Does anyone hunt in CA anymore?

[RustVendor]

to be honest, i am quite surprised that one can in california

Only 12% of the entire country disapproves of hunting. People only care about guns because it affects them or may affect them. Ironically both sides are concerned with safety but have different ideas of what that means.

 

[RustVendor]

Barnes VOR-TX TSX, usually 75gr .556

Really accurate but kind of expensive almost $2.50 per round

You gotta get into reloading, it would be less than a dollar

 

[BigBadBogie]

Whitetail in D5. Good eats, but not really that fun anymore. It's been like fish in a barrel since the Caldor fire.

 

[RustVendor]

Whitetail in D5. Good eats, but not really that fun anymore. It's been like fish in a barrel since the Caldor fire.

We don't have whitetail in CA

 

[Trapper]

Whitetail in D5. Good eats, but not really that fun anymore. It's been like fish in a barrel since the Caldor fire.

Hunter success rates in D3-5 have run 12% - 19% since the Caldor fire.

 

[RustVendor]

Hunter success rates in D3-5 have run 12% - 19% since the Caldor fire.

I feel like its harder to kill fish in a barrel than people assume it is

 

[Trapper]

Big barrel? Small fish? Not to mention the drag, deceleration, and changing trajectory once the bullet hits water.

 

[echo1]

I was once bicycling with a friend out on the levees at the south end of the bay around Alviso. We were both surprised to find two guys hunting birds with shotguns.

Growing up during the '60s in Freekmont, we used to hunt from the salt marshes to Mission Peak. My Poratgee buds' family had ag dirt on 1st street out to Alviso. We hunted pheasants and dove out there. Silicon valley was on the uptick of mass construction at the time. A Sheriff came by once, called out my bud by name, told us they were getting a lot of calls about "shooting". So that put an end to that rather than cause an issue. We knew we were on borrowed time. PAX

 

[miles888]

You gotta get into reloading, it would be less than a dollar

You’re right about that

Been meaning to put research in for the kit

 

[RustVendor]

You’re right about that

Been meaning to put research in for the kit

For rifle rounds you only need a single stage, the old RCBS presses are great, then a way to clean brass, a way to trim brass, a way to weigh powder, a nice set of calipers that doesn't wander, and dies. If you want to do lots of pistols rounds it's a lot more gear so that you can do it fast and an expensive progressive press. After you spend all that money, you will save so much money! HA

 

[Radman64]

I have a buddy that lives about 20 miles north of Sparks, NV.
I lived in Reno for 16 years, shooting Jack's & Coyotes is year round, you leave them, one does not eat them.
Going to take my Nephew there in the fall to thin them out, they are like giant rodents.

 

[RustVendor]

I have a buddy that lives about 20 miles north of Sparks, NV.
I lived in Reno for 16 years, shooting Jack's & Coyotes is year round, you leave them, one does not eat them.
Going to take my Nephew there in the fall to thin them out, they are like giant rodents.

the Jacks there are important for raptor ecology, they don't need thinning and leaving carcasses full of lead will potentially harm Golden Eagles so if you shoot jacks with lead you should take the carcasses. They are definitely edible I've eaten a bunch of jacks, cook them a long time with a lot of other flavors like bacon and red wine. I believe that populations of a rabbits are down across the west due to Rabbit Hemorrhagic virus anyway

You can't thin yotes. When a member of their pack dies the mothers will produce more babies in response, it's why we could kill all the wolves but never got rid of coyotes (Source: Coyote America, also https://www.huntingecologist.com/coyotes.html).


Source: Biology of Jackrabbits (Lepus spp.) as Prey of Golden Eagles (Aquilachrysaetos) in the Western United States (Source: https://iris.fws.gov/APPS/ServCat/DownloadFile/169055)

 

[BigBadBogie]

We don't have whitetail in CA

I'm not in So Cal.

"While not as common as mule or black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer can be found in certain regions of California. They tend to prefer mixed woodlands but are adaptable to a variety of habitats."

 

[BigBadBogie]

Hunter success rates in D3-5 have run 12% - 19% since the Caldor fire.

If you average all the idiots up here hunting, sure. I fill every tag, every year, less than a 15 minute walk from my house, so maybe that's city folk getting 12-19% rates up here.

I live at the south west edge of the burn scar, and the lack of forageable areas in the burned areas drove all the wildlife closer to the populated areas.

 

[Radman64]

the Jacks there are important for raptor ecology, they don't need thinning and leaving carcasses full of lead will potentially harm Golden Eagles so if you shoot jacks with lead you should take the carcasses. They are definitely edible I've eaten a bunch of jacks, cook them a long time with a lot of other flavors like bacon and red wine. I believe that populations of a rabbits are down across the west due to Rabbit Hemorrhagic virus anyway

You can't thin yotes. When a member of their pack dies the mothers will produce more babies in response, it's why we could kill all the wolves but never got rid of coyotes (Source: Coyote America, also https://www.huntingecologist.com/coyotes.html).


Source: Biology of Jackrabbits (Lepus spp.) as Prey of Golden Eagles (Aquilachrysaetos) in the Western United States (Source: https://iris.fws.gov/APPS/ServCat/DownloadFile/169055)

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Normally I would concur but having lived there for 16 years I can tell you there is no shortage of Jacks, you can't walk 50 feet without one jumping from the sage and they breed like rabbits because they are rabbits lol.
FMJ rounds go in & out, nothing in the bodies for anything to hurt a bird and vulture's make very quick work picking them clean. As far as coyote's go they will have the same litter of pup's no matter what and are considered a menace to anyone living in rural NV.

 

[RustVendor]

I'm not in So Cal.

"While not as common as mule or black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer can be found in certain regions of California. They tend to prefer mixed woodlands but are adaptable to a variety of habitats."

I don't know where that quote is from but it's wrong, we have blacktail and mule deer. If you are in D5 on the eastern side they are probably mule deer, on the western side probably blacktail.

 

[RustVendor]

Normally I would concur but having lived there for 16 years I can tell you there is no shortage of Jacks, you can't walk 50 feet without one jumping from the sage and they breed like rabbits because they are rabbits lol.
FMJ rounds go in & out, nothing in the bodies for anything to hurt a bird and vulture's make very quick work picking them clean. As far as coyote's go they will have the same litter of pup's no matter what and are considered a menace to anyone living in rural NV.

that's the thing, there's evidence that hunting yotes actually increases the population, they respond to the territorial instability by producing even more offspring. They are more like humans in that under stress they produce more offspring, I'm curious if they also are like humans in that if they lived a comfortable life with too much food would they stop reproducing? ha. Here's another source on that idea that isn't as long as the Dan Flores book : https://attheu.utah.edu/research/coyote-numbers-are-often-higher-in-areas-where-they-are-hunted/

Just food for thought, it probably won't make a difference either way

 

[BigBadBogie]

I don't know where that quote is from but it's wrong, we have blacktail and mule deer. If you are in D5 on the eastern side they are probably mule deer, on the western side probably blacktail.

I would say that unless you live and hunt in D5, You're not an authority on what lives here. Fish and game doesn't believe we have black bear on the western side of the zone either, but they're dead wrong.

 

[RustVendor]

I would say that unless you live and hunt in D5, You're not an authority on what lives here. Fish and game doesn't believe we have black bear on the western side of the zone either, but they're dead wrong.

yeah I have hunted it, I'm also a scientist that is involved with conservation work. Here is the CDFW official black bear range that they compiled for their 2025 report. the western slope of the Sierras is included, not sure who you have been talking to. the only part of d5 not on that map is the valley, right outside of Lodi and Stockton. If you actually have white tailed deer there that would go against every population study ever so you should definitely report it, post some pictures here even. You do know that mule deer have white tails though right?

 

[BigBadBogie]

yeah I have hunted it, I'm also a scientist that is involved with conservation work. Here is the CDFW official black bear range that they compiled for their 2025 report. the western slope of the Sierras is included, not sure who you have been talking to. the only part of d5 not on that map is the valley, right outside of Lodi and Stockton. If you actually have white tailed deer there that would go against every population study ever so you should definitely report it, post some pictures here even. You do know that mule deer have white tails though right?


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My friend, you are absolutely welcome to believe what you want. If that includes that a CA state agency is competent, so be it. I'm not here to convince an "expert".

We really don't need or want any more squirrel hunters up here anyway.