entropy4money

Hi all,

I am relocating from the east coast to LA for job purposes next year. I've been hunting for two years and I got really into it. I do mostly bowhunting, I really love bowhunting and I have gotten pretty good with my bow. I also do rifle, but here on the east it isn't really that much fun. I am excited to give rifle hunting a try out west, but my thing really is bowhunting.

The problem is that I wish I was relocating to Colorado, UTAH, or at least northern California. I've been wondering what my options for hunting are if I live in the greater LA area. I could drive to other states, but have no idea where there's good hunting. From what I've heard, there's not good hunting in southern California. Is it worth it for me to buy a license in California at all?

I don't do guided hunts. I am looking mostly for public land, and easy permission private. I am not asking for "secret spots" just general areas I should consider.

Thanks!

Oldtimr

Vermont to LA, man are you in for a culture shock. You couldn't pay me enough to live in LA. I hope you find a place to hunt.

entropy4money

That's about right... not very happy about the situation, but what can I do?. It would hopefully be a temporary thing.

CalHunter

Stick around. There's a few guys on here from So-Cal and they can give you more pointers and ideas on where to go. There's still places to hunt also. One of the hardest deer zones to hunt in So-Cal is down south and all of our sheep zones are down there as well. You'll have to drive some to get out of LA but if you're able to drive all the way from the east Coast, you'll be fine.

jeepkid

A lot of guys down there hunt the Tejon Ranch.

There's actually a decent amount of public land for hunting in SoCal.

entropy4money

I am willing to drive a few hours, and do multi-day backpacking trips if necessary. I am mostly interested in deer and turkey. I've never tried pigs, so I am definitely going to try get some hogs.

I would like to find a place I could drive and stay for a long weekend, or a week, with really good hunting. And a "closer" place I could go everynow and then. That's what I do here. I hunt Vermont big woods for fun and because I can get to the green mountain forest in 10 minutes... But I've done long weekend hunts in southern New York, and Penn.

Hunting in Vermont is not the best, but it is a lot of fun. There's a good hunting culture here, and a lot of land to hunt. Most of the land is private but open to hunting because almost everybody grants permission, and nobody charges for it. Public land hunting is wild and beautiful for northeast standards. I am gonna miss it. I am also going to miss the abundance of trees and using my lone wolf climber.

I am going to be living around to Pasadena if that makes any difference.

Champlain Islander

Good luck with the move. Yup going to be way different from Northern Vt.

younggun308

Best of luck with the move, mate!

I would imagine that there's got to be some sort of store or community in the greater LA area where a bunch of guys know each other and would be happy to help you by giving some pointers.
Here's an old thread from another site that at least notes a couple public areas. It does look like rifle hunting might be more "fun" and challenging for you out there than it is in VT.
http://www.biggamehunt.net/forum/rel...-hunting-there

CalHunter

In general, you'll be around 20 minutes from the Angeles National Forest (ANF) which is just North of you. It's around 700,000 acres or so which leaves you just shy of 1100 square miles of hunting. They don't allow hunting in some experimental forest there (San Dimas I think) but allow hunting in the rest (majority) of the forest. It's currently a lead free zone but so far, lead free rifle ammo is less than $5 a box more. Turkey hunting shotgun ammo is a little more expensive. That should take care of your "day trip" hunting area needs.

If you can make it to the Tejon ranch, you should. I haven't hunted it but have driven past it and looked around on satellite maps. That is some good looking hunting country.

It will be a change for you but also a chance to hunt new areas and maybe use some different tactics. Chances are you'll never hunt through all of the country available but it's a lot of fun trying.

CalHunter

Something else I forgot to add is that you can also buy an OTC bear tag for archery or rifle seasons. In CA, they sell bear tags OTC and then cap the hunt at 1700 bears taken or December 31st, whichever occurs first. As of yesterday, we are at 1260 bears taken. It adds a little bit to your deer hunt, knowing you have a bear tag in your pocket as well.