Ya, Have Bow... I have a thing to say:
Reading your question I almost fainted in my chair . Imagine I am in the same situation; my wife is trying to get me move to Sacramento. Actually I want to move somewhere west but she will not go anywhere there is good hunting (no WY, no MT, not even AK, dam it!). So, I am doing research, and talking about hunting, it looks pretty bad out there in CA.
However, considering I am now in FL (ohhh, boy!), it's an improvement. Looks like there is plenty of wildlife there (even though you cannot hunt them), and I love hunting with a camera too. There is tule elk, sheep, waterfowl, and so on. Please whoever can give some advice, are there wildlife sanctuaries with no hunting, like places you can go and be away from people, sneack up on some creatures and take pictures????

Next thing, this year I am on the road for 2 days to go hunt KS and MO (>25 hrs driving- one way). From Sacramento (well I hope is not going to be Sacramento, maybe some little town close by ) I can drive to WY, maybe MT, so what the hell?!

So, there we go, there is two of us, I hope we get more help from the veterans out there in CA.

One more thing; is there a way to hunt private land there in CA, NV... without selling your house? (I mean for a couple thousand $$).

25 years ago, why the hell didn't I marry a good hunter and a man?!