.

You must be a night owl like me. We were camping on Skilak Lake. The shore birds went apeshit and there's blondie ambling down the beach. I thought I hollered "bear!" but I only cartoon whispered it and went for my tent and pistol. Waving and shouting at my bud to grab his shotgun she stood up (and her cubs copied, so cute) the length of a basketball court away from us. I felt like I never needed coffee again, ever.

I worked as a firefighter/hazmat decon in ND on the oil rigs and volunteered for the night shifts. Recently left the job to go to college this coming fall but still have the sleep schedule. The amount of adrenaline that pumps in situations like that is amazing. I had a stand off with a cow moose once at 10 yards for about 2 minutes. I didn't breathe the whole time, she turned and ran finally and i gasped for air unknowingly that I was holding my breathe. I was fully ready to make the shot, but I didn't want to and she wasn't being aggressive but rather too curious. Glad it ended that way, I by no means want to take an animals life in self defense, for myself and the animal.

I honestly don't know! My dad went to AK for a self guided moose hunt and another time for halibut fishing and Black Tail hunting on a native Island. I'll ask him to ask his Native friends from the island and get back to you on what they say!

what does moose taste like? What do other game meats taste like? have you ever gone fishing and pulled up a really weird fish?

If you are familiar with the taste of a deer I would say it is quite similar however it tastes a bit more gamey and is typically a little more tough! The weirdest fish I have caught, however fairly common, is a Ling Cod. Here is an article and picture about them! http://www.washingtonlakes.com/ReadArticle.aspx?id=23

EDIT: I quickly read through and over looked that you asked what game meat in general tastes like. It is close to the flavor of beef but more "game" flavored. Also the fat on an animal as opposed to beef tastes horrendous so it is best to cut it off to preserve the flavor!

I think lamb tastes a lot like the same gamey flavor that caribou has. Moose is a little less gamey. Mom and I ate lamb balls in Texas and now I want fried 'bou balls.

I only ate caribou when I was much to young to remember the flavor sigh but that sounds delicious.

I wouldn't downplay the awesomeness of moose. It's my favorite meat, but only just barely over elk.

Elk and Moose are very close call for me... Cow Elk is so incredibly tasty.

Do you prefer to go out on day trips hunting, or have you ever gone on overnight trips with a pack+tent?

I generally do day trips but every year we do at least one big hunting camp that's about 9 miles in. I also have plans with a couple buddies to do a week long trip in with just a day pack to test our survival skills this summer! Here is our hunting camp! I'm in the tan overall's on the left and my dad is the mountain man in the black shirt with the huge beard beside me. The rest are family friends!

Thats pretty awesome! I'm not a hunter myself (never had the opportunity) but I've hiked some of the AT, as well as a bit of the Rocky Mountains. Where is your favorite place to go hunting, or just hiking for that matter?

There is no place like Mt. Rainer in the Pacific Northwest. It is truly a site to behold and has amazing hiking and scenery. Another place I really enjoy is back country BC Sled-Snowboarding (Snowmobiling deep into the back country and snowboarding down the mountains.) Truly a site to behold there as well. As far as hunting Alaska is my ultimate goal, nothing is as untamed as Alaska!

Might be late to the party, but gonna ask anyways! I've never hunted, and as a vegan I probably never would, but I have an honest respect for people that harvest their own food, which includes ethical hunting. Something I've often wondered about though is the fairness of the hunt. From what I've heard, some people use guns, scopes, laser sights, etc. while others use bows (which these days can be equally decked out). On the one hand I feel like gear that helps with a clearer shot means less suffering for the animal, but on the other hand, I feel like it's almost a less "deserved kill". What's your perspective on how much technology should be used in a hunt and why? Thanks!

Very good question, i've been waiting to answer this one. The hardest part about hunting hands down is getting on a legal animal. I have spent countless hours staring at the same places and see nothing but birds and chipmunks. I know a lot of guys who give up because they never see animals. ~22% of hunters with a deer tag in my county 2 years ago completed a successful harvest. Technology can go to far but where it's at now in my opinion is fine. Most of the technology helps us perform a clean kill. It is discipline to learn to shoot accurately but at an actual animal is completely on a whole new level and the scopes and rifles help bridge the gap. It may increase to a point where I will change my stand but for now I think it is all reasonable! As long as people abide by common hunting laws and invest time into what they do while respecting the animals sacrifice, I have no problem with it!

Thanks for the reply!

No problem!

I live in the PNW (Just outside Seattle) and just got my first fishing pole. Can you give me any tips for successful fishing? Any great locations i need to hit?

Glad you're giving it a chance! Really depends where you are fishing and what for! Basic tips though (some may be obvious) would be to ask the locals, especially those who work in the sporting goods stores. They may not give you the best spot but they generally can get you on the right path. Have a lot of patience, fishing is called fishing, not catching! Read up on the fish you are after too, a lot of them have patterns and depth levels according to the weather and sun, especially walleye. Personally i feel too many fancy jigs aren't needed. I prefer to fish off the bottom where i use 3 ft of leader line (the line between the swivel and hook), a half ounce weight and depending on what you're fishing forthe right sized hook. Worms always seem to work for most fish but them rainbow trout have a hard on for Rainbow powerbait (without glitter.) Good luck!!!

In my experiences fishing, i've found that worms work best in western wa, and powerbait is best over the mountains. Not sure why, but it works, so i stick with it.

Couldn't agree more. Worms work fairly well with the trout around my county but the go nuts over regular no glitter rainbow powerbait!

In theory, if a vegetarian person was cool with your passion, would you be cool with their vegetarianism and date them?

Personally I would have 0 issue's dating a vegetarian as long as they like you said are understanding of my passion! I have a much more open mind than most but if a hunter comes from the old ways there is no reason he shouldn't be as understanding as the potential partner is.

Ask anything? When will Facebook be back up, I've got my own type of hunting to do tonight.

Just checked mine and it is working! Get them cougars ;)

Greetings from India. I have gone through your AMA and found it very interesting compared to the usual fare.

I wish to know what kind of permits you usually need to hunt. I read below that to hunt a mountain goat, you need a draw only permit. Could you shed some light on that?

Thank you!

Greeting from America! I hope to visit India one day! Thanks for reading my AMA. You have to go through hunters education classes and pass them in order to receive the ability to purchase a tag. Some tags there is enough population to hand out freely but others don't.Specific areas have lower populations of other animals like Deer need permits that you draw for. The other ones like Mountain Goat, Big Horn Sheep, Moose, and others are more rare species that have very limited tags to preserve them! To be drawn you purchase an application and they collect them. If 5 thousand people wanted a specific tag that only had a limit of 5, they randomly select 5 people. Each year you put in you acquire another point which increases your drawing chance until hopefully you get one! Hope that clarifies!

Hello, my name is Lloyd Turner. What is your favorite thing about the Pacific Northwest?

Hello Lloyd! It is definitely because more often than not it is much more remote than most places i've been too. I live 5-10 minutes out of my town, which is 70 miles from the nearest big city. I can walk off my front porch damn near and go hunting! There are so many places no one has ever set foot before and the joy of knowing I have been where billions have not, that is satisfying.

What haven't you got yet that you'd like to?

I dream of a shot at a Mountain Goat or Big Horn Ram. In WA state it is a draw only permit and sadly I can't afford to pay the price to go anywhere to do it. (Hunt's average around 10 grand or better.)

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Never! However I fully believe in them and had some strange shit happen at my house.

...please explain what happens at your house, I'm assuming you live right by the woods since you spoke earlier about being able to come out of your front porch and go hunting! Great AMA by the way!

I didn't believe in paranormal until this happened. I was home with my girlfriend, now ex, and we were watching some movies. My dogs went absolutely berserk outside and took off through the farm field behind my house, which is abnormal for them, they don't chase deer and don't stray from home like that without reason. I grabbed my pistol and spot light and went outside and started looking for a predator I assumed they were chasing. To my surprise they were chasing nothing. I could see two or three hundred yards in front of them. They then proceeded to finally acknowledge my calls for them and came back. Almost back to me they took off barking at a full tilt run in the complete opposite direction towards the treeline a hundred yards off, which there was still nothing visible in the spotlight. Finally I get them back and back inside to where I calmed them and locked the door. I locked that fucking door man, I made 100% sure after that happening. Came back up to check it after I explained to the girl what happened and the door was unlocked and the dogs were growling towards my kitchen. I was at full awareness now. No one has a key to this house but my family and they won't growl at them, they love them and how would they even get passed them to the kitchen. I searched the whole house but there was nothing. I can't explain it to this day and I am a man of reason, nothing logical explained that to me and still hasn't. Stuff like that doesn't happen very often but when it does it is just weird.

Fuuuuuck. I would have noped the fuck out, got the girl to sort it out.

It took me awhile of processing and replaying it in my head to make me believe it was something paranormal. Used to think people were crazy.

This AMA has been a pleasure to read for different reasons - a unique topic, great questions and answers, and a smattering of the paranormal ;). Since it's fun to speculate, I guess that that thing was something invisible that wound its way into your home, and hopefully left after that!

Glad you have liked it :)!

Ever have any issues with the berry pickers or native Americans near Mt Adams? We have been in some sketchy situations out there. Someone went through our cooler at night, they leave garbage everywhere, and I'm pretty sure we stumbled on a grow op, as we could smell weed (growing not burning), they had several huge dogs, and were extremely paranoid seeming, so we took off quick. They watched is the whole way out of there and even tried to follow us until we bailed off a deer trail and watched them.

I don't go out there anymore unless I'm armed to the teeth. I have also found needles (could have been a diabetic) from someone way out in the forest that had a built shelter and left several needles just lying around. I love Mt Adams, but it has been getting sorta rough out there it seems. Just wondering if you noticed any of that.

Haven't spent time there since I was a at least 10 years younger so no, but I haven't had the chance to either. Something I noticed about anywhere majestic like that is eventually... the wrong kind of people find the place too. It is truly a sad deal. I am saddened hearing an icon like Mt Adams is becoming that way.

How do you handle animal rights activists? And have you ever killed a bear with your bare hands?

I respond with kindness and calm. Sadly a lot of hunters don't defend our rights correctly. They mean well but get angry. I typically avoid people who support the wolves. Most all of them have no idea what they are talking about and don't live where they see the damage they do. No bare handed killings to report, sorry!

Can you speak a little more about the wolves?

The only thing I know about them is a documentary I watched about Yellowstone park where wolves were removed, deer became overpopulated and ate all the vegetation. This affected forest growth, as well as the riverbanks, which affected the beavers, which affected the fish, which affected the birds, etc etc.

I elaborated more in this question! Hopefully that answers what you were after. Mind you I speak specifically targeting the wolf population in WA. Yellowstone is a completely different situation I don't understand well enough to make an argument to either side.

This thread didn't take off like it should have. Do you have some big fish pictures you've pulled out of the water? What's your favorite jig to use for walleye?

Here is 3 I uploaded real fast. My dad caught an 8 pound Rainbow i'll try to find and we also do a lot of Triploid fishing. Triploids are half salmon half rainbow and can't reproduce but the state record is up towards 40 pounds if I remember right. Honestly I bottom fish for walleye on sunny days! It pushes them deeper and i have a few spots figured out. So I just use a marshmallow and worm. I have no experience jigging for Walleye!

how do feel about wolves?

I love Wolves. I however DO NOT like the Grey Wolf population that was planted without consent of the public in the PCNW. The Timber Wolves ahve always been idling around and they usually kill to eat but the Wolves implanted here in the area they kill to kill and a lot more often. In the past few years I have very noticeably seen a decrease in many of the animals populations in this area. My mule deer camp used to harvest 3-5 deer or more a year and now we are lucky to get 1 or 2. I am acquainted with the leading cattle rancher in our county and his population of cattle is getting dwindled every week. They leave the animals and don't return to even eat what they kill. We need population control for the wolves and we need it fast. I have no hate for the Grey wolves either, I just see the reality of the situation. They will wipe populations out.

I'm glad to hear a conservationists perspective on this topic. I recently moved to Spokane and saw some anti wolf billboards and thought it was mere propaganda.

A lot of people typically respond with "Kill all the fucking wolves, I hate them!" and that gives my side of the fight a really bad reputation. I think Wolves are amazing creatures, truly majestic. They just simply will devastate the balance in the PCNW and their population is sky rocketing whilst others are diminishing. Idaho's Wolves are a prime example of what's happening here and what needs to be done about it!

Where in the state do you live/hunt? I grew up in Grays Harbor & did most of my hunting/fishing in that county, plus Pacific, Mason, and Jefferson Counties.

Without getting to specific, I live in a pretty rural part of the North Eastern corner of WA! Sounds like you have been in the Black Bear and Black Tail! There is true beauty over there beyond just the big cities every one thinks of!

What was the hardest kill you had to make?

Hardest as in most challenging? I'd say this years deer for sure. I spent 36 hours in 4 days sitting in 2 ground blinds that I really like and continually pay off year after year and only seen 2 does on separate days. Keeping my head in the game and not getting frustrated was incredibly challenging. My dad noticed my frustration and pulled me out of my blind early and said lets do something crazy. We went to where we like to pick morel mushrooms which we never have hunted but it was fairly close by and we only had a few days left. I had my running record to uphold and we really needed meat. Anyways on our drive there we just got to within 100 yards of where we park to pick mushrooms and through the thick trees on a skidder trail running upwards I seen a body shape and it was big, almost thought it was a moose but it was a very brief, last second look. I got out and loaded my weapon and walked to where I could see and seen it was a big bodied whitetail, and that signals most likely a mature buck. I looked frantically around for a rest but there wasn't one and I admittedly ain't very good passed 50 yards free hand. Through the scope I seen a pig buck (ended up being my second best buck and also the one in my NSFW Deer proof picture in which you can see the skidder road. I in a rush tried to make a solid freehand at him and he was facing me so I had to aim for the brisket shot at roughly 100 yards though the thick trees. I missed and that frustrated me. I hate missing, I cannot risk wounding an animal, but it was prime rut and bucks are stupid and he didn't move. I re-assessed my position and seen a potential rest on 2 rocks. One of them bruised my tailbone but I was in the heat of the moment and didn't notice. Here is a picture of the shot I made, the small gap in the center of the trees towards where I was aiming was my shooting window. I made a perfect shot and he ran a short 20 yards, oddly enough, up the skidder trail!

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I have always been and still am always saddened for every single animal I harvest. I do it to feed the people I love and care about and it is the cycle of life for carnivores. I grew up accepting this fact but always make sure to thank each animal for it's sacrifice. It pays the ultimate price so I can continue to live my life healthily.

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Thanks for your question. You are very welcome!

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Amazes me, I thought I would get roughly 40-50 upvotes and a handful of questions. I have been answering non stop for 12 hours. It dawned on me that a lot of people probably never were raised away from it or had the chance to hunt though so it makes sense!

I don't know why I read the title as Hunted and Flashed the Pacific Northwest....

So I guess my question would be, have you ever flashed anyone during your travels?

I walked up on a guy out in the middle of the woods who was taking a dump. But other than that I haven't flashed anyone while hunting. Not hunting however.... heh.

Boxers or briefs?

Yes.

While hunting big game like moose/bear, what weapons do you carry ?

My M77 Ruger .300 mag. Which is my primary means, if I was attacked and for survival reasons I carry my springfield XD .45 ACP. A rifle has way more punch and the pistol is a burden but if a predator ever makes it on top of me the rifle is useless and my pistol becomes mobile and a life saver.

Hey, hopefully you have time to answer my questions. I have a family of hunters, but I'm a city guy and a tech nerd. Tried hunting once, no good. I'm a good shot, was in the military, I just never enjoyed hunting...anyways - the questions....

A rifle has way more punch and the pistol is a burden but if a predator ever makes it on top of me the rifle is useless and my pistol becomes mobile and a life saver.

Has this ever happened? I saw the black bear, and know that they are more docile than the grizzly, but are still ferocious none the less. I would like to know if you have ever been attacked by an animal while hunting.

Also, please tell me the story of the bear kill. I love the taxidermy work that you had done with it...

Have you ever had the chance/opportunity to hunt Buffalo with a native american tribe? I know they are all about using every piece of meat/bone/organ from the buffalo, but it costs $$$ to do.

If you had the chance to hunt any animal, regardless of rules/regulations, and let's pretend that all the animals that exist today were not endangered at all, which animal would you want to hunt the most? Which animal would you never hunt, because of your love/respect/admiration for it?

Us outdoorsman can be nerds too! i have a triforce on my forearm in honor of Zelda! I have been fortunate enough to never have a harmful encounter with animals. Scary yes, unnerving yes, but not deadly! I have been attacked by a hawk who mistook my hat for a blue grouse as I scanned from my blind but that's an honest mistake from an animal I feel little threat from. That bear I was actually on a hunt for a second deer doe permit over by Twisp, WA where the deer population is radical. I had already got my doe and we were looking for my dad one, we spotted the bear at a hundred yards down a hill right outside of a swampish bottom. I quickly took a calculated shot and it ran into the swamp. Sadly this is one of 2 poor shots I have made and the animal didn't die right away and we had to wait it out. When we walked down to the swampline which was super thick it popped it jaws at us and growled about 30 yards in. Let me tell you it's a humbling experience having that happen. They are powerful animals that are forces to be reckoned with if they choose to. I hate the feeling of wounding an animal and actively try to make sure I hone my skills to avoid it. However we recovered the animal and the picture of the NSFW bear is me hiking it out! No chance to hunt buffalo, it costs a lot for a guided trip round here where they are fenced in which I refuse to hunt unless it's fair chase. The animal I would want to hunt most assuming laws prohibited it and the animal was in no danger of extinction would probably still be a Big Horn Ram or Mountain goat. The animals astound me and it is a challenge of a lifetime to participate in a draw hunt like that. Heard the meat's grea teating too! An animal I wouldn't hunt would have to be the bald eagle. Hundred percent illegal but if it was legal they are far beyond majestic and there wouldn't be much to gain that's edible from one.

What part of Washington do you enjoy hunting in the most? I don't mean areas that have plenty of game, I'm asking about amazing parcels of forest that are fit for the cover of National Geographic that you just want to stay forever in. What "hidden diamond" have you found during your extensive backwoods excursions?

I'm an outdoor enthusiast from Oregon, so I would love to hear your opinion on where to visit next time I travel up.

Colville National Forest is seriously stunning. Like you asked it is truly National Geographic material. They took the national Xmas tree from it in 2013! Also go as far Northeast as you can within 30 miles of the Idaho/Canadian borders. Any mountain or lake in that area is incredibly rural and beautiful. One of my favorite places to hunt is straight out of an old homestead we found a mile off the beaten path and ~5 miles as the crow flies from the main road. My ground blind is the homestead itself! I always sit in it thinking about the brute of a family that lived through harsh winters without any modern commodities in that thing.

So (this may be too late but I'll give it a shot" I've begun to spend a lot of time back packing through national forests in Washington and have really wanted to try hunting and fishing but it's not something you can just learn to do without someone to teach you. I have no friends who hunt or who are even interested and I'm not involved in any groups where I might be able to meet these types of people. So my question is, is it even possible to learn to hunt and fish?

Actually it seems reasonable to learn to fish, that's not overly hard so let me just ask about hunting then, do I have a chance of learning to hunt? I don't want to be an idiot and go out and try to learn and do this stuff on my own but it seems to be my only option.

This Ama has been seriously interesting, thanks!

Not a problem I am enjoying this a lot and didn't think it would take off honestly! It is gunna be a really frustrating learning curve alone but it is completely possible! You have the same blood running through you our forefathers did and they had it way harder, you are capable! Be smart about it though, invest a good amount of time researching this and pick up a hunting magazine subscription like Field and Stream. Take the time to learn the animal you will be hunting and spend time scouting the areas you want to hunt (make sure it's legal to hunt there or ask for a private property owners permission, they are usually great people.) Make sure you learn basic survival skills and understand what your doing does have a risk but it really isn't that risky as long as you respect it! Here is a decent starting place to refer to! If you start hunting and going to sporting goods stores, eventually you will make friends who are into hunting and can help. We are typically friendly people and if we show you our good spots, respect that and keep it to yourself and don't bring anyone without their permission. It's legal to hunt anywhere but it's common respect! Good luck!

Also a PacNW hunter. What rifle/rifles setup do you use? Caliber?

I prefer my old Ruger M77 .300 mag including a VX-2 3x9x50 Luepold. I want a better scope but optics are expensive and most shots typically are shorter than 75 yards anyways so it does the job! The .300 is a little overkill for smaller game which I use the same rifle in a .308 cailber for. The M77 is hands down the best rifle for the price but you have to get the one before the years where Rugers quality dropped substantially. I run Fusion 180 grain bullets as well!

Nice. Yeah, I agree that .300mag is a little too much for anything smaller than elk. Two of the same guns in different caliber? You must really like that make/model haha

Everyone has a rifle they love, I worked for about 5 years selling them and almost every guy swore by a different one. My sales pitch to the M77 is it is lightweight, accurate as all hell and most importantly I trust it. Sounds far fetched to some but trusting your weapon is a huge key to success.

What year did the quality drop off?

Honestly, not entirely sure but when I worked with the guys in the hunting department for 5 years they all told me Ruger started losing quality in the 90's. Customers continually agreed with them also. Both my M77's are pre 90! One thing I learned working in the gun department is as long as you can decipher the bullshit, customers will teach you a lot.

How have you seen the landscape and wildlife change over the years?

Mother nature evolves every year. Since I was little a lot of my favorite spots were thinned through forestry, over grew and I couldn't see, or animal habits changed or left the area entirely. Major changes most notably are the Grey Wolves demolishing local populations and a couple local fires in the past 20 years!

I caught a steelhead within an hour of my first fly fishing trip in the northwest. It seemed, especially to the others I was with who were from that area, that it was impressive. Was it? Should this be something I brag about and put on my resume under "misc skills"?

Steelhead guide here. Ive heard of people go for years without catching a steelie. That is awesome you were able to hook up so fast. However i've caught upwards of probably a thousandor more steelhead and they still completely baffle me sometimes. Congrats to you, and why not put that on your resume? Haha

Thanks for answering that for us!

There might be somewhere I am not familiar with for it, but usually my dad and I travel to Oregon or the coast to catch Steel Head's. To my knowledge there is decent Steel Head fishing in the Northwest but it probably depends where exactly you were. But a true fisherman always brags about his catch!

Can you tell us the story about your dad charging at the bear with only his knife?

This is the story he told me and my uncle confirmed it to me! A little backstory, my dad spent 5 years in the 82nd airborne infantry in the 80's and a year in South Korea, he never faught in any wars but he came close. He was one of the best DMT sniper's in the 82nd at the time and those guys don't have fear. Anyways they were out woodcutting and were walking up a to a bench off the road to check on a tamarack they seen. On the way up as soon as my dad broke the top of the hump to the bench (he was ahead of my uncle who was much heavier at the time) A bear came hauling ass down the hill in front of him at roughly 50 yards. Not expecting this kind of encounter he didn't bring his pistol from the truck, he was only checking a tree. He had his buck knife on him so he pulled it and rushed back at the bear screaming at the top of his lungs. My uncle who wasn't to the top yet jumped and grabbed a huge branch knowing things went south in a hurry. The bear got 20 yards away and my dad said he was a littler bear roughly 250 pounds (still could FUCK some one up) did a complete back flip and ran away. It makes sense to run back at a bear, if I thought you were easy pickings and you stood up to fight, i'd think twice. However I can't fathom the level of courage that takes to actually do it.

What animals or fish have you had mounted? What plans do you have for your antler collection? Photos welcomed.

Working on getting pics for you right now and an answer! 1 sec!

Ok so here is some pictures! Sorry for the lens flares. Some of the deer are my fathers, the mounted moose is my dads Alaskan Yukon bull, the bear is mine and the bottom moose antler is mine the top is my dads! I also have 2 deer shoulder mounts and my moose hide is getting tanned but will be shoulder mounted as soon as the tannery sends it back to my taxidermist! Adding the coyote mount picture to that album asap!

Do you do any bird hunting as well or do you just stick to big game?

I have really really wanted to make time for birds. I hunt Grouse actively but not much else. Everyone says Waterfowl is incredibly fun and usually much faster paced hunting style! Plus I am in LOVE with Red Curry Duck from Thai joints!

Take me with you? Nah but in all seriousness thanks for doing this ama. I grew up in the city and never was there a circumstance or opportunity for me to get involved in hunting but I've dreamt about it since I was a little girl. I bet it's immensely satisfying.

When I seen no one had done it I had to do one. It is expensive and time consuming and like you said a lot of people don't have the chance or know the right people to get into it. Go out there and meet the right people and give it a shot if you ever have the chance. Here is the article I wrote about my father and I's moose hunt you might like!

Great AMA!

You mentioned that you use 100% of the animal. I am a crafter and want to experiment with horns and carving. What kind do you think might be best, and where might I get them? Also, I'm looking for leather for jewelry making etc. where might I look for a source of this? Unfortunately I'm on the other side of the country so you can't give me specific places, but deer hunting is very big here, so maybe you can give me a clue where to start for finding local sources?

Thank you! I envy your skills with crafting. I don't know about the east coast but craigslist is an amazing source to find antler. A lot of people have been picking up shed antler hunting and some do it to sell them. Unfortunately antler can be fairly expensive. I also just checked ebay and people sell them there as well, prices still seem high but if you can't find any locally it might be your only option. Around here a nice 6x6 set of elk antlers was bid out at ~$600 bucks. It was a nice set and a lot of antler but still. A decent deer antler in theory could be found for 10-20 bucks usually. If you have a taxidermist locally try asking them, most of them send out the hides to be tanned into leather outside of their shop and work around it every day, they should have a good idea! Good luck! If you craft anything cool post it on reddit!

If you came to Australia what would you be keen on hunting/fishing for?

I like hunting more than fishing so i'd have to say one of the many types of deer you guys have. They are always a challenge and probably great eating. The fishing i'm sure is amazing though!

Thanks for the reply!

Not a problem! Thanks for asking!

What are your insights on mule deer behavior?

Where I typically hunt the Mule Deer is in the high mountains in wooded areas. A lot of Mule deer hunters in WA are used to the open spot and stalk type so my views are a little different. Mule deer usually stay in groups unless in the rut and even then you either catch the satellite bucks, as like to call them, in between doe's. They are skiddish but not near as flinchy as a Whitetail. Typically depending on the weather they bed down for the days and wander at nights. They never cease to amaze me though. At our camp we had a forked horn walk literally 20 yards from us at 1 in the afternoon and not even care that we were there. They are unpredictable though, they may generally do one thing but I never put it passed them to do what I don't expect.

Would you ever hunt pigs/boars?

I have always wanted to go to Oregon or Texas and hunt the Boars!

Come to FL or GA. Everywhere.

It seems like there is either none, or a ton wherever the boars reside.

What is your favorite big game to hunt? Also have you done any hunting in northern Idaho?

Moose. Every time I harvest an animal that's bigger than the last it seems to take my favorite. Moose are intimidating animals and the king of the woods round my parts. In WA Moose tags are once in a lifetime draws unless you get one through raffle. My Dad and I were fortunate enough to draw ours as a team a few years ago! I haven't hunted it but I have shed hunted it. I have family over by Spirit Lake and have the opportunity but sadly never jumped on hunting it. Shame on me.

Moose is definitely one of my dream hunts! If you get the chance I would definitely try for a hunt in northern/central Idaho. The elk hunting is phenomenal.

I really wanna spend some time after one of them Wolves you guys have!

I have been unsuccessfully wolf hunting for two years now, if you manage to get one I would be more than jealous haha

Well shit. I would love to have the meat and try it as well as a big white wolf mount. Still might try!

What kinds of hunting knives (or general purpose knives) do you carry with you? If I am going into relatively well-trod woods (day hikes, for example), I'll carry a multitool, but anything deep woods, I pack my k-bar. I have also been debating some sort of fire starter, like a flint and steel for anything deep woods, since doing something like a friction drill is a pain in the ass. Any sort of advice for that?

Multi-tool's specifically my leatherman are invaluable. I also carry 1 buck skinner, 1 Gerber, and a compact diamond flat stone for resharpening. Knives are invaluable in the woods and i'd rather have a knife than a gun. Glad you asked this question! K-bar's have a lot of good word behind them but I don't own one. I generally pack a lot more than people think is necessary but i'm fit and young so a little extra weight isn't an issue. Fire starter I keep 2 lighters, waterproof matches, flint and steel and a small pill bottle with kerasine soaked cotton balls for extra umph if I need it in a hairy situation. If you were to pick any of those by itself, flint and steel for sure. 100% reliable rain or shine. Practice with it though, they are tricky and you need to know how to find dry grass or tinder for it to work!

Nice, the Leatherman is invaluable and I always hear lots of good things about Gerbers. I always say that all you really need is a good knife, and the rest will follow. Well, if you are good at surviving at least, luck always plays a role in it. The cotton balls thing is a really good idea that I forgot about, but it is really a really good one.

OK, one more: Les Stroud or Bear Grylls?

Glad i could help you remember the cotton balls! Les Stroud, he is real and does it all the hard real way. Bear Grylls is a MAN and does crazy but unpractical things and also sleeps in hotels at night. He still has good advice too but the fake thing kills it for me.

Do you get a chubby whenever you shoot one of those animals dead?

The meat is some of the leanest meat you'll ever eat if you butcher your own, so no! But I do it eat every single day at least once between the sausage, burger, roasts and steaks! It is the best tasting meat i've ever ate, minus seafood!

Hi. I want to start hunting. I own no guns and have never been on a hunt. I live in Ontario Canada. How do I get started?

Awesome! I recommend a couple of things. First off if you have any friends that hunt locally talk to them. They might take you out or they will at least help you to understand what you'll need. A website I found for Ontario and how to get licensed is located here! If you don't have any friends here is a decent site to reference off of! One last link to give you a background on Canadian hunting is this! Personally if nothing else, make sure you buy or get a hold of a lot of warm wool clothing, warm and waterproof boots, gloves and a warm beanie or face mask. With a rifle you definitely need someone to guide you if you aren't familiar with them. A dangerous tool requires incredible care and knowledge. Study the game you want to hunt and invest time into scouting local areas and plotting out their movements! Game camera's are amazing for this! Learn basic survival skills if you haven't and make sure you carry enough to survive not just for one day or a few hours. If I didn't cover anything feel free to ask! Good luck and I know you will enjoy it!

Does it ever make you feel like a shitty person when you realize that you're killing something that can't defend itself? For fun?

And before I get a bunch of people yelling at me: yes, this is a serious question. No, I'm not trying to be an asshole. I genuinely want to know.

Some people do it for fun, and yes I cannot deny I do enjoy the sport. However I don't just harvest an animal for the sake of killing it. It is pure unaltered meat that comes at a fairly cheap price compared to the store where they just do the killing for me. I always feel a large ping of sadness when I take an animals life. But it is the natural cycle for meat eaters, we kill to continue to live. I never fail to thank the animal for it's ultimate sacrifice to provide sustenance for my family and myself so we can live our lives longer.

"can't defend itself"

You obviously have never encountered a wild game animal before. I know that weapons give hunters a pretty good advantage, but nature ain't nothing to screw with. Deer, elk, bears, moose and whatever else can all really ruin your day.

Nature is a tough place, those animals are tougher than any human. I even had a hawk attack me once. By mistake of course. It seen my hat (which I later realized looked like a blue grouse) slowly moving above my blind.

Have you ever came across 2 gay guys having sex in the bushes?? It's happened to me before...

That is awkward as hell. I haven't, not even in that ball park. A guy taking a dump was the most i've seen!

As a pacific northwest hunter, how many time did you have to run from crazed meth addicts?

There is a lot of meth around my parts sadly... Never had to run from them but I can assure you if it came to the point where it was a threat to my well being, I wouldn't be running.

Oh shit, son! Growing up in Bremerton, meth is one of the(many) reasons I moved far away as I could. You could always become batman and rid the area...

It isn't a monster problem but it has risen since I was a child. One of my 3 sisters sadly got drawn into that world. No Batman for me though, I just hope it sorts itself out (which it won't.)

Hey man... I wish the best for your sister. I have 3 of them myself and I know I would be crushed. I really cannot express how much I hope for a bright future for your sister. I'm not really a good christian but she's in my prayers.

I really appreciate that and i'm sure she does too. She wants out and is actively making attempts!

So, what the hell are you doing on Reddit?

Reddit is a pretty cool place usually, besides a hunter can nerd out too!

I went hunting with my cousin for rabbits this weekend but we turned up empty-handed. Where is a good place to go for rabbits near puget sound? We were in the wilderness by Wilkeson/Buckley/Mt Rainier natl park.

I personally do not have much knowledge for you in that area on the hunting end, maybe a fellow redditor does :)? What I can tell you is the rabbits love to feed on greens besides dirt roads that aren't traveled much, around an hour before dark and into the night time. That's usually why you see or hear owls near them at dark. (At least that's their habits round my part!) Hope that helps!

1. How full of shit is the whole Mick Dodge thing? Is that dude really running around the Olympic Peninsula?

2. Greater bastard : Wolves, Moose, or bear?

Honestly I don't have much knowledge of Mick Dodge, I have heard of his show and the whole idea of it. Personally though I think it is probably over dramatized and bullshit. I'm limited on what I can say about it but my dad was approached by Discovery Channel to do a show and he signed the contract for it. It will air later this year and when they did some recording a lot of it was completely over dramatized and stretched. Wolves. Wolves. Oh, Wolves. I just responded to a guys question on my thoughts about them and went in depth about it there.

You mentioned you fish, have you noticed less fish or smaller ones in the past 17 years?

Smaller it feels like. A lot of lakes were killed off and had to start over, that and a surprising amount of people are starting to fish. Some lakes really do seem depopulated from people catching way more than their limit. I seen a group at Lake Ellen with 30 fish roughly on a few stringers.

Is it me or does OPs face look photoshop per in the moose pic? Lol

I have a photo album of over 200 pic's i'll gladly upload if you think that way good sir! Also have an article in our local paper about it. Oh, and the moose horns in my living room which you can see in my picture holding the piece of paper.

which game or fish should you watch out for pollutant-related tainting? What's the weirdest bit of trash you've found inside your catches?

Rabbit, at least in my area more often than not is littered with worms. Also the fish Columbia River are real high in pollutants and mercury. The biologists suggest only consuming a couple a week to be healthy. Canada and places along the river in WA like to dump waste and human waste into the river from what i've read! I have a friend caught a fish with some change in it's gut, it was something like 2 dimes, a quarter and a nickel. That's the weirdest thing I know of personally but I have caught some with plastic in them! Makes me sad people can't control their litter. I pick up what feels like truckloads of trash every hike.

Hi, it seems one can spend quite a bit on hunting clothing. What do you wear when you go hunting? Do you believe in spending a lot in this department? Lastly, what is one part of what you do that you feel you shouldn't skimp on spending-wise? Thanks!

This is on point. Good hunting clothes are so pricey these days, particularly because wool is irreplaceable. I wear columbia wool and also have a wide selection of wool/fleece socks, under garments and shirts. I avoid Cotton like the plague. Cotton KILLS. It is hard to avoid the costs of hunting clothes but try to stick to wool. It keeps you warm even when it's wet and it is also really quite compared to most of that waterproof clothing you see for 300 bucks at the store. Never skimp on boots if you plan on sitting. You can move, do push-ups, start a fire all that stuff to stay warm but if your feet get wet and you can't get a fire going, your shit's weak. Gloves are a good place to invest too! I feel like if you wanted to make sure you had 1 set of solid gear (boots, coat, pants, socks, gloves, hat, and long johns and such) you could do it for 300-400 bucks. You can go much cheaper for sure but that's my opinion and I would rather have the right gear than freeze or die in a bad situation. This is all winter gear, you could go MUCH cheaper for summer warmer weather gear! This is the exact coat I wear! It has some cotton in the lining but it has never failed to keep me warm, wet or dry. I recommend you also wait until spring/summer and look for closeouts. Stores LOVE to half prices on wool about that time!

Do you eat the meat of any of these animals or do you just kill them for fun?

Answered this one a bit earlier in the thread :) Also in my Bio in this post I say I eat and use 100% of the animal!

Which would you rather hunt 100 duck sized horses? Or 1 horse sized duck?

I feel like I heard this in a joke somewhere... nice try!

I used to live in the San Juan islands. Ever make it out that way?

When I was really young I made it to Whidbey Island but don't remember much of it. It was pretty cool from the pictures we have!

What's your favorite animal to hunt? Mines turkeys. I'm in the same boat as being someone who uses 100% of an animal and hunt to eat, but for the pure adrenaline rush there's nothing that gets me excited like a tom gobbling and drumming. I especially like when a group comes in drumming, sounds like a t-storm moving in

I haven't taken down a Turkey in years but it was always a thrill! I personally enjoy the chase of a whitetail deer but love to moose hunt the most. The deer because they are incredibly cunning (and stupid lol) and the moose because they are massive! Glad to hear you too don't waste the animal!

I agree on the smarts of deer being nonexistent. I'm also a big fan of squirrels and rabbits. I'm from Iowa so aside from paying for a big hunt (not likely with the amount of game I have to chase) in another state, I don't get after moose, elk, and bears. Ironically they make their way down quite often but get protected by the dept of natural resources

A lot of farmers call Whitetails rodents around here. Animals travel everywhere it's crazy!

Do you like fish?

Seafood is my favorite type of food! But freshwater fish is still incredibly good.

What kind of guns do you use? Bows?

I gave an in depth answer earlier you can refer to for more details but I prefer to use Model 77 Rugers. The one's before Ruger started getting cheap. .300 for bigger game and .308 for smaller! Pistol wise I carry a .45 ACP Springfield XD! I don't have the self control to bow hunt. If I seen an animal out of my range I feel like i'd lob arrows. I really want to try a re-curve on a turkey sometime though! My dad has an older Martin Jaguar.

Have you done any turkey hunting?

And do you ever bow hunt?

When I was a bit younger I put a few turkeys in the freezer, but since then i haven't. Time is hard to find for every hunt and all the large animals generally take all my time from work! I don't bow hunt because I know I wouldn't have the restraint to not lob arrows at a big buck farther than my range. I might try it on turkey though someday! It has always been a thought!