Some of the best hunting in the state is on the Colville National Forest. About 60,000 of the state's estimated 90,000 white-tailed deer live in northeast Washington—a fact that has led to one of the longest deer hunting seasons and one of the highest success ratios in the nation.
Hunters also stalk elk in the national forest, and a few tags are sold by lottery for moose and bighorn sheep. The only moose hunt in Washington State occurs in Pend Oreille County in the very northeastern corner of the Colville National Forest. Each hunter can win only one moose tag in a lifetime.
Not everyone hunts with modern rifles. Archers and muzzleloader hunters have special seasons before and after the main hunting season. The archers ease quietly through the trees, their faces smudged with charcoal and their clothes colored camouflage green. Both they and the "black powder'' muzzleloader hunters must get much closer to their prey than hunters with modern rifles. The success rate is much lower, but some say rewards are much greater for these hunters, who have relearned the skills of the pioneer past.
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