California regs

[Andy]

My family recently moved to California and are trying to get me to move there as well, I was trying to find out a little more about the rules regarding hounds. The website is a little confusing and contradictory it seems. It says that there is a year round training season excepting during deer archery season, but it's not clear if that is for bear or other game, coon, fox, bobcat. Is there a place in the state where you can run bear year round? And wondering if anyone hunts in the southern part of the state, in the Sequoia or Inyo National Forests?

[BEAR HUNTER]

You can train on Coon,Fox, and Coyote year round. You can train on Bobcat untill Bobcat season then you must have a tag in your possession if you are running bobcat. The only time you can train on Bear is during bear season with a valid bear tag in possession. Once you use your tag you are done chasing bear. A friend can use your dogs however and you can be with him just cant have a gun. From April till the opening day of General Deer season the hills are pretty much all closed to running dogs. You have to run them in the flat lands and foot hills. There are a few exceptions called Training Zones but they are few and generally not very good. Ca really does have good hunting and is not a bad place to live. If you are a houndsmen however wardens make you enemy number one no matter if you arnt breaking the law.

[Andy]

Thanks for the info bear hunter. That's not a very long season is it. It looks like only about two months at the most in the best areas, and no spring season at all.

[Peter Meyer]

Stay in Texas ! Just visit your family. Check California's gun laws. I guarantee you if I lived in Texas most of what would be in my gun safe would get you jail time in California. CA has its' own assualt weapons ban still in place, still has a 14 day waiting period, has banned .50 caliber weapons, you can't even have a Taurus Judge .410/.45 LC because it is classified as an assualt shotgun. California houndsmen face an institutional prejudice in Fish and Game and in the media thanks to groups like the HSUS and IDA. Every year California bear hunters and houndsmen must constantly fight to keep what we have and fight for what we want. Hound hunting has gotten more restricted in California since the 80s. No more trainining season. Dog control zones. Restricting tracking collars (no treeing swithches, no gps) even though gps is legal for birddogs in California. Tag prices rise every year. Cougar hunting is illegal. Wardens have extraordinary powers to search you, your boat, truck, camper, home, barn, pretty much everything and they don't need a warrant and the standard they use for probable cause can range from owning a pickup truck and wearing a camo cap to pretty much whatever
they want. -Pete

[RIFLEMAN]

Andy,

My parents, sister, aunts, uncles, and cousins all live in Texas while I'm living out here in California. Stay there. Trust me.