GMU 416 Decatur
Decatur Island Columbian blacktail: plentiful deer, but a private, permission-only rock in the San Juans.
WDFW Region 4 — North Puget Sound (District 13, San Juan County) · Last reviewed 2026-07-12
Area
3
sq mi
Public land
0%
approx.
Elevation
0–540
feet
Motorized
limited
access
Overview
GMU 416 "Decatur" is a tiny (~2.6-square-mile) island unit in San Juan County covering all of Decatur Island. Like the rest of the San Juans, it holds a healthy Columbian black-tailed deer population — historically plentiful but running smaller-bodied than mainland blacktails — with essentially no huntable public land. WDFW singles out Decatur (alongside Shaw, Blakely, and Guemes) as one of the islands where public access is 'extremely limited,' so nearly all hunting happens on private ground with the landowner's written permission. There is no established elk herd and no open elk season on the San Juans; deer are the game.
Terrain
A small, low-relief forested island rising from saltwater beaches and rocky bluffs to modest interior hills only a few hundred feet high. Distances are short and terrain is gentle, but the island is a mosaic of private parcels, homes, and driveways rather than open hunting country.
Cover: Coastal Douglas-fir and western redcedar with Pacific madrona on the drier rock, mixed with red alder, salal, oceanspray, and Nootka rose. Old fields, orchards, and residential edges create browse that concentrates deer near people.
Landmarks: Decatur Island (entire unit) · Decatur Head (tombolo/isthmus) · Reads Bay · Brigantine Bay · Trump Island (adjacent) · James Island Marine State Park (adjacent, day-use)
Access
Access is effectively private-only and WDFW rates San Juan island access as extremely limited. By San Juan County ordinance, hunting on private land requires the landowner's WRITTEN permission — verbal is not enough. San Juan County is also a firearm-restricted jurisdiction, so confirm legal hunting implements (archery is the safe default near development) against the Big Game pamphlet's firearm-restriction descriptions before you hunt. There is no BLM/DNR/WDFW public parcel open to hunting on Decatur itself (unlike Lopez or Stuart), and WDFW's Private Lands Access enrollments in the San Juans have focused on Orcas, Lopez, and San Juan islands — not Decatur. Line up written permission months ahead; without a landowner relationship there is essentially no hunt here.
Managers: Private landowners (residential and rural), San Juan County
Access points: Private boat or commercial water taxi only — Decatur is NOT served by a Washington State Ferry · Reads Bay / Brigantine Bay private moorage (with landowner arrangement) · Anacortes and Lopez/Anacortes marinas as mainland launch points
Species notes
Blacktail Deer
common opportunityColumbian black-tailed deer are the only real quarry on Decatur. Island deer have historically been plentiful but tend to be smaller than their mainland relatives, and the hunt is defined by access, not deer numbers — if you can secure written landowner permission you'll find deer; if you can't, there is nowhere to legally hunt. Harvest reporting on the small island GMUs is muddled by hunters misreporting their unit, so hard numbers are thin.
- →Secure WRITTEN landowner permission first — it is the whole game on Decatur, and a legal requirement in San Juan County.
- →Hunt field edges, old orchards, and brushy draws where deer feed at first and last light near the properties you're permitted on.
- →Plan on archery or otherwise firearm-restricted methods near homes; treat this as a close-range, careful-of-backstop hunt.
- →Scout by boat pre-season and knock on doors early — a single cooperative landowner defines your season.
- →Report your harvest to the correct GMU (416) so WDFW can actually manage island deer.
Pro tips
- →This is a permission hunt, not a public-land hunt — no written landowner permission means no legal opportunity on Decatur.
- →Get permission in writing and keep it on you; San Juan County enforces the written-permission ordinance.
- →Default to archery and know the county firearm restrictions cold before hunting near homes.
- →Use a boat as your access, camp, and retrieval platform; plan around tides and moorage.
- →Time your effort to the November rut when bucks move most on the small island range.
Watch out for
- !Zero meaningful public hunting land — the unit is private, and trespass is the fast way to end island access for everyone.
- !San Juan County requires WRITTEN landowner permission by ordinance; verbal permission is not compliant.
- !Firearm restrictions apply across San Juan County — verify legal implements before you hunt.
- !No ferry and no town on Decatur; a blown-out weather window can strand or cancel a boat-access hunt.
- !No elk season on the San Juans — do not plan for anything but deer.
Logistics
Decatur has no ferry service and no town — you reach it by private boat or commercial water taxi out of Anacortes, and everything you need (fuel, food, lodging) stages from Anacortes or a neighboring ferry-served island. There is no public camping or open land to base out of on Decatur; a hunt here presupposes a landowner host or a boat you sleep on. Bring everything self-contained and coordinate tides and moorage in advance.
Nearest towns: Anacortes, Lopez Village (Lopez Island), Friday Harbor (San Juan Island)
Seasons & regulations
This page carries no season dates or regulations. Get current rules from the official Washington sources:
Research sources: WDFW 2025 District 13 Hunting Prospects — San Juan island GMU access, written-permission ordinance, blacktail notes · WDFW Game Management Units (GMU 416 boundary & maps) · WAC 220-410 — GMU boundary descriptions, Region Four (island GMUs)
FAQ
- How big is GMU 416 in Washington?
- GMU 416 (Decatur) covers about 3 square miles, ranging from roughly 0 to 540 feet in elevation. Area is computed from the unit boundary polygon.
- How much public land is in GMU 416?
- Approximately 0% of the unit is public land. Primary managers: Private landowners (residential and rural), San Juan County. Always verify ownership boundaries on the ground.
- What species does the catalog list for GMU 416?
- Blacktail Deer. For seasons, tags, and regulations, use the official Washington agency resources linked on this page — this page carries no regulatory information.
Put GMU 416 on your map.
Boundary lines, public/private ownership, topo, and offline maps for this unit — in Baseline Maps, free for 14 days.