Anybody know how the hunting and fishing on Weyerhaueser's Snoqualmie Tree Farm will be affected, now that the sale has gone through??

I quit hunting on the sno tree farm about 6 or 7 years ago when the deer populatiun went downhill. My group used to average about 3 or 4 deer a season there but not anymore. So the sale of the tree farm does'nt affect me. :p

I haven't hunted there very seriously in the last 6-7 years either. Once they locked it up and made it the logger's private shooting preserve, they wiped out most of the deer in the first couple years. We used to automatically get about 4 deer/ year out there back in the 80's-early 90's. I was just wondering about access because its fun to just get out of town and drive around in the woods, and the tree farm was close by.

yes traut the tree farm is a good place to just go drive around in. I have not heard what is going to happen up there though. If I hear anything I will let you know.

The tree farm is now owned by Hancock Forest Management. It costs $165 to access it from early march to mid december. Nice area to hunt if you want to pay. Heavly patrolled by game wardens. Saw 5 differents officers in 2 weekends. Which is great.

i still hunt it every year. its great fishing and the hunting has been down hill for the last 5 years. there was more people hunting it this year then i have seen in the last few years.

have you fished bengston before?

i've fished all of them, not to sure of the names. i will ask my dad. him and my uncle have been hunting it for the last 40 years, they all us to get a deer every year. up untill 10 years ago when i started hunting, i think i was the jincse for that area. cause after that it started going down hill.

but on a fishing note, i've noticed a big decline in the size of fish. the numbers are still there just the quality is down. but theres lots of good fishing in there.

Does anybody know if the Hancock Farms in North Bend and Enumclaw are open? I was looking for the phone #, but I couldnt find it.

I found the number. Both Enumclaw and North Bend opened up on the 21st. Kapowsin will open October 1.

I'm thinking of getting a permit for the White River tree farm....anyone have any insight on hunting there?

not a lot of deer..mainly just elk

I wouldn't waste your money on the permit. I worked in the woods there for many years and it used to be a good place to hunt deer and elk. Now, the gates are closed....YOU pay for a permit and the muckleshoots get theirs for free. Several other tribes also hunt it hard too. They have slaughted the Elk so bad it was made a permit only area this year for the first time and they pretty much clean the deer out before modern rifle season begins. Hancock has logged so much more then Weyerhaeuser used to that it has made the area a shooting gallery for the tribes....they just drive around at high speeds and hang out the doors of pickups and suburbans until they see a deer or elk and BANG....its really pretty ugly.........Les

the white river farm is a joke. i'll never hunt that farm ever again.

as for the snoqualmie farm. man do i know where the big bucks are. to bad i aint tellin ya'll

I like the grass mountain side of the forest. There is a lot more forest and animals on that side. The White River side is pretty much dead and all clear cuts.

Thanks all. Since i will be hunting ML i was thinking of the grass mountain side....it is in 454. i may have the opportunity to go out with a buddy that has a permit. I will let you know if i get out there and the results

im accepting gas money and food for trips into the snoquamlie tree farm during the late archery season.

i've seen quite a few big bucks in there this year. but buck fever has got the best of me

I've been hunting and fishing the sno tree farm for about the last 15 or 16 years and the deer pop. has gone down in general but there are some nice bucks in there during the late archery season, if you get off the road. The hunting pressure has gone way up for bears in Aug. and Sept. Not many people go in ther for just the fishing anymore but every piece of water has fish in it. The average size has gone down, I think, due to less fishing pressure and more competition for food.

yea i have noticed that too. seems to be more fish. although they are far smaller then years past.
there is on pond we fish that averaged 14-20 cutthroat (i think thats what they were) and now if you catch one that is 10 you are lucky.

about the deer. yes it has went down hill in general. BUT if you know where to look they are everywhere.

i was up on a little clear cut that over looked alot of country and noticed a clear cut with no roads leading to it. so i took a trip over by that general area. and sure enough no roads within 3 hundred yards...weird. but there was a cat trail through the trees to the clear cut. seems they must have been hauling the trees up the hill to a spur that over looked the clear cut. the spur and the clear cut were seperated by about 200 yards of thick brush.

anyway to the good part. i hunted that spot that friday morning after it opened. and man oh man was there alot of deer using that clear cut for feeding and bedding. to bad i didnt get a shot off at any of the 3 big bucks i seen. now im sure i'll never see them ever again.