CA Central Valley Questions

[ffisher]

I go to UC Davis-just west of Sacremento- have an 870 12 ga express and zero waterfowl experiece- I have hunted dove and quail before, however. Any advice as to what would be a good method to go about this. We have Canadian's, Mallards, as well as numerous other species. The area is mostly rural farm land with several creeks flowing through it. Any advice as to how to approach it-as well as land owners- would be awesome.

[Californiadoctor]

I live in Elk Grove and have hunted waterfowl in the Sacramento area. Hunting on private lands is going to be difficult to do unless you are willing to pay for guided hunts with outfitters who have leased the hunting rights from the local farmers. The good news is you are right next to outstanding Public lands, the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. It is a class A area so you will have to pay extra and enter a lottery for a hunting time but the hunter succese rateis very high for duck and goose. There is a small 340 acre class C area (no extra fees or reservations required) on the Sacramento side of the Yolo causeway that I sometimes hunt in but this past year was very dry and there was very little water in the Sacramento Bypass Wildlife Area and hence very few birdscould be called into range. Hopefully, there will be some rain this year and the hunting will be better. I hope this helps.

Caldoc