How’s Los banos? I’ve been there once late last season so not too packed. Would I be able to get in with no resi this weekend?

Still new to duck hunting so still trying to get my bearings.

Originally from the UK, came to the US back in 2009. Landed in Missouri and lived there till a sad loss hit my family and we had to move to Southern California. Love both states but wondered if there's anyone out here that goes hunting or fishing? Would love to hear from some folk nearby and learn about where they like to go to get that fix. Thanks for your time 🦌 🎣

Want to describe my run in with cdfw and hear opinions on what went down. My brother and I were up hunting the last weekend of b zone. About mid afternoon we came to a fish and game checkpoint on a fire road where they stopped us and asked for tags/checked guns. Nothing I haven’t been through in the past, guns unloaded, tags and license in hand, on our way to a trail we’d never been to. Nothing to worry about.. or so we thought. There were 3 of them, one running the show in formal gear and 2 in plate carriers and more field gear. We shoot the shit for a bit while one checks our guns and actually have a great convo about our samurai we’re driving. They then ask where we were going so we say we saw a trail on maps a bit farther to check out. Come to find out the trail is in A zone, and actually, we were in A zone. By about 20 feet. The road was parallel to a river which was the border. No big deal we think, we were driving to the trail so we’ll just turn around back to b zone. Well, one warden didn’t think so. “Not so fast, looks to me like you’re hunting right now. Rifles in the vehicle, b zone tags and licenses. You guys are hunting, and in the wrong zone.” Long story short after some awkward silence and a little small talk back and forth with the one warden, they let us go and wished us luck. The other two wardens were silent almost the whole time, like they realized it was an honest mistake and we hadn’t actually hunted the trail we were headed to yet. Or maybe just didn’t want any altercation. I guess overall no harm no foul. But what do you think? What if we camped in A zone and had to drive to b zone. Would we be illegally hunting until we got to b zone? I mean we drove to our hunting spot the same way we were driving to the trail, guns in the vehicle, tags in hand… Definitely a learning experience and I’ll make sure to always check zones before I head to the area.

I live in Imperial Valley and there’s birds here. But just feel like trying something different this year. Done some research but I’m just lost.

Hello all,

I grew up around Sacramento, then moved to Colorado where I started hunting. I moved back to the Sacramento area little over a year ago. I have been hunting for a few years now, and am looking for hunting partners in Northern California.

I have an unfilled bear tag burning a hole in my pocket. I have been trying like hell to fill it and have had some close calls, but no luck.

If anyone going deer hunting in the D3-5 zone this weekend and is looking for a new hunting partner, I would be happy to tag along. I don't have a deer tag in this unit, so the deer can be yours if we see one.

If you aren't willing to show someone your personal deer hunting spot (understandable), I have a spot or two in Desolation Wilderness that looks promising that we could check out together. It's probably 2 miles each way form the trailhead, so a day trip would be fine.

Or alternatively, I do have a bit of a squirrel honey hole that is usually on fire.

Also looking to make some friends in the area. Send me a PM if interested.

Hey all. Just restarted hunting after several years. I moved to Lake county about 10 years ago and have never hunted this area. Anyone have any recommendations for quail hunting areas? I just got back from a hike at Cow mountain and only flushed 1 small covey.

I just wanted to let everyone know that if you are looking into doing your hunting education do not do the California course online

You can do the Texas course online and it never expires and its also accepted by California

The main benefit is that you do not have to do the 4 hour in person class which is typically far away and all booked up

Any locals wanna go hunt with me?? 4.5 hour drive for me.

I’m from So-Cal and taking a trip up north to Cal. Polly Slo area does anyone have any spots they recommend or any areas to check out in the area for any upland birds?

So I've been under the impression that the fire arm intended to take game had to have lead free ammo, but not each fire arm you have on you if one is for protection. I usually have my 3006 lead free rifle and my little 10mm lead +p glock 29 for protection. Recently a friend of a friend got popped by a game warden with a similar combo and the warden argued that he could take game with his side arm and cited him for it. I've been doing this for years and even been checked and gotten the "ok" because my rifle has lead free.

Has anyone had a run in with this situation?

I know that it’s illegal to have an optic with thermal or night vision attached in California. But I read somewhere that you can use other devices such as night vision goggles or thermal vision binoculars. And at the same time I read somewhere else that it’s also illegal. So my question is, is it illegal?? Sorry if it’s a dumb question. 😬😬

God I love opening day. First time hunting with the 20 gauge and loving it. Best of luck to everyone still out there. FIL and I got our Mallard limit by 8:30. Can’t wait to get out there again tomorrow.

I was just surfing YouTube about gutting dear and a video about skinning an alligator came up. Since then I’ve been looking but was not able to find any information about if it’s legal of not. If yes then what are the regulations and if you need any tags ? Any advice is appreciated.

Located in IE. New to hunting, have done a guided boar hunt in central coast before but want to coyote hunt in SoCal

Any

Just getting started in hunting, thought duck hunting would be the best for a beginner and since it isn’t as expensive as deer. Is there anywhere near Modesto/Turlock are that’s non private for duck hunting or am I out of luck?

Are there any good places to hunt squirrel within an hours drive of the bay area? East Bay to be more exact.

Howdy y'all,

I just unexpectedly had my weekend free up.

So, of course I want to go hunting.

I have a California license, and a D9 deer tag that expires on Sunday.

But if you look at my post history, I had a disappointing weekend a couple weeks ago where I explored the Piute Mountain and Scodie Mountain areas in D9 for deer, and found them almost entirely devoid of any deer sign, and not so promising for birds either.

so, this weekend I'm debating whether to:

(1) Go to the Western portion of D9 I haven't seen yet, check out Breckenridge campground and also explore around the area of the 78 and Kern River and see if I can luck into stumbling upon a buck or at least some birds; or,

(2) Go to the Eastern Sierra foothills to hunt for birds (especially chukar if I can find any since I've never got a chukar before) and scout around to see if I can find enough bear sign to make getting a bear tag worthwhile.

Any thoughts/advice?

Went out to D3 for a few days, hunted pretty hard. If I saw one bear for every hundred piles of bear shit it would have been successful. Saw a few deer tracks and was right around 5-6K feet in elevation.

It was weird not much movement from wildlife. Only saw a few tree squirrels and chipmunks. Was definitely cold at night. Always next year.

I'm going to try camping and hunting for Quail / Chukar in the Eastern Sierras (Advice appreciated) next month. I'll have everything in my car, so if I hit limits, is there a way on day 2 to make sure if I get stopped by F&G they don't think I shot 20 birds that day?

Obviously they'll be cleaned and cold at that point, but they tend to be pretty strict, and I can't find any good info online. TIA!

What a weekend, we hunted near Wrights lake area Saturday around 7k feet and saw 8 does and fawns.

Sunday morning we shifted over to the Ice House side and saw 4 deer.

I’m embarrassed to say I rounded a corner and found three deer literally staring at me exactly 60 yards away. A leading Doe, a younger fawn in the middle and a beautiful 4x4 buck right behind.

I brought my rifle up, put the crosshairs right on the shoulder of the quartering away buck and pulled the trigger…….to nada! I didn’t fully disengage my safety and the buck bounded away while I fixed the situation. To add insult to injury the doe and fawn just sauntered to the top of the hill the buck disappeared behind, and looked back mocking me.

We did stalk quite a ways after him but he was long gone.

I was gutted after not even seeing a legal buck last year.

Back at it next weekend. At least it seems this buck was interested in the doe so maybe they will pre rut and get stupid.

First time hunter and poster here. I went hunting this past weekend in El Dorado National Forest and the Desolation Wilderness. I have a D3–5 deer tag and a bear tag as well. The CDFW biologists said on a recent webinar that you would likely see bear before deer, and I’m interested in both.

I know the hunting culture puts a premium on secrecy about hunting sites, but I’d like to get specific feedback on how to improve, so I’ll be explicit about location. I didn’t see any sign while out anyhow, so this isn’t likely to get everyone headed where I went.

I drove to the Van Vleck trailhead and slept in the car. I was up at 5 am to begin hiking from the Tell’s creek equestrian camp to Forni Lake along the Highland Trail. The last bit of the 9.8 mile round trip hike is in the Desolation Wilderness and requires a free day use permit to enter, but hunting is allowed. I hiked slowly and quietly the whole time, pausing frequently to listen and glass the tree line. The only mammals I saw were some chipmunks and a couple of squirrels.

As I was putting on my pack, six dudes rolled up in trucks with trailers and unloaded 6 all terrain e-bikes all pulling trailers for game recovery. All 6 packing rifles. They were clearly regulars, because they were off just 5 minutes after parking. They zoomed off at 20 miles an hour behind the locked gate, where motor vehicle access ends. No bikes are allowed in the wilderness, of course, but nothing posted about e-bikes in El Dorado specifically. I thought they were illegal as motorized vehicles. Is that right? At any rate, I spent 2 hours hiking in their tracks through what should have been good country at first light. Did they likely blow out the whole area? If that happens again, do I give up and go to a new spot? When I got back to the trailhead at 4pm, they were gone.

Eventually I got high and remote enough that the bikers’ tracks disappeared. Gorgeous hike! Highly recommend it for the difficulty and solitude. I was really just nervous about lions. I’ve heard there are a LOT in El Dorado, and that they don’t fear people.

Didn’t see a single deer though… was the elevation too high? 6600’ to 8000’ during the hunt. A tiny bit of snow at the top, and Forni lake was partially iced over (cool looking rainbow trout there!).

I had to leave before dusk, and as I was driving back toward 50, I passed a dozen trucks at lower elevation just rolling slowly through the forest roads looking for deer out the window. Is that the better way to hunt D5 just to “fill the freezer”? Do people just hop out of the truck and shoot off the hood?!

I had a great trip with profound quiet that was refreshing for the soul (thank you, wilderness), but no luck hunting. Any tips for next time?