So after some time away from the site and shooting my air rifle, because of my 2nd child being born, I'm finally able to get back to one of the reason I got an air rifle in the first place, hunting. I took and passed my hunters safety class today so now I can get my hunting license and upland bird validation. This will be my first year turkey hunting and was wondering if you all could offer some words of wisdom or possibly have a new hunter tag along this fall season. I'm using a springer that is pretty damn accurate the last time I used it. I'm sure I'll have to sight it in again when I pick it back up. I was reading through some other forums and articles looking for areas to get started looking this year and had some decent luck on articles but not so much on forums. It appears a lot of people on other forums would rather not share areas they hunt turkey in general, not even counties to get started in.
Turkey hunting in Southern California
- Thread starter Escobat
- Start date
I've done a LOT of research on turkey hunting and come to the conclusion that So Cal public land hunting opportunities for turkey are basically nil. I suspect that reflects both population pressures and the fact that much So Cal public land is poor turkey habitat.
For upland game birds, GS and rabbits, however, So Cal is a pretty good area.
Central and Nor Cal are the key areas for turkey hunting in CA. Private land hunts are popular and give the highest odds of success. My leisure time is limited so I'm usually in favor of paying an access and guide fee to have a productive and fun hunt. Post retirement I will have time to do extensive scouting on my own.
Good luck.
R
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Thanks for the heads up. I'm in Bakersfield which is basically central . I was just thinking I could go to San Diego to get some hunting in. I was reading there could be decent hunting near SLO this year so I'll have to look into that. Where up north are good areas to get started? I'm originally from NorCal in the East Bay and still have most of my family up north.
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I've seen a lot of Turkeys near you at Lake Isabella. They wander through the neighborhoods.
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There are lots of turkeys in the Kalmiopsis wilderness. Above cresent city,Cal. and Brookings,oregon. My parents and I used to live there. Turkeys were planted there 20 or so yrs. ago. They have flourished. We would sometimes have 20 or more in the yard. We didn't take any of them. They did not know how dangerous we were. Please check your laws in respective counties. Enjoy.
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We just had that big fire that wiped out a lot of land recently. You think they're still up there?
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The area I saw several in was the community of Weldon, Lake Isabella. It was about 10 years ago though.
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