Bay Area FNG

[flinginarrows]

Hey folks,
I've been lurking and using the forums for a while now but never posted anything because I found the forums intimidating as a total noob who doesn't know anything :| .... gotta start somewhere though. I decided I want to get into hunting in early 2016 and went to BPS to check out rifles. I ended up getting lost in the archery section for a little too long, went home and did research on bow hunting and that was the end of it for me. Got a bow, learned to shoot, but haven't killed anything yet. I've tried to go out for pigs on public lands within ~3 hours drive of San Jose but have never actually seen a live pig (I'm starting to doubt they exist, it's all just a ruse to generate tag sales at ~$25/tag). I was in Mendocino National Forest for deer last year but had no luck.

Thanks all!

 

[KNPV PSD]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[JohnnyB]

Welcome to the forum, since you've been lurking you know this place is a black hole for time and money....

 

[flinginarrows]

Welcome to the forum, since you've been lurking you know this place is a black hole for time and money....

Lol! I can see how it can be but since I started out without ANY gear , the whole experience has been a black hole for money. All my purchases have been preceded by Google searches for '*product name* rokslide' to get insight and gear reviews. It's been a pretty invaluable tool!

The real problem is that i read through some of the DIY tent threads... I might have to learn how to use a sewing machine...

 

[willidru]

Welcome, don't be discouraged. Public land hunting in CA is not easy. Blacktail are ghosts, it will take some time and real effort. Good luck. If you can start looking into some out of state opportunities.

 

[flinginarrows]

Welcome, don't be discouraged. Public land hunting in CA is not easy. Blacktail are ghosts, it will take some time and real effort. Good luck. If you can start looking into some out of state opportunities.

Thanks! I only really get discouraged when I'm on my way back with an unpunched tag. It passes reallll fast though and I'm ready to get out again. Someday one day, I'll find success.

 

[boom]

i think there are more hogs up here in Sonoma. right now there is an archery only hunt going on for hogs. ends sometime in March. (starts right around Thanksgiving)

that is a far poke for you in San Jose. i see hogs quite often. usually i'm just walking with the wife and dog. if i have my bow, the odds strangely drop off. my wife doenst mind that i hunt, but i dont think she wants to actually see me take a hog. so wife time is wife time..bow time. i dont mix them.

you should consider bringing that pig tag you got up here. it's a unicorn hunt for me. i have yet to get one. there are two wearing my arrow holes..no one..my friend arrowed one a week later and recovered my broken shaft/arrow head. it was humping a sow!! with my arrow hole! showed me how harmless i am

 

[flinginarrows]

I tried hunting lake sonoma a few days last year. Saw lots of pig signs but never any pigs. I could swear i heard them too but every time i stopped to really listen it seemed like it was just a boat motor in the distance. I even found a makeshift ground blind someone had left out there. Im hoping to come up there at least a few times next month and march before the season closes.

 

[Jimmy]

Welcome, California hunting can be a long journey but it's worth it and keep at it and you'll find success. Took me 4 years to get my first deer here in CA

 

[Greg Beck]

Welcome to Rokslide!

 

[nickstone]

welcome

 

[boom]

Welcome, California hunting can be a long journey but it's worth it and keep at it and you'll find success. Took me 4 years to get my first deer here in CA

me SIX years.

now #2 is proving to be problematic. hehe. i swear i dont want it to be easy. but i really want a public land hog.

 

[RosinBag]

Welcome to Rokslide. You have pigs in San Jose. I used to hunt a farmers ranch just east of the golf course off 101 I believe. He had more pigs than we could kill. I would poke around that area and try and find some private land to hunt.

 

[flinginarrows]

I haven't even attempted to get permission to hunt any private properties. I'm too damn stubborn to give up. I enjoy the struggle and misery and will someday punch my pig tag on public land and it'll be all the sweeter when it finally happens. I plan on signing up for Fort Hunter Liggett when the new hunting season starts too (unless I find success on free public land first). I'm a total camping rookie too so each outing is learning experience where I get to test my gear and figure out what I like and find comfortable. For example, last weekend I camped for the first time since last September in the Ventana Wilderness and got to use my EE 20* revelation for the first time. It was 28* when we got to camp ~10pm and must have dropped even lower at night and it was windy too. Now I know that the EE is pretty good at those temps with some base layers on. Every outting is a learning experience and I don't regret any of them. I do regret every time I've left hunting grounds early, when there was still shooting light because I got too damn tired too damn early :/

 

[boom]

just so you know..the easiest "first kill" for any archer is a dumb spring turkey. and that is just around the corner.

 

[flinginarrows]

I'm always on the lookout for turkeys whenever they're in season but I've never gone on a dedicated turkey hunt. They seem to be just as tough to find on huntable public land although they do like to run around the one of our local archery ranges. We did see some near the Ventana wilderness so me might go out there when the season opens.

 

[Wahooo03]

Welcome!