Blacktail Deer hunters in Northern California

[Redmt]

Thats easy and you don't even have to advertise. Charge a "trespass" fee and have people sign the liability release forms. I know 5 guys right now that would pay $250, maybe up to $400, for an unguided hunt. A few usually go on one a year thats guided for $800 plus tip, but they get camping and some meals with that. Guaranteed opportunity is what people expect. You should be able to make at minimum a few thousand a year getting rid of what are otherwise pests.

The problem with pig hunting here is that you never know when or how many will be around. I wouldn't feel very good having guys stomping around collecting ticks and not seeing anything and having to pay for it.

 

[Moserkr]

The problem with pig hunting here is that you never know when or how many will be around. I wouldn't feel very good having guys stomping around collecting ticks and not seeing anything and having to pay for it.

Yea you almost need an "on-call" group thats close enough to make it worth it when they are around. Im assuming the places that consistently charge and kill have resident pigs on large acreage.

 

[AntelopeEater]

Thats easy and you don't even have to advertise. Charge a "trespass" fee and have people sign the liability release forms. I know 5 guys right now that would pay $250, maybe up to $400, for an unguided hunt. A few usually go on one a year thats guided for $800 plus tip, but they get camping and some meals with that. Guaranteed opportunity is what people expect. You should be able to make at minimum a few thousand a year getting rid of what are otherwise pests.

Holy crap just looked at Lockwood's prices!!! Now thats some upscale hunting. My friends are too cheap for that kind of stuff for a pig hahaha. Bear deer pig combo must be over $10k!

It was $8,500 for the deer/bear combo due to getting a discount by picking it up when someone else had a last minute cancellation. $1,000 extra for the pig, so $9,500 total price before tip.

Included a fully guided one on one multi-day hunt with guaranteed shot opportunities, staying in a nice camp trailer with all the bells and whistles, all food, skinning, dressing the game, etc.

Not cheap, and not something I could afford to do every year, but it was an awesome experience and I feel I got a great deal overall.

The year earlier I wasted over a thousand dollars and several days of precious vacation time buying a non-resident OTC deer and bear tag and hunting public land in D9 in California and spent numerous days hiking all over the public land and saw exactly zero deer or bear the whole time.

 

[HunterC]

The problem with pig hunting here is that you never know when or how many will be around. I wouldn't feel very good having guys stomping around collecting ticks and not seeing anything and having to pay for it.

You can never guarantee a wild animal on a guided hunt. You can tell them you see pigs all the time or a lot. I guided pigs for over 35 years with and without dogs.

 

[AntelopeEater]

You can never guarantee a wild animal on a guided hunt. You can tell them you see pigs all the time or a lot. I guided pigs for over 35 years with and without dogs.

What I've seen some guides offer is a deal where they guarantee a shot opportunity, and if you do not get a shot opportunity doing your guided hunt, you can come back for a second guided hunt in the future at no additional charge.

Obviously it is a bad deal for a guide unless they can be pretty confident most hunters will get a shot opportunity during the first hunt.

 

[Moserkr]

It was $8,500 for the deer/bear combo due to getting a discount by picking it up when someone else had a last minute cancellation. $1,000 extra for the pig, so $9,500 total price before tip.

Included a fully guided one on one multi-day hunt with guaranteed shot opportunities, staying in a nice camp trailer with all the bells and whistles, all food, skinning, dressing the game, etc.

Not cheap, and not something I could afford to do every year, but it was an awesome experience and I feel I got a great deal overall.

The year earlier I wasted over a thousand dollars and several days of precious vacation time buying a non-resident OTC deer and bear tag and hunting public land in D9 in California and spent numerous days hiking all over the public land and saw exactly zero deer or bear the whole time.

Oh I understand, thats a nice hunt, and not a bad price for what you got out of it. I stopped doing public land pig hunts for that very reason. The cost of DIY and zero opportunity outweighed the cost of a guide. My proximity to the hunting grounds is not cost efficient to learn the areas.

As for deer and bear, I could have said the same thing when I first started hunting d3-5. Now I can consistently find bucks in the hardest unit of the hardest state to hunt, in my opinion. It only took a decade, wrecked my feet, and took enough time n money to pay for at least one of the hunts you went on haha.

Unfortunately for CA our deer numbers are way down and will probably never recover to the height of their success again. A DIY deer hunt is tough out here but possible. A DIY bear hunt is tough too but everyone should attempt this one as our bear numbers are way too high, and in certain areas seeing bear is almost guaranteed (tahoe area, north coast).

 

[44hunter45]

Y'all giving me this itch to go back for deer and pig hunt. I know A-south best.

The public/private divide is huge in Cali. When we lived in Santa Cruz County I had 100"+ bucks eating my garden that I could not touch. My neighbors would have had me in irons. We had a friend with 80 acres bordering Big Basin State Park. He had absolute toads on his place but it was all look but don't touch. I drove 3 hours to public for any buck I could find.

 

[bowhunterjae]

Got my first blacktail last August with the help of a guide in northern A zone.

Nice, Congratulations.

 

[Oldskool67]

Mendocino County. Sadly I moved to Texas a few years ago but still go back once a year to hunt there