33 replies to this topic

[onecoyote]

This topic should start a good conversation. I've seen it so many times, other predator callers putting down California as a totally left wing animal rights tree hugging state and that is so far from the truth. Little do they realise some of the worlds most famous hunters and fisherman come from California. Some of the best predator hunters in this country come from there. California had alot to do with this sport from the begining, as far back as the 40s and 50s California was putting out predator callers. It starts to get to me after I see that kind of garbage talking about my home state. I thought I'd post my thoughts to see if I get any support?

[Rimrock]

I couldn't agree more, onecoyote. Even though I was born in N.M. I haave lived here most of my life. It is unfornutate that California is judged by the vocal left wingers. This state doesn't take a back seat to any, and there are a lot of great sportsmen here. Even sportsmen in other states seem to get on the bandwagon of seemingly popular opinion. Most of the people I have met on aout of state hunts seem to think that California is made of beaches, cities, and guys that drive around in sycadelic (sp) pickups and look at the world through rose tinted sunglasses.

[ShooterJohn]

I think California has some of the most diverse hunting and hunting areas in the country if not the world. Not many places you can hunt from desert country to Alps like mountains and everything in between. I grew up here and have hunted many different states. All have something to offer but not the range we have in the Great State of California.

[Thumper Dunker]

Only place I know where you can stripper fish in the am and hunt yotes in the snow in the afternoon. And on one tank of gass ,( little truck)

[ShooterJohn]

I love California for what it was and hopefully will be again-we can do most anything in this state and in part that makes people from other states jealous. If we could just get the political side at least close to balanced things would change and for the better.

Okay Mr. Citrus Heights, Nazifornia

[onecoyote]

Mr Mister, some of them do know, but then again some of them don't know who Winston and Murry Burnham is lol.

[MojaveJ]

Heres another reason I'm from Kansas and have lived out here since 1992 and we have had people move from out here back there and people don't mind until they start trying to force their ideas on others. I also have friends from Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming that invite me up to go hunting and fishing with them and they feel the same way. My friends are really good people but if you ask for permission to hunt their ground and tell them that you are from cali you will probably be turned away because they all have had bad experiences with people from this state and all it takes is 1 oh sh-t to screw up a million good things. There is a farmer back home's family that won't let anyone in my family near there property because of a disagreement that our great grandfathers had and their dead.

[NVWalt]

Aside from a lot of assinine laws, California has some if not the best coyote hunting to be found. I grew up in Lompoc til my senior year in high school and the amount of coyotes and bobcats I called and killed were amazing compared to what I get today. You Californians keep comming over here to Nevada thinking we have great amounts of coyotes to shoot,Ha,Ha,Ha. We also have aerial gunning year round, ADC trappers snaring and trapping year round and every Tom, Dick and Harry going to Sportsmans Warehouse buying a video and a handful of calls or an e-caller and doing a damn fine job of educating the coyotes we do have left here. I find it pretty challenging to do as well as I do calling here anymore. And there are vast areas of sage out here that don't have coyotes in them worth mentioning. Come over and try your luck but my buddy, Ron, from Susanville keeps at me to get a California license so I can enjoy the better hunting he has in California compared to Nevada.You have one of the most diverse and beautiful states in the U.S.A. and some of the best predator hunting to be found. Come on over here to Nevada and hunt but I think you're crazy doing so when you got great hunting closer then here...Walt

[Bill D.]

I am a native Californian but spent almost 30 years in Texas. Coming back to CA was like going to red China. I don't think folks from other States doubt what CA has to offer in the way of outdoor sports and pure geographical beauty......it is strickly the stinking no good politics of the radical left. Having worked a whole career for a "real" game dept., I can tell you that CA Fish & Game sucks big time and the needs of hunters and fisherman are not their priority. F & G now is just a puppet that rolls over like a hurt puppy when they get the least amount of pressure from the friggin animal rightists. You folks that have been here forever really don't realize what has been taken away from you over the years and your rights as gunowners and hunters are eroding at a considerable rate. It's not about what CA has to offer, it is all about what you are losing as Americans in this communist controlled State! You ask why am I here.....to take care of my aging folks......when they are gone, I am gone as there is absolutely no political hope for this State unless they totally crash economically which is a real possibility because of the greed and ignorance of the voters. My CPA told me that the State of CA has been taken to court and defeated many more times than any other State over unconstitutional tax laws....prime example of your fine elected officials! Rant over....fire away!

[ShooterJohn]

You folks that have been here forever really don't realize what has been taken away from you over the years and your rights as gunowners and hunters are eroding at a considerable rate. It's not about what CA has to offer, it is all about what you are losing as Americans in this communist controlled State! You ask why am I here.....to take care of my aging folks......when they are gone, I am gone as there is absolutely no political hope for this State unless they totally crash economically which is a real possibility because of the greed and ignorance of the voters.

I can agree it has changed over the years and I don't think DFG is worth much. But it is up to the people to try and change those things and not cry about them. It is very difficult to get things changed when there seem to be so many people against that change. But some of us keep slugging away while we're here. I just lost one of my reasons for living here but have a few elder relatives left still. No, California is far from perfect but you get what you put into it and we've put crap in for a long time now. Kind of like computers, crap in crap out.

[bzzrd feedr]

I'm a Native Ca. as were my folks and my grandfolks. This state is all everyone has said but it's not the same place I grew up in. I agree with Bill D. 100%. I've got ties here I can never sever but I'd really like to find another state to call home. The hunting here is still good but how much longer? Heck Merced County has one of the highest if not the highest Duck Harvest in the country. The wild pheasant hunting has all but vanished and the planted birds just aren't the same. I could go on and on. My roots are here but not my heart anymore. I'm not bashing Ca. don't get me wrong, I guess I'm just disappointed of how the left has taken control and this last special election confirmed it. Where's the Gipper when you need him.

[onecoyote]

Awww, now we have a couple old Native Califorians that did what I did....Moved lol. NVWalt, I know about Nevada and what's happened to it in the last few years when it comes to predator calling, as I think you know. I'm really hoping this predator calling craze is just a fad and well go away soon, I hope before I die, so I can enjoy Nevada like it once did. By the way, my wife has this brain storm, she'd like to buy the town of Currie Nevada. Hey ya never know about us.Bill D, I somehow knew you couldn't keep quiet about your home state either. Do you remember Don Carper an old CVCA member that was the Director of the D.F.G in California? He was the last of the good ones. The D.F.G. has beem infiltrated by a bunch of tree hugging antis. Nowadays if you go to the DMV in southern California you have 40 foreign languages to pick from, that's one of the big reasons I moved. What really happened to California? This is my guess.We all know California has about 40,000,000 people in it and most are not from there, they are the ones who have done in the state for the most part. It all started after WWII when lots of ex Gi's started moving to California after the war from other states. The Okies and Arkies the Yorkers etc, etc. Then the deep south moved to California, Mississippi, Alabama etc. We all tried to live together but it was not easy, they kept trying to burn it down? I usually had a loaded gun under the seat of my truck because I wanted a fighting chance. I recall the Mayor of Los Angeles saying "I'm going to make this the melting pot of the World" and he kept his word. I had this great idea to move out to Roy Rogers country, far away from all those asphalt jungle people, so I did, lived in the Apple Valley area for years. Then all the sudden here they came, thousands of them. Little gang bangers, foreigners, muggers, killers, you name it. All of what the mayor of LA had promessed started moving to MY desert. I think you can understand why I get upset when people talk bad about California, they ------ it up forever. Ok, I feel better now.............Good hunting guys and Happy New Years.

[MojaveJ]

Well if any of you decide to move to another state just remeber to leave the California ideas in California and try to be mindful that the people where you may move have probaly lived there for generations and don't like the idea of change any more than any of us out here do.

[NVWalt]

Currie, nice place and good hunting around it for antelope and not too far from our place in Ruth. Ever thought about buying Cherry Creek? lot prettier and still good hunting near it. Besides, it's closer to our place than Currie and we could go after what's left of the coyotes up there, Would be a hoot, That's if we could quite BSing long enough to do some calling, Ha Ha...Walt

[onecoyote]

Mr Mister, I tried Idaho. Pretty place, lots of big game, but the coyotes start running at the site of a truck a mile away lol.New to the game, you have to remember us Native Californians went through the same thing with out of staters and foreigners telling us how to run our state. I have to agree many of the yeppie type city people don't have a clue what country living is all about, but others do. Your painting with to wide of a brush I believe. Good Hunting

[MojaveJ]

Sorry about that I should have been more specific. I was refering to the pay to play that goes on out here. I believe that everyone should be able to enjoy the outdoors and I have watched some of my favorite places to hunt become off limits because people lease up the ground and its mostly out of staters from states that have good hunting but the people can't enjoy it because of people that have money want to hoard it for themselves and its spreading like a disease accross the country and it probably didn't start in California. Most of the people I talk to hunt out of state for the same reason I go back to Kansas to deer and pheasant hunt .Because they can't afford to pay a private landowner out here to be able to hunt. I feel lucky to have so much public land to hunt out here but the BLM,NPS, and Forest Service are even making that difficult to do by closing off access roads. Sorry to ramble its not just here like I said its starting to happen everywhere and it probably didn't start in California. The powers that be seem to have forgotten that sportsmen were the ones that started conservation and private landowners shouldn't be making money off of a public resource while bit--ing about crop damage and collecting their insurance checks for that damage.

[Braz]

I have a cabin between Montgomery Creek and Burney, right near the top of Hatchet Mountain on 229E. My folks had the place since 1949. We have hunted and fished that country since the early 30's. Well, the country is owned by two large lumber companies; Roseburg Lumber and Sierra Pacific. This last year they began locking down their property. It wiped out all hunting and fishing, except for what a guy can walk to. They won't allow any vehicles. The reason they have done this is because people were taking trash into the mountains and just dumping it. Just one spot cost the Lumber Company $25 thousand to clean up. I guess I can't blame them, but it sure put a crimp on the good life we have had up there for 70+ years. So it isn't all about the other people coming in. A lot of blame has to be layed at the feet of the scumbags that have no respect for others property.

[MojaveJ]

Amen to that it only takes one jerk to make all of us look bad as for me personally I have actually had landowners stop me when hunting public land next to theirs because they saw me picking up other people trash on the public land and taking it out with me and give me written permission to hunt their ground without even asking. I think that the number of people that live here is also an issue. the more people the higher the chance of someone leaving their trash behind and the landowner has to pay some one to clean it up so they charge people to use it.I just refuse to pay so I'll keep hunting public land and keep complaing although it doesn't do any good.

[Bozsik]

I think New ?To The Game? hit it on the head for this state, the public land is over run and not managed well at all by a PC Dept. of Fish & Game.

I work for DFG and I saw this coming when the hired me 15 years ago. I was hired for the interpretive division. We were to expand the public awareness to other sectors of the population that weren't necessarily hunters or fisherman. There was a tremendous rift created by the former as to where the funding was going to go since the money comes from the H&F folks, and not the bird watchers and other nature lover folks.Now they have a big mess and new departments to fund with the same money influx as before. They needed to have the different divisions find means of supporting themselves since the H&F were doing fine on their own.db

[MojaveJ]

My cousin is a wildlife biologist for the Kansas Dept of F&G and can't believe the miss management that goes on in some other states and the biased opinions that other biologists write that the statistics show are untrue lets all just admit that some people will write a report that will say whatever you want if you pay them the right amount of money but I would rather read an unbiased report with the facts recommending that an area be closed off than one that says it because some rich anti hunter paid them to say it I probably wouldn't like it any more but atleast all of the facts would be there and they should find another way to pay for the upkeep not using our license revenue to keep up a resource that we are no longer allowed to use.If I ever win that mega lottery I think I'll foot the bill for an independent investigation into where the funds are really going.

[Bozsik]

Funny you should mention that. I used to lead those very tours until this past November. I know exactly where you are coming from. It's also interesting enough to note that anglers (fishermen for those of us old enough to remember their original title) don't get the cold shoulder that hunters and trappers get. It must be a (noise pollution issue). db

[Stiff Neck]

Cali may or may not have better predator hunting than Nevada. Depends who you ask. Folks who have managed to gain access to thousands of acres of private land in CA claim the hunting is better in CA. Of course it's good hunting on private land in just about any state. It's also true that lots of predator contests are held in NV, but nearly all of the winners hunt on private ranches, not public land. MOST CA hunters do not have access to private land to hunt on. I've been trying for the past two years now and I only have access to about 1000 acres of private land combined on two properties. Everybody else says no or I just can't get ahold of them. It's not easy to come by. Yes it's possible, but if you don't have connections, friends, backgrounds, and luck, you're out. Oh, and if you don't have a LOT of time to search for private land to hunt on, you're never going to find any. It's difficult. The average guy who has put average effort into finding private land to hunt on might have one or two places to hunt and that's it. Most folks don't have any. Take a poll right here on CPC and see yourself. If you're limitted to PUBLIC lands in CA, it's poor hunting. First of all, the BLM/public areas are few and far between. Most of them are hunted too often by too many hunters. Most BLM areas have so many restrictions that it's nearly impossible to keep track of them all. This area is shotgun/archery only. So's that one. This one is only open for a short season. That one has a different hunting season. This one has yet another hunting season. The other one has an entirely different hunting season. Forget about target shooting or sighting in, it's not allowed. Oops, your "assault rifle" can't be used for hunting here, but it can be used over there. No rimfires on this BLM land except Nov 1-Jan 15. No ATVs here. This one is closed for the first two weeks of turkey season. Bla bla bla. Also, you have to worry about all the granolas out on their nature hikes in the hunting areas. There's not a lot of accessible land, so people use what they can find. Horseback riders too, and dirt bikers. I'm constantly getting my stands interrupted by these folks on public land. The majority of CA BLM land is not accessible anyways, either because it's surrounded by private property, or because it's soo steep and rocky and thick that you can't even walk thru it. That's why Californians go to Nevada to hunt. There's so much public land, just pull off the highway almost anywhere you want and start hunting for rabbits, coyotes, etc in total privacy. Or shoot your 22 at some tin cans. Or blast a pile of rocks 500 yards away just for fun. There's no season, no license required, no limits on calibers or guns or silly things like that. Just go have fun. Drive your 4-door sedan 20 miles down some lonely dirt road and start hunting anywhere you want. Or park off Interstate 80 and hike in a mile. Or drive your 4x4 anywhere you want. You can't do that in CA. You just can't. At least not on 95% of the public lands. So if we're gonna drive 2-4 hours to some crappy CA public land, might as well drive another hour to Nevada and not have to worry about all these stupid laws and regulations. THAT'S the reason I hunt in Nevada whenever I get the chance. And for the record, I've called in 20x more coytotes on NV BLM land than I have on CA BLM land. Bill, Danny, John, Walt and anybody else out there... Try limiting yourself to CA public lands for a season and see how frustrating it is. You'd probably consider quitting. But take a ride out to NV for the weekend and you're likely to call in a handful of dogs and see plenty of jackrabbits etc. So whether it's NV or CA, you're in for a tough hunt if you're stuck with public land. But I'd pick NV in a heartbeat. Obviously, so do most CPC members since Gerlach/Black Rock is the location of the club hunts. The truth is, you're more likely to have success on a weekend hunt in NV than you are in CA on public lands. By a long shot. The end.

[Bozsik]

That was a mouth full Stiff. And if you are taking that poll now, I agree with you. I just keep looking to the bright side and keep contacting anyone I meet and ask about land. It will happen eventually. I also visit my brother while I am in NV. It gives me a place to camp out of the weather.db

[Stiff Neck]

Hey, eventually I'll get my foot in the door too. Until then, I have to keep buying more and more expensive equipment to compensate for the poor hunting areas I have access to.

[MojaveJ]

If you don't mind the drive the So. Cal deserts have plenty of BLM land to hunt and we haven't been out once this year that we haven't called in something. Most of the time we have multiple dog days and call in the occasional bobcat. We also have lots of jacks if you want to shoot them. Going up on the MNP with sherrifs dept for a 3 day this weekend. Its my first time going but the depts. 13th annual camp out.

[onecoyote]

Stiff Neck, I have limited myself to California public hunting land before and I've had some pretty good hunts. I've hunted Nevada and Arizona all on public land, now that I live in New Mexico all I hunt is public land. I have never predator hunted on a pvt ranch in my life. I probably couldn't get the amount of animals I use to in those three states because we have so many predator callers nowadays, but they can still be taken in good numbers on public land if you know where to go and how to play. I'd guarentee if they still had the California State hunts like they use to just a few years ago, it would still take 30 or 40+ coyotes to win. Did you say something about quitting? I know Bill and NVWalt have been playing this game about as long as me, I don't know about John. But between us three alone we probably have 120 or 130 years experience. And you think we'd quit?

[Cranky Farmer]

Danny,The gun laws here are NUTS!!!

[onecoyote]

SBF, do the Californa gun laws stop you from hunting on BLM or National Forest land? To my knowledge California still has lots of public land you can hunt on. One thing every predator hunter should do is carry a copy of the DFG regs.

[Cranky Farmer]

Not yet, they don't!

[Stiff Neck]

If you don't mind the drive the So. Cal deserts have plenty of BLM land to hunt

See, why would anybody in Nor Cal drive 6-8 hours to So Cal deserts (and actually have to PLAN a hunt by ordering BLM maps and calling game wardens etc) when we can simply drive 3-4 hours to Nevada and not have to worry about regulations and boundries and just hunt?

I'd guarentee if they still had the California State hunts like they use to just a few years ago, it would still take 30 or 40+ coyotes to win.

I'll call you on that one. Especially if you're limited to public land.

they can still be taken in good numbers on public land if you know where to go and how to play.

Sure, every region has it's hot spots where it's hard to fail. Like Cedarville for squirrels. But for the average CA hunter without access to private land, making a 6-hour drive each way to "good" areas just isn't reasonable for a weekend or day hunt.