Does anyone hunt in CA anymore?

[RustVendor]

.223/5.56 is not legal for deer in CA, correct?

you can, the only restriction is it has to have an expanding tip so you can't just shoot FMJs but those are also banned because they are lead. I don't think anyone makes copper monolithics that don't expand. There are obviously much better options though.

 

[Gawernator]

you can, the only restriction is it has to have an expanding tip so you can't just shoot FMJs but those are also banned because they are lead. I don't think anyone makes copper monolithics that don't expand. There are obviously much better options though.

How does anyone even enforce that

 

[Least Deranged Nowi Fan]

Game wardens that have more powers than regular police and can demand a sample of ammunition to send to a lab

 

[NATEWA]

How does anyone even enforce that

A game warden will ask to see what ammo you’re using. If you kill an animal, they can recover the bullet.

 

[RustVendor]

I've never had it deer hunting but duck hunting we have had wardens checking people heading out that they only had 25 shells per person, that they were non tox and their gun only held 3. It's common to be checked if you tag a deer that your licence and tag is correct because it's a big fine and a lot of poaching happens.

 

[Gawernator]

I guess I'm ignorant but if you're out in the middle of nowhere hunting how do they know you shot a deer

 

[Jimi Jah]

They stop vehicles and look.

 

[RustVendor]

I guess I'm ignorant but if you're out in the middle of nowhere hunting how do they know you shot a deer

They have more search authority than regular police to inspect for game, if you somehow managed to hide a whole ass deer in your truck they can and will stop and search people's coolers and truck beds etc.

 

[Radman64]

They have more search authority than regular police to inspect for game, if you somehow managed to hide a whole ass deer in your truck they can and will stop and search people's coolers and truck beds etc.

I worked with a guy that came from up north CA in the late 80's that got me hooked on Abalone diving at the time, always went around the Drakes Bay area. Would be so remote, so we thought, but every time we started to pack it up here came the F&G truck to check license and inspect catch, we always passed but they would tell us so many didn't, poaching has wiped that out sadly.
Went to McKinleyville where he was from a few times, his friends were doing it all year long but at least they were harvesting proper size from what I saw and none of them were doing it to make money, just for food.
I saw homes there that had hundreds of shells decorating their yard, 10-12" all day long, the largest I ever got was 9".
I despise poachers and people who don't follow the rules, why so much is depleted. Size or time period does not matter to some demographics, they keep anything they catch.

 

[RustVendor]

I worked with a guy that came from up north CA in the late 80's that got me hooked on Abalone diving at the time, always went around the Drakes Bay area. Would be so remote, so we thought, but every time we started to pack it up here came the F&G truck to check license and inspect catch, we always passed but they would tell us so many didn't, poaching has wiped that out sadly.
Went to McKinleyville where he was from a few times, his friends were doing it all year long but at least they were harvesting proper size from what I saw and none of them were doing it to make money, just for food.
I saw homes there that had hundreds of shells decorating their yard, 10-12" all day long, the largest I ever got was 9".
I despise poachers and people who don't follow the rules, why so much is depleted. Size or time period does not matter to some demographics, they keep anything they catch.

Yeah growing up near the Sonoma Coast everyone I knew had Ab shells on their fence because everyone went diving, but that's all gone now.

 

[Indian valley headhunter]

Yes. There are plenty of opportunities, lots of public and shared use BLM and if you get away from cities tons of game.

In the Paso are not at all uncommon to see dozens of deer a day scores of pigs and around camp Roberts and hunterliggett herds of elk.

In my experience although frequently partnered with annoying biologists the wardens are hunters and want to help be successful. If you are actively an or breaking the rules, they should give you a hard time. There a lot of heads out there taking game illegally. There are also plenty of shady characters in wilderness areas and wardens operate on edge a long way from backup. Don't be surprised to have them download you until they confirm you aren't a problem.

Due to size and remoteness you do need a guide or durable shoes to get started but the myth that game is gone, is... A myth

 

[Trapper]

I was drawn for archery elk at FHL in 2008, took a photo during the hunt of an elk heard with 42 tule elk. Still lots of game available on California public land. I’d consider predation from lions, wolves, and bears to be more of a threat to game populations than licensed hunters. Loss of habitat and water shortages have also had a significant impact.

 

[Radman64]

Not sure who would think hunting big game with a .223 is okay, it's not!

 

[Radman64]

Yes. There are plenty of opportunities, lots of public and shared use BLM and if you get away from cities tons of game.

In the Paso are not at all uncommon to see dozens of deer a day scores of pigs and around camp Roberts and hunterliggett herds of elk.

In my experience although frequently partnered with annoying biologists the wardens are hunters and want to help be successful. If you are actively an or breaking the rules, they should give you a hard time. There a lot of heads out there taking game illegally. There are also plenty of shady characters in wilderness areas and wardens operate on edge a long way from backup. Don't be surprised to have them download you until they confirm you aren't a problem.

Due to size and remoteness you do need a guide or durable shoes to get started but the myth that game is gone, is... A mythView attachment 225492View attachment 225493View attachment 225494View attachment 225491

I did many training exercises in that area, lots of game and what I saw was boars a lot larger then what Is around the BA.
May I ask, do you process them youself?
If not who do you go to.

 

[Deadcoyote]

I worked with a guy that came from up north CA in the late 80's that got me hooked on Abalone diving at the time, always went around the Drakes Bay area. Would be so remote, so we thought, but every time we started to pack it up here came the F&G truck to check license and inspect catch, we always passed but they would tell us so many didn't, poaching has wiped that out sadly.
Went to McKinleyville where he was from a few times, his friends were doing it all year long but at least they were harvesting proper size from what I saw and none of them were doing it to make money, just for food.
I saw homes there that had hundreds of shells decorating their yard, 10-12" all day long, the largest I ever got was 9".
I despise poachers and people who don't follow the rules, why so much is depleted. Size or time period does not matter to some demographics, they keep anything they catch.

That’s funny I grew up inland from McKinleyville. I never even thought of it but yeah there were tons of houses that used abalone shells in the same manner you might use wood chips, as ground cover all over an entire flower bed.

 

[Radman64]

That’s funny I grew up inland from McKinleyville. I never even thought of it but yeah there were tons of houses that used abalone shells in the same manner you might use wood chips, as ground cover all over an entire flower bed.

Right?
I saw one that pretty much covered the whole front yard along with their fences and porch, hundreds of shells.
Always wondered what they did to hang them up like that, I'm sure there was many others like that I never saw.
His Dad had a boat so every time I went there it was rock fishing, totally amazing what we would come back with in just 5-6 hours of fishing always reaching limit on Cab's & Perch along with a few others like Stripers & Flounders that happened to bite, the biggest Perch I've ever caught.
Coming home I always had a zip lock bag of Abalone ready for the pan his friends would give us, sad to think that lifestyle is no more.
The stories they would tell me about how abundant they were was insane but life was different back then, they simply did it for food.

 

[Darqhelmet]

I don't really know about any of that but there is a reason one can hunt them all year long with no limits in NV.
My friend has a house at the base of the Virginia Highlands, every night a pack of coyote's come through the wadi about 50' from his fenced back yard yipping like crazy, it makes one's skin crawl.
We swept an area clean one time just to see how many paw prints there were, looking at it the next day we figured it had to be around a hundred or so, crazy.

claymore time.

 

[Radman64]

claymore time.

I said the same thing, a few M18's.
Front towards nuisance, clacker activated.

 

[Indian valley headhunter]

I did many training exercises in that area, lots of game and what I saw was boars a lot larger then what Is around the BA.
May I ask, do you process them youself?
If not who do you go to.

I use Sinton & Sons in paso

 

[NATEWA]

I did many training exercises in that area, lots of game and what I saw was boars a lot larger then what Is around the BA.
May I ask, do you process them youself?
If not who do you go to.

Gut in the field and then skin, remove head and hooves before driving home. Do this back at camp or a barn/shop. Need a couple of guys, knife kit and sharpener, gamble and rope, gloves and trash bags, soap and water, etc. I can PM you pics.

Wrap in game bags and take to a butcher. Butcher said to wrap in an old sleeping bag with a block of ice (wrapped up) inside it to keep it cool during the drive. We threw a tarp down and put wrapped pigs in my friend’s suv, turned on the a/c and then hung them in his shop overnight (it was a cool night). Next morning, took them to the butcher.

My friend processed a smaller pig himself with the help of a neighbor. He said it was delicious.

I just picked up a lot of meat from the butcher. German sausages, linguica, and cuts of meat - ribs, tenderloins, shoulder, etc. I’ll probably brine and smoke it.