Hunting Ain't Easy

Ep. 28 California Mule Deer Zones (x5a/b, x6a/b, x7a/b) with Dan Ryan, Part 1

Dan Ryan is an avid hunter and outdoorsman with a profession that allows him to get to know land and habitat all over California.  In this 2 part podcast Dan and I get down to talking about 6 of the most popular and accessible "draw zones" which require a Premium tag for archery, rifle/general or muzzleloader hunt opportunities. Any hunter with 3 to 17 points in California is probably considering hunting or scouting these zones as they offer diverse terrain, high quality hunts and the potential for a truly great California buck. 

You can reach out to Dan directly via the Bureau of Land Mgmt, in the Susanville CA office: 530-249-8559 or Email dryan@blm.gov  

California Big Game Draw resources are found in the Big Game Digest... we have until June 2nd to put in for the draw, so it's time to study and make some choices. 

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Want to protect hunting rights, opportunity and support quality wildlife mgmt across all states and all species - follow HOWL For Wildlife! 

 

#Hunting #MuleDeer #California #Bear #Deer #Conservation #Wildlife

Ep. 27 What’s wrong with SB 856 ”the wild pig bill” - It’s a TRAP!

Charles Whitwam and I jam on the issues, problems and outright threats embedded in SB856. This California legislation has some shiny and attractive bait to attract hunters' attention, but the boring sections of the Senate Bill are NOT GOOD for California hunters, outdoors enthusiasts, farmers and ranchers. OPPOSE SB856. 

Links: 

Take Action @ HOWL

HOWL on Instagram

Hunting Ain't Easy on Instagram

Calif. F&G Meeting - Guard the Gate and support bear hunting 

 

EP 26 Fuel The Hunt with Kyle Alton - fitness, nutrition and fueling your body through the seasons

No matter what the game is you're chasing, your overall fitness is going to limit you or it will power you.  Fitness is a year-round pursuit, just like hunting. There's scouting seasons, planning seasons and hunting seasons.  Keeping your body in mountain ready condition requires seasons for building strength, seasons for building endurance, and seasons for performing. No matter what season you're in, the fuel you put into your body will affect the outcome.  Food, water, nutrients, supplements need to be sync'd to your training plan and your goals. 

I got to spend some time with Kyle Alton to chat about hunting, and fueling the body for optimal performance. Kyle is an experienced hunter and personal trainer (10+ years), and he's merging these passions with a food/nutrition/fueling coaching program to help hunters achieve their goals and maintain the edge that good fueling can provide. 

Find Kyle on instagram @ Fuel the  Hunt 

Thanks again for your support, feedback and engagement with the Hunting Ain't Easy Podcast! 

mountain fitness / wilderness athlete / hike to hunt / train to hunt / fuel the hunt / food is fuel / muledeer / black bear / elk hunting / 

EP 25 HOWL for Wildlife, with the creator of HOWL, Charles Whitwam

Wouldn’t it be great if the hunting community had a single platform where we could voice our support for conservation, wildlife management through hunting, and hunting rights & opportunities? What if there was a place where we could #GuardTheGate?

Heck yes!! Charles Whitwam has created HOWL For Wildlife to do exactly that. Charles is a hunter and guide, a wildlife advocate and conservationist. You may know him as ShadowTrekker Adventures.

I sit down with Charles to learn about HOWL, his inspiration and goals for the site. We talk about our need to energize and transform the communications power of the 15 MILLION hunters in the US. We talk about the outright lies and misrepresentation of facts that anti-hunters use to manipulate people’s emotions and actions.

Friends – go to HOWL and check it out. Take Action, Share the Site with fellow hunters and your non-hunting friends who value balanced wildlife mgmt..

Hit me up at HuntingAintEasy to follow along, comment or ask questions.

#Hunting #Conservation #Wildlife #Muledeer #California #Habitat #Blackbear #BearHunting #HSUS #PETA #HumanSociety #Wilderness #Deer #Whitetail #Elk #Blacktail #AnimalRights #Advocate #Activist #Howl #Ecology #AZGFD #CDFW #FishandGame #Colorado #Arizona #Washington #Oregon #Idaho #Utah #Montana #Wyoming #Regulations

EP 24: John Stallone pre-AZ hunt call, post-hunt recap

As a deer hunter I'm intrigued by opportunities beyond our great state.  Neighboring and nearby Western states offer habitat, terrain, tags and wildlife populations that are uniquely different, and enticing, compared to what we have available. I love big mountain back-country hunting, but the reality is that wilderness beauty and backcountry adventure isn't limited to high-alpine basins. The desert offers a starkly different experience - and there are some big bucks cruising the palo verde and cactus.  In this episode I get to chat with John Stallone of Days in the Wild for a quick podcast call, and to pick his brain on what to look for when it comes to mule-deer rut, habitat and habits in the Southwest corner of AZ. 

If you're heading to AZ or even the southern deserts of California you'll benefit from John's Days in the Wild podcast - he has been sharing stories and experience of coues deer, mule deer, javalina and coyote hunting in AZ for many years! 

A trip to hunt AZ in December or January will sharpen your skills and expand your idea of what "mule deer country" really looks like.  I encourage you to use our CA off-season to explore the southwest, find desert bucks and get some practice stalking these bucks. 

John Stallone - Instagram 

Days in the Wild outfitters - Instagram 

AZGFD online 

Hunting Ain't Easy - Instagram 

HOWL For Wildlife

#Hunting #Conservation #Wildlife #Muledeer #California #Habitat #Blackbear #BearHunting #HSUS #DeerHunting #ElkHunting #Wilderness #Deer #Whitetail #Elk #Blacktail #Advocate #Activist #Howl

EP 23: California hunting regulatory changes you can (and need to) support!!

Listen. Share. Discuss. and Support!!

It's not often the hunting community can get behind hunting regulation changes with enthusiasm, but I bring you this podcast with hope and genuine optimism.  For most of the last few decades it seems as though California has not evolved hunting regulations, seasons, administrative practices, tag allocations or wildlife management in a way that supports hunters or hunting opportunity. Other western states are far more creative, proactive and progressive - and both the hunters and wildlife in those states can benefit. 

This episode we get into 2 specific items on the 12/15/21 Fish & Game Commission meeting agenda. 

Item #13 - is the CDFW proposed regulatory change related to tag returns, point reinstatement and refunds, in response to widespread public lands closures. 

Item #15 - features a HUGE petition for regulatory, administrative, tag allocation and season changes or creation which will spur a ton of debate and hopefully be a new beginning for how CDFW approaches problem solving, hunter opportunity. 

Listen. Learn. Share. Comment - via email or via the public comments opportunities during the 12/15 meeting. 

***Most importantly: we need to support the Item #15 petition being "referred for additional review and consideration" so that CDFW, Dan, biologists and the hunting public can continue working on the ideas presented to craft changes that may go into effect over the next 1-5 years. 

If you want the Petition documents sent via email - drop me a DM at www.instagram.com/huntingainteasy and I'll send them your way.  

HOWL For Wildlife

#Hunting #Conservation #Wildlife #Muledeer #California #Habitat #Blackbear #BearHunting #HSUS #DeerHunting #ElkHunting #Wilderness #Deer #Whitetail #Elk #Blacktail #Advocate #Activist #Howl

EP 22 Public Land Closure Tag Returns - Oct Fish & Game Commission meeting recap

Quick recap on the Oct. meeting of the Calif. Fish & Game Commission discussing a proposed regulatory change to provide Elk, Deer, Sheep and Antelope hunters some recourse when public land closures impact their hunts. This is a big move from CDFW and F&G to both acknowledge an issue impacting thousands of hunters, and then to move forward with long-term regulatory changes which impact affected hunters in a positive way. 

This is a short episode, but there is a lot of material that you should review - become informed and communicate to F&G what you think about these regulatory changes.  Finally - thank Backcountry Hunters, California Deer Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Wild Sheep Foundation for their support of these regulatory changes. 

Call to action: read the proposed regulations and let Fish & Game know what you think. If you're in support, they need to know. If you are not in support, they need to know!  EMAIL Fish & Game Commission. 

Calif. Fish & Game Commission

Notice of Proposed Changes (11/2/21)

Proposed Changes to Regulations – Tag returns and point & fee refunds

Hunting Ain’t Easy – Instagram

HOWL For Wildlife

#Hunting #Conservation #Wildlife #Muledeer #California #Habitat #Blackbear #BearHunting #HSUS #DeerHunting #ElkHunting #Wilderness #Deer #Whitetail #Elk #Blacktail #Advocate #Activist #Howl

Ep 21: Chasing migratory bucks after the ”bomb cyclone” - final days of DZone CA General Season

Once in many years CA gets the kind of storm that pushes migratory deer out of the high country before the end of the season, and thousands of hunters race to the hills trying to figure out where these bucks will be as they parade down from loft 10k foot basins to their 3500-4500' wintering grounds.  Oct. 2021 dealt us one such storm, with "the most precipitation ever recorded in a 24 hour period" for most of the state, followed by 2-3 feet of snow in the high elevations!  

So when I headed out to hunt west-slope mule deer (blacktail hybrid deer by some people's standards) I wanted to test some theories as much as I wanted to hunt.  Do the old codger bucks stay up high "until they're pushing snow with their chest", or does the entire herd drop elevation and start munching on acorns in the foothills?  

This episode recaps my 4 day hunt in CA central Sierra, part high country, part middle-elevation forest... and as always I got some adventurous scouting in that will add layers of fun and new terrain to future hunts. Migration trails, predator tracks and some very fresh buck sign was found. 

Check out some of the pics @ www.instagram.com/HuntingAintEasy

The rest of 2021 has more hunting in store though ~ 1 CA bear tag and 1 AZ archery tag in my pocket.  The hunts continue. 

California hunting, deer hunting, bear hunting, black bear, mule deer, blacktail deer, blackbear, backcountry hunting, habitat management, backpack hunting. 

HOWL For Wildlife

#Hunting #Conservation #Wildlife #Muledeer #California #Habitat #Blackbear #BearHunting #HSUS #DeerHunting #ElkHunting #Wilderness #Deer #Whitetail #Elk #Blacktail #Advocate #Activist #Howl

Ep 20: Buck down, hunt breakdown, mea culpa - Trail cams vs. scouting, other post-hunt thoughts

Buck down!! I should be on cloud 9, stoked, yeah? 

I can no longer say I'm 5 seasons in without a buck down.  Many lessons learned this year, especially as I'm finding the difference between "trail cam" scouting and hunt scouting. They're not the same. Trail cams yield good intel and huge amounts of data, fun pictures and a decent idea of what wildlife is in the area. However a number of hunt experiences have shown me that the time it takes to place and retrieve trail cams might be better spent actually scouting for deer with the same techniques you use to hunt. I break some of the intel that went into the successful hunt down, and then I get into some details of the hunt that leave me dissatisfied, even disappointed. 

Just goes to show, that even when a great buck walks right in front of you, there's luck, skill and patience that need to come into play - otherwise Hunting Ain't Easy. 

More stories and pics online @ www.instagram.com/HuntingAintEasy

Hit me up with your thoughts, questions, comments.  

HOWL For Wildlife

#Hunting #Conservation #Wildlife #Muledeer #California #Habitat #Blackbear #BearHunting #HSUS #DeerHunting #ElkHunting #Wilderness #Deer #Whitetail #Elk #Blacktail #Advocate #Activist #Howl

California hunting, deer hunting, bear hunting, black bear, mule deer, blacktail deer, blackbear, backcountry hunting, habitat management, backpack hunting. 

 

Ep 19 Mountain musings - live daily recaps from a short California D-Zone backcountry buck hunt

Leading into the California D-zone general season opener I ventured into the backcountry for a day of scouting and then what could have been up to 3 days hunting.  Thursday night hike in, a day of scouting, glassing and checking cameras on Friday and then a solid hunt day on Saturday - with several "first time ever" events that made it a uniquely special day. 

I'll say this... Hunting (still) Ain't Easy, no matter how much success you're having, public land "OTC" hunts take work, dedication, time and some luck to bring it all together. 

Did this hunt go the way it did because of luck, because of accumulated knowledge, skills learned through hard (losses) lessons in the mountains?  Probably all of the above. 

Check out the pics at IG: www.instagram.com/huntingainteasy 

HOWL For Wildlife

#Hunting #Conservation #Wildlife #Muledeer #California #Habitat #Blackbear #BearHunting #HSUS #DeerHunting #ElkHunting #Wilderness #Deer #Whitetail #Elk #Blacktail #Advocate #Activist #Howl

California hunting, deer hunting, bear hunting, black bear, mule deer, blacktail deer, blackbear, backcountry hunting, habitat management, backpack hunting.