Where can I hunt turkey in California?
5 min read
Asked by: Heather Hutchings
Lake County is now considered one of the top wild turkey areas in the state. The Cache Creek Wildlife Area in eastern Lake County is prime turkey country. The BLM land called the Payne Ranch also has a large turkey population. The Mendocino National Forest from Upper Lake to Lake Pillsbury is excellent for turkeys.
Can you turkey hunt in California?
Hunters are limited to one bearded turkey per day with a spring season limit of three birds. Nonlead shot is required when taking wildlife with a firearm anywhere in the state. Turkeys also can be legally hunted with air rifles and lead pellets of at least 0.177 caliber.
How do you go turkey hunting in California?
Where safe and legal, hunt wild turkeys on your property, or allow others to hunt them.
- A hunting license and upland game bird stamp are required.
- Legal methods of take include shotgun, archery equipment, or air rifle.
- Seasons and other hunting regulations are available from CDFW offices and online.
When can you hunt turkeys in California?
California’s general spring turkey season opens statewide March 26 and runs through May 1. With growing populations of wild turkeys in many parts of the state, spring turkey season has become one of the more anticipated opportunities on the hunting calendar.
Where are wild turkey in California?
“They can be found across the state in deserts, forests, and cities. They can eat all kinds of foods; they travel in groups and they have lots of eyes to avoid predators.” Merriam’s wild turkeys and Rio Grande wild turkeys are the most common in the Sacramento area.
Are wild turkeys good to eat?
While the legs and thighs of a wild turkey aren’t as tender as the breast meat, they are even more flavorful. Use them in soups, stews, slow-cooked turkey barbecue, and, my favorite, turkey and dumplings. Besides the legs and thighs, turkey hearts, gizzards and livers are delicious.
How late can you hunt turkey in California?
And remember, shooting hours for Spring wild turkey hunting in California is one half hour before sunrise to 5 pm.
Where can I hunt wild turkey in Southern California?
The best public land is the Los Padres National Forest. Hunt the western section of the national forest. San Luis Obispo County was one of the places in California where wild turkeys were first planted. The local ranches are loaded with the birds, but there are few public areas to hunt.
Can you bait turkey in California?
Bait and Baited Areas
In general, it’s illegal to take any resident game bird, including turkey, or any resident game mammal, within 400 yards of a Baited Area.
What are shooting hours for turkey in California?
The shooting hours for pheasants shall be from 8:00 a.m. to sunset. The shooting hours for the spring wild turkey season shall be from one-half hour before sunrise to 5:00 p.m.
What land can you hunt on in California?
Unless specifically prohibited, public lands managed by BLM are open to hunting under California Department of Fish and Wildlife Hunting Regulations. A California hunting license is required to hunt within the State of California.
How many turkeys are in California?
Today, due to conservation and reintroduction efforts, wild turkeys populations have rebounded to around seven million, and they inhabit about 18% of the state of California.
Are there wild turkeys in Northern California?
Movin’ in: How California’s wild turkey population is thriving after wildfires. People love them, hate them or just love to eat them. They’re wild turkeys, and their populations are booming in Northern California. Now they’ve moved into urban areas, partly because of wildfire — and they’re staying.
What kind of turkeys live in California?
There are five distinct subspecies of turkey, four of which have been transplanted into California at one time or another. This includes the Eastern (M.g. silvestris), Rio grande (M.g. intermedia), Merriam’s (M.g. merriami), and Gould’s (M.g. mexicana) wild turkey.
Are turkey native to California?
Did you know that the Bay Area’s wild turkeys aren’t native to California? They’re actually a subspecies from the southwest introduced to the state by the California Fish and Game Commission as a trophy hunting bird in the second half of the last century.
Are there wild turkeys in the Bay Area?
If you live in the Bay, chances are you’ve seen more than a few wild turkeys strutting around your neighborhood or your local hiking trails.
Why are there so many turkeys in Sacramento?
Abundant resources and a lack of predators (including game hunters) caused the turkeys to stay. “They found a landscape very much to their liking, with plentiful food and resources and water and trees to roost in. And they said, ‘You know, this is great!
Why are there so many wild turkeys in the Bay Area?
Originally, these turkeys were brought for hunting at private hunting clubs and on state-managed lands… it’s been sort of a continued population growth from that time, from the 1950s to the 1980s, when these releases were happening.
Where are the wild turkeys?
They can be found in much of the eastern U.S., spanning from the Canadian border to northern Florida and westward to the Mississippi River. They can be identified by the brown-tipped upper tail feather found on the male.
