Reading & Understanding Maps where hunting is Legal

[kylemg0009]

Hello SCH!
So I went ahead and bought maps that highlight the various amounts of land types in california, southern california specifically. I did hours of research last night looking at the map and online, and I could not find an easy direct answer. My maps show BLM land, US Forest Service lands, State Parks, Wilderness Area, Wildlife refuges, and Indian land (I might have left left off one or two other types of land)

My main question is, what land is it legal to hunt on? I understand that we are permitted to hunt on BLM land and US Forest Service land, am I correct and are there any other categories of land that hunting is permitted to public?

Thanks SCH!

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

BLM and USFS are huntable for the most part, unless specific restrictions are in place. State and County Parks are a no go. CDFW also has Wildlife Areas (different than refuges) where hunting is allowed. But they tend to be hunted very hard and often have odd restrictions.

 

[kylemg0009]

thank you for the information SurfNHuntSD. I live in Orange County but it looks like I am gonna have to do most of my hunting in the Eastern San Diego area. There seems to be some small pockets of BLM land in OC and Riverside but I don't want to risk walking onto the wrong type of land. Thanks again!

 

[ilovesprig]

BLM and USFS are huntable for the most part, unless specific restrictions are in place. State and County Parks are a no go. CDFW also has Wildlife Areas (different than refuges) where hunting is allowed. But they tend to be hunted very hard and often have odd restrictions.

Kyle,

This is about as good as an answer that you will get.....I might add that the Imperial Valley has a policy that is, if it's not posted and not a row crop, you can hunt it......Lots of hunting opportunities out there.

 

[Aeon]

OC is a tough place to hunt. We do have the National Forest in OC but the drought has hit us hard here. There are animals but they take lots and lots of work to find and kill!

 

[NBK]

Welcome to SCH kylemg0009...

 

[steveo007]

Hello SCH!
So I went ahead and bought maps that highlight the various amounts of land types in california, southern california specifically. I did hours of research last night looking at the map and online, and I could not find an easy direct answer. My maps show BLM land, US Forest Service lands, State Parks, Wilderness Area, Wildlife refuges, and Indian land (I might have left left off one or two other types of land)

My main question is, what land is it legal to hunt on? I understand that we are permitted to hunt on BLM land and US Forest Service land, am I correct and are there any other categories of land that hunting is permitted to public?

Thanks SCH!

Try the onxhunt maps app for your phone, I believe they have a free trial offer then if you like its 30.00 for the year, here's a sample screen shot from my phone.

 

[Camo_Man]

Thanks Steveo007 for the onxmap app tip. Never used my iPhone gps tracking for navigating. I'm a competitive offshore sailboat racer and really familiar using gps. I have a hand held garmin I was planning on downloading topo / hunting maps but read your tip and curious how good is the gps functionality when in back country or in the mountains. For the cost it sounds pretty cool. Less weight too with a phone. Would really appreciate your feed back. Rod

 

[steveo007]

Thanks Steveo007 for the onxmap app tip. Never used my iPhone gps tracking for navigating. I'm a competitive offshore sailboat racer and really familiar using gps. I have a hand held garmin I was planning on downloading topo / hunting maps but read your tip and curious how good is the gps functionality when in back country or in the mountains. For the cost it sounds pretty cool. Less weight too with a phone. Would really appreciate your feed back. Rod

you cache the specific areas your going to hunt then switch to offline when you have no service i mainly use the phone app for scouting and placing icons where i find game and as a backup for my garmin etrex 30

 

[wiley]

i have found that the gps still works pretty well even with no service on my samsung s5, they have it for your garmin too

 

[Camo_Man]

Thanks! I'll give it a try and check out the garmin upload.

 

[Camo_Man]

So I read the reviews, only 2. Sounds like just a good base map to work off your phone. ???

Question is for me... Besides using a compass and dead reckoning if you lost your way would you use this app or a compass and map? Only 2 reviews on the app. Just curious on your opinion ? I think I would opt for Garmin's version.

You've been hunting longer than me., so what do I have to say? I'd like a seasoned outdoorsman' s opinion .

Thanks! New to California hunting.

 

[wiley]

Tons of reviews on Google play store, best thing to do is try the 7 day free trial and see if it's for you. .

Hardcopy Forrest atlas maps are good too, I keep one in my pack

I use my app all the time in GPS mode to get to spots and back to the truck. ..it actually saved me last week from getting lost and getting back to the truck...

 

[TonyS]

Can;t answer for everything but if you want to know where to hunt deer the buy one of those road atlas maps. The descriptions in the DGW regs match the roads. Buy one, take a red pen and draw the lines they tell you.