CAhunterdave

I am an experienced CA hunter that wants to hunt in a different region. I dont want to take the trip to gamble on an area 'I think' is active but I also dont want to overpay to enjoy the woods (so no outfitters).
How have you expanded your hunting grounds to distant places?

or have you stayed in the same area because of the unfamiliarity of other areas?

super_hunt54

Ahhh the old question of "how to hunt a place I don't have any friggin clue about?" Well, having traveled all over this great nation of ours chasing about every edible critter there is, I have 3 choices for you. 1: Fork out the bucks to travel there a couple of times pre season and try to get the lay of the land. 2: Check around here and other hunting forums to try to gather some information about the area you intend to hunt. Could accidentally find some intell. 3: Spend the bucks for a reputable outfitter/guide to help you out. There are many in many states (since we have no clue about where you are thinking of doing this) that have services that will be exactly what you need. Some are expensive that do everything for you except shoot the gun while others that are extremely affordable will simply assist you in knowledge of the area and guide you to where they have scouted quality animals.

This is up to you. Your only other choice is to go in completely blind and hope for the best. Personally I hunt for meat so I don't go in blind. I don't like blowing my money that I have worked extremely hard for all of my life so if it's in an area I have no clue about and haven't been able to get there to do some pre season scouting, I will use one of those simple services in a heartbeat. I've done this stuff so long that there are few places I go anymore that I don't have at least a viable idea of where to hunt nowadays. But in the past I have had absolutely no qualms about hiring a guy that has been able to get out there and do some scouting for me. Most of them love me to death because I could care less about horns. I want the fattest and tastiest animal in the group! I can't eat horns! They simply point me in the right direction and I go look for some dinner! It's not always 100% but it sure beats hell out of going in 100% blind.

flags

Use google earth. It is a pretty good tool for looking at places you have never been. You can zoom in pretty close and can get the GPS coordinates of things like meadows, bottlenecks, water etc... One thing to be careful of is looking at the dates of the images. If they are very old you may not want to put much faith in them or verify them through other means but it is still a very effective tool.

I used google earth when I live in FL to find a few clearings in the middle of really thick brush. One of those clearing produced 3 bucks in 2 years and I never would have known it existed without google earth.

olsaltydog

As mentioned above, google earth will help. All states should now have a website for their hunting/ fishing management and each do tend to carry maps online to public hunting areas. These sites will give you the boundaries and google earth can give you an idea of terrain and features you may be coming across or to help you focus on. Also look at hunter statistics as well as harvest statistics for areas. Each site should also contain management plans for zones that will give you idea of how many deer per square mile. The more the better.

Call local outdoors shops in the area and you may find someone with a few minutes to answer some of your questions or even offer you some advice. Worse they can do is say they got nothing for you or blow smoke up your bum. Also area game wardens are only a call away and can help.

Pre-scout the area if you can.

Outfitters could be an option as well.

MudderChuck

In the south it is easier than the north. Water is scarce in the south. I use military grade maps, the old style relief/topographic maps. Every water hole and most of the seeps are marked.

I make my own overlays showing public lands. And try to research them as much as possible. Sometimes there are restrictions you don't know about. Most of the time you run into trouble, it is just a bluff and some rancher who owns the grazing rights and thinks he owns the property. BLM, State and Federal exclusion zones and open zones are seldom found all on one map.

Google earth and GPS make it a lot easier than it used to be.

I often look for creases between National Forest and State Parks, BLM or State lands that are usually leased to somebody for grazing. And/or don't neglect the spots that are mining claims on public lands. In reality those no trespassing signs may not mean much beyond the claim holders ability to intimidate you or maybe get the local law to write you a citation that isn't valid.

I've found some dandy spots that have been overlooked by many.

Don't be afraid to research close to home, I'd bet there are spots nearby that are a well kept secret.

A good place to start, http://www.fs.fed.us/maps/ . Fish and game also has maps, as does the BLM and the State. A lot easier now with the internut, though there is the likelihood of information overload. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/rec...n/hunting.html

http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/b2c/s...933300)8933352

People that have found good hunting spots tend not the share much . The exception is often the Mom and Pop gun shops.

Rob in VT

Do you have anything good to offer in CA in terms of hunting, fishing, bird hunting, or maybe a weeks vacation? Do a Swap Hunt with someone. Check out the Swap Hunt forum on here.

Alsatian

How about telling us a bit about the kind of hunting you want to do. That could help. It makes a difference whether you intend to engage in do-it-yourself pronghorn antelope hunting, do-it-yourself elk hunting, or do-it-yourself duck hunting.

One strategy to consider is to attach yourself parasitically to a hunter already engaged in the kind of hunting you want to branch out into. There are many hunters who are willing to help a neophyte hunter (if only new to the specific hunt type) learn the ropes. I have been a beneficiary of that in do-it-yourself elk hunting. If you manage to work that angle, be on your very best behavior: carry your share of the workload, take care of yourself, be considerate of your hunting mentor and any other hunting partners. Such civility is a step in the direction of being invited back again in the future.

Another strategy is the Nike strategy: just do it. Get your azz out there, get a license, go, and hunt. You might not succeed, but you will learn something and can get better over time. Read books. Think about it. Do some detective work. Hmmm. Elk prefer cool weather. That means they want to stay cool. How do elk stay cool? They stay high on the mountains, as high as they can, until they can't any more (when heavy snow comes). Just a simple reasoning path like that can be very helpful: if you want to hunt early, you need to hunt high (for those of you from Colorado, I mean at a considerable elevation above sea level); if you want to hunt late, you need to hunt low where snow won't prevent your even getting to the hunt area. You probably won't succeed the first time at the Nike strategy, but you will learn a lot. And you will have fun. Hunting isn't about being successful ever time out. It is a path of being, excuse my zen-ness.

If you hunt without veteran companionship, be mindful of the risks involved. If you hunt near timberline in the mountains, there are serious risks involved. If you duck hunt in sloughs in cold weather, there are serious risks involved. Take the risks into consideration and have contingency plans. Without veteran companionship, you won't even know what all the risks really are, so bear that in mind. Most dangerous is hunting alone. I'm not saying to NOT do it, I'm saying to first honestly identify your risks and then manage your risks prudently.

CalHunter

Here's an interesting link for you to consider.

http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/con...eation-leisure


Aside from that, you've been given some very good advice. You did ask people what "they" do and many of them have told you. Alsatian brought up a really good point. If you know what you want to hunt and at least what state, people could probably give you more specific advice. They might be focused on elk hunting and you're really thinking of varmint hunting, etc. It helps if you can give them more specifics. There are several extremely knowledgeable members about many of the western states and Canada for hunting so you would likely get some pretty good advice that is more specific (and thus more useful) in your quest.

archeryelk1

A call to the State of your choice's Fish & Game office to talk with a wildlife officer can really help too. Many of them also hunt and are happy to help.

startmyhunt

As mentioned above, try taking a look at some of the other forums for elk hunting maps. My name will come up.