[Jeff Higgins]

I started hunting in Washington as a kid. I gave up hunting in Washington at least fifteen years ago. It just isn't worth it anymore.

Yes, there are seasons open for all of our big game animals wherein we can just buy a tag and go. No drawings, no lotteries. They are divided into deer seasons and elk seasons, they never overlap. We can hunt black bear and cougar essentially from late summer to early winter, both requiring their own tags.

Deer and elk seasons are divided into three distinctly separate seasons by hunting method - general season which allows the use of any legal weapon, muzzle loader season, and archery season. We have to pick one, we cannot hunt all three. Muzzle loader and archery seasons used to be "bonus" seasons, but that changed 30 years ago. So now we have to choose one or the other.

We only get one each, one deer of any kind (we have mule deer, whitetail, and blacktail) and one elk. Success rates in Washington are dismal, running about 15% on deer and about 8% on elk. Seasons are very short, about ten days to two weeks. And, on public land, crowded as hell.

We do have a permit system as well, wherein we can apply for "special permits" every year. We are drawn on a weighted system, so the longer you don't get drawn, the more you get weighted in the system. That said, the more desirable permits hover around a 10,000:1 likelihood of ever getting drawn.

I had a great time hunting here when I was younger. I enjoyed success literally every year on deer, many on elk, and many on black bear. But, hoo boy, did I ever work for it. Back packing a couple of days in much of the time, getting in well past the "great unwashed masses". That's kinda why I gravitated to the revolver.

I'm here to tell you, though, with only a single partner, maybe two in camp, downing an elk can be a major, major undertaking when it comes time to pack it out. I just don't have that in me at my age anymore. And, well, not being able to commit at that level anymore would have me out there with those "great unwashed masses", and sharing their success rate to boot. No thanks.

Which is not to say that I don't continue to "dabble". I still know folks who own orchards, wheat fields, and the like. We'll hunt their properties as I make myself at home in their guest bedrooms. Stuff like that.