GMU 410 - Islands, Washington

Island archipelago unit composed of dozens of small to medium islands scattered across San Juan Channel, Rosario Strait, and Bellingham Channel in the northern Puget Sound. Islands range from rocky, heavily forested to grassy meadow-edged. Topography is generally low-relief compared to the mainland — gently rolling glacially sculpted terrain with mixed Douglas-fir and madrone forest, open grass and shrub edges, and rocky shorelines. No high alpine terrain; elevation rarely exceeds a few hundred feet. Surrounded entirely by marine waters.

No ferry service reaches the islands within GMU 410 — all access is by private boat or commercial water taxi. Most docks and landings are privately owned; hunters must verify moorage rights in advance. San Juan County maintains eight public docks with floats and eight boat ramps plus two outer island moorage docks. Public hunting land is effectively absent; virtually all acreage is private. By San Juan County ordinance (Code 9.08), hunting on private land requires written permission from the landowner. WDFW's Private Lands Access Program is actively enrolling properties but none are listed specifically within GMU 410 itself — enrolled sites are concentrated on the larger named islands (GMUs 411-424). BLM parcels within the San Juan Islands National Monument exist on Lopez Island (GMU 414) but not GMU 410 proper.

Dominant cover is Pacific Northwest maritime forest: Douglas-fir, western red cedar, grand fir, bigleaf maple, and Pacific madrone. Understory of sword fern, salal, and Oregon-grape. Edge habitats include open rocky outcrops, grassy bluffs, orchard remnants near historic homesteads, and dense coastal shrub. High deer density on some islands has historically suppressed understory regeneration and impacted island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus) habitat — deer management in the San Juan Islands is partly conservation-driven.

Deer are year-round island residents with no seasonal migration possible given the marine barriers. Island black-tails tend to hold tight territories and exploit forest edges, meadow margins, and shoreline brush. Bucks are visible at dawn and dusk along open edges. Rut activity occurs October–November. No elk, black bear, or cougar are documented on the small islands of GMU 410 — these species are confined to the larger mainland-connected or substantially forested islands. European rabbits are present on some islands but are not under WDFW jurisdiction. Small groups of feral mouflon sheep have been documented on Stuart Island (GMU 424, adjacent unit).

GMU 410 is a residual catch-all unit created in 2013 when WDFW subdivided the original GMU 410 to assign individual unit numbers to major islands. It now contains only the remaining small, unnamed, or ungrouped islands with no ferry access. Key regulations unique to this unit: (1) San Juan County firearm restriction — modern centerfire and rimfire rifles prohibited; legal methods are archery, muzzleloader, shotgun, and a specialized class of short-range pistols only; (2) written landowner permission required by county ordinance for all private land hunting; (3) No elk season — Island County and San Juan County are not open for elk due to near-zero populations; (4) Bag limit is one deer per hunter per license year, any deer legal in all seasons; (5) Hunter orange/fluorescent pink required for modern firearm seasons (WAC 220-414-080); (6) Hunting hours one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. AHD (Adenovirus Hemorrhagic Disease) affected deer on San Juan Archipelago islands in 2021; GMU 410 showed a harvest decrease in 2023 but populations appear to be recovering. CWD detected only in Eastern Washington (100-series GMUs) as of 2025 — not present in Region 4. WDFW District Wildlife Biologist for District 13: Kurt Licence, 360-503-1086, kurt.licence@dfw.wa.gov.