California Hunting?

[bowtechboss177]

Just wondering if you guys think California is an ideal place to hunt deer/elk.

 

[marioq]

Hell no!!!!!

 

[Barrelnut]

No.

 

[Barrelnut]

Hell no!!!!!

Sorry, I agree with Marioq. It's the more eloquent answer!

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

Bwahahahah. Ha ha. Ha haha.....haha. Ha. Sorry, I thought it was kind of a funny question.

Iv'e gaffed frogs in cali. All the while knowing we we were being watched by a lion! I'll bet the lion hunting is good. I think they have some elk on an island around there somewhere. Not sure if you can hunt them or not.

 

[davkrat]

That was good for a laugh. Lord no!!!

 

[DocB]

Can you get tags for Democrats?

 

[davkrat]

I should add that for Tule Elk it is a phenomenal place to hunt. Then again I don't think they exist anywhere else in the world Still waiting to get my once in 15 years if you're lucky tag. No idea how hard it is for nonresidents to draw. Deer hunting for coastal black tails can be great if you know someone with access to a 10,000 acre ranch. The mule deer in the eastern mountains can be good but most herds seem to be declining and those tags take several years worth of points to draw. For the average CA deer hunter that frequents the western slope national forest land success rates are really low. An average Midwest deer hunter will kill more bucks from the time he gets his license to graduating highschool than a public land California hunter will in 20 years

Waterfowl hunting is phenomenal. Quail can be great and the fishing is limitless. We are over run with hogs but they know where the property lines are and unless you want to pay $500-$600 to kill a 150lbs rat good luck getting access.

 

[bowtechboss177]

Hell no!!!!!

Wow. Sounds like hunting the Sahara Desert!

 

[kcebcj]

Just wondering if you guys think California is an ideal place to hunt deer/elk.

Ideal NO! but.......

I grew up hunting Blacktail in the California central coast range Monterey to Santa Barbara. If you know what you are doing and learned the country the hunting was excellent on public ground and there is a lot of it.

In a typical 2-3 back pack trip seeing 5-10 bucks was not unusual. Finding a buck that broke 20 inches was another story like finding the elusive 30 incher here in Idaho now. The best hunting for the little blacktail was in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties. There were and are Tule Elk in SLO county and probably Monterey by now. In Monterey county there are pockets of Aoudad if you know where to look. They were planted by Randolph Hearst on the Hearst Ranch way back when and have wondered all over that range

The average daytime temperature in that country during August is 85-110. So you really wanted to be there to put up with the uncomfortable conditions and water was critical and you had to pack enough for a day and know where the springs were. So I would not recommend hunting the coastal range to a non-resident but if they could get tied in with someone that knew the country the hunting could be great for that little deer.

 

[Marble]

There are few, very limited opportunities at Elk hunting. We have three different species of Elk here and as of last season, we also had the number 3 ranked Roosevelt bull in the nation. I've seen him, and hunted him last year and 4 years ago. He is 400+ inches and lives in the same area where a high 300" bull was taken 4 years ago.

However, a tag for that area is a once in a lifetime draw. It is right in the middle of the rut, so you call them in and don't hunt them like Rocky Mt. Bulls in CO second season. I've never been drawn, but I have learned where they are and how to call them in, being successful twice.

We have some of the largest mule deer around, but very limited. Very very limited...

Black tail-some trophies there too. Backpacking is the most successful way for the public land hunter. Otherwise, get ready to pay for private land access.

The cost of tags and licenses for residents and the way the herds are managed here and is causing people to flat out stop hunting where they live and stop contributing to the CA DFG hunting scam. To hunt deer it costs nearly $90. Regulations are always changing and lead will be banned in the next few years.

The DFG doesn't run the hunting programs with hunters in mind. They seem to run it with all of the environmentalists in mind and really do not have any programs to improve the big game hunting as a whole. If they do, they don't advertise it. They do seem to have a lot of programs to limit hunting, although that may just be my impression... They issue A LOT of tags and there seems to be really no benefit. I can see myself saying screw California in the next few years and just taking the family to E. Oregon for either Elk or Mule deer.

Poaching is rampant here. The pot growers, rural residents and Indians decimate local populations. Sometimes shooting so many animals that they completely disappear from an area. Punishment for trespassers and poachers is almost a joke and the DFG is frustrated. Rightly so.

Hunters in CA are drastically outnumbered. All of our laws are created from people who live in the big city and really have no practical knowledge or experience to base their decision making on. If it feels good and is warm and fuzzy, they tend to just do it.

If my family wasn't deeply rooted here, along with my job, I would leave. Actually, I would run!

 

[davkrat]

You forgot to mention the joy of packing in 5 miles and climbing to a ridge line to scout at oh'dark thirty only to have a couple car loads of "hunters" show up in the valley and do a drive pushing every deer in a basin out while shooting at anything that moved. What fun! Being within a couple hours drive of major population centers brings all sorts of fun!

 

[Deleted member 46119]

You forgot to mention the joy of packing in 5 miles and climbing to a ridge line to scout at oh'dark thirty only to have a couple car loads of "hunters" show up in the valley and do a drive pushing every deer in a basin out while shooting at anything that moved. What fun! Being within a couple hours drive of major population centers brings all sorts of fun!

Well, that's not unique to California

I'll be going to NM, home of the OP for my elk.

Local pigs and central coast deer this year are in the offing.

I wouldn't call CA ideal by any stretch but it's what I got so I'll make the best of it.

 

[Marble]

Well, that's not unique to California

I'll be going to NM, home of the OP for my elk.

Local pigs and central coast deer this year are in the offing.

I wouldn't call CA ideal by any stretch but it's what I got so I'll make the best of it.

True, not unique to Cali.

In the area I hunt, it was inundated with a certain group of people about 6-7 years ago. They killed everything they could. Since then, the quail, squirl and deer population has been 1/4 of what it was. If you go one mountain over, where you either need a four wheeler or serious 4 wheel drive, th animal population is much better. It was sad going on car rides with the kids and not seeing animals.

I know some of the local wardens and they knew of the issue and did patrol it, but the damage was done.

I like Cali, geographically speaking. I like the outdoor opportunities and the vast amount of diverse land types to go play on. It's all I got, I'll make it work.