California Hunting First time

[SkyMasterM]

Hey guys,
New to this forum. I live in Orange County and was looking to join a few guys that can show me the basics and possibly hunt with them. I haven't gotten any tags yet and with it being the 29th of may I want to see what you guys recommend before i buy tags. If anyone can help me out i would appreciate it.

 

[CaliforniaMuley209]

im in nor cal. But definitely start building points in the draw. Hunt you local OTC zones and learn a little for a few years then in 4 or 5 years when you have some points you can maybe cash in on a decent unit.

 

[klxracer92]

I would highly suggest CaliforniaMuley’s advice.
I would also dedicate your free time to a local unit that you can scout all year around. Focus on time in the field... enjoy the experience and all the wonderful struggles that come along with hunting.

 

[Rob5589]

Welcome aboard!

 

[SkyMasterM]

How would i be able to save the points for other years? Should I just go for a D15 tag for now?

 

[Rodéo]

How would i be able to save the points for other years? Should I just go for a D15 tag for now?

Follow the advice above. Pretty sure you live in A zone so buy an A zone tag and find some public land or a private land connection nearby in that zone that you can hunt frequently.

You "build" preference points by buying one straight up every year in the drawing, I believe the code is "PD" but I could be wrong. Or, you can build preference points by applying for a premium zone as your first choice and not being selected. The more preference points you build, i.e the more years you miss out on your first choice, the more likely it is that you'll draw a hard to get tag in the future when you know what you're doing.

 

[SkyMasterM]

Follow the advice above. Pretty sure you live in A zone so buy an A zone tag and find some public land or a private land connection nearby in that zone that you can hunt frequently.

You "build" preference points by buying one straight up every year in the drawing, I believe the code is "PD" but I could be wrong. Or, you can build preference points by applying for a premium zone as your first choice and not being selected. The more preference points you build, i.e the more years you miss out on your first choice, the more likely it is that you'll draw a hard to get tag in the future when you know what you're doing.

Im at the website and I placed pd for my first choice but it wont allow me to put pd in hunt second choice. should I just place D 14 and D12 since i live by those areas?

 

[Rodéo]

Just looked at the zone map and realized OC is in D15... disregard what I said about A zone unless you have a spot there. Yeah, if I were you I would do preference point first choice. Second choice I would go D12 since it looks like lower hunter numbers by 66% and the same success rate. 3rd choice go D14 and you should have no problem getting the tag if you don't draw D12. Not sure about the public land situation in those zones though so do some research on where you'd go hunting in those areas before you put in.

 

[Ryguy]

SoCal is brutal. Hunt your local stuff and learn how to find game. Then go hunt out of state bc the deer numbers are low and hunter numbers are high. You can find success but it’s tough. D14 is now “premium” with a success rate of 15%. My opinion that is far from premium. I know it’s premium based on sell out date but still shows the lack of game management in this state


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rodéo]

SoCal is brutal. Hunt your local stuff and learn how to find game. Then go hunt out of state bc the deer numbers are low and hunter numbers are high. You can find success but it’s tough. D14 is now “premium” with a success rate of 15%. My opinion that is far from premium. I know it’s premium based on sell out date but still shows the lack of game management in this state


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is D14 really premium now?! Holy smokes...

 

[badkneesbro]

If you can find it at your local big5 or walmart or whatever, pick up a copy of the "Big Game Hunting Digest" put out by the Ca. DFW. It's a great place to start with a lot of good info. You can also find it on their website under "learning" then click publications.

 

[badkneesbro]

Is D14 really premium now?! Holy smokes...

So's D12.

 

[SkyMasterM]

Thanks for the tips guys. Really appreciate it. Anyone here willing to team up later in the year?

 

[87TT]

I hunted and lived in D14 since it was D14 and before. I haven't hunted it for 6 years but I have a hard time believing a 15% success rate. Highest I ever remember was 9% and pretty sure from what I hear from others that still hunt there, that it hasn't got any better. The only reason it's become "premium" is because they keep lowering quotas on X zones so more people are hunting it. That said, you can find deer in there. two things, water and work(lots of scouting).

 

[JustHunt]

So Cal is a tough deer hunt. Do yourself a favor and plan an out of state hunt. In the meantime apply for CA deer points, and when you have enough of them, hunt one of the X zone units.

 

[klxracer92]

Im at the website and I placed pd for my first choice but it wont allow me to put pd in hunt second choice. should I just place D 14 and D12 since i live by those areas?

Preference point or a premium area has to be inputed as your first choice. I’d be more than happy to help you over the phone if you have any questions. I’ll do my best to help you.

 

[horniac]

Lots of good advice so far.

If you haven’t applied yet, look at the CA Fish and Game website for the 2020 Big Game Digest as another poster mentioned. Look at the drawing odds table and the hunts with the most applicants will be the very best hunts in the state. Pick one of those that work with your available hunt dates, geographic location, and weapon of choice as your 1st choice. This will be your lottery pick and you will not draw it unless you are extremely lucky entering the draw with no points. However, if you do you will have a good or great hunt depending on what hunt you apply for. Then put D-14 as your second choice. Assuming you don’t draw your 1st choice you will end up with a preference point and they will mail you a D-14 tag. Tags drawn with your 2nd choice don’t utilize points. For example, you could put X9-C as your 1st choice and have about a 5% chance of drawing a random tag this year. If you draw it, the success rate was approximately 3x that of D-14 last year and you will be hunting mule deer with less competition. Or you could choose G3 as your 1st choice and have around a .04% chance of drawing a tag. If you think you are the lucky type and think that you are going to draw your 1st choice and have the time you could also buy a D-14 tag on a second deer tag app or perhaps over the counter (sold out 6/24 last year) and potentially have 2 hunts/tags to fill. In any event, I would put a dream hunt as your 1st choice as opposed to just a point. You never know you might be one of those lucky types!

Hope this helps and good luck!

Horniac

 

[SkyMasterM]

Wow thanks for all the advice. So what i ended up doing was pd, D14, and X12(Heard good things about this place.) Now that i placed these hopefully lady luck is on my side. Now lets say I get lucky and manage to land a buck. Any advice on what to do since I dont know how to skin one or does anyone know of a good butcher that could teach me how to do this? I dont think youtube videos will give me that hands on experience.

 

[Ryguy]

Wow thanks for all the advice. So what i ended up doing was pd, D14, and X12(Heard good things about this place.) Now that i placed these hopefully lady luck is on my side. Now lets say I get lucky and manage to land a buck. Any advice on what to do since I dont know how to skin one or does anyone know of a good butcher that could teach me how to do this? I dont think youtube videos will give me that hands on experience.

You heard good things about D14?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JRMiller]

I’m in Orange County. My best advice is don’t waste your time with So Cal.
The X zones up north are the only decent zones but it takes near a lifetime of points to get a tag for them.
I don’t mean to sound discourging, but i was a newbie like yourself many years ago and I wasted a LOT of time hunting my home state in vain.
I just don’t want you to do the same.
PM me if you’d like more recommendations.