Hunting Los Padres National Forrest. Safe Or Unsafe?

[Ozzymodel70]

hey Fellow blacktail hunters im seeking advice on hunting Los Padres NF. around Carmel Valley,in the Ventana wilderness. I've been pouring over maps for a few years now and the only thing holding me back is the illegal pot growing! its just something i dont want to mess with. I get my deer hunting fix in the high Sierra's. or out of state. but I live only about a hour away from Los Padres NF. I am a bowhunter and always wanted to take advantage of the july archery season I mainly Back pack hunt And want to squeeze in some overnight hunts. during archery season i usually role solo. and I just dont know alot about hunting in the area. I don't mind finding my own game. its the illegal activity that bothers me. I do know it goes on alot but just want to know how bad it is. or if i should not even waste my time. any info would be appreciated.

 

[Sawfish]

Unfortunately, it appears this is a situation we are going to have to endure for some time to come. You can either hunt the area, and use an overabundance of caution, or acquiesce and in effect lose more area to hunting. Most of the small growers won't bother you if they realize you are not a threat to their activities. The large commercial operations are another story. Only you can decide whether the reward is worth the risk. Since I hunt alone, I avoid known grower areas. However, there is always a chance that you will accidentally stumble onto an active grow site. For that reason, I always carry a side arm in addition to my primary hunting gun. Opinions are all over the box on this, but the bottom line is always the same. Is it worth the risk to you?

 

[RyanH]

As Sawfish said it seems like it's an unfortunate reality we'll have to learn to deal with. I use more caution in known grow regions and take extra care where I step, but there's something in me that says if I stop going out then they win. If you see anything that looks like it might be part of a grow, don't touch it, leave, and report it to the Forest Service.

 

[sojourner]

I accidently walked into a grow down there a few years ago. As I was tring to get ut of there I spotted a guy move into some bushes to ambush me on my way out. I was bowhunting so didn't have a side-arm.Really scary situation. Ended up trying to wait him out but after a couple hours I ended up taking a couple mile cross-country circle to get back to my car

 

[Ozzymodel70]

I accidently walked into a grow down there a few years ago. As I was tring to get ut of there I spotted a guy move into some bushes to ambush me on my way out. I was bowhunting so didn't have a side-arm.Really scary situation. Ended up trying to wait him out but after a couple hours I ended up taking a couple mile cross-country circle to get back to my car

Thats pretty scary man. Takes the fun out of it to me.

 

[badkneesbro]

You may want to check with the ranger district of that area. I wanted to hunt that area this past summer, & most of it was closed to backpacking, or at least all the areas I was interested in hunting. They are trying to let it recover from some fires that burned in there the last couple years. I scouted wilderness areas from santa barbara county to just where they had the hwy. 1 closed (mud slide) & from what I saw, most of it sux! Not sayin Im done scouting the area but most of my scouting this summer will be eastern sierras in premuim zones as Im building points."A" zone in the summer is HOT & miserable. Dont forget to wear long sleeves cuz the poison oak is unavoidable (at least for me it was). Let us know what you find out.

 

[crunchy]

Haven't checked the black tail thread in a bit.
I'm up in northern California, pretty significant issue. I really wish they would change the law of carrying a side arm while bow hunting.

 

[bohntr]

Yeah, it seems like you can encounter grows in any national forest these days in the Land of Fruits and Nuts. Sad for sure. As for true Colombian Blacktail, just know they are much further north than where the the Los Padres NF falls. If true blacktail is not important to you.....rock on and be careful.

 

[i count eye guards]

My one piece of advice would be to glass areas thoroughly before you go bumbling through them.

 

[Sawfish]

If you ever saw any segments of the short lived series: "The Emerald Triangle", it was pretty much set in true Blacktail Country.

 

[DEEF]

hey Fellow blacktail hunters im seeking advice on hunting Los Padres NF. around Carmel Valley,in the Ventana wilderness. I've been pouring over maps for a few years now and the only thing holding me back is the illegal pot growing! its just something i dont want to mess with. I get my deer hunting fix in the high Sierra's. or out of state. but I live only about a hour away from Los Padres NF. I am a bowhunter and always wanted to take advantage of the july archery season I mainly Back pack hunt And want to squeeze in some overnight hunts. during archery season i usually role solo. and I just dont know alot about hunting in the area. I don't mind finding my own game. its the illegal activity that bothers me. I do know it goes on alot but just want to know how bad it is. or if i should not even waste my time. any info would be appreciated.

I live in Carmel Valley and been hunting the area frequently. I've talked to two residents that live in the forest and they don't seem bothered by the "growers". The Soberanes fire 2016 was started by growers who left the campfire burning. One resident said he's seen DEA use helicopters to pull out grow sites. The potential to stumble upon growers does not deter me from exploring the forest in my backyard. I hollar if I experience anything sketchy. No quiero mota. Yo quiero venado.

 

[530Chukar]

I live in The northern part of the state and have hunted Trinity County a lot in the past 15 years. It’s uncommon to run into the cartel grows but they’re around. It’s so common around here that it’s literally on every property in and around the NF lands. Most people that you run into don’t view you as a threat and realize you’re only hunting. Don’t let it deter you. If you see any signs of it just stay out of that area and report it to the district office.


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[Tleek]

I didn’t grow up hunting but I spent lots of time in Los Padre NF. I saw the warning signs at trail heads but never worried to much about illiegal grows until I moved up to NorCal. If you see out of place irrigation equipment etc leave the area.

 

[Oregon]

Besides weather. Is there a positive for living in California? Serious question.

 

[ReddingArcher]

Besides weather. Is there a positive for living in California? Serious question.

The weather isn’t even good, at least where I am and most of the state from what I’ve seen. 108 yesterday and 104 today...

 

[amassi]

The weather sucks! We have 2 seasons brutally hot and windy & somewhat cold.

The pros:

Tons of public land, with actually pretty good hunting despite the mismanagement of game and forest.

Big Ag killed off the pheasants unfortunately but other upland game is plentiful and underutilized

I can deer hunt from July to November, shoot pigs all year

Absolutely overrun with turkeys, and now bears(no more hounds unfortunately)

Not a ton of point creep for draws since noone wants to hunt here. Also, not a ton of new hunters because the guys who hung it up after the 91 winter kill told all their kids and grandkids it wasnt worth it anymore.

Some of the best waterfowl hunting in the country

The best bass fishing in the country

The most diverse fishing on the west coast

I'm 90 minutes from the beach, 60 from the mountains
Less than 30minutes from 3 major rivers and a dozen lakes.

If you like to hike theres millions of miles of trails, including the pct.

The worlds 6th largest economy creates a lot of high paying jobs and so long as you avoid the slums of sf and la your cost of housing compared to those jobs ain't half bad. During the worst of the recession my wife and I didn't have to worry about work. An added bonus, our economy isn't tied to 1 or 2 industries

Cons:
Silly gun laws...just silly. Nuff said

If you look at the land mass infected with liberalism it's a small percentage of the state, I dealt with it in college but my friends and neighbors are typically nice and level headed

There truly is 2 states, south of the grapevine(sorry to the like minded individuals stuck down there) and everything else. Sf should be a district unto itself they're there own brand of bananas(similar to pdx and seatac)

unfortunately we're trapped by the politics and mismanagement of 5% of the land mass. Our resources get squandered, we get taxed to death and our infrastructure is crumbling. Special interest groups and litigation drives this nonsense and politicians just want to get elected so they pander to the lowest common denominator. Roughly 500 elected officials perpetrate this nonsense.

To the original post: illegal pot grows are a major problem
The poor bastards that work them are normally illegals in debt to the cartel for bringing them over here their families are held as ransom until after harvest. They're terrified, drunk or high and armed. So take that for what it's worth
Theres lots of general deer zones without illegal grow activity and deer to hunt.

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[Tleek]

Besides weather. Is there a positive for living in California? Serious question.

Weather can be great in some areas and awful in others. I grew up on the central coast and feel like we hovered between 60-80 year round. We got some wind but I realized how great our weather was when I moved. I lived in the Sacramento area for a few years and it was hot.

CA is a huge state with a ton of natural diversity. You can be in the deert, mountains, and on the beach in the same day. Something like 51% or our land is public. I am a new hunter and I can’t compare the state’s hunting opportunities to other western states, but over the counter deer tags, lots of small game and bird hunting, and limitless pigs if you can find them sounds great. Also great freshwater and saltwater fishing. After a day in the woods or on the water you can stop at any one of the wonderful breweries scattered throughout the state.

Living here has its pros and cons. Without getting political, there are huge cultural differences between different people and areas. I wouldn’t necessarily mind leaving the state one day, but there are a lot of things to love about California.

 

[Spaulazzo]

Just put in about 25 miles in los Padres NF outside arroyo seco area. Didn’t run into any grows. So some lion tracks. No a lot of huntable area.