WOW, hard for me not to rant on this subject,California law say's you cannot possess a firearm while afield during bowseason and that includes your campsite, if you hunt with an archery only tag as I do theres an even stricter law that says you cannot possess a firearm even when hunting during general season with your bow, what nonsense ! When I challenged the dfg they said they had never heard of a bowhunter getting attacked by a bear or mountain lion so not to worry,I responded with A... bowhunters a a general rule are less likely to poach than rifle hunters B..we sneak around the woods before the general season so the chance of getting into close contact with dangerous game is greatly increased C... what about the numerous pot farms on NF property and thier illegal protectors D...how about the lady that was walking her 2 dog's within 3 miles of where I hunt in Kern county that was attacked and damn near killed by a black bear, losing her teeth and maybe her eye before escaping, and lastly I pointed out that I believe that I'm as brave as anyone I know but 2 yrs ago I wounded a black bear and waited an hour before tracking, We tracked that bear on hands and knees for 3 hours thru ungodly thick brush, I gave up the search when I followed the blood trail to a point where the trail back tracked above us for about 20 yards and I could see by the blood that he had waited there to ambush us as we went by, fortunately he lost his nerve and bolted down into a canyon that I wouldn't follow him into without my .44.Fish and Game was unimpressed and told me that if I didn't like the law to go to a meeting and complain.