Welcome Newbies!

Hello everyone,

I came across this site while preparing for the upcoming D16 season. I’ve enjoyed hunting dove, quail, and jackrabbits for some time now, but finally decided to give deer hunting a go with my grandfather’s 35 Remington.

I’ve set trail cameras, scouted a few areas, and have done a lot of research, but of course it still feels like I’ve only scratched the surface here. Looking forward to this weekend!

View attachment 36563
No nice pics, welcome and good luck
Darn cats every where
 
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Thanks ivhunter

I just started this year, tried to get a deer in D8 and i'm hooked.

Would like to try everything, just a matter of time and money.
 
Just wanted to pop in and say hi to all of the like-minded members of this board. Great content here, and hope to equally contribute! - Paul

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Hey everyone,

Thought I'd introduce myself here, just joined as a member. Names Jake, currently pursuing upland game and waterfowl here in Southern California. I live on the coast, and this is my first year in California getting into hunting. I'm 28, a biologist, and outdoor enthusiast. Interested to get involved on here and hopefully be able to meet some folks and get on some hunts together.
 
Welcome to SCH Jake. Lots of liked minded people here. Looking forward to your hunting adventures


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Hey everyone,

Thought I'd introduce myself here, just joined as a member. Names Jake, currently pursuing upland game and waterfowl here in Southern California. I live on the coast, and this is my first year in California getting into hunting. I'm 28, a biologist, and outdoor enthusiast. Interested to get involved on here and hopefully be able to meet some folks and get on some hunts together.
Welcome to SCH. Where are you located?

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One more newbie here. My name is Mark.

As a kid, I played competitive sports, rode bikes, I ventured in the ocean, traveled, and tried as many fun activities as I could. Then, I got older and, well you know whats next, marriage, job, mortgage...it all started getting in the way of having fun.

Now settled in North San Diego Coastal, I had to give hunting a try. So I started hunting upland birds with a semi auto 20ga I bought last year, and boy what a blast I had shooting Dove, bummer the season is so short.
I am really looking forward to go Deer and pig hunting this season. So, I am here to learn, talk gear, share and hopefully meet some good folks.
 
Mark,

Welcome to SCH....Hunting turkeys with a 20 gauge is very doable these days with TSS and Hevi-Shot shotshells....The NWTF Spring Turkey Tune-Up is Feb 23rd at Lake Sutherland....Great place to meet like minded folks and also have a chance to hunt turkeys on private property.

ps....You can even shoot/pattern your gun at the event.
 
Mark,

Welcome to SCH....Hunting turkeys with a 20 gauge is very doable these days with TSS and Hevi-Shot shotshells....The NWTF Spring Turkey Tune-Up is Feb 23rd at Lake Sutherland....Great place to meet like minded folks and also have a chance to hunt turkeys on private property.

ps....You can even shoot/pattern your gun at the event.

No way!..I was just looking at the calendar of events tab, and reading about a Hevi-Shot comment in the January event that I missed. I did not realize there was an event coming up in February...Great..thanks.
 
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newbie number three. I grew up in south Orange county. I did a lot of camping and backpacking with my step dad. kind of would have liked to hunt.
A year and half ago my wife's cousin said he wanted to try wild pig hunting. I told him I was game. I bought a Ruger American 30-06 rifle.
I also found out my neighbor hunts. he took me deer hunting two separate days. did not get any deer. We have also gone quail hunting and saw but not hit any quails.
I'm looking to buy a 12 gauge early march and want to try turkey hunting.
Also ,my mother owns land in southern Alabama and going at the end of March to see what deer and / or wild pig hunting might be there.

I'm a Computer Server Administrator by profession, so I like getting away from screens and getting outside and doing something.
 
DH,

Welcome to SCH....In case you don't know....Alabama turkey season opens March 16th.....March 30th here in Cali.

ps....Turkey tune-up would probably be good for you too.
 
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DH,

Welcome to SCH....In case you don't know....Alabama turkey season opens March 16th.....March 30th here in Cali.

ps....Turkey tune-up would probably be good for you too.
I might try Turkey in Alabama,40 miles north of Mobile.

When is the Turkey Tune-up? I can't find info for this year?
 
Larry -aka- TheGDizzo. Name's Larry. Been a techie forever. Been Software Engineer now for something like 25+ years. Been working from home for about 17yrs now. So you can imagine how it's nice to get out into the outdoors and out of these 4 walls.

As a kid (between 6-9yo) I would often spend my entire Summer at a small little cheap Beach House my GrandMa had built on their RV lot lease down near Ensenada. (On that property Mrs Hussong <a la Hussong's Cantina fame> owns just after Quintas Papagayo on the final bend in the hwy on the way down to the town) It had a natural Volcanic Lava Rock Jetty that extended out into this cove. I'd cutoff about 6ft of Bamboo (from around the pool house of this trailer park) ... and maybe 12ft of line, crack off black mussels from the rocks and proceed to catch my lunch every day. You could buy fireworks any day of the year over there. So each year I'd save up so I could get some firecrackers and a few M-80's and experimented heavily with blowing isht up. Was a really cool life for a young boy and I feel extremely fortunate to have had those times. HUGE improvement over staying home in "'da hood" during the Summer, Ugh.

I'd always romanticized about Hunting through out the years, but... lots of other hobbies/interests/ and twists of fate (BMX, MTB, DirtBikes, StreetBikes, DJ Scratch Mixing) just kinda had a way of making me "busy". Fast-forward to 2014. I'm 45yo, got the house, got the kid, and in my mind looking down the barrel of the big 5-0. And somehow er another, the thought of taking a deer got around into my head again finally... now that my boy is finally old enough that he doesn't need to have a sitter, I said fuggit. If you're gonna do it, ya better start gettin' with it cause who knows how much longer the body will be able to, even if the heart and mind still want to. (Got some prior traumas)

I hurried up and got my Hunters Safety Course in, then the license. (Last time I had one was 10yo, accompanied my Father as they hunted for Pheasant somewhere in like Bakersfield or Fresno thereabouts, busied myself with poppin' frogs with a RedRyder BB gun in a ditch while they combed the fields doing drives). Got my license very shortly before the season opened in 2014. Hiked all over heck in Angeles NF and got my a$$ handed to me by the Forest, since I'd fallen off the wagon in terms of going to the Gym regularly.

I don't take well to losing, so I did a lot of reading and asked A LOT of very detailed questions on hunting forums like this one. And, in the beginning was lucky enough to have a few fellows extend to me the offer of tagging along on hunts. Thankfully, one of those fellows set me very hip to how I was going about it all wrong. Typical Newbie mistake, thinking that if you just keep moving all day, eventually you're going to spot one, or run into one.

He explained WHY scouting was so important. AND how scouting during the different times of year won't always translate to success and knowing where they will be during when the season comes around again, and the reasons why.

But the single biggest thing that gentlemen taught me was to pick an area, carefully pick your sit spot keeping in the shade and keeping the wind in mind. And to NOT FREAKING MOVE!

Like I said, I don't take well to failure. So all that year I went out scouting. Between 2 to 4 weekends every single month. And among the different places in different zones I went into. I saw a total of 25 Does in all that time. Once even had a herd of six of them cross a road behind me like 25yds just after I'd walked past that spot! But not one... single... buck.

In my research, it's said that typically a brand new hunter in SoCal generally takes between 3-to-5 years before harvesting their first big-game animal.

I'm proud to say that after 1yr and 13 days... 2015. in one of thee lowest success rate zones in the state (D15)... the first time I ever laid eyes on a buck since starting this quest... I took that b*tch home with me! (.308 Win 168gr Barnes VOR-TX TTSX)

It was a magical experience of badassery, and I've been hooked... er... compelled... ever since. Since then I took another with one with .30-30, then the year after that... I f**ked around and did it with bow and arrow. 2018 reminded me why it's called hunting. Narrow miss on bow shot as the lil forkie buck ducked-the-string at 40yds. Unfortunately was my only shot opportunity this year.

That first year of success, 2015, I went out the day after Christmas looking for Black Bear. Had a slip-and-fall crossing a creek and shattered my left wrist. So now have a plate and 13 screws in there. Hope to someday have them take it back out as it smarts a bit at times.

And, oh yeah, interesting fact... I went back later and bothered to finally harvest my first rabbits ever AFTER having gotten that first deer. Wrong-way-Rudy, Right? Hehe.

I've shot a Coyote, (it made him barrel-roll mid-air then fell to the ground in a slump, then like 5 seconds later, Zombie Coyotes rises to his feet, turns to look at me, then runs away!) but didn't manage to recover him (even though I put in massive effort in blood-trailing him 250+yds down into and out of a steep Ravine!).

I unknowingly called a Bobcat in to within 10yds, but didn't know it until from lowerback soreness of being on the stand 45min, I stood up. I *should* have been able to pull that one off, but essentially blew it.

That Bobcat incident burns in my brain, been going out quite a bit for that. But... I don't think I'll be able to rest of Feb. cause have to supervise some home repairs that are being done.

Figure after its all done, go right back out and try to make good on that Zombie Coyote that got back up and looked at me... then ran away!
 
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  • SCHoutdoors was created in January of 2011 by a few people who love the outdoors. The main goal is still the same – bring people together who enjoy the outdoors and share their knowledge and experience.
    Outdoors in the West, Hunting gear reviews, Big Game, Small Game, Upland Game, Waterfowl, Varmint, Bow Hunting, long Range Rifles, Reloading, Taxidermy, Salt WaterFishing, Freshwater Fishing, Buy-Sell-Trade on Classifieds and Cooking/Recipes
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