Washington
(Note: This overview was extracted from the December 2007 issue of The Huntin' Fool)
There are only two ways to apply for Washington, either apply online or call their office. Paper applications are no longer accepted. To apply, hunters must go online or call and purchase a $54.75 special permit application for each species you want to apply for. If drawn for sheep, moose, or goat, you will have to purchase the tag. To apply for deer and/or elk, you must purchase the elk or deer license, acquire your transport tag as well as purchase a special hunt application for each species prior or at the time of application. All funds are non-refundable. Washington has a weighted point system that is designed to give unsuccessful applicants a better chance of drawing a tag for a particular species in the future.
For some hunters, the sheep, goat, and moose tags may be worth applying for as the non-refundable dollars are only roughly $55 per species. The odds of drawing any of those tags are less than terrible with the range being 1 in 300 to 1 in 1,800 depending on the species and the unit. In regards to the deer and elk, most non-resident hunters ignore Washington due to the economics and virtually zero trophy potential. We will cover Washington’s sheep, goat, and moose units in depth prior to the application deadline, but will not cover the deer and elk units for the obvious reasons just stated.
Washington has mostly California Bighorns with a few Rocky Mountain Bighorns in a couple of closed units as well as one open unit. The sheep hunting is good as a general rule with plenty of access with only a few units being hindered by subdivisions or private land access issues. The goats and moose are good as well with some 50" class moose being harvested once in a while. If you are an odds man, take the money you would spend on applying and apply for the raffle permits. Your odds of drawing will be much better! We personally do not apply for Washington, but cover the three big species as a few of you in the membership have requested it. It is definitely not a “must apply for” state.