Any Fellow Predator Hunters Left in So Cal??

[TheRaspyRabbit]

It's down to just a handful of people I know who still hunt in California let alone practice the art of hunting the hunters (predator calling). My buddies with money to burn all go out of state but I need to have my fix a lot more often than I can afford to go to Idaho.

I live if the high desert area of Southern California and like to call in the unincorporated areas of the county and at the edges of the national forest but it's getting almost impossible to do so legally. They have banned the use of just about anything for taken animals except a pointy stick....and it has to be a Non-Lead pointy stick at that.

Just wondering how many of us are left here?

We have another year here and then it's back to Idaho where it's a little more reasonable...but this kind of thinking is even starting to creep into their Fish and Game rules

 

[Asherdan]

I like to call in the upper Santa Ana River valley in D-14, think south face of the Big Bear slope at about 5000 feet. It's out of the no-lead zone and in the San Bernardino NF so the only real challenge is getting far enough in from the weekenders playing off road warrior. Well, that and unannounced fire road gate closures. Coyote whacking good times.

 

[sixgunner455]

Former California resident here. I'm in Arizona now. Rules are a bit more sane here, but, like you said about Idaho, some of the crazy rules try to sneak in here. We almost lost lead ammo in parts of the state. AZ is still pretty hunter friendly, though.

 

[TheRaspyRabbit]

Yeah, whenever I go out I take a large bag with several boxes of ammo and at least three guns....not that I think I will be burning through a lot it's that I need my lead and non-lead versions of shot gun, rifle and handgun ammo (I prefer to shot the lead stuff when possible). I use my rifle for the forest areas and then the shotgun for the county areas where you cant hunt anything with rifle or handgun. Before I go I have to consult my maps again to make sure I remember where the lead ban boundaries are in case I want to try a new spot.

Anyway, it's a pain but I still do it because it's better than not doing it like a few of my friends have decided to do....thanks for the reply posts.

 

[cbschmidt]

not so cal but up here in the north country i've started to see evidence of pigs in the forests where i live and work (no i don't grow weed) i've fished the cali ocean for the last twenty years and lately have gotten the urge to get out and whack some pigs, i too cannot afford trips abroad so locality is key. you have breathren in the north

 

[jleyring]

Im living in SoCal now. Im in Visalia. But just here for the summer selling pest control. then back to school in idaho this fall. Wish i had the time and money to hunt here in California. I will just have to wait until i go back to school.

 

[MichaelK]

Deer hunting is still legal in the national forest southeast of Hemet. I suppose that means you can hunt coyotes there too. Find "Rouse Ridge" on the map, in between Hemet and Thomas Mountain. That might be a good place to start. It's out of the Condor range by the way.