Just got out of the Marine corps and it looks like ill be staying in California for awhile. Anyone know anywhere to shoot or hunt? I dont want to pay to shoot, and I already have my CA hunting license. Im looking for atleast 300 to 500 meters to shoot, any tips are greatly appreciated.
Hunting & Fishing Hunting and shooting in Southern California
- Thread starter cadehart
- Start date
If you don't want to pay, you'll have to go out to the desert. There are lots of places out near Lake Elsinore and the Inland Empire. You will have to weigh the time and cost of gas vs. paying to shoot at a range. Pala Indian reservation has a fairly decent shooting range that has steel out to 887 yards. Some of the ranges North and East of LA are pretty low on cost.
Hunting in SoCal sucks. It is mostly private land that you cannot get access to where the majority of the animals are. The public land is garbage and is over hunted. We have deer all over the place, it's just really hard to find a place to hunt them. The Palomar Mountain area and around Julian in San Diego county is your best bet. The mountains North and East of LA might offer some deer hunting. The mountains in San Bernardino County have some deer hunting. There is supposed to be deer all over Camp Pendleton, but you have to active duty to hunt there. The mountains between Orange and Riverside county hold deer, but I don't know if there is any land that is public and huntable. You can travel up to central Cal either coastal mountains or Sierra Nevadas. Costal areas have Blacktail, again, most of the land is private and leased up by hunting guides. There are pigs in Carizo Plains but are over hunted and very, very hard to find.
In this state, if you want decent hunting, you have to pay for it, or work really, really hard for it. Good luck man. Hit me up if you ever want some more info.
Thank you for your service.
Hunting in SoCal sucks. It is mostly private land that you cannot get access to where the majority of the animals are. The public land is garbage and is over hunted. We have deer all over the place, it's just really hard to find a place to hunt them. The Palomar Mountain area and around Julian in San Diego county is your best bet. The mountains North and East of LA might offer some deer hunting. The mountains in San Bernardino County have some deer hunting. There is supposed to be deer all over Camp Pendleton, but you have to active duty to hunt there. The mountains between Orange and Riverside county hold deer, but I don't know if there is any land that is public and huntable. You can travel up to central Cal either coastal mountains or Sierra Nevadas. Costal areas have Blacktail, again, most of the land is private and leased up by hunting guides. There are pigs in Carizo Plains but are over hunted and very, very hard to find.
In this state, if you want decent hunting, you have to pay for it, or work really, really hard for it. Good luck man. Hit me up if you ever want some more info.
Thank you for your service.
As rdsii64 mentioned above it might be wised to just pay the fees to shoot at the range, but it your choice. Hunting California is tough, and it feels like 80% of LA people travel north to Central Coast to hunt open A zone. Gets real stupid on opening deer A zone. Do some research on what you want to hunt and you'll find a good spot. You will have to hike to see anything good. Spotting scope and binos are must. Good luck!
Im currently active stationed in 29, the desert has the best public shooting land, but you have to set your own targets but beats spending money on range fees, otherwise like the above members have mentioned gas vs range fees will be cheaper. For hunting im not sure I just stay local for quail and dove, either on Pendleton or 29, for deer on Pendleton you can be a civilian and is on a draw system. I talked with the DNR last year and it fills up fast, but active get first come first serve but it sounded like a lot of marines or sailors don't hunt on base. Hope that helps man
I am local to So Cal....do a bit of coyote hunting....always looking for someone to hunt with and explore new spots. Pm me if you are keen to hunt some time.
Unless you plan on living as a desert rat you might as well do the smart thing and leave the state ASAP !
I grew up in Cali and left in 94 , Archery in the sierras was OK then but getting a rifle hunt for anything other than Hogs was near impossible . I moved to NM ( it seemed like a good idea at the time ) and although it was good for awhile I'm looking forward to retirement in either ID or MT !
Fucking NM , the anti's have all but put a stop to coyote contests and NMDGF would rather give away land owner tags for no reason other than inflating their budget ! , most are sold to non residents and most are crap units unless you fork out $ 8,000.00 or more to the welfare ranchers ! in the better units . JMHO !
I grew up in Cali and left in 94 , Archery in the sierras was OK then but getting a rifle hunt for anything other than Hogs was near impossible . I moved to NM ( it seemed like a good idea at the time ) and although it was good for awhile I'm looking forward to retirement in either ID or MT !
Fucking NM , the anti's have all but put a stop to coyote contests and NMDGF would rather give away land owner tags for no reason other than inflating their budget ! , most are sold to non residents and most are crap units unless you fork out $ 8,000.00 or more to the welfare ranchers ! in the better units . JMHO !
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