[Tweeters] Fir Island Game Range and hunting

[Gary Bletsch via Tweeters]

Dear Tweeters,
Even during hunting season, it is generally safe to bird at the Game Range on Fir Island (Wiley Slough, often incorrectly spelled "Wylie Slough"). When hunters are at it, one can walk the dikes and watch birds without endangering oneself too much, although it can sometimes be unpleasant to bird there during the slaughter, and birder-hunter interactions do occur.
The observation blind is one possibility, although there has been a history of the view being obscured by brush at this blind. I always called it the "skull-cracking blind," because of its absurdly low doorway, painted with a yellow stripe that many victims ignored, just before suffering their concussions. Perhaps someone has redesigned this sorry structure by now.
Over the course of 1347 visits to the Game Range, I was accosted by a drunken hunter only once, and harassed by unreasonably aggressive hunters only one other time, as best I can recall. On the other hand, I saw quite a few non-game species killed there by hunters who were either remarkably poor shots or something worse. It is also commonplace to observe waterfowl being shot, wounded, and then not retrieved.
Before the "powers that be" altered this site, starting in 2008, it was better for hunting than it is now. Pheasant hunting is not what it was, to say the least, because the croplands where the pheasants roamed were flooded with seawater. Those croplands offered many small fields and copses where waterfowl and pheasant hunters, and birders, could do their respective things. Now that the place has been "improved," one is largely restricted to walking the dikes, unless one resorts to wearing hip waders or embarking in a small boat.
There is one little patch of of habitat that offers birders a safe refuge, free from hunting. As one drives into the site, one veers left at the junction of Wylie Road and Game Farm Road. There is a woodland on the left. After parking the vehicle, one can walk back up the road and enter this woodland, which offers a short trail. It is often wise to wear Wellingtons here. The fields north of this patch occasionally attract hunters, but not very often; the patch itself has "no hunting, safety area" signage. Birds observed in this patch have included Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Northern Waterthrush, and American Tree Sparrow.
It is also possible to see quite a few interesting birds without venturing beyond the two parking areas. 
Common sense helps. If there is a spread of decoys in the water, then one might consider moving on and birding elsewhere, rather than walking by the spread, or lingering--as the hunters do not appreciate having people spooking the waterfowl that they are trying to attract and kill.
All of the above comes with the caveat that I have moved away from Skagit County, and have not birded the Game Range since July of 2022, shortly before the most recent, infuriating closure had begun.
Good birding!
Yours truly,
Gary Bletsch
PS As someone pointed out a while back, there was a man named Wiley who farmed in this area during the 1800's. Coincidentally, the next (unrelated) owners were named Wylie, and thus began the confusion of naming roads, sloughs, and wildlife management sites. It's easy to remember which name came first, since they are in chronological alphabetical order!

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