The Department of the Interior has announced plans to open 92 million acres of National Wildlife Refuge System lands for hunting, providing over 1450 new opportunities under an “open unless closed” policy.
At first blush I was excited to hear this news… more hunting opportunity right? But then my wheels began turning. . . this is great, but where?
A lot of this country’s NWRs are located in eastern states, or so I thought before I began digging. Here’s what I found, and my research reveals more western opportunities than I realized existed. Below is a list of NWRs which are open to hunting or offer expanded hunting access.
Keep in mind this is a “proposed rule”, as always, check the rules before you go hunting.
Link to complete list (Credit: Outdoor Life)
Wyoming
Bamforth NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Cokeville Meadows NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Seedskadee NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Montana
Grass Lake NWR – Big Game Hunting = New Station
Hailstone NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Medicine Lake NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Colorado
Rocky Flats NWR – Big Game Hunting = New Station
Idaho
Kootenai NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Minidoka NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Oregon
Hart Mountain NAR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Umatilla NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Washington
Columbia NWR – Big Game Hunting = Open
Little Pend Oreille NWR – Big Game Hunting = Expanded
Turnbull NWR – Big Game Hunting = Expanded
Willapa NWR – Big Game Hunting = Expanded
