Sacramento - News
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA)
- is the leading conservation and lobbying organization representing the interests of hunters, anglers and outdoor recreationists in California. Founded in 2004, COHA works to protect traditional hunting and fishing, conserve natural resources, and promote sound wildlife management policies.
Website: outdoorheritage.org
Address:
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
1215 K Street, Suite 1830
Sacramento, CA 95814
USA
Phone: +1 (916) 955-6700
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
5 Snow Goose Stops You’ve Never Tried
Chasing spring snow geese is one of the fastest growing pursuits in hunting, and with good reason. The most obvious of its attractions are the tens of millions of birds that string out from Texas to the Canadian tundra and from the coast of California to the Eastern Shore.
But as the spring migration has ballooned, so has the hunting competition. Meanwhile, it takes plenty of gear and cash to get into the game: e-callers, massive decoy rigs, pallets of ammunition and gasoline for finding fresh birds for the next day’s flight.
You might wonder why we go to the trouble. But if you spend one day under twisting white flocks with 10 shotgun shells in an extension magazine before you run it to the plug again and again, you’ll understand. Arkansas, Missouri and South Dakota are the hotbeds for chasing the reverse migration, but a few places are still devoid of big crowds, no matter if you’re a do-it-yourself or pay-to-play hunter.
Southern Illinois
Sean Herrick’s passion for white geese runs deep. He was one of the first outfitters to plant roots near Carlyle Lake, which can host up to 1 million snows during the height of the migration. He bought a couple old shipping containers and sank them into the ground, fabricating slick roll-cages to hide peeping hunters from white birds. It’s one of the most comfortable hunts you can have for snows (much better than lying in the Arkansas mud), and Herrick is far removed from freelancers.
“We are away from the ring of fire, where birds fly over spread after spread,” Herrick says. “By the time they get to us, they think they are safe.”
He has dug up and re-sunk pits multiple times to get on the best flight lines, and if the hatch was good and the weather is right, you will kill juvies all day. Plus, he runs permanent spreads, so there’s no decoy pickup after grinding all day. My friends and I had a banger couple of days with Herrick’s outfit a few years ago in February with the sun shining and a south wind blowing. The action was constant by snow goose standards (a few flocks every hour), and our numbers were in the 70s and 80s each day. That kind of success depends on myriad factors, but if the birds are flying, it’s a good bet Herrick will get plenty in killing range.
North Dakota
Scott Butz, the creator of Reel Wings, is so white-bird-obsessed that he keeps in contact with Canadian biologists about the hatch every spring and summer so he knows what to expect come fall and spring. Butz chases snows from Saskatchewan to Arkansas and back north in spring. North Dakota can be phenomenal, he says, but has seen tough times the past few years.
“If there’s no snow line, they just blow through here in 7 to 10 days, right on into Canada,” Butz says. “You used to see snows here into early April. Now it’s pretty much over by the end of February.”
You might wonder why we go to the trouble. But if you spend one day under twisting white flocks with 10 shotgun shells in an extension magazine before you run it to the plug again and again, you’ll understand.
Snows can be found from Valley City to Bismarck, but success in North Dakota requires different tactics. Butz doesn’t run Vortex machines and complements his e-caller – if he’s using one – with a mouth call.
“In every flock, there’s a dominant bird, and that’s why I use a mouth call,” he says. “Snow geese hear so well and pick up on different frequencies. Using that mouth call gets them in tight. I’m talking 15 to 20 yards.”
Access in North Dakota is fantastic. If a field isn’t posted, you have permission to hunt. But that can work against you, too, and that’s why Butz always calls the landowner, because you might arrive the next morning to find the farmer working the field. Also, with easy access comes competition. If there’s a big feed, you can bet multiple hunters or outfitters want that spot. Butz suggested working with other hunters if they are scouting the same piece of real estate.
“If someone else shows up, they can join us,” Butz says. “What’s the point of having two spreads in the same field and blowing the whole deal for everyone?”
If you can’t play nice with others, find a field between the feed and the roost, or a spot you think birds will likely fly over based on the wind and weather. Don’t be afraid to be different. Butz has based his entire snow goose career on that, and the proof is in the piles.
“A typical outfitter is going to run a 1,200-decoy spread with a couple of Vortex machines and blare the e-caller all day,” he says “You need to go small with quality decoys or get your buddies together and get a massive 3,000- to 5,000-decoy spread.”
Saskatchewan
Sometimes, Saskatchewan hunters call snows “summer geese” because you can hunt snows almost into summer there. Even the adults become more susceptible when they cross into Canada. Veteran snow guide Dusty Brown says it’s like hunting fresh birds during fall because the geese get obsessed with breeding and feeding, and the pressure they’ve experienced during fall and spring goes out the window. They basically become new birds. Even during poor-hatch years with few juvies, the hunting in Saskatchewan can be lights out.
A few outfitters specialize in spring snows up North (swiftriveroutfitters.com is a good one), and the hunts can be phenomenal, especially as you get closer to the breeding grounds and birds are feeding hard every morning. Don’t be afraid to go it alone in Saskatchewan, either. There are ample freelance opportunities, but like anything worthwhile, it’s hard work. You will put birds to bed every night, go in and set up for the morning and tear down every afternoon – unless you get on a burner field the geese just can’t ignore.
California
The Sacramento Valley and Northeastern Zone can provide one of the most unique goose hunts of your life.
“We’re not directly going after snow geese, but our spread looks like it,” says Rocque Merlo of merlowaterfowl.com. “We use a couple hundred specklebelly decoys and another 400 to 700 snows.”
Merlo’s outfit chases snows in fall (you can kill 20 a day, plus 10 specklebellies), but you can hunt snows until March in the Northeastern Zone and keep on going north through eastern Oregon and Washington if you have the time and ammo.
“The access is extremely tough,” Merlo says of his spots in Sacramento Valley. “Guides have most everything locked up, but a lot of guys are heading to the northeast. You can still knock on doors and get access up there.”
Maryland and Delaware
In the early 1990s, Tommy Marvel began to see greater snow geese push west of Route 301, which runs through Kent County, Maryland, and into Delaware
“It used to be greaters would roost on Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge, and we targeted them in cornfields,” says Marvel, who owns Chesapeake Guide Service (chesapeakeguideservice.com). “The biggest concentrations of snows are now farther south at Prime Hook NWR.”
Delaware and Maryland are best, but Marvel says New York is on the rise. Greaters typically don’t sit on one roost. They use farm ponds and other small waters, and Marvel has seen them on Chesapeake Bay, too.
His outfit hunts primarily fields with 600 to 1,000 full-bodies or 1,800 to 2,000 silo socks. Near the end of the season (typically February or March), when birds have been shot out of the fields, Marvel turns his attention to small roosts and loafs.
“We don’t do it until we have to, but there’s a point when they just won’t come to decoys in a field, so we get set up around 9 a.m. and shoot them as they come back to water.”
Cuándo y cómo cazar en la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina: guía completa sobre temporadas, licencias y normas, consejos sobre táctica y equipamiento
Normas y períodos de caza en la provincia de Córdoba: fechas clave y regulación
La caza en la provincia argentina de Córdoba está bajo el control estricto del Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería de la Provincia de Córdoba. La base legal proviene tanto de las normativas nacionales establecidas por el Consejo Nacional de Caza como de las reglas locales.
La temporada principal de caza suele comenzar a mediados de abril y termina a principios de agosto, coincidiendo con los meses de invierno en el hemisferio sur. Estas fechas pueden variar ligeramente cada año según las condiciones climáticas y los estudios de población animal.
La regulación incluye cupos, permisos específicos por especie, restricciones por edad y sexo de los animales, así como zonificación — la caza solo se permite en ciertas áreas para proteger los ecosistemas.
El clima templado de la región, con veranos secos e inviernos fríos, influye en la migración y actividad de los animales, por eso los meses de invierno son considerados los más productivos para la caza. Comparada con provincias vecinas como Santa Fe o Buenos Aires, donde las temporadas pueden estar desplazadas algunas semanas, en Córdoba siempre empieza antes.
En los últimos años se han introducido cambios significativos: desde 2019 es obligatorio realizar cursos de seguridad y conciencia ecológica antes de obtener una licencia.
Temporadas de caza: cuándo es mejor salir a cazar
En Córdoba hay dos temporadas principales:
Temporada de invierno (abril–agosto): ideal para cazar animales grandes como jabalí, ciervo pudu, ciervo de cola blanca y zorro. Durante este tiempo, los animales se agrupan cerca de cuerpos de agua y tierras agrícolas.
Final del otoño / comienzo de la primavera (septiembre–octubre): temporada para aves migratorias como faisán, choique y aves acuáticas. Sin embargo, esta puede estar restringida dependiendo de las decisiones gubernamentales.
Para la caza mayor, los mejores momentos son al amanecer y al atardecer. Para la caza menor, especialmente aves migratorias, la primera parte del día es más efectiva.
Festivales y eventos :
Cada mayo se celebra el "Festival del Cazador" (Fiesta del Cazador) en la ciudad de Sacramento, donde además de competencias y exposiciones de armamento, se ofrecen seminarios educativos y talleres prácticos sobre rastreo y tiro.
Prohibiciones y límites: qué especies no puedes cazar
En Córdoba existen reglas estrictas para preservar la biodiversidad:
Está prohibido cazar hembras durante su periodo de gestación y crianza (normalmente de septiembre a enero). Restricciones por edad: ciervos y jabalíes deben tener al menos dos colmillos o astas desarrolladas para ser considerados adultos. Además especies protegidas que no se pueden cazar incluyen jaguar, nutria, la mayoría de las especies de lechuzas y puma. También hay prohibiciones temporales: de enero a marzo la caza está totalmente prohibida en la mayoría de las zonas, excepto en reservas privadas con permiso especial.
Cómo obtener una licencia de caza en Córdoba: documentos y organización
Para cazar legalmente en la provincia, debes obtener una licencia de caza , que se otorga tras completar un proceso de formación:
Realizar un curso de seguridad y ecología en un centro autorizado.
Presentar una solicitud ante el Ministerio con certificado médico y copia del documento de identidad.
Hacerse miembro de uno de los clubes de caza registrados, como "Club de Caza y Pesca Córdoba".
Muchos cazadores prefieren trabajar a través de estos clubes, ya que ofrecen acceso a territorios cerrados, ayuda en trámites y organizan salidas grupales. Los extranjeros deben presentar documentos adicionales, incluyendo traducción del pasaporte y recomendaciones de asociaciones de caza de su país.
Sanciones por violar las normas y fechas de caza en Córdoba
Infringir las normas de caza tiene consecuencias serias:
Multas que comienzan en 50.000 pesos por cada animal ilegalmente abatido. Pérdida de la licencia por un período de uno a tres años. Incautación de armas y equipo. En casos repetidos, se pueden iniciar procesos penales por furtivismo. Todas las sanciones están detalladas en la ley provincial Nº 10.467, que se actualiza regularmente.
Consejos sobre táctica, equipamiento y elección del momento para cazar en Córdoba
El éxito en la caza depende de elegir bien el momento, lugar y equipo:
En invierno , usa ropa de camuflaje oscura, ya que los animales son más cautelosos y distinguen mejor los contrastes.
Para jabalíes y ciervos, se recomienda un rifle calibre .308 Win o .30-06 Springfield.
Para aves migratorias, utiliza escopeta calibre 12 con cartuchos adecuados (por ejemplo, postas y perdigones nº 4–6).
Los mejores lugares son las zonas occidentales de la provincia, especialmente cerca de las sierras de Córdoba y en los valles de los ríos Quebrada de la Cruz y Río Seco.
Táctica: por la mañana, opta por la espera silenciosa ("caza sentada"); por la tarde, busca huellas y sigue al animal. No olvides llevar un GPS, ropa abrigada y suficiente agua, especialmente en salidas largas en zonas montañosas.
Hunting in California offers a wide variety of opportunities for both experienced hunters and beginners. With its diverse landscapes, from mountainous regions to vast deserts, California is home to a rich variety of game species, including deer, elk, wild pig, turkey, and upland game birds.
Before embarking on your hunting trip, make sure to familiarize yourself with California’s hunting regulations. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) strictly monitors hunting seasons, bag limits, and licensing. Every hunter in California is required to have a valid hunting license, and in some cases, specific tags are needed for certain species like #deerhunting and #elkhunting.
The Golden State is known for its challenging #publiclandhunting opportunities, as it boasts millions of acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service. Popular public hunting areas include the Mendocino National Forest, Sierra National Forest, and Los Padres National Forest. These areas are prime for #biggamehunting, particularly during #rifleseason or #bowhunting season, depending on your choice of weapon.
If you’re into #waterfowlhunting, California’s Central Valley is a major flyway for migratory birds like ducks and geese. Popular wetlands like the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge offer excellent #duckhunting and #goosehunting opportunities. Many hunters also head to the state's rivers and lakes for #fishing and #smallgamehunting, making it an all-around outdoorsman’s paradise.
For those interested in #huntinggear and preparation, ensure you have the proper equipment for the terrain and climate. If you're heading into #mountainhunting areas, durable boots, a good hunting pack, and GPS navigation tools are essential. Also, don’t forget to scout your hunting location early to get familiar with the terrain and the local wildlife patterns.
California also offers specific seasons for #turkeyhunting and #uplandbirdhunting, including quail, pheasant, and dove. These smaller game species are often pursued on both public and private lands, with many private ranches offering guided hunting services.
When planning your hunting trip in California, remember to respect the environment and practice ethical hunting. Always follow the principles of to ensure that future generations can enjoy the natural beauty and abundant wildlife of the state.
Whether you’re chasing big game in the high Sierra or seeking waterfowl in the wetlands, California is a top destination for of all levels. Make sure to check the CDFW website for the latest updates on dates, , and licensing to ensure a successful and legal hunt.
#publiclandhunting training
Top 5 Hunting Towns in America
Have You Ever Hunted in These Towns?
Man, you hate to rank stuff sometimes. Case in point, college football. What makes one team better than another, anyway — TV time, a difficult schedule, wins and losses? Rankings and choices concerning numero uno lend themselves to loopholes, weak arguments and plenty of opinions.
So what exactly qualifies a town as one of the BEST hunting towns in America? To find out, I polled hunters who find themselves in the woods for work and play … biologists, editors and industry folks, and here’s what they said:
Every great hunting town needs a variety of game.
It has to have cafés, hole-in-the wall restaurants, inexpensive hotels, meat processors, and a game and fish office nearby doesn’t hurt, either.
Tons of public hunting land within an hour’s drive.
Interesting stuff to see if you tag out early or just get tired of hunting.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico’s scattered peaks are notorious for growing monster bulls. A retirement plan for elk lovers? You bet.
Two hours from Albuquerque, hunters can find elk, bears, bighorn sheep, mule deer, wild turkeys, quail, ducks, geese and pheasants. And most are accessible on public land. Geographically, Albuquerque offers a little bit of everything. Because it sits at the southern end of the Rockies, there’s an unusual interplay between native mountain species and desert game. There’s no shortage of public land, either, and the quail population rocks.
Nearby Public Land: There are several to choose from.
Cibola National Forest
Santa Fe National Forest
San Juan National Forest
Rio Grande National Forest
Historical Note: Albuquerque claims three ethnicities: Anglo, Hispanic and American Indian. After dark, restaurants and bars bathe the area in neon. On Central Avenue, the old strip of Route 66 offers vintage establishments like the Stardust Inn and the Standard Diner. The road eventually passes by the University of New Mexico and several blocks of cheap eats.
Recreation: If you tag out early, take a hike or ski, mountain bike and/or rock climb.
Fave Eats: Gardunos (in an adobe community in the North Valley) / Frontier Restaurant (try the huevos rancheros and breakfast burritos)
Crosset, Arkansas
The cypress sloughs in Arkansas set the stage for a forget-me-not waterfowl hunt.
Crossett is 9 miles north of the Arkansas/Louisiana border — population 6,097 — and its old mill town is 7 miles from Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, the largest green-tree reservoir in the world. Two primary river channels form several shallow lakes full of cypress. Hunters go after gators, bears, wild turkeys and ducks. Lots of ducks.
“It’s typical Southern hunting country with a hardcore Southern hunting culture,” said James Powell of Plum Creek Timber, a company that manages timber and hunting land in the area. “You can hop in a boat or canoe and easily get lost out here.”
Nearby Public Land: Near Crossett, you'll find Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, a 65,000-acre area where all sorts of animals live. It's also a popular hunting and fishing destination. Because the refuge lies within the Mississippi Flyway, ducks are the main attraction. They begin arriving in September with blue-winged teal, mallards, black ducks, gadwall and ring-necks that winter here. Wood ducks are a year-round resident. Felsenthal also is home to the largest population of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers in the state and some of the region's richest cultural attractions, with more than 200 known archeological sites.
Historical Note: The town’s history is reflected in one of the three-room "mill houses" Crossett Lumber constructed for its employees that now sits in the 110-acre Crossett City Park. Built prior to 1910, the gray wooden structure features an interior that appears as it would have in the 1930s. Call (870) 364-6591 to schedule a tour.
Fave Eats: Abe’s Old Feed House (classic buffet and typical Southern fare, including fried chicken)
Baker City, Oregon
Any outdoor enthusiasts who lives to cast a fly or chase game through luscious landscapes should consider Oregon an option to call Home.
Baker City sits at the base of the rugged Elkhorn Mountains on the old Oregon Trail. Established by emigrants traveling west during the 19th century, Baker City is best known for the role it played during the Oregon gold rush of the 1860s. The discovery of gold at nearby Powder River in 1861 transformed the small pioneer town into a seat of commerce overnight.
Nowadays, Baker City gleans as much fame from its proximity to Hells Canyon National Recreation Area — an oasis of wildlife and wildflowers — and surrounding national parks. Cradled between two sections of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and surrounded by numerous natural sights, Baker City offers an almost unlimited list of recreational opportunities.
At the top of that list is the Snake River in Hells Canyon. Everything about the river is big. Big waves, big views, big cliffs. The canyon is the deepest gorge in North America, several thousand feet deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Oregon also offers prime real estate to big game hunters who favor elk, deer, bighorn sheep and antelope. Pheasant, chucker, quail and grouse keep upland bird hunters busy, and because Oregon sits on the Pacific Flyway, there are ducks and geese galore.
But the turkey hunting isn’t bad, either. In recent years, Oregon has become a sleeper turkey state. Hunting them has grown ten-fold since the first spring season opened in 1987, and with good reason.
Over-the-counter archery elk tags for either sex are available for about $300, and pronghorns — we’re talking world-records — play here, too.
Nearby Public Land: Options are certainly plentiful.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Umatilla National Forest
Ochocho National Forest
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area
Cold Spring National Wildlife Refuge
Nez Perce National Forest
Fave Eats: Baker City is hardly a classic tourist town, and that's its greatest appeal. There aren’t trendy restaurants; even the Geiser Grand Hotel’s acclaimed dining room serves mainly meat-and-potatoes fare (though the place is packed for special culinary events, which include lobster weekends featuring fresh seafood flown in from Maine).
St. Joseph, Missouri
Turkeys. Whitetails. Ducks. The Show-Me State will definitely show you the lore of its hunting paradise. Pun intended.
The latest estimates lift Missouri’s white-tailed deer population to more than 1 million. Translation: Hunters enjoy a killer success rate. But the fishing is pretty hot, too. So hot that Field & Stream magazine proclaimed it one of the best fishing spots in the Midwest, especially for heavyweight flatheads.
Along with the opening of the modern firearms deer season, the spring turkey opener is one of the most eagerly anticipated days in the state, and not just among hunters, but also among the owners of gas stations, cafés and sporting goods stores that keep those hunters going.
All this excitement is well warranted, too, because Missouri is one of America's top turkey hunting states with a wealth of public ground to boot. “You could spend a lifetime hunting different spots throughout Missouri, and every outing would be the trip of a lifetime,” said outdoor writer Bryan Hendricks.
In Northwest Missouri it’s not unusual to hear 20 to 30 different gobblers on a clear spring morning. Scattered timber mixed with farm fields and plenty of Conservation Reserve Program land provides the perfect habitat for Missouri’s large Eastern turkey population.
Recreation: Missouri is best known for its backyard river, the mighty Mississippi, granddaddy of them all. But that's just a drop in a bucket considering the many opportunities for outdoor fun. The plains and hills of Missouri overflow with some of the clearest waters in the heartland. Just a short drive away from the St. Louis metro area are many natural springs, rivers and state parks to splash in. Whether you're waiting for a trout to bite or huffing as you hike the local trails, you'll meander alongside some of the Midwest's most picturesque waterways.
In Missouri, outdoor fun happens year-round. Although the northwestern region state is mostly rural, Kansas City and surrounding suburbs offer big-city fun with numerous first-class tourist attractions, big-league sports teams, and museums and historic sites of national importance. North of Kansas City is the Missouri River Valley, a major flyway for waterfowl, bald eagles and songbirds.
Nearby Public Land: The Mark Twain National Forest is one of the most popular haunts for chasing turkeys, this public land hot spot should be a must on the lifetime to-do list.
Historical Note: April 3, 1860, marked the beginning of St. Joseph's most romantic adventure. That day the city became embedded in history books when the Pony Express sent its first daring horseback rider to Sacramento, Calif., carrying mail to the Western frontier. Although the Pony Express operated for only 18 months, preservation of the stables and headquarters has kept the legend alive. St. Joseph is also the town where outlaw Jesse James met his demise. The small-frame home where a gang member shot him in 1882 still stands to mark the end of the notorious bank and train robber.
Pittsfield, Illinois
Few deer hunting counties register in the minds of bowhunters across the nation like Pike County. It just so happens that this Illinois county makes them drool.
Bowhunters arrive in mass to Pittsfield and Pike County every year. They know the odds of taking a trophy whitetail are better here than almost anywhere in the United States. It doesn’t get much better than hunting in the N0. 2 county in the country for monster bucks that grace the pages of the Boone and Crockett and Pope & Young record books. But the fun doesn’t end there. Pike County has a long tradition of hunting native bobwhite quail and working with bird dogs. And the duck hunting is literally out of this world. Hunt diver ducks along the great Mississippi River, or mallards, wood ducks and teal in flooded bean, corn and millet fields.
Nearby Public Land: Nearby Great River National Wildlife Refuge takes credit for much of Pittsfield’s attraction, just a short distance to the town’s west. Great River is the central refuge within the Mark Twain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which stretches 350 miles along the Mississippi River through Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. The Great River NWR manages approximately 15,000 acres across 100 river miles and lies within the Mississippi Flyway, and you know what that means.
The refuge provides several public-use opportunities including hunting, fishing and hiking (not all activities are allowed on all divisions).
Historical Note: Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas spoke in a Pike County courtyard during the 1858 senatorial campaign. Lincoln's private secretaries, who accompanied him to the White House, were from Pittsfield.
Fave Eats: The Red Dome Inn and Lounge. If you go, get the Prime Rib. It’s their specialty.
Related to request “Sacramento”
