Black-tailed deer hunting season now open on the western side of Mount Grant Preserve

A two-month hunt­ing sea­son for black-tailed deer opened on the west­ern side of Mount Grant Pre­serve yes­ter­day, accord­ing to the San Juan Coun­ty Con­ser­va­tion Land Bank. The sea­son includes spe­cif­ic peri­ods for ear­ly archery (Sept. 1–23), muz­zle­load­ers (Sept. 24-Oct. 2), and mod­ern firearms (Oct. 15–31).

“The remote nature of the west­ern por­tion of Mount Grant Pre­serve makes it a good can­di­date for hunt­ing access and pro­vides an oppor­tu­ni­ty to con­tin­ue the recre­ation­al and cul­tur­al tra­di­tion of hunt­ing on San Juan Island,” says Tan­ja Williamson, out­reach and vol­un­teer coor­di­na­tor for the Land Bank. “The park­ing area only allows for one vehi­cle and a hunt­ing par­ty is lim­it­ed to three indi­vid­u­als. As extra pre­cau­tions, hunter orange vests are pro­vid­ed at trail­heads and notice is posted.”

Hunters must review and fol­low all Wash­ing­ton Depart­ment of Fish and Wildlife hunt­ing reg­u­la­tions. Writ­ten per­mis­sion to hunt at Mount Grant Pre­serve is also required. To obtain per­mis­sion, hunters can use WDFW’s online reser­va­tion sys­tem, which allows for one hunt­ing par­ty per day.

The Land Bank has also opened hunt­ing access at the Lopez Hill Pre­serve for the same two-month season.

“Hunt­ing at Lopez Hill was hap­pen­ing pri­or to Land Bank man­age­ment; it was a Depart­ment of Nat­ur­al Resources (DNR) prop­er­ty,” Tan­ja says. “With the his­to­ry of hunt­ing already occur­ring, and the size and con­di­tion of the prop­er­ty, [Land Bank] staff believed lim­it­ed-sea­son deer hunt­ing could con­tin­ue with­out com­pro­mis­ing oth­er man­age­ment objec­tives, and includ­ed it in the man­age­ment plan. Man­age­ment plans are cre­at­ed through a thought­ful process that includes com­plet­ed draft plans made avail­able to the pub­lic and the Land Bank Com­mis­sion­ers for com­ment. Those com­ments are then reviewed and incor­po­rat­ed where appro­pri­ate, and a final plan is then sub­mit­ted to Com­mis­sion for approval.”

Per­mis­sion to hunt at Lopez Hill Pre­serve can be obtained by email­ing Tan­ja.

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