Waterfowl Hunting Information

Licensing Requirements for the State of Washington

In addition to a state small game hunting license, all duck and goose hunters 16 and over must also possess a federal migratory bird stamp, signed in ink across the front. Federal stamps can be purchased at selected license dealers, all post offices, all National Wildlife Refuges, by calling 1-800-STAMP24, or ordered online at www.duckstamps.fws.gov. State migratory bird validations and stamps can be purchased through license dealers. More information can be found here.

Information about requirements for youth hunting can be found in the above link, courtesy of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

You can buy your Washington state hunting license online very easily by visiting this site.

Eric shows off one that didn't get away!

About Goose Hunting with Eastern Washington Guides

We get asked about what to expect on a goose hunt in the field.. So we thought we'd put that information here:

A typical guided goose hunting trip will start off by meeting with the guide at a predetermined location in the early morning hours. Your group will follow the waterfowl guide out to the area that we feel will be the most succcessful for that day. The guide(s) will be responsible for getting the decoy spread put out, and the group of hunters moved in to the blinds.

Please understand that under frosty conditions, your guides will not put the decoys out until the very last second. Why is this? We've found that the geese will actually fly right on by if they see frosting on top of the head and the body of the decoy. Geese are very smart birds.

Expect to hunt till around 1pm if you don't finish earlier. This can depend on the weather and vary at times. We try to let the birds rest after 1pm to help insure continued quality hunting all year long

Eastern Washington Guides has five deluxe pit blinds that you will hunt out of, each is about 18-22 feet long and 4 plus feet wide. All blinds have drop doors. We also hunt out of Final Approach Pro guide Eliminators and Xl-Landers depending on what kind of cover we have in the area.

Decoys? We have them. We hunt over Hard Core decoys most of the time but do use Stuffers at times. We will put out on the average 80 to 100 decoys and sometimes hunt over as many as 300. It really depends on the situation and what we feel we need to be most successful for that day.

Duck Hunts

Duck hunting

The day will start about 1 hour or so before shooting time in the a.m. Your guide will pick you up by boat at the Mardon Dock, (if we are going to be hunting the Potholes Reservoir. A short oar ride and soon you'll be in one of the nicest blinds that you have seen! We take a lot of pride in making your day as comfortable as possible. We will barbecue duck in the blind that will have you begging for more, and will hunt till as late as 3:30 pm if need to. Note: You can bribe your guide to stay longer if you want! He likes tips. Bribes are accepted!

Field hunts for ducks will usually be in early am or afternoon they will follow the goose hunting trip guidelines above.

Private Ponds will be just like the hunting on the lake but we will drive you in by vehicle and follow the same guidelines as above. You'll be in comfortable in our nice ground blinds. Don't worry!