Hello From California

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thegarbrah

New Member
May 30, 2014
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CA
Hi guys, my name is Andre and I'm from Southern California and currently live in Orange County CA. I've been an avid fisherman/waterman ever since I could swim and recently got into bird hunting out in Riverside CA. I've always wanted to get into big game hunting, but its a tough task down here in SoCal due to large human to deer populations. Myself and a close friend decided to apply for prime CA big game tags and if we luck out then we'll hunt here, otherwise we're planning on hunting elk and or deer in CO this fall.

I'll be checking out all of the elk forums trying to get an idea of which units would be the best for a group of late 20's early 30's group of four trying to do a DIY elk hunt. We're all in good shape (half the group are former marine's) one is a champion free diver/ speafisherman, and ideally looking for adventure and a decent shot at finding some elk or deer.
 
Colorado Cowboy

Colorado Cowboy

Super Moderator
Jun 8, 2011
8,348
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Dolores, Colorado
Welcome Andre. As a former Californio (4th generation) who relocated after I retired 14 years ago, I can sympathize with your hunting situation. Love Colorado, great hunting & fishing. I have a friend who was a champion free driver, Terry Maas. I've got a picture of him with a 300+ pound Bluefin he speared.
 
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thegarbrah

New Member
May 30, 2014
20
0
CA
Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Colorado Cowboy I've never met Terry Maas but I'm familiar with who he is, and anyone who spears knows he's the big dog when it comes to blue water hunting and spearfishing. I have friends who are part of the OC Spearos club and some in the Long Beach club.

I'm glad I found you guys and look forward to learning and contributing to the forum!
 
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AKaviator

Veteran member
Jul 26, 2012
1,819
1,084
Welcome, where in S. Cal are you from? I was raised in Laguna Beach but moved to Alaska almost 40 years ago. Spearfishing is great fun...I miss it.
 
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thegarbrah

New Member
May 30, 2014
20
0
CA
AKaviator I'm original from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles but I moved down to Costa Mesa/Newport area last October. Laguna beach is probably a whole lot different then when you were living there, mansions, models, and a lot of money in that town. But the scuba diving there is unreal and now that the MLPA has closed off the entire area for wildlife protection all the reef's out there are full of wildlife.
 
Umpqua Hunter

Umpqua Hunter

Veteran member
May 26, 2011
3,576
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North Umpqua, Oregon
thegarbrah said:
Hi guys, my name is Andre and I'm from Southern California and currently live in Orange County CA. I've been an avid fisherman/waterman ever since I could swim and recently got into bird hunting out in Riverside CA. I've always wanted to get into big game hunting, but its a tough task down here in SoCal due to large human to deer populations. Myself and a close friend decided to apply for prime CA big game tags and if we luck out then we'll hunt here, otherwise we're planning on hunting elk and or deer in CO this fall.
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Welcome to the forum Andre. I grew up in Riverside on the north end of Chicago Avenue on 15 acres next to a feed processing plant. I had all the pigeons, crows, starlings, and ground squirrels a kid could ask for to hunt with a pellet gun. My dad paid me a bounty on the ground squirrels and trapping gophers. One day I shot a dozen crows with a CO2 powered pellet gun and voice calling them. We also had a small pond stocked with catfish and bluegills. I had a solid liver colored German Shorthair that followed me everywhere and was quite the hunter.

We used to hunt ducks and geese down in the Imperial Valley, fish stripers over at the Palo Verde Diversion Dam and take an occasional fishing charter out of San Diego. I still have a dream to head down for a two week long range trip.

I'm sorry the population of "large humans" has continued to get worse. I was 6' 3" when I left for Oregon at 18 years old, but apparently that did not help one bit!! ;) We had vacationed in Oregon every summer fishing for salmon on the coast as I was growing up. In the 1980's my parents, myself and my two older brothers and their families moved to Roseburg.

If hunting out of state for elk, you ought to begin considering archery hunting. There are still some good opportunities to hunt rutting elk with a bow on OTC hunts, especially when you are young enough to get away from the crowds. In fact you are quite a bit closer to most of the western state hunting areas I head to, than I am in Oregon.

Hope you hang around and post some stories, advice, and feel free to be a bit goofy too. We aren't ALWAYS serious on Eastman's. ;)
 
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thegarbrah

New Member
May 30, 2014
20
0
CA
Its good to meet you Umpqua Hunter. From the way you've described it, Riverside was a lot different back then. There is still a lot of grat upland bird hunting and duck hunting opportunity out in the Inland Empire, and if you look hard enough this is still untouched beauty out there. These day's the developers are coming back and the population in Riverside County is exploding due to the high cost of living in SD/OC/LA counties.

I definitely plan on exploring more of Riverside county this fall and trying to get some pheasant and quail hunting in. I was also surprised at how close I am to a lot of quality rivers and lakes now that I am in orange county. I'm strongly considering buying a kayak and rigging it up for dual purpose coastal sea fishing and maybe getting back into freshwater fishing. I currently have a boat docked out of Marina Del Rey (which I split with my dad and brother) so any fishing I do is generally ocean, and I'll do 1-2 offshore trips a year out of San Diego (usually 1.5 - 3 day trips). Last year my brother caught his first bluefin tuna on a 1.5 day trip.

I've noticed that the more I research and prepare for doing a western backpack style hunt the more excited I am to be attempting it. Even if I don't get a chance at an animal I feel like the experience of preparing, learning, and understanding what I'm doing out in unfamiliar country is a reward within itself.

Glad I'm a member on the forum and looking forward to soaking in all the information I can from fellow members
 
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newenglanguy

New Member
Feb 18, 2019
3
0
Another excellent way to access rivers, oceans and other bodies of water in California is to use a kayak. There are a lot of different options out there--sea kayak, river, hybrid. For me, I'm a fan of Vibe Kayaks, particularly the ones where you can sit on top and get on and off easily. Where I live, these give me a lot of flexibility and I'm able to fish ocean, rivers, lakes. Here's a solid write up of the Vibe Maverick 120.
 
BKC

BKC

Very Active Member
Feb 15, 2012
835
163
The high plains of Colorado
thegarbrah said:
AKaviator I'm original from the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles but I moved down to Costa Mesa/Newport area last October. Laguna beach is probably a whole lot different then when you were living there, mansions, models, and a lot of money in that town. But the scuba diving there is unreal and now that the MLPA has closed off the entire area for wildlife protection all the reef's out there are full of wildlife.
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Glad to have you Andre. What is the MLPA ?
 
87TT

87TT

Very Active Member
Apr 23, 2013
593
1,052
Idaho
newenglanguy said:
Another excellent way to access rivers, oceans and other bodies of water in California is to use a kayak. There are a lot of different options out there--sea kayak, river, hybrid. For me, I'm a fan of Vibe Kayaks, particularly the ones where you can sit on top and get on and off easily. Where I live, these give me a lot of flexibility and I'm able to fish ocean, rivers, lakes. Here's a solid write up of the Vibe Maverick 120.
Click to expand...
Almost 5 years old? Can you say spam?
 
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