Are we lucky in some ways to be hunting in CA?

[Moserkr]

@Mallardsx2 Some of the best in the country, but most is on private land so you have to pay for it. Ive been in cheaper blinds and still did ok, but those $$$$ blinds at nice clubs are something else. Long season, and the migration stops here. Im supposed to go out at the end of December with some friends to a massive tract with only 1 blind per sq mi. Should be epic.

 

[Hunter4Life78]

We have a ton of public land in CA. What we don’t have is the quantity of the animals that other states offer. Our bear population is impressive, but there is very little in the way of elk, and those tule elk populations are very small, and have insane draw odds. Our deer populations in most areas are not in good shape (yes there are exceptions), but not enough to entice most hunters. We do not have good antelope populations either, and the desert bighorns are freak sightings, even if you know where to look. Mountain lions have really decimated deer, sheep populations in some areas. The coveted X zones are nearly impossible to draw for deer. Even in those high demand and quality units, it can be real tough to find deer (yes there are exceptions). Many of our deer seasons also fall in July-Oct. T-shirt and shorts weather for sure. We got pigs by the truckload in central coastal Ca though. They are mostly on the private land too. The prices outfitters charge to hunt up a freaking pig is insane, but if you want a piggie, you need that guide or private land access. Yes, there are pigs on public land, but access is nothing short of insane in most cases. CA is just a real drag to hunt in anymore unless you want a bear, and you like hunting in the heat. Yes, there are exceptions to all, but most hunters all know those exceptions, and yes you will run into other hunters in those locations. Go hiking in an area known to have even a remnant deer population. I’ll bet you will cut at least one lion track a day, or more. This is pretty rare in other western states unless you know where to look. CA, specifically the Southern half, is just a real mess for hunters. It was not always this way though. I could reliably take a buck each year from a D or A zone back in the late 80’s and 90’s. Between no lion hunting and horrible management, CA (southern half) is a terrible place to hunt.

Are you folks allowed to hunt mountain lions in California?

 

[Moserkr]

Are you folks allowed to hunt mountain lions in California?

No. But now the CA government, in their infinite wisdom, pays “professionals” to kill problem cats. The numbers killed annually are roughly the same as when it was legal to hunt them, ~200 if I remember correctly.

Without the use of dogs, cat hunting would be damn near impossible. Also has made bear hunting very hard. But we can use dogs for deer for some reason, so we got that going for us I guess.

Edit: Its also “illegal” to import or posses mountain lion meat or parts now. So we “cant” even go to another state, hunt them legally, and bring them home…

 

[Hunter4Life78]

No. But now the CA government, in their infinite wisdom, pays “professionals” to kill problem cats. The numbers killed annually are roughly the same as when it was legal to hunt them, ~200 if I remember correctly.

Without the use of dogs, cat hunting would be damn near impossible. Also has made bear hunting very hard. But we can use dogs for deer for some reason, so we got that going for us I guess.

Edit: Its also “illegal” to import or posses mountain lion meat or parts now. So we “cant” even go to another state, hunt them legally, and bring them home…

Wow. All I can say is wow. Sorry to hear all of that. Thank you for answering my question.

 

[old270hunter]

Wow. All I can say is wow. Sorry to hear all of that. Thank you for answering my question.

Hunting bobcats is also illegal now. Mountain lion hunting has been illegal for decades. It’s just a matter of time before bear and coyote hunting is illegal. This state is not hunter friendly 1 bit.

 

[Sagebrush1]

Hunting bobcats is also illegal now. Mountain lion hunting has been illegal for decades. It’s just a matter of time before bear and coyote hunting is illegal. This state is not hunter friendly 1 bit.

Remember: HSUS is on the CDFW board. Their stated goal is to end hunting in CA (they deem it the easiest state to start with) as the first step towards the ultimate goal of a meat-free world.

HSUS is blind to Hypocrisy, and CDFW is blind to courageous management. CA was also the test-bed for ballot box management. They expanded their efforts to CO for the wolf reintroduction, and will attack lion hunting in CO next. The Creeping barrage of ideologically driven management.

…but I do miss hunting desert bucks. I had some great times in the southern D-Zones. And of course I miss killing tuna, yellowtail, and Seabass on my skiff.

 

[FI460]

Remember: HSUS is on the CDFW board. Their stated goal is to end hunting in CA (they deem it the easiest state to start with) as the first step towards the ultimate goal of a meat-free world.

HSUS is blind to Hypocrisy, and CDFW is blind to courageous management. CA was also the test-bed for ballot box management. They expanded their efforts to CO for the wolf reintroduction, and will attack lion hunting in CO next. The Creeping barrage of ideologically driven management.

…but I do miss hunting desert bucks. I had some great times in the southern D-Zones. And of course I miss killing tuna, yellowtail, and Seabass on my skiff.

Which of the CDFW commisioners is associated with HSUS? The commission unanimously voted to decline the HSUS bear hunting ban proposal this year. I was impressed with both their engagement in the process and demeanor towards the agency during that meeting.

 

[Moserkr]

@FI460 I listened to the end of that meeting and agree, was very impressed with their attitude towards both bear hunting and hunting in general.

 

[bpeay4]

10-20 years ago I would say yes we are lucky to hunt in CA. Today I would say CA hunting overall falls short of that mark. The state has the opportunity to be an extremely productive big game state but bad management has put that possibility to bed.

Predator management is of the worst in the Country. No lion hunting, no hound hunting for bears, no spring bear hunt, 1500 bear quota for the entire state with an estimated bear Population of 40K. IMO the major cut on predator hunting in the last few decades is finally catching up to the deer populations and really taking a tole.

Land management also sucks in CA. Record sized forest fires every year from June-November has decimated much of national forest as well as many communities.

Management also is lacking and outdated. Nearly enough OTC tags for everyone to buy two a year is ridiculous when deer populations are lacking. The coveted X zones take many years to draw and IMO are often not that great of a hunt compared to other states limited entry hunts.

Don't get me wrong CA has some great opportunity for hunters and offers many different landscapes for hunters. From mountains in the Sierra, Deserts in the south and Eastern parts, Foothills along the central valley and hunting near the coast makes it almost the most diverse state to hunt in terms of landscape. I think the hunting is not near as bad as many of the locals claim but some of their complaints are valid. In many D zones it seems you are more likely to see a bear than a legal buck LOL.

An area where CA hunters fall short is being involved in the politics of game management and rallying for improvement. Most have become complacent and accepted doom for the future spending more time complaining than helping with their voice. Understandably as most of our pleas have fallen on deaf ears not willing to listen.

The state has the opportunity to be an exceptional big game state but major management changes need to happen for that to occur. If things ever change then maybe I will consider coming back. for now I guess I am stuck chasing elk and deer in idaho...oh well.

 

[Moserkr]

@bpeay4 You are correct. We need predator management from a biologist’s perspective, not from the ballot box. Same goes for forest management.

Also wouldnt mind seeing deer tags reduced in the high Sierra’s, especially the 2nd buck tag. I can find young bucks in the worst zones to hunt after years of learning their ways. Can find more mature bucks too but they are few and far between. Seems like everybody just shoots the dinks and is happy about it. The x4 tag I held a few years back was extremely disappointing. Still tagged a decent buck but for the amount of time I spent hunting, I could have done that closer to home otc.

 

[DuncanDonettes]

Lucky to not get shot by some illegals when you stumble across their massive pot farm on national forest land??

Fun game to play with the kids on the iPad: GoogleEarth find the grow op. Zoom in random forested spots in NoCal. They tend to be near rivers to steal the water. Shame because they always seem to be in what look like great hunting/fishing areas.

 

[Nickman123]

Fun game to play with the kids on the iPad: GoogleEarth find the grow op. Zoom in random forested spots in NoCal. They tend to be near rivers to steal the water. Shame because they always seem to be in what look like great hunting/fishing areas.

I'm surprised to hear that they are still bothering to go out into the woods up there to "hide" their weed grow, now that it is legal. Down here in SoCal, they just rent a big warehouse in town to grow it or throw up a plastic green house out in the yard.

 

[DuncanDonettes]

I think to a large extent the growes want/need to hide from other drug biz people as much as from the govt. And even though it's all supposedly legal now, growers/distributors still have to be licensed, and most aren't. LA Times had a good article on all the illegal weed shops in the LA area. Like playing whack-a-mole. As soon as LE shuts down one, another pops up.

 

[Moserkr]

I'm surprised to hear that they are still bothering to go out into the woods up there to "hide" their weed grow, now that it is legal. Down here in SoCal, they just rent a big warehouse in town to grow it or throw up a plastic green house out in the yard.

Not so much hiding it anymore, just grow so much that it all cant be stopped at once. Rule of numbers. The purpose is to have no overhead (expensive land, legal workers) or oversight from the gov. Its all grown for the still very large illegal market, and a lot hits the legal market too. Grows cover a ton of private land too - found a large outdoor one under 1,000’ from a local school nearby thanks to google earth - not legal even if it was under that pretense.

 

[DuncanDonettes]

Hunting bobcats is also illegal now. Mountain lion hunting has been illegal for decades. It’s just a matter of time before bear and coyote hunting is illegal. This state is not hunter friendly 1 bit.

Just from conversations with well-intentioned but ill-informed neighbors, it wouldn't surprise me if coyote hunting became illegal. Even when their cat gets loose and gets eaten, even when there's a news report of a toddler being mauled in his front yard by a coyote, people still think the coyotes should be left alone in urban areas. Overheard a woman in her 60s saying about coyotes in her subdivision that abuts some public scrubland, "They were here first," even after they got her dog. Well, a coyote's lifespan is only about 5 years in the wild and she'd been living there since the 90's, so technically she was there before any of the currently living coyotes were.

Same people will complain about lack of wildlife further down the food chain and not seeing as many hawks and such. Well, if your precious coyotes eat all the small fur critters, what's the bird supposed to eat?

 

[Shifty05]

I think my favorite part of hunting California this year was paying 6.60 to 7 bucks a gallon for diesel

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

So I just settled back here after living here off and on most of my life. I’ve always told people how great a state this is for the outdoorsperson, once you wade through some bureaucracy and accept spending more $ for licenses at tags compared to some states.

But reading threads like the below link, and many others regarding what sounds like crazy congestion on public land by hunters makes me think its pretty good here in Cali. At least here in the south, yes it can be hard hunting but I only occaisionally see other hunters.

Thread 'If you know, you know'
https://www.hunttalk.com/threads/if-you-know-you-know.316397/

I read the above thread and I’m envisioning the opening of “The Road Warrior” with a bunch of lunatics on side by sides filling in for Lord Humongous and his crew.

Is it worse up north, is burning of honey holes and all that a thing you have to worry about up there? I know that is where most of the good hunting is, so I figured if any region gets more congestion it would have to be up there. Down here the only crowding is on a pier for spiny lobster.

Here we are another 5-6 years later and it's only worse.

This state has not always been so woke, and it will revert back one day, IMO. I hear you loud and clear though, and it gets pretty gloomy in California in regard to anything firearms related, the endangered species loophole seems to be the latest on closing ranges.

I believe a day will come when Governor Hairdo will be gone, as will many of the woke. Don't get me wrong, I consider myself to be a liberal, just that I believe in the 2A as well.

There are some great hunting opportunities in NorCal, but like everything else the game is mismanaged.

 

[kevine001]

I have not been hunting that long (6 yrs) and have no comment on out of state hunting. But I have traveled out of state for camping. I will say other states deer population seem to be much healthier (size). I believe CA laws and cost make it less desirable. But there seems to be plenty of opportunity.

 

[Elmacho]

Opportunity!.....to get out and hike ur gun around. You have to have a serious drive inside...a fire if you will....to make it happen. Its not for the average joe, but the say 10% type guys. If anyone is noticing, just about every pimple of a hill in the eatsern part of the state and most of nevada has become a "wilderness"....and they are very good about surveying to make sure they enclose the springs a few miles inside the "wilderness"

I just moved outta state, but did buy a lifetime license before doing so....why?.....My kid lives here and we love to hunt birds, as well as deer.......There are no valley quail, mountain quail and almost no chukar where I moved. BUT....their are gambles, scalies and mearns

 

[GETINGOLD]

We have a ton of public land in CA. What we don’t have is the quantity of the animals that other states offer. Our bear population is impressive, but there is very little in the way of elk, and those tule elk populations are very small, and have insane draw odds. Our deer populations in most areas are not in good shape (yes there are exceptions), but not enough to entice most hunters. We do not have good antelope populations either, and the desert bighorns are freak sightings, even if you know where to look. Mountain lions have really decimated deer, sheep populations in some areas. The coveted X zones are nearly impossible to draw for deer. Even in those high demand and quality units, it can be real tough to find deer (yes there are exceptions). Many of our deer seasons also fall in July-Oct. T-shirt and shorts weather for sure. We got pigs by the truckload in central coastal Ca though. They are mostly on the private land too. The prices outfitters charge to hunt up a freaking pig is insane, but if you want a piggie, you need that guide or private land access. Yes, there are pigs on public land, but access is nothing short of insane in most cases. CA is just a real drag to hunt in anymore unless you want a bear, and you like hunting in the heat. Yes, there are exceptions to all, but most hunters all know those exceptions, and yes you will run into other hunters in those locations. Go hiking in an area known to have even a remnant deer population. I’ll bet you will cut at least one lion track a day, or more. This is pretty rare in other western states unless you know where to look. CA, specifically the Southern half, is just a real mess for hunters. It was not always this way though. I could reliably take a buck each year from a D or A zone back in the late 80’s and 90’s. Between no lion hunting and horrible management, CA (southern half) is a terrible place to hunt.

central coast Santa Maria native, it ain't what it used to be hunted d8 , d7 , A zone for 60 years