Hunting in SoCal

[9092SD]

Agreed with everything folks have said above. CA can be tough due to low deer numbers and tough terrain.

Get off the road and wear out some boot leather. Also, in the greater SoCal hunt zones predators (coyotes, bob cats and mt lions) are plentiful - bob cats just moved into protected status as of 1/1/20 and Lions are also off limits - watch your 6.

 

[Bubblehide]

I know some time has passed, wanted to revamp the thread maybe spark up a convo. Just got stationed here last month, moved from south carolina. Was just starting to get into bow hunting before i left, was lucky enough to meet some awesome guys with tons of land in the south. Definitely don't have that luxury here LoL. I've done a bunch of research into hunting SoCal areas and it looks like an awesome challenge I'm 100% ready for. Wondering if anyone was looking for an apprentice or even a new friend to show the ropes to? (can also rifle hunt) A friend of mine back in SC mentioned this website and said it was a good starting point with a lot of good dudes on here, figured I'd take a shot, throw up a flag lol

JDay, I know a Jim Day; his father was abonified war hero. Any relation?

 

[JDay23]

JDay, I know a Jim Day; his father was abonified war hero. Any relation?

Haha not that i know of! But thats awesome!

 

[frank033]

I know some time has passed, wanted to revamp the thread maybe spark up a convo. Just got stationed here last month, moved from south carolina. Was just starting to get into bow hunting before i left, was lucky enough to meet some awesome guys with tons of land in the south. Definitely don't have that luxury here LoL. I've done a bunch of research into hunting SoCal areas and it looks like an awesome challenge I'm 100% ready for. Wondering if anyone was looking for an apprentice or even a new friend to show the ropes to? (can also rifle hunt) A friend of mine back in SC mentioned this website and said it was a good starting point with a lot of good dudes on here, figured I'd take a shot, throw up a flag lol

Whats going on man, you out of pendelton? Somewhat new to all the so cal hunting myself but been putting in miles with a bow, seen plenty of does and glassed up some bucks all while having a helluva a time. Going scouting soon, lets get after it !

 

[ediggity]

Reviving this old thread. Great read. I've been rifle and bow hunting a couple of years in So Cal with only one forky. I put in the time and scout. I have only ever seen one forky... ONE. I see a doe maybe every 2-3 trips (although one day-hunt I saw like 5). This is D11... I try to hunt weekdays when I can. I have not hiked and camped in for a couple of days yet... small kids and just can't get away. I have better than average optics and gear. I have ON-X, use google earth, etc.

I'll be honest... I try to get off the roads and into remote areas, but I just don't understand how it's possible in D11. The terrain is almost impossible to get through... so it feels like I'll bump everything from the area. And no matter what in D11, it seems like I am near a road! There is no remote area I can hike 7-8 miles into as far as I can tell.

I guess my basic question for you D11 backcountry hunters is this.... are you bushwacking your way through the dry areas and forest to find these remote areas? Or are you on actual hiking trails??? Does getting off the roads also mean staying off the trails? I AM NOT ASKING FOR A SECRET SPOT. Just the techniques to locate remote areas and and how to access them/handle the terrain.

 

[JakeSCH]

its not about distance from road...its about 3 things (water, food, shelter). Find those and you will find deer.

I can't tell you how many times I hiked up large hills, climbing 1k to 2k vertical feet only to see deer down by the truck because that was the closet area to water. Plus if more people go in further in, the deer just move closer to the road.

 

[87TT]

I only hunted D11 a couple of times years ago (40?). I have hunted D14 more and all over the state before they had zones.
That said, the deer will need water. There is more water in there than you would think. In my experience, a lot of times they water at night. Try to see where the tracks are coming from and going and set up a ways from the water and catch them leaving in the AM. They usually don't "live" in the thick stuff but will be around the edges. They do like steep draws that are somewhat open. In warmer times they rest in the shade on the shady side of the mountains. I killed a majority of my bucks during the last week of the season ( several on the last day) because the bucks are moving more and entering the rut. They will be out all day. Also because I located them and figured out where they traveled. Most of them were within 1/4 of a road.

 

[TheGDog]

Yeah... as others have said... you're going to have to be scouting all during the rest of the year, just to be half able to ensure you're going into a place that at least for sure will have some deer in it. And then... the challenge becomes hitting that place up enough that eventually thru sheer amount of time spent out there you finally get the chance to even *see* a buck! And you're only going to see that buck either early in the morning up to maybe 9a... then possibly again later on at like 5p+. If you're not in there BEFORE the sun comes up... and not staying in until after the sun goes all the way down. You're very unlikely to see anything.

Depending on location you pick... you may be dealing with very open long-distance rifle-only shot opportunities...OR... it'll be a thing where you are in thick... sitting in ambush with bow or gun overlooking one of the few places where they can travel thru an open area running thru a vast see of thick chaparral.

You're going to see a LOT of does before you finally ever get to see a buck.

Unless you go to places where hunting is not allowed. Or where there really isn't a way to overnight park your vehicle. Then you'll see decent bucks which routinely descend down close into foothill neighborhoods to access water or feed on something in somebodies yard.

EDIT:
In general, find those places where they can graze/browse in the shadows of a hill in the early morning, that have a good enough quantity of big enough bushes they can also stuff themselves whole into them as the sun rises high in the sky midday. And if those fingers and draws are kinda down and in, creating nooks where the strong winds of the area don't blow down into so much, making a much warmer place to be when the fall into winter winds starting to get fast and much colder out there. Might be like 35F-40F when you're up on top of some of the ridges where the winds howl over them. But... same day... if you get down into one of those ravines where those fierce winds aren't reaching... it can be like 70F-75F down in there! So it's ideas like that to. Get to thinking and remembering about little things like that you notice about an area. The places that are such that they offer some kind of comfort/protection from the more harsh elements you notice of that area. A place out of the wind when it's cold, a place that has nice breezes when it's hot. Places that offer them a good safe-feeling place to enjoy the last bit of warmth from coming in from the setting sun. Stuff like that.

 

[ediggity]

Thanks guys... I welcome and appreciate the advice so much! I do get in well before dark... but a lot of the time I only hunt 1/2 day. Like 4AM - 10AM... then I head home to deal with family, virtual homeschool bullshit, etc. Sometimes i head back and try to get in a spot an hour or two before sunset. But I am missing hours of glassing between 10-3 or so. I this severely hurting my chances?

I think I'm hearing you guys say to hunt SMARTER by finding food and water. You're right... I have read a ton about what they eat, but I can't identify the food. I know of a few water sources... but I stupidly I assumed those would be over pressured so I wasn't even focusing on them.

I'm hunting for food... Luckily I drew an A31 tag so I think i'll be able to fill that. My rifle buck tag is tough to fill.

Thanks guys!

 

[bohntr]

Thanks guys... I welcome and appreciate the advice so much! I do get in well before dark... but a lot of the time I only hunt 1/2 day. Like 4AM - 10AM... then I head home to deal with family, virtual homeschool bullshit, etc. Sometimes i head back and try to get in a spot an hour or two before sunset. But I am missing hours of glassing between 10-3 or so. I this severely hurting my chances?

I think I'm hearing you guys say to hunt SMARTER by finding food and water. You're right... I have read a ton about what they eat, but I can't identify the food. I know of a few water sources... but I stupidly I assumed those would be over pressured so I wasn't even focusing on them.

I'm hunting for food... Luckily I drew an A31 tag so I think i'll be able to fill that. My rifle buck tag is tough to fill.

Thanks guys!

The prime time for the rut in A31 is winding down.........get out there asap.

 

[ediggity]

well, i can get out one day for 1/2 day before season ends. lol. i'll do my best!
although that A31 goes through the end of the year and I am not particular to finding a buck with that antlerless tag.

 

[Ryguy]

Hike on a trail and jump off areas you e-scouted that look promising. My experience is the further you go the more likely you’ll see deer. Go where no one wants to an you’ll find them


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Block]

Reviving this old thread. Great read. I've been rifle and bow hunting a couple of years in So Cal with only one forky. I put in the time and scout. I have only ever seen one forky... ONE. I see a doe maybe every 2-3 trips (although one day-hunt I saw like 5). This is D11... I try to hunt weekdays when I can. I have not hiked and camped in for a couple of days yet... small kids and just can't get away. I have better than average optics and gear. I have ON-X, use google earth, etc.

I'll be honest... I try to get off the roads and into remote areas, but I just don't understand how it's possible in D11. The terrain is almost impossible to get through... so it feels like I'll bump everything from the area. And no matter what in D11, it seems like I am near a road! There is no remote area I can hike 7-8 miles into as far as I can tell.

I guess my basic question for you D11 backcountry hunters is this.... are you bushwacking your way through the dry areas and forest to find these remote areas? Or are you on actual hiking trails??? Does getting off the roads also mean staying off the trails? I AM NOT ASKING FOR A SECRET SPOT. Just the techniques to locate remote areas and and how to access them/handle the terrain.

Try a different zone.. that sounds MIZ

 

[TheGDog]

You don't necessarily need to get all that far from roads... however... the roads they might be comfortable being near to will be roads that you, me and the guy next door don't have access to by car. So you gotta be comfortable with hoofing it in a long ways. One spot in Bobcat Fire closure area that I've been wanting to go back to for bear, for a couple of years now. But it's like 7miles all downhill getting in there, which means 7 miles all uphill when you leave.

The thing about D11... is you can never trust that where you were in there scouting... will be open, road-wise for you to get BACK in to there when the season comes around! It's infuriating to the point of murderous rage how many times those aholes have closed off a road or trail, and you don't know about until you're right there at 3am. And why? Because at least 3 different agencies at any time can decide to close the roads in there.

Any inclement weather? And they close Hwy 2 coming in from La Canada because if they don't.... they get tired of scraping dumb@ss wannabe "Fast and Furious" mofos off the side of mountains when they crash and burn and go over the side rails. Because their too dumb to realize they maybe shouldn't be doing that isht when it's raining or snowing. Don't think about black ice, etc.

Even in the Northern Hemisphere of D11 (between 5 fwy and 14 fwy) you'll run into gates closed in your face! And they BARELY just allowed you back in... then closed due to lake fire... then let ya back in, so I fetched my trailcam trapped for 1+ years in there. Then make plans to come back.... only to be slapped in the face with gate closures again when trying to go predator calling and explore up in Mt Liebere. One time yes, next time no. For no perceivable good reason.

The thing is they are lazy and selfish in D11.... their solution is always just close people out of places. Like if budget gets a lil thin, so personnel gets stretched thin, they fear liability issues in their ability to respond to help calls, and there's soo many disrespectful tards coming thru in the trashy hangouts anyways who'd blame em for having that attitude. But it's not fair and just, since obviously I'm not those people coming in and being trashy. I'm among those people that try to creep in and be quiet and notice everything. And if I see something some other human has done that's Eff'd up, I'll try to either handle it... or at least give a call to a rangers office if it's something egregious, like this one time in D15 I came upon a fire site where first of all there shouldn't be one at all if your sane! And thye drug like a 6" diametered fallen tree onto this fire they'd had! The kicker? They didn't even bother to put it out! Under the ashes it hissed like a snake with every bagful of water me and the fam douce on it using the plastic bags and alcohol bottles (and pair of shorts??) they left behind. Making sure it was dead before we left. And I even took back out the table-top style charcoal grill that was beat to crap that they left up there, lest some other "genius" gets this same idea in their heads!

But yeah... D11 is a big question mark / roulette-wheel spin every time of whether or not they're gonna EFF you outta access last minute. Now I only bother going in their looking for bear because I had two face-to-face encounters in there in one day back in 2015. And I'll do predator calling in the more desert sides of it.. Other than that, I don't like to waste my time in there due to that reason of you can never trust if you'll get screwed out of access last minute. Now I'll only go for last minute tries for bears, or when the wifey wants to go on hikes with this group she joins. Cause if either one of those falls thru, I'm not gonna be as peeved as I would if they screwed me outta my deer season again.

My advice is... if closeness makes you feel that this is your only option... you dang well better investigate and come up with at least 3 or 4 options for sites you might want to try hunting when the season comes around. Just so you have options when they hold true to form and EFF you outta some access that was part of one of your planned spots. So at least you won't be left high and dry with no clue what to do.