New Here, new to hunting

[CobPipeMan]

Hi,

Im new to the forum and new to hunting. I am experienced with firearms, but only in an indoor gun range setting. My brother and I are interested in hunting areas close by where we live, he lives in dana point and im in laguna niguel. The closest place for us would be CNF, off of Ortega HW. Im hoping to get some tips on where to hunt near the Ortega. I dont expect anyone to give up a favorite spot, perhaps just some general direction. I am interested in taking pigs, coyotes, small game (rabits), and turkey. My only gun is a Remington 870 Wingmaster (12 gauge). My bro has a 12 gauge and 20 gauge. There are rifles we can borrow from the old man, .22, 30-06 for example.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I look forward to getting involved in this forum.

 

[8SteelTown]

Welcome to the site CobPipeMan. Make sure you utilize the search tool and check out some of the previous threads. A lot of the answers you're looking for are available with some easy searching. The CNF off Ortega is really tough. When you're driving through, you may see an area that looks pretty good but it instantly turns into 6 foot tall slam packed bushes. Make sure you know your private/public hunt boundaries as there are a few houses off the first few miles in each direction of the divide. Whether you go north or south on the divide, it's really hard hunting. Good luck to you.

 

[ilovesprig]

CPM,

Welcome to SCH.........Like was stated, Ortega Hwy is a tough area to hunt. I used to hunt it a lot many years ago.....Upper San Juan Campground is surrounded by CNF.....You need to walk it and find the open areas......I have shot deer, quail, and band-tails up there.

Good luck

 

[NBK]

Welcome to SCH Cobpipeman!

 

[CobPipeMan]

Thanks for all the responses fellas! Are there any other areas close to Orange County that would be recommended for a beginner? I still want to try Ortega just because it is so close by for me, but would like some other options.

 

[msteiger]

Welcome to the sport and the site. With the shotty, the .22, and the 30-06, you have a good base for lots of fun!

 

[ilovesprig]

Thanks for all the responses fellas! Are there any other areas close to Orange County that would be recommended for a beginner? I still want to try Ortega just because it is so close by for me, but would like some other options.

San Diego, Imperial, & Riverside Co's are not that far away......You will have to learn to drive some......The price most of us pay to live and hunt here.

From Orange Co. (Laguna Niguel) is not more than 2 hours (81 miles) from the Spring Turkey Tune-up in Lakeside.....It's an event that every newbie should attend.

 

[TonyS]

Being a newbie, you should be reminded as to season ending dates also.

 

[TRICER]

Welcome to the site. Basically finding spots to hunt requires a lot of research, gas, and boots in the ground. Order some BLM maps for El Cajon, Salton Sea, and imperial valley. Turkey season is just around the corner I second you coming down to the turkey tune up in Lakeside. Especially since you are new remember it is called hunting not killing. If you go out treat every trip as a scouting trip and if you get something it is a bonus don't get discouraged. As for hog unless you have a ton of time I would recomend getting with a guide and paying for a hunt. Pretty tough on public land in our area.

 

[CobPipeMan]

Thanks again for all the responses. Went out on Ortega, south of the divide on Sunday morning. Hike down to fishermans camp, then took another trail which led us up to the top of the canyon then down a bunch of switchbacks back to the bottom of a crrek bed. From there we hiked off trail for a mile or so, I think we found a good spot to post up next time we go out. Its near a water sourc and I found coyote tracks and scat.

In this type of environment what equipment is best to get some coyotes? I already got a couple of calls from Primos, including a double cottontail. Should I get a blind too? Its pretty thick down there so I could hide pretty easy without one.

 

[Aeon]

no blind needed.. just sit still and call.. a motion decoy would help... a electronic call would be good too but the mouth call can work too. be aware that area gets lots of hikers on the weekend.

 

[CobPipeMan]

no blind needed.. just sit still and call.. a motion decoy would help... a electronic call would be good too but the mouth call can work too. be aware that area gets lots of hikers on the weekend.

Will probably be picking up motion decoy this week, dont have the budget for the e-call right now, but its definitely on my wish list. We found an area pretty far from any trails, so hopefully hikers wont be an issue. Any recommendations on which decoy to get?

Another question i have, if we get a kill, how long before the meat begins to spoil? Its been pretty warm out there lately, especially once the sun is up all the way. To get back to the truck from our spot is 3+ miles of hiking.

 

[ilovesprig]

Wal-Mart is blowing out their predator stuff here in San Marcos.....I think the Primos rabbit was like 20 bucks.

 

[CobPipeMan]

Wal-Mart is blowing out their predator stuff here in San Marcos.....I think the Primos rabbit was like 20 bucks.

The Wal-Mart near me is really limited on hunting gear, Ill check it out though. I can always order it on their website if its not in the store. Thanks for the tip!

 

[steveo007]

no blind needed.. just sit still and call.. a motion decoy would help... a electronic call would be good too but the mouth call can work too. be aware that area gets lots of hikers on the weekend.

Will probably be picking up motion decoy this week, dont have the budget for the e-call right now, but its definitely on my wish list. We found an area pretty far from any trails, so hopefully hikers wont be an issue. Any recommendations on which decoy to get?

Another question i have, if we get a kill, how long before the meat begins to spoil? Its been pretty warm out there lately, especially once the sun is up all the way. To get back to the truck from our spot is 3+ miles of hiking.

ive never had coyote how does it taste ?

 

[8SteelTown]

Another question i have, if we get a kill, how long before the meat begins to spoil? Its been pretty warm out there lately, especially once the sun is up all the way. To get back to the truck from our spot is 3+ miles of hiking.
[/quote]

On the real... unless you're on a bet, or you enjoy the taste of dog, I'd say don't do it. As a general rule of thumb, you don't want to eat a meat eater (GENERAL rule guys... we aren't talking about bears). Make sure you have a good knife on you. Go look on YouTube on how to skin a coyote. Take the skin and skull. Wrap the skin up like a sleeping bag and put it in a freezer bag and throw it in the freezer. If you want to keep the skull, you can do the same thing but try to get as much of the meat out of the head. You can bury the skull for 6 months, boil it for a while (SDBirds may be able to help you with this), or you can take the whole dog to a taxidermist and get them professionally done.

 

[D16hunter]

Another question i have, if we get a kill, how long before the meat begins to spoil? Its been pretty warm out there lately, especially once the sun is up all the way. To get back to the truck from our spot is 3+ miles of hiking.

The meat will be fine as long as you properly field dress your kill if it's a deer or pig. My dad killed a buck two years ago on the opener three miles into one of our spots we gutted it and drug it back to the car in 90 degree weather put it in ice and the near meat was fine didn't lose any

 

[CobPipeMan]

no blind needed.. just sit still and call.. a motion decoy would help... a electronic call would be good too but the mouth call can work too. be aware that area gets lots of hikers on the weekend.

Will probably be picking up motion decoy this week, dont have the budget for the e-call right now, but its definitely on my wish list. We found an area pretty far from any trails, so hopefully hikers wont be an issue. Any recommendations on which decoy to get?

Another question i have, if we get a kill, how long before the meat begins to spoil? Its been pretty warm out there lately, especially once the sun is up all the way. To get back to the truck from our spot is 3+ miles of hiking.

ive never had coyote how does it taste ?

not sure on the taste. My bro wants to eat the coyote meat! Ill let him try it first!

 

[CobPipeMan]

Another question i have, if we get a kill, how long before the meat begins to spoil? Its been pretty warm out there lately, especially once the sun is up all the way. To get back to the truck from our spot is 3+ miles of hiking.

On the real... unless you're on a bet, or you enjoy the taste of dog, I'd say don't do it. As a general rule of thumb, you don't want to eat a meat eater (GENERAL rule guys... we aren't talking about bears). Make sure you have a good knife on you. Go look on YouTube on how to skin a coyote. Take the skin and skull. Wrap the skin up like a sleeping bag and put it in a freezer bag and throw it in the freezer. If you want to keep the skull, you can do the same thing but try to get as much of the meat out of the head. You can bury the skull for 6 months, boil it for a while (SDBirds may be able to help you with this), or you can take the whole dog to a taxidermist and get them professionally done.
[/quote]

Whats the best way to dispose of the rest of the carcass?

 

[Bonejour]

As a general rule of thumb, you don't want to eat a meat eater (GENERAL rule guys... we aren't talking about bears).

8ST,
Why not eat a meat eater? You may not like the idea or the taste or toughness of dog meat, but are you saying it's unsafe? This comes up from time to time, so I'm interested to hear your and others' thoughts in more detail... without having to move the thread to "recipes" of course.