SW Washington

[westsloper]

I'm considering a job opportunity in southwestern Washington - positions in Castle Rock and Chehalis. I've always thought I'd love to move to Washington, but I figured eastern WA would be a better fit. Fewer people, wide open spaces, not as much rain. But these jobs are very tempting, and it looks like SW Washington is also pretty rural, which I like. If I ended up in Castle Rock, Longview is close by and big enough to have everything we'd need. Chehalis is closer to Seattle and all the cool stuff that lies further north like the North Cascades and the Olympic Peninsula. It's also more affordable than lots of other areas in the state.

For those of you from this area or familiar with it, what is it like in terms of opportunities for hunting, fishing, backpacking, and other outdoor stuff? Is there much wilderness or is it mostly just managed timberland? Would I need to invest in better rain gear? How does it compare to other parts of the state?

 

[skaldugwas]

Used to live down there. Tons of access to timberlands with elk and blacktails if the thought paying a large $ acess fee doesn’t give you heartburn. Decent duck hunting and WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE even in the “backcountry”...That being said all the fun is on the eastside with much better weather. If hunting is at all important to you and you could choose between the eastside or the west I wouldn’t even consider the westside for a second.

 

[PNWTO]

The Hunting-Washington Forum is a great resource, just don't expect to find any intelligence or correct opinion beyond area tips and basic recreational/hunting METT-TC stuff.

 

[Ndbowhunter]

Some good tweakers All along the heroin highway. None more so then that stretch of woods.

 

[jtl]

I grew up in SW Washington, but haven't lived there for 10 years.

Hunting isn't great by western standards, but if you can get into the blacktail/roosevelt thing there are people who are very successful. My sense is that if you are an archery hunter the seasons and opportunity are a lot better. The rifle seasons are short and very crowded. Lots of guys road hunting and glassing clearcuts. By comparison to where I'm at now in Idaho, the big game hunting in Washington is terrible. I still miss it at times though. In general there is lots of managed timberland to the west of I-5, and more national forest to the east. You can buy access to a lot of the private timber ground. I would focus more on the coast than the cascades.

The waterfowl hunting is pretty good on the other hand. A fair amount of grouse that nobody pays attention to also.

If you like to fish that is a pretty good area. Salmon and steelhead runs aren't what they used to be but between the Cowlitz, Chehalis (and tribs), and Columbia, all of which are in that area you can be fishing year-round. Summer steelhead in SW Washington is probably the thing I miss the most about living back there. Coming from NM I'm guessing you don't have a lot of experience salmon or steelhead fishing so expect a learning curve, you probably won't be successful very quickly. My advice would be to hire a guide a few times and learn one river. That can cut down on the learning curve pretty quickly, but it's still a pretty different deal than a lot of other kinds of fishing.

As others noted, it is a pretty depressed area economically. Lots of meth, and the property crime that comes with meth. Vehicle break ins are relatively common.

 

[Jackelope]

Tweaker issues. Elk hoof rot disease is a big deal. Access to hunt is not great unless you want to pay for timber company land. Good fishing. National forest and Wilderness areas are not too far away... 2-3 hours drive depending on where you want to go. It’s a cool area but it seems like making a living there is tough. Seems like lots of small towns are sort of barely hanging on.