New Northern California Hunter

[FloatDogg]

Hello All!

I am new to hunting. I recently purchased my first rifle a .308 AB3 Browning. I am finally able to pick it up this weekend and I plan to mount a 3x-9 scope on it. I recently completed my hunter education course and I am now able to purchase tags. I am in Northern California SF Bay area. The south bay specifically. I was curious if anyone here has any input on if I should purchase a B zone tag or an A zone tag. I am going to be doing public land hunting and I can't decide between the two. Any suggestions on what zone would be best for a new hunter? I was hoping to get a C zone tag as I have a friend up there but it seems like those go fast. Any advice is GREATLY appreciated. I am ready for a life of hunting.

 

[cahunter805]

B zone has a lot more public land to hunt than A zone.
You could also buy an A zone and a B zone and hunt both.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Head north,plenty of public land.Up past Mendicino county.
North of the Russian river.

 

[Mainer207]

Head north,plenty of public land.Up past Mendicino county.
North of the Russian river.

A buddy of mine just called me today. He bought 40 acres of remote vineyard land around willets (northern Mendocino county). I told him that I’ll have to look into the blacktail hunting. Sounds like he may have found a nice little gem.

Looks like beautiful country out there. Not sure how the tag purchasing process is though..

 

[Brow Tine]

A buddy of mine just called me today. He bought 40 acres of remote vineyard land around willets (northern Mendocino county). I told him that I’ll have to look into the blacktail hunting. Sounds like he may have found a nice little gem.

Looks like beautiful country out there. Not sure how the tag purchasing process is though..

They might have wild pigs there, too. The season is open all year. They tend to stay on private property. Getting access to private land in CA is next to impossible. Too many screwballs running around there and it's hard to trust anybody.

Some of the wild pigs are true Russian boar. A rancher was raising them and lots of them escaped. Those wild pigs are raising hell there. One day I'm going to fork out the dough to harvest one. Ask your buddy if he sees any tree stands on the property because that's probably what they're doing there.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Welcome from Iowa!

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Plenty of pigs up there! Smart suckers ,Very savy.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

A buddy of mine just called me today. He bought 40 acres of remote vineyard land around willets (northern Mendocino county). I told him that I’ll have to look into the blacktail hunting. Sounds like he may have found a nice little gem.

Looks like beautiful country out there. Not sure how the tag purchasing process is though..

Buy tags at Fish and Game or local Sport shops.

 

[brnsvllyjohn]

If I were you I would purchase a B tag. They do sell out so don't wait too long. A tags probably will not sell out but the northern A zone is mostly private and what public land there is is very crowded. Of Course there are a few places to walk in even in A zone but even walking for miles you will still encounter other hunters.
Cache Creek (A zone) burned recently but access is difficult and it can be 100 degrees out there during deer season. B zone typically is not as hot and it has more wilderness areas to get away from some of the crowds. You should look at areas that burned in the last 5 years with either tag you purchase.

In the future you need to start building points and that means buying your application and submitting it before June every year. C zone fills on the drawing day so there are no left over tags for C zone. You can get some X zones with 5-6 points and some of those zones are worth the wait or at least they are way better than the over the counter tags. If you can get away for 4-5 days late in a D zone area that still has tags you might think about trying that. Way better to hunt in late October in cold weather than hunting in August in 100 degrees. The one nice thing about Ca. is you can buy 2 deer tags. My normal year used to be one for the coast and one for the Sierras.

 

[FloatDogg]

If I were you I would purchase a B tag. They do sell out so don't wait too long. A tags probably will not sell out but the northern A zone is mostly private and what public land there is is very crowded. Of Course there are a few places to walk in even in A zone but even walking for miles you will still encounter other hunters.
Cache Creek (A zone) burned recently but access is difficult and it can be 100 degrees out there during deer season. B zone typically is not as hot and it has more wilderness areas to get away from some of the crowds. You should look at areas that burned in the last 5 years with either tag you purchase.

In the future you need to start building points and that means buying your application and submitting it before June every year. C zone fills on the drawing day so there are no left over tags for C zone. You can get some X zones with 5-6 points and some of those zones are worth the wait or at least they are way better than the over the counter tags. If you can get away for 4-5 days late in a D zone area that still has tags you might think about trying that. Way better to hunt in late October in cold weather than hunting in August in 100 degrees. The one nice thing about Ca. is you can buy 2 deer tags. My normal year used to be one for the coast and one for the Sierras.

Very informational! thanks so much. I'm going to purchase a compound bow tomorrow also. Been looking at some at BP in San Jose. I know the archery season is longer. I also know you have to practice before you can ethically try bow hunting. Any suggestions on bow hunting?? Thanks again!

 

[FloatDogg]

Plenty of pigs up there! Smart suckers ,Very savy.

in B zone?

 

[FloatDogg]

Head north,plenty of public land.Up past Mendicino county.
North of the Russian river.

thanks! Also looking into bow hunting!

 

[FloatDogg]

Welcome from Iowa!

thanks for the welcome!

 

[oldschool.06]

Welcome Float Dawg..

To everyone else there is pigs in pretty much all of CA except Down Town SF . LOL .

 

[JohnCushman]

Welcome

 

[The Yetti]

Welcome! I grew up hunting North of you, I’d go B zone, can give you some good ideas of places to look at.

 

[FloatDogg]

Welcome! I grew up hunting North of you, I’d go B zone, can give you some good ideas of places to look at.

Thank you!, So I actually bought a PSE compound bow. I'm more interested in bow hunting now lol but I need to get better from 30-40 yards out. I'm getting good grouping's at 20 yards in. I got an AO tag so I'm good in A,B and D zone. Was going to try Auburn SRA during labor day weekend. Any tips for B zone would be GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Ben Sellers]

Welcome!