Turkey Hunt in So Cal

[JesseC]

Hey Everyone!

My friend and I are stationed in San Diego and are interested in potentially doing a Turkey hunt in California. We both have our hunting license but aren't sure where to go from here. Any suggestions for us where to start scouting? We dont know anyone with private land so we are using Google and the resources we have to find something so we can be successful. Thankful for any and all tips.

-Jesse

 

[MAG 1]

Welcome to the site JESSE. Most of us don't promote fall turkey hunting due to populations right now. The NWTF puts on a hunt at LAKE SUTHERLAND in February for spring hunting in San Diego. The NWTF has a meeting every 4 Tuesday of the month at Filippis Pizza in Poway . Love to see you there.

 

[JesseC]

Thanks and good to know and it will just give us more time to prepare. We aren't trying to ruffle any feathers hahaha. We will see you at Filippis. Thanks again for the info.

 

[longbowhunter2]

Hi Jesse
Welcome
Check out the upland game, turkey basics. Wealth of information.
Board members gave lots of tips.
Deal is southern Cal is in a terrible drought and has taken a toll on the wildlife in general. The turkey population has taken big reduction in the population, as Mag1 has stated.
Best
Longbow

 

[JesseC]

Thank you Longbow. Looking it up now!

 

[msailor]

Welcome Jesse! If you are active duty look into Camp Pendleton if you want more info PM me. No turkeys on the base but you can hunt everything else.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[longbowhunter2]

Best bet is may hit northern California. But that said all Calif. Has been ravaged by fires. So maybe some of the hard core turkey hunters will chime in
Good luck
Longbow

 

[longbowhunter2]

P.S. Mag1 and Msailor are hard core hunters, Mag1 is an advance turkey hunter. I am and average turkey guy.
But that said my advice is ambush the turkeys don't try to stalk.
Two reasons
One it gets dangerous to stalk because it could be an other Hunter.
Two turkeys don't like to be chased.
It will push them out of area.
I will get to a spot. And listen for their morning locate calls to each other.
CNF use to have thousands of turkeys. We are down to hundreds of that. Mostly on private property.

 

[Sdhunt17]

im yet to spot a turley and see any sign. will be on the look out come nov, but my plan will be finding arear surounded by private and away from access. from the look at thing on OnX lookes like i can be due for a 5-10 hike in those places. with a deer tag in hand i feel like it would be worth it either way.
2nd thing to look for is water. water is gold around here. ive seen deer go into private land for water so look for sources of water near public.
good luck, ill be going after my first gobbler this year so hang in there.

like someone mentiioned before, the turkey write up is a good source of information and ive been gearing up by watching "The hunting public" youtube channel. they did a serious across the midwest last year and did alot of ambush style hunting. so that might be something to look at.

best of luck.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

This is just my 2 cents, but I'd advise skipping the fall season and wait until the spring for turkeys. The big reason for me is it's not the same hunting experience. Turkey hunting, for me, is all about the big gobbling action, strutting, and calling in big birds.. something you're not likely to get in the quiet fall season. I know there's crazy techniques some guys (usually in the south) use like busting flocks then calling back lone birds, but other than that, fall turkeys here are often ambush hunted, which is just not as fun IMO. Add to that the fact that hens are often taken, which the NWTF advises against given our declining population.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[ilovesprig]

Jesse,

Welcome to SCH.....Every year there are turkeys taken on public land in San Diego Co (these 3 were on public).....If you attend some NWTF meetings guys are more than willing to help you out with local knowledge.....The NWTF Spring Tune-up at Lake Sutherland is a must go to event for any new turkey hunter.....There were 7 birds taken on those hunts that are private property (City of San Diego)…..Learning to call (& when not to call), camo. decoy set-ups, guns, ammo are all part of this great day.

I'll also mention that's there a hunting club at Lake Henshaw that has some of the best turkey hunting in the county....It's called MCC (My Country Club)….They have a website.

Steve
President SD Chapter of NWTF

ps....I also have a turkey hunting seminar at Bass Pro Shop in the spring.

.

 

[JesseC]

Thank you everyone for the information. I cant wait to get out there!

 

[longbowhunter2]

Good luck