Best Hunting Locations in the Northstate

There are some great hunting opportunities in the Northstate, California region. Game can include bear, quail, pig, deer and turkey just to name a few and it's a great trip for all skill levels and ages.

Here are the top places to hunt and what accommodations are available for visitors:

Rawhide West  http://www.rawhidewest.com/

This location offers guided hunts and the game include deer (black-tail), turkey, quail and pig. Rawhide west is about 120 miles from Oregon and is known for its ample wildlife and fish. Accommodations are available at the hunting ranch or in town, and hunters are guaranteed an amazing hunting experience.

Acorn Ridge Outfitters http://www.acornridgeoutfitters.com/

Acorn Ridge Outfitters deluxe guided hunting packages offer a memorable experience with turkey, wild pig, deer and varmint game hunting. They offer everything from motel accommodations and dining reservations to a shuttle service to and from the airport. Special packages and discounts are available for US veterans, father/son and father/daughter hunting excursions.

Tight Lines Guide Service  www.fishtightlines.com/site/Home.html

At Tight Lines Guide Service, visitors can hunt and fish on the same vacation with the "Cast & Blast" package. The guided tours include morning rainbow trout fishing, lunch and then an afternoon filled with duck hunting. The package includes all tackle and equipment. There are no overnight accommodations provided.

Oasis Springs Fly Fishing & Game Lodge  http://www.oasisflyfishing.com/

This game lodge provides visitors with quail, chukar and pheasant game hunting. Located on a 3,000 acre private game preserve, hunters will delight in watching the dogs "point and flush" out the game. They offer a superb "No Bag Limit or Per Bird Prices " mixed bag wing shooting and a Wild Mountain and Valley Quail hunt. Accommodations are available at the lodge.

Whifflemaster Taxidermy and Guide Service  http://whifflemaster.com/

Whifflemaster offers hunters guided wild pig, duck and goose hunts and waterfowl and bird taxidermy. There are no accommodations available on site, but visitors can stay in an adjoining county.

RATLDM Ranch http://www.huntingtop10.com/outfitters/ca/caof11/index.html

Located in Susanville, CA, RATLDM Ranch offers guided black bear, antelope, deer (both mule and black tail) and elk hunts. They do not charge a trophy fee and provide overnight accommodations in their historic, yet modern, Wells Fargo State Stop.


Blake's Guide Service http://www.blakesguideservice.com/

Blake’s guide service offers goose hunting at its finest, with guided hunts for the 750,000 Ross, Snows and Speck geese that migrate here yearly from the Arctic Ocean. A short ride from the Sacramento airport, visitors can stay in their four star accommodations and experience an amazing and professional hunting experience.


G&J Outdoors http://www.gandjoutdoors.com/

Visitors to G&J Outdoors can choose from an array of guided hunting trips that include turkey, deer, elk and antelope game hunting. In addition, hunters can go on a predator, coyote or mountain lion hunt and head upland for some bird hunting (turkey and wild chukar). Although there a no accommodations on the grounds, visitors can stay in town at a number of hotels and motels.



All hunting locations abide by California hunting laws are and required to take a safety guidelines hunter safety course for California.

Subject: Philosophy 101 – with Beer

The following is one of my favorites -  I don't know who wrote it but they have it right in my opinion.   Hope you like it -- Get out there!


A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about 2'' in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous –Yes!

Strategies for Moving Water

The following is courtesy of Andrew Harris - Fly Fishing Guide/Author.  Please contact Andrew at www.confluenceoutfitters.com or www.andrewharrisflyfishing.com



As we fly fishers accumulate knowledge and experience on the water, we pass through alternating stages of rapid growth and stagnation. We’ll learn a new skill that allows us to explore new kinds of water, then struggle for several trips or maybe several seasons until we make the next breakthrough in technique or understanding. One of the most frustrating challenges occurs when an angler is first confronted with a type of stream that is significantly different from the water with which he or she is familiar. For me, the frustration began when I made the leap from fishing small freestone streams to fishing spring creeks and tailwaters. The yellow humpies and Montana stone nymphs that easily fooled trout on the tributaries to the Middle Fork Feather River would rarely tempt a fish on Hat Creek or the Lower Sac.

Fly Fishing the Lower Sacramento, Spring 2010

I do not know these folks but it is a great display of the Sac River and the fishing that we have here

Lassen Peak Trail Rehabilitation Project Kickoff Event

July 9, 2010

For Immediate Release

Darlene M. Koontz

(530) 595-4444, ext. 5101





Lassen Volcanic National Park and the Lassen Park Foundation will host the

Lassen Peak Trail Rehabilitation Project at the ‘Reach the Peak’ kickoff

event on July 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Lassen Peak parking lot.

“The park trail crew is hard at work stabilizing and mitigating safety

hazards as snow continues to melt from Lassen Peak” stated Superintendent

Darlene M. Koontz. “We anticipate opening the full trail to the summit

July16, just in time for the celebration” added Koontz.



Special interpretive programs will be offered at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

A presentation by Superintendent Darlene M. Koontz and Lassen Park

Foundation Chairman John Koeberer will begin at noon followed by cake and

refreshments.



Reach the Peak project partners, Lassen Park Foundation, Lassen

Association, California Guest Services, and California Conservation Corps,

will host informational booths during the event.



The Reach the Peak Trail Rehabilitation Project will be a five-year project

to widen sections of the peak trail to accommodate visitor traffic,

construct a new loop route around the crater providing opportunities to

interpret geology and scenery while reducing resource damage to sensitive

vegetation, and install a new evaporator toilet. The final step will

construct a trail linking the Manzanita Creek Trail to the peak parking lot

and improve the Manzanita Creek trailhead parking.



During trail work, closures of the Lassen Peak Trail are possible at any

time without notice. Most of the work on the trail will take place Monday

through Thursday. On these days, the trail will be closed at the

“Grandview” area, approximately 1.3 miles from the peak parking area.



Once the trail opens for the season, it will be open to the summit Friday

through Sunday, except while the California Conservation Corps assists with

the restoration July 28 to August 4, August 11 to 18 and August 25 to

September 1.



Trail accessibility information is available on the park website at

http://www.nps.gov/lavo/parkmgmt/current-lassen-peak-trail-status.htm .



For more information about the Reach the Peak kickoff event, please contact

Kara Roll at (530) 595-4444 x5101. For additional park information, visit

the park website at www.nps.gov/lavo or call (530) 595-4480.

-NPS-

Mendocino Blues

This article submitted to Northstate Outdoors by Meade Fischer who can be reached at tripper@ebold.com




Something's lost when something's gained. For example, I finally

have some disposable income as opposed to being ill disposed to

having income. As a result, I can afford a state park or private

camp ground, not that I'm acclimated to actually paying for one.

Case in point is my almost annual trip to the Mendocino coast.

I can afford, assuming they are not full, to stay at one of the

three state parks in the area. In prior years, that would have

upset my travel budget for the summer. So, state parks are nice,

clean, have restrooms and showers and noisy neighbors. They also

cost plenty. Bottom line is convenient but kind of mundane.

THE BASICS OF SUCCESSFUL GOLD MINING

This article submitted to Northstate Outdoors by Dave McCracken who can be reached at new49ers@goldgold.com or http://www.goldgold.com/



During the Group Mining Projects and workshops we conduct each season, I always like to start by discussing the most important and fundamental ingredient in successful gold mining. That basic ingredient is you, yourself!

My Favorite Campground

This article submitted to Northstate Outdoors by Meade Fischer who can be reached at tripper@ebold.com



I've camped all over northern California, preferring the quiet, out of the way places to the crowded RV and boom box camp cities. While I've had many nights alone, near a stream in some scenic spot, one place stands out, for several reasons, as my favorite.

Testament of a Fisherman

With trout season opening, I thought this was appropriate.  It has been a long time favorite for me.

Testament of a Fisherman


I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.

-John Voelker (Robert Traver )

It's the simple things in life

Another weekend passes its back to the regular rhythm. I was just looking at some pictures and thinking about all that happened this weekend. I couldn't help but smile. I kind of feel like George Bailey, in that I too, have a wonderful life. It is not made up of extravagance, but rather simple everyday pleasures. I want to take you through my weekend but first let me give you a brief rundown of the players in this game.

Go ahead and trespass - You're not hurting anything!

I got into a conversation the other day. The topic was a worn out favorite. It has been discussed and written about countless times and my input will probably not change things. I am willing to bet if you have spent any time outdoors, you have covered this ground. What am I talking about?

Turkey Hunt This Morning

I went out again this morning.  I am going to detail what happened on the outside chance that someone may read this and give me some input.  I am hunting private ground along the Sacramento River.  This place has many turkeys and gets very little hunting pressure.

Loss in the Northstate

I got home last night and saw two pieces of news that kind of shook me up especially given the fact that I had just put the effort into trying to write a turkey hunting story to capture the excitement that I felt.  The news I am referring to is the death of the turkey hunter in the Paynes Creek Area and the hiker that is presumed lost on Mt. Shasta.

My First Turkey Hunt

So let me set the stage and background for you.  I have been turkey hunting a few times before and have actually been fortunate enough to harvest two birds.  What I haven't done is go by myself.  Each time I have had someone with substantial experience be my guide and call.  I have been wanting to learn and go more but time and access to ground have been barriers.  This year some of that changed - I met some people that have land that is just about perfect for turkey hunting.  Now all I needed was time - which given the land access, I made time! Finally, I needed experience to go with that time.  It is that education and experience hurdle that hung me up but I was not going to be deterred.  I have spent the last few weeks reading turkey hunting books and articles, going to seminars, getting advice from friends and lets not forget driving the family crazy calling yelps on the box call!  My five year old will actually gooble and come find me now!  Anyway I think you get the picture - I am overboard!

Paynes Creek

A Hillside

Water

From the Top

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/wildlife/watchable/wf_lister/payncrk.html

Went for very long walk last weekend at Paynes Creek.  This is just outside of Red Bluff, CA near the small community of Bend.  Based on the trail maps I covered about 9 miles round trip.  This area has a little for everyone.  Hunting is allowed and during duck season you can have a decent shoot - if you get there early in the morning to stake your spot.  I mean midnight or just after.  Other than that there is a bass pond and miles of trails that skirt the Sacramento River.  If you are into horses this is widely used for trail rides.  The rest of the details can be found on their website which is attached.

Modoc Waterfowl Outfitters

We went out with Brent Dolby from Modoc Outfitters and in short the pictures tell the story. We all limited out and had a great time. Three separate flights of geese came over us and on the first two I must have had some bad shells in the gun because I didn't do anything but punch a hole in the sky. The third flight came in a little later in the morning and they were committed to the decoys. We waited until they were basically on top of us and then the words you wait for came -" Let's take'em Boys" - and we did. It was awesome. FYI we stayed at the Rim Rock Motel and ate at the Brass Rail and the Wagon Wheel. I have no trouble suggesting you do the same. Great people - beautiful countryside - great hunt. Thanks Brent!!

http://www.modocwaterfowloutfitters.com/

November 9, 2009

Northstate Outdoors Blog

Northstate Outdoors is proud to start a new extension of our great services. We will now be giving our users in-depth views of specific northern California guide services, businesses and locations listed on our site.

These regular articles will boast lots of great pictures, video, and other fun media to give all our north CA outdoors enthusiasts a better understanding of how fun and helpful a guide service can really be.

You can find these blogs here at northstateoutdoors.blogspot.com, and right on the northstateoutdoors.com website.

Look for the first one coming next week, and stay out there!