New to CA - Waterfowl????

[rockclimber]

Hi everyone! My wife and I recently moved to CA from NV. I've been doing a bunch of reading on the DFG's website trying to get up to speed with new places to hunt and how to apply for tags.

Anyhow, my wife, who is currently a "fish eating vegetarian", has expressed a hankerin' for duck. I'm primarily a bowhunter, but i'm always up for learning something new, especially if it gets my wife back to eating meat. The waterfowl section of the DFG's website seems to be the most complicated. Can anyone give a quick and dirty guide to waterfowl hunting in CA? It seems you have to apply for a certain date at a certain location (i found the results), but i can't find the application section.

Is there anywhere in CA to hunt w/o a reservation? Any particular spot someone could recommend for someone who lives around the lake tahoe area?

Any info/advice would be greatly appreciated. I was just getting up to speed with the NV regs...now i need to get up to speed with CA. I'm originally from back east and it seems that hunting out west is much more complicated.

Thanks!
RC

 

[Califelkslayer]

I don't hunt waterfowl anymore but did for 40 years so heres what I know. If you are talking public refuge system.

Each refuge has a quota. They issue as many "Reservations" as the quota allows. Not all reservations show up. They fill the rest of the quota with the "sweat line." That used to be first come/first served. Now I think each refuge allows folks to show up before 6:00 pm the night before the shoot day. Everyone's name/number goes on a bingo ball and they draw.

What part of Kali????

The NE corner only has quotas on the duck opener and pheasant opener.

Abd the reservation system is the way to go. Buy a 5 choice application for $5.25. Fill in your choice of refuge and date you want to hunt and submit to F&G 17 days before the first date on the application. You'll receive notice if you draw about 10 days before the date. Sacto Valley gets good around 15th of Dec to the end.

If I mislead him at all would someone please correct me?

 

[D13er]

turd pond birds sure seems like a rough way to start eating meat again.....


great post/pic, thanks for sharing

JB

 

[Litch]

Rockclimber,
Are you FloodedTimber on another hunting forum?

 

[CAelknuts]

Rockclimber, there are several options in northeastern CA, including the public units around Honey Lake, Willow Slough and up on the Modoc NWR. Also, don't overlook the country around Bieber and Fall River Mills. That's mostly private, but there is some excellent waterfowl hunting up there.

If you're going to hunt public in the Sacramento Vally, then mid-December to the end, as has been said already, is the best time. Little Dry Creek, Colusa, Delevan and Sacramento are all popular refuges. Also, Gray Lodge and Sutter (Sutter seems to shoot best in a north wind, from what I'm told).

There's a ton of private land in the valley, but getting access usually requires being in a duck club.

 

[rockclimber]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

No i don't go by "floodedtimber" on another forum. I am the one and only.....

So the Honey Lake area, Willow Slough and Modoc NWR.....are these places by reservation also? The idea of a reservation to hunt is massively foreign (and somewhat unappealing) to me.

I don't have a retriever, is there anywhere that would be better for someone who would need to wade to retrieve downed ducks or would i pretty much be SOL anywhere?

As someone else mentioned....i don't know why my wife would want to start back on real meat with a duck. But if that is what it takes i'll do my best to make it happen. My wife is originally from the UK and as such had NO exposure to hunting, fishing, firearms etc, other than the UK propaganda of "guns are bad" "hunting is cruel". She has explained that as a child she never made the connection between meat and the associated animal.....and as such when the connection was made it turned her off meat. In the 4 or so years we have been together she has come a long way...she likes to shoot a little, has done a bit of fishing and enjoyed it (provided she gets to keep and eat the fish), and now is expressing intrest in trying duck (provided it has lived a good life and has a fair chance of getting away). So...i needs me a dead duck on the table...


thanks again for all the info...keep it comin' if you got more. Sorry for the long-winded explanation. I thought some may find it interesting. She has slowly gone from anti-gun and anti-hunting to realizing that guns aren't bad and that fair chase hunting isn't cruel, it has taken some long conversations and a slow gentle intro to the outdoors. I doubt she will be sititn' in duck blind anytime soon but progress is being made.

cheers
RC

 

[Jingow]

If you go get familiar with the ducks you'll be shooting. Many have different flavors. Some have what most will call a livery taste. I had a friend whose was was the fish vege thing, but she was willing to try wild duck. Me knowing my favorite duck was a green wing teal, shoot 4 of them. I marinated them in Italian salad dresssing with the usual garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and pepper overnight. Then that evening we BBQ them up with some veges and a salad, and she loved it. So good luck and yes Sac. area can be great hunting for ducks and geese.

 

[sageadvice]

Might i suggest that you hire a guide for your first trip or two out. I'd contact several and explain your situation and see what they have to say. One or more of these pro's might have a hunt in mind or provide you with just what you are looking for and also once on the hunt, suggest where or how you might get into public land hunts, birds on your own.

Another suggestion might be to get the wife out to a local gun club for a round or two of skeet and the same with trap. Most duck and goose loads are fairly stout and can turn someone off the hunt in a hurry. Make sure the wife can handle trap loads at the range first and if she can handle those, she might be ready to step up to the somewhat harder kicking duck loads.

Good luck!!

Joey

 

[rockclimber]

Joey
Thanks for the advice. However, at the moment i think a guided hunt is unfortunately out of the question. We just bought our first house and all the extra pocket change is going into it. (new roof, paint, etc.)

As far as her shooting goes. She has no desire at the moment to hunt herself...but is ok with the idea of me shootin' a duck and her eating it. She has shot clays a couple times at my folks farm back east and enjoyed it. It is baby steps at the moment. When i met her she couldn't imagine catching a fish and eating it....after much discussion she decided to give it a try and enjoyed it. For the longest time she has said she would never eat "meat" agian (i've discussed that fish is meat)...but now she is expressing interest in duck....baby steps.

thanks all
keep the info coming if you have it!
cheers
RC

 

[VelvetJones]

Rockclimber

Hunt diver ducks and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.


VJ

 

[eelgrass]

lake tahoe area? I don't know anything specific about that area. Go to a local sporting goods store and ask where a novice might go to get a little shooting. Maybe even some jump shooting or pass shooting along a local creek, or pond. Jump shooting or pass shooting doesn't require decoys, which it doesn't sound like you have. You only need a duck or two to see if your wife likes it.

You need a hunting license, state duck stamp and a federal migritory bird hunting stamp.

Be carefull though. Waterfowl hunting can be addictive, especially if you have some early success.

I've hunted ducks and geese for 45 years in CA and have only hunted refuges maybe 3 times. I live in an area that has lots of public hunting areas though.

 

[Califelkslayer]

RC, Did I miss the area you are from????

You have gotten good advice from many. More specific info will depend on where you're at. The jump shooting suggestion is a great one since you eliminate the expense of refuge passes, decoys, etc. I have 1,000s of dollars of geese decoys just colleting dust under my back deck for example. And spent 1,000s on duck decoys over the years.

I saw a reference to Tahoe and the Honey Lake refuges (Dakin and Fleming) would be the closest. Willow Creek another 40 minutes away but I've taken ducks on Willow creek above the refuge jump shooting. You need to get above the private but it can be fantastic when everything freezes. You can also hunt Eagle Lake but generally that takes specialized equipment, at least a boat. Good luck!!

 

[ducksbucksandbulls]

If your in the Sacramento area,Let me know when,
I'll give you some ducks...
See if she likes them..
Elk, antelope and deer too... Much better than duck too.

DBB's

 

[eelgrass]

wow! ducksbucksandbulls, what a generous offer! How nice!

Eel

Know guns, know peace, know safety. No guns, no peace, no safety.

 

[rockclimber]

Hey ducksbucksandbulls,
Thanks so much for the offer, i really do appreciate it! It is truly a very generous offer. But i'm afraid that i will need to pass.....part of the reason that she is open to the idea is because it would be something that I was hunting.

As i mentioned before, right now it is baby steps for her. I know her mind would be more open to the idea if it were something that i went out and worked for. If it is something that was bought at the store or given to us by someone else (i.e. no work) she may balk at the idea.....I've come too far down this "fish eatin' veg" path to chance that.

And yes i know that deer, elk, etc. are good eating too. I love venison but she hasn't expressed an interest in it yet....hopefully that day will come. Besides i'm always up for trying something new.

Again, thank you so much. I hope you aren't offended, i hope you can kinda understand.
cheers
RC

 

[RACKMASTER]

I am kinda a duck hunting expert here in CA.......however i killed a million ducks jumpshooting the truckee!
also there are state refuge in fallon NV, Yearlyton NV that do well... I love eatting fat mallards and flying ribeyes (specks)!

rackmaster

 

[manny15]

lower klamath area

 

[Litch]

Wow Rackmaster, that picture is only days old on another hunting Forum and already "stolen" and posted elsewhere. It is a great pic, it got 3 pages of replies on the original posting over on Refuge Forums.