Snohomish Area Small Game

I'd like to get my new lab pup out for a walk and possibly find some Grouse and Bunnies. I know of the Snoho Pheasant release sites, but that just sounds like a cluster to me. Any suggestions in and around middle Snoho county? I'm in the Clearview, Snoho valley area and would like to stay relatively close for short day hunts. Mostly, I'd just like to get the pup out and stretch his legs. If we run into game, its a bonus.

Any help with a good safe training area would be most appreciated. PM as needed. Ike or Brood? Also, if anyone would like to join up that would be great.

Thanks,

Nick

I hunt those release sites a lot. No clusters if you go afternoon. Most will be completely empty. I prefer Stillwater as there is a lot of different terrain including river and ponds

If pup has good bird instincts he should bump up a few.

If you can keep your pup from flushing birds wild you can join me some afternoon. today was my first skunk all season, but I had a good chance and missed a fairly easy shot.

I hunt crescent lake fairly frequently, mostly due to proximity to my home. It can seem like a cluster at times, especially at the 8am hour, but as Dave mentioned, the late morning and afternoon is less crowded. There is a lot of space to move about, though and everybody is pretty cool. If i run into someone on the trail, I just go the other way. even during the heavy use hours, you can find open space to run your dog around. has he been around guns much? I'll be out there this weekend if you'd like to hook up.


willy

Thanks guys - I appreciate the guidance. The pup is young at 6 months and he's still very raw. I've shot around him a few times and he doesn't seem to mind. But he's nowhere near ready for prime time (yet). My goal is to spend some private time with him this fall before he pisses everyone off.

Willy - PM sent.

Thanks again....

First off, no bunnies....your lab is a bird dog. Only Beagles/hounds hunt rabbits. I hate it when one of our dogs gets "birdy" and then out comes Bugs. My word was always "No fur!", and that includes rodents, deer, etc.

I would team up with Dave or Willy and hit one of the release sites in the afternoon. Or you could join our gang on one of our many bird hunting trips to the dry side.

If you have your deer tag we could also head to my cabin and do a deer/grouse trip next weekend. I have my multiseason deer tag so I could hunt too. Let me know...

Ike

Thanks Ike - pm sent...:)

Maybe you guys should hunt in my backyard.

That's a dandy right there!

Dandy backyard buck, Dave. He has that familiar guilty look about him that says he's been enjoying your garden and fallen kiwis.

Our resident herd of brown-eyed locusts has been jostled by the recent appearance of song dogs. A breeding pair had pups this summer. Have seen them on either side of darkness and mostly heard them after sunset. Watched one ala Leica 10X dig up a plump mole at dawn, toss it around and sing of his success. As long as they stay on a diet of rodents and not poultry, they can do their natural balancing act. Both the owls and the 'yotes have been hunting the property hard since I mowed the fields in late June.

that guy's a stud. today was definitely blacktail weather.....







willy

Dave, let me know if you want that destructive beast "removed" .. .. .
I have a nice "quiet" rifle that would work well. . . ..

8,000V from a full 1 Joule poultry fence energizer around the coop + wet paws + wet 'yote nose = one hell of a racket that woke me up and made me laugh. After that teachable moment, moles are a pretty safe option hereabouts....

Failing that, have heard good things about these. Post pixels of the body count.

I have those mole traps and they work like a charm. I highly recommend them....