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California D3-5 Possible Changes

I was born and raised in California and I remember when we basically had 2 deer hunting seasons....early & late. The early season started in August and was basically the coastal areas. The late season opened in the middle of September and ran until the end of October. In the 1960's Fish & Game started to manage the deer by "herds" and started to break the state up into zones, primarily in the high hunter demand areas. They later started the drawing system and limited the number of tags in some of the zones. They pretty much do it the same now as most of the western states. Points, limited tags and staggered seasons, depending on the area.

I left California in 2000 when I retired and have hunted some with friends and family back in California since then. The state does a pretty good job researching the big game herds, but the deer numbers have suffered. Too many lions, urban sprawl and drought have really taken a toll on them.
 
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Unfortunately too little too late. Can’t rescue that sinking ship. Especially after they just recently listed coyotes as qprojected. Until they allow predator hunting will things change. You are lucky if you even see a doe in the woods during the season. Myself and my hunting friends don’t even bother hunting deer here anymore and go out of state.
 
Unfortunately they won't do much about predators that have a way bigger impact than hunting. It's sound management, but they are only hitting a piece of the equation.
 
As it turned out out there were no changes in the D3-5 Zones. Just another smoke screen. Talk is now to reintroduce Grizzlies back into Commiefornia 🤑
 
I’ve been bear hunting the last week in a X zone, X7A. Its sad when I see more bears then deer. Only one small forky and maybe 7 or 8 does is all for days in the field.
X zones should be the best in the state to draw but it’s declined so bad. My profile picture is a buck I killed in the same unit 3-4 years ago. At that time we would see plenty of good bucks in that 160” range. Not a lot but a few. Now to only find a forky with 4 days of hunting is sad.
I know a guy that has the tag and has been out hitting it hard in the unit and they are saying the same thing.
 
I have hunted From Independence to Bridgeport from the 1950's and I have seen a tremendous amount of change in the habitat. I have shot over 50 bucks from there. Back in the 50's & early 60's the meadows were lush and lots of brush for the deer to browse and bed in. They still grazed sheep in the high country (above & below timberline). Once the Forest Service stopped the sheep, they forest and country changed. Took a long time, but the meadows grew up with pines, there was less brush and it became mostly pines. They don't log anymore and they lions are totally protected. Everything led to less suitable habitat and less deer.

I used to see at 100 to 150 deer and lots of bucks in 5 days hunting. I am posting a picture of my garage and the deer horns there. Most were taken in the High Sierras.
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California unfortunately is in a very rough spot for wildlife management and it isn't going to get better for a very long time. It's going to take some serious political changes and much like Colorado the numbers just don't favor sound wildlife management.
 
I am a 5th generation Californio who's family came there during the gold rush. My family has always hunted and fished and spent lots of time doing that. IMHO the decline of wildlife started after WWII. The population exploded, hundreds of thousands of acres were converted from natural habitat to farms, factorys, shopping centers and housing. Being in my 80's I experienced it and saw much of my open country where I used to hunt, fish and camp forever disappear. My wife and realized that we were going to leave when we retired. We spent over 20 years deciding and left 25 years ago.

Scott you are correct, it is gone and will never come back!
 
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