Where Am I Allowed to Hunt??

[YETI]

As a total n00b, the hardest thing for me (so far) is figuring out where I am allowed to hunt. OnX is great for showing who owns land, but does not say whether hunting is legal on it or not. (Unless I'm missing something.)

For example, I'm going to be doing most of my hunting, both archery and rifle, in D16. I have a friend who works in the mountains who spotted a group of 5 bucks including a 4x4 monster. They were on private land but less than 100 yards from land which, according to OnX, is owned by the County of San Diego. I've done a lot of research and cannot figure out whether it is legal to hunt on that land. Can I hunt on land owned by the Count of San Diego?

Can someone point me to a resource where I can learn whether it's legal to hunt in certain areas and, if so, what restrictions there are?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[Baller]

You are looking for CNF and BLM type of lands. Any privately held land you need written permission to hunt on it. Public land hunting in D16 is hard, no 2 ways about it.

 

[TRICER]

You cannot hunt SD County Land.

 

[longbowhunter2]

No you can not...
Look for green areas or yellow.
Green =national Forest
Yellow=BLM
Buy cleavland national forest map from the ranger station.
Also on OXHunt maps if you pick on the map it will tell you if it's BLM, NF, or private.
Really do your homework, don't get a ticket.....

 

[ilovesprig]

Yeti,

It's pretty simple these days with OnX Maps, Google Earth, and other media's....If you're in an area that is not fenced, cultivated, or posted and it doesn't belong to you....Then it belongs to someone else....Make sure that person, organization, or municipality is OK with you being there (MCC is on Vista Irrigation land)....Many wardens have little sympathy here (and the land owner does NOT have be present or even complain).

Where things can get tricky is on the back side of large properties....The law reads all exterior boundaries must be legally posted, 3 signs to the mile….There is no line in the dirt when you leave YOUR property (public) and where private starts....This is where OnX is a huge help....Again, it MUST be posted in a court of law....But not something you'll want to do.

Once you get out more it will get clearer than it sounds.....Good luck.

ps....San Diego county or city lands are not legal to hunt with few exceptions (SYYM turkey hunt, city waterfowl hunts, & turkey hunts)

 

[YETI]

No you can not...
Look for green areas or yellow.
Green =national Forest
Yellow=BLM
Buy cleavland national forest map from the ranger station.
Also on OXHunt maps if you pick on the map it will tell you if it's BLM, NF, or private.
Really do your homework, don't get a ticket.....

See this is where I get confused. I have OnX. The area I'm looking at is green. When I tap on it, it says it's owned by the County of San Diego. Now I know that I cannot hunt on County of San Diego land per Truduct above.

So, next question. Not too far away is Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. Can a guy hunt there? Is there a list somewhere of where you can and cannot hunt? I know I can hunt on BLM land, but that about the only thing I'm certain of.

Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[longbowhunter2]

never at any state park

 

[YETI]

never at any state park

Got it. Thanks.

National Forests are good to go, right?

 

[longbowhunter2]

you can also log into onxhunt on any computer, just need your user & password.
and the web page for onxhunt.
try that a may make things easier then a smart phone. e-scout first.

 

[longbowhunter2]

Got it. Thanks.

National Forests are good to go, right?

National forest unless it has special restrictions, for example Mt Laguna recreation area is only bow hunting, no rifles, shotguns, pistols or crossbows,
some wild life areas are only shotgun and bow.
keep asking questions, here is a good start, give general areas, we can all help.
Steve (ILOVESPRIG) is a wealth of information, keep asking questions until you have it down, there are no dumb questions.
I have 40 years doing this so Steve has 50-60 years doing this so do other hunters here.

 

[YETI]

you can also log into onxhunt on any computer, just need your user & password.
and the web page for onxhunt.
try that a may make things easier then a smart phone. e-scout first.

I have an OnX Hunt account and am looking at it on my computer here at work. I get that I cannot hunt on private land without the owner's permission.

My questions are all about public land. For example, Cuyamaca State Park is public land but I have now learned I cannot hunt on state parks. But I only learned that from posting here. It would be really nice if one could click on an area of public land in OnX and it would tell you whether hunting was legal or not, and if you can, whether there are any restrictions (like Mt. Laguna being archery only).

If anyone's in the San Diego/Del Mar area and wants to earn a free lunch by explaining this stuff to me, let me know.

 

[ilovesprig]

Do you have the big game hunting regs?….Much of what you're asking is in there....Again, once you get to many of these areas, it's clearly stated you can not hunt....Have you listened to Ridge2Ridge podcast?....I think it's been covered there, if not, I'll try talking about it in a week or so..

 

[longbowhunter2]

well each of those special restrictions have their own special rule on it's particular web page. you can google each and read each requirements.
here is the key, if it's public land , not private, if it has no special designation , Mt Laguna recreation Area, San Felipe Wildlife area, and it's National Forest
you are good to go. it's huntable. stay away from structures, home barns, facilities 150 yards you are good to go.
Once you get use to it it's not that tough.. if it's not posted, no fence line, it's public land , national forest or BLM.
you are good to go...
Also most sheriff web sites for their local areas have no shooting area maps. those come in handy..
most wildlife areas have special rules and precations, so does the BLM.
No Target shooting allowed in National Forest, BLM has special rules about what you can and can't do out there.
Google read it for you self, never rely on just one person, they could mean well but could be wrong..

 

[Kellendv]

I have an OnX Hunt account and am looking at it on my computer here at work. I get that I cannot hunt on private land without the owner's permission.

My questions are all about public land. For example, Cuyamaca State Park is public land but I have now learned I cannot hunt on state parks. But I only learned that from posting here. It would be really nice if one could click on an area of public land in OnX and it would tell you whether hunting was legal or not, and if you can, whether there are any restrictions (like Mt. Laguna being archery only).

If anyone's in the San Diego/Del Mar area and wants to earn a free lunch by explaining this stuff to me, let me know.

Yes there are different greens, and different yellows too. Just focus on BLM and National Forest. Around San Diego it's pretty much Cleveland National Forest, which is made up of many different chunks of land, and various BLM areas. Laguna Rec area is bow only but that is about the only area on plain National Forest that I can think of with restrictions like that. Wildlife areas are light green on Onx. For those areas you can google the area and there is a document for all of the regs for each wildlife area. On most National Monuments hunting is still allowed, but again, search and you will find a page for the specific area with the activities they allow. There are a few game refuges in Southern California, they show up with a blue border, and they are off limits. I think you will find if you get out there that there is more NF and BLM than you can really do justice exploring in many many years of hunting. If you aren't sure, you better find out before you go. If you think you might be too close to a road or building, you probably are.

 

[YETI]

Do you have the big game hunting regs?….Much of what you're asking is in there....Again, once you get to many of these areas, it's clearly stated you can not hunt....Have you listened to Ridge2Ridge podcast?....I think it's been covered there, if not, I'll try talking about it in a week or so..

I do have the big game hunting regs, I'll go back and re-read them. I don't recall them covering things like state parks, etc.

I appreciate I'll have to get out there and there will be signs. I'm trying to do my homework before I get out there so I don't spend a day going places only to learn I can't hunt there. I have so little time to pre-scout I'm really trying to maximize it by being smart and e-scout as much as possible before hand.

I have not heard of the Ridge2Ridge podcast. I will check it out right now. Thank you!

I know it may seem like I'm some young kid with no clue. Sadly, I'm just an older guy (50) who is just getting into hunting and has a lot of (maybe stupid) questions. I'm sure in a year I'll look back on this and wonder what the hell I was thinking.

 

[YETI]

Yes there are different greens, and different yellows too. Just focus on BLM and National Forest. Around San Diego it's pretty much Cleveland National Forest, which is made up of many different chunks of land, and various BLM areas. Laguna Rec area is bow only but that is about the only area on plain National Forest that I can think of with restrictions like that. Wildlife areas are light green on Onx. For those areas you can google the area and there is a document for all of the regs for each wildlife area. On most National Monuments hunting is still allowed, but again, search and you will find a page for the specific area with the activities they allow. There are a few game refuges in Southern California, they show up with a blue border, and they are off limits. I think you will find if you get out there that there is more NF and BLM than you can really do justice exploring in many many years of hunting. If you aren't sure, you better find out before you go. If you think you might be too close to a road or building, you probably are.

Thanks, now that makes sense to me.

 

[TheGDog]

Got it. Thanks.

National Forests are good to go, right?

You need to check ahead of time for maps in National Forests which may indicate where Firearms are allowed... and where only Archery is allowed. For example... in Angeles NF... most of the NF that butts up against the foothill cities is Archery only for a certain amount of distance.

As you can imagine they don't want idiots launching projectiles which could miss their target and travel down into highly populated areas.

I have scanned JPG's of the map for San Gabriel Mtns. I posted it into a thread in here before.

 

[YETI]

You need to check ahead of time for maps in National Forests which may indicate where Firearms are allowed... and where only Archery is allowed. For example... in Angeles NF... most of the NF that butts up against the foothill cities is Archery only for a certain amount of distance.

As you can imagine they don't want idiots launching projectiles which could miss their target and travel down into highly populated areas.

I have scanned JPG's of the map for San Gabriel Mtns. I posted it into a thread in here before.

This weekend, in addition to knocking on the doors of some private landowners, I'm going to hit Mt. Laguna and see if I can get some maps and info from the rangers up there. Thanks!

 

[TheGDog]

Please scan post and share if you do! Less leg-work for everybody else that comes along after

 

[YETI]

Will do! Happy to help where I can.