The following appears in the June issue of California Sportsman:
By Chris Cocoles
Photos by Kirstin Scholtz, Kory Savage, Curtis Niedermier, Colin Moore and Todd Kline
Todd Kline came west to become a champion surfer, and bass fishing never seemed to be in the cards. At least until he decided to play cards.
“I’d see bass boats going up to reservoirs when I was actually going to the casino on the Indian reservation, probably Barona (near San Diego),” saysKline, who has been both a surfer and an angler at the professional level. Perhaps next he’ll play in the main event at the World Series of Poker, but he’s made a living doing what drove him in his younger days in Florida before eventually relocating to Southern California.
“I had (bass anglers) tell me, ‘I’m going here or there,’ and I’m almost laughing about it and saying, ‘OK, cool; have fun,” the now successful FLW co-angler based out of San Clemente — located along the Orange County coast — says with a laugh. “But then when I did some research I realized that the bass fishing was actually great out here.”
After seeing the world as a surfing pro — he still racks up the frequent-flier miles as a commentator for the World Surf League — Kline is a four-time bass tournament winner on the FLW’s Costa Series Western tour, where he’s earned about $125,000 in prize money fishing tournaments with the established professionals, though co-anglers who win tournaments can make a large purse.
So, yeah — one week he might be interviewing some of the world’s elite surfers in Perth, Australia, and fishing a big tournament at Clear Lake the next — it’s good to be Todd Kline, who shared a little bit about hanging 10 and landing 10-pound largies.
Chris Cocoles You have done a little of everything you’re passionate about. Are you kind of living the dream?
Todd Kline I think about it all the time, how fortunate I am. I don’t think anyone’s getting rich doing it. But I see a lot of guys who might be wealthy financially but they’re not happy. And I’d rather have the happiness.
CC Let’s go back to your younger days in Florida and how you evolved into who you are now.
TK I grew up in Fort Lauderdale and where I spent the most time in my childhood and my teenage years was a little bit inland in Davie-Plantation. And I did a lot of bass fishing out there on the golf courses and canals and ponds. But I also did a lot of snook and tarpon fishing because where I actually lived on the water in Plantation was brackish and there was a pumphouse and dam where the freshwater met the brackish. And when those pumps would open up due to rain, the snook would just go ballistic.
CC I know that some of Florida’s bass fishing can be epic. Did you have convenient access to it?
TK Where I grew up we mainly fished at a lake called Sawgrass and Holiday Park, which is part of the Everglades. We went out on boats a lot out there, but as I started getting older we started doing more trips out to (Lake) Okeechobee. But when I lived back there I just fished, and I think that’s what most people do; they grab their tackle box and grab a rod and if they catch fish, they catch fish; if they don’t, they don’t. But when I moved out here (to California) it was for surfing. And I didn’t know you could bass fish because freshwater’s not prevalent. But once I had some friends out here take me under their wings that I really started learning about fishing and understanding why that fish bit and why are they eating shad versus crawdads and those types of things.
CC As a kid in Florida, you were in an area where fishing opportunities are endless, but what or who influenced you to love it so much?
TK For me, my father started it initially, but I’d say 90 percent of the time that I fished in Florida I didn’t care if I went by myself or if a friend wanted to go. Sometimes I’d even go fish mullet and give them to some of the (locals). I just wanted to fish and I loved being on the water and getting outdoors. As a kid I wanted to be a park ranger.
CC What are some of your favorite early fishing memories?
TK I’ve got a ton of them. Some of the things that really stand out at a young age, I was probably 8 years old and I would walk to the dam near my house. There was an old man fishing live bluegill and just smashing big snook. Another time I was at Lake Okeechobee with my mom staying at a friend’s house. I was walking the bank and I’d caught a wild shiner on bread and it had died. I was almost trolling it from the bank and remember this big wake coming up behind it and I ended up catching about a 6-pound bass. I was with my dad at Okeechobee and ended up hooking a big one that got hung up on the tules and I started crying [laughs].
CC When did you discover surfing among all this fishing?
TK Surfing came into my life a little later when I was about 13. And I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I gained a pretty quick success at it so it drove me to be better and better. It made me want to pursue it. And fishing and surfing did get similar in the sense that you don’t need anybody else; it’s just you, the environment and leaving the chaotic world behind. That’s what you do when you go surfing or fishing. That’s what I think the majority of people intend to do.
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CC I’m curious about the surfing culture in Florida. The East Coast isn’t known for having big waves like here and in places like Hawaii.
TK Florida as a whole is very inconsistent for surf. From Palm Beach south it gets blocked by the Bahamas, so you miss a lot of it. The epicenter for surfing is Brevard County and that’s Sebastian (Inlet State Park) north (toward the Indian River and the cities of Palm Bay and Melbourne). I used to surf up there all the time and stay at friends’ houses. I used to spend a lot of time staying with Kelly Slater, the 11-time world champ. It’s very challenging to be a surfer there and what I think was positive was that you grew up on extremely small surf. When you surfed waves that small it made you a very good small-wave surfer. And it also makes you really read a wave where you have to calculate your turn properly. But once you were ready for a bigger wave, it was much easier. A lot of times when we would go to compete, whether it be anyone in the world, a lot of guys would already mentally lose. At the end of the day it’s just like a fishing tournament where the conditions are the same for everybody. If you mentally have your head in the game, you have a great chance of winning it. But if you want to sit back and complain and look at all the things that aren’t perfect, you’re probably not going to do so well.
CC On the subject of surfing, is there a connection of any kind between a surfer reading a wave and a bass angler reading water that looks like it might hold bass?
TK I think for me, the parallels that I’ve really seen between fishing and surfing: From the competition side, to me it’s the mental side. I see so many guys in tournaments — similar to what I’ve seen in surfing — we’re out there practicing in a presurf leading up to a competition and there’s somebody who’s just on another level. Their equipment looks great, they seem to really be in-tune with the waves that are on at that time, and as soon as they put their jerseys on, something changes mentally. Now they look like a completely different person. And you see that in a lot of sports. And at the end of the day, it’s between the ears. For whatever reason, we see guys in competitive fishing who got their photos on Facebook and other social media and they’re catching 6-pounders, 8-pounders. But as soon as that tournament starts, you look through the list expecting to see them at the top and see that they only caught three fish. What happened? If you see this from these individuals time after time, you think, “Hey, this guy’s a great fisherman but as soon as they call for boat 32, and the guy takes off, all of a sudden his mind starts racing; “I need to go to this spot; no, I need to go to that spot. Throw the crankbait; no, throw the topwater.” And they’re done.
So the point I want to make: The mental side of things when it comes to competitive fishing is very similar to fishing or any other sport or even work, for that matter. If you don’t have confidence and didn’t prepare properly, and you don’t believe in yourself up until the final cast, you’re probably not going to be very successful.
CC Tell me about moving to California to chase the waves as a surfer at such a young age.
TK I think I was about 20 or 21 when I got out here. I had a good friend who I grew up with in Fort Lauderdale and moved out to San Diego for college at San Diego State. He came home one Christmas and we were catching up. He knew about my background in surfing and he said, “If you really want to try and make a living at this, you need to move out of South Florida because there’s only so far you can go down here.” He said, “Why don’t you come out and live with me in Southern California? You’ll be traveling anyway so I’ll charge you next to nothing for a room. Leave your stuff and you’ll have a hub to come and go from.” California is the epicenter for media for surfing and it’s a good base to come and go. He said I should come and give it a shot. Sure enough, I loaded up my little Toyota Tercel and he was driving his Forerunner out. So we loaded up both cars and carpooled across (the country). Fast forward 23 years now and I’ve never looked back.
CC How tough was it for you to get into the pro surfing circuit?
TK I had a handful of sponsors at the time, and one of them was Matt Kechele’s Surfboards, which was based in Brevard County. He was a good friend of mine and I used to stay in his house often. He had a distributor in Japan for his surfboards and I started going to Japan and promoting his surfboards. Back then (Japan) only had a domestic tour. You only could compete over there if you were Japanese. By the time I moved to California, they had stops there for not the world tour but the qualifying series. It opened up to anybody, so I immediately started competing in those. I think the first year I won three contests. I went from a guy who was just getting some editorial (coverage) to “this guy is the next Kelly Slater.”
It wasn’t true, but that’s the picture that they painted. So it was great timing and I was able to get to a whole new level with sponsors. Things fell into place for me.
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CC Did you surf most of the time in Japan?
TK They would hold the competitions as close as they could to major cities. One of the areas was a beach called Chiba, which is straight out from Tokyo. I’ve been to Japan I think 20 times and I’d stay up to five weeks in length. I’ve surfed everywhere from Okinawa, which is the furthest south, all the way to the very north, which is their Alaska, on Hokkaido (Island) in Hakodate. When I first started going over, people would ask me the same questions because you don’t know of Japan having good surf. August and September they get a lot of rain and when it does, it blows out the river mouths and they get these perfect cobblestone points in front of these river mouths. And right on the tail end of it is the peak of typhoon season. You get these typhoons going past Japan and they send in these swells. It gets literally world-class. But the contests were held in smaller surf, and again, going back to my background in Florida, I was able to capitalize on those conditions because for a lot of the guys who come in from overseas who would say, “Why are we competing in this?” And I would say, “Cool, there’s an opportunity for me to take this.”
CC With all that you’ve done at an advanced level, have the competitive juices always flown for you, whether it’s been on a board or a bass boat?
TK At the end of the day, I’ve always done it for fun, but if I’m entering a contest or a tournament, I’m entering because I want to win and compete against the best guys. Obviously the money’s awesome and helps pay the bills. But when you know you’ve beaten a field of 150 anglers or beat 125 of some of the world’s best surfers, that’s why you do it. That was one thing that was tough (eventually giving up surfing at around 25).
You get to a certain age and with your body you know what you still want to do, but you just can’t physically do it at the level you want. It’s a bummer when you have to slowly step away from that. You always want to compete. When I transitioned from surfing I used to play a lot of cards. Let’s face it, it was gambling — but what I found in the tournament world I was still competing.
CC How did your post-surfing career evolve?
TK One of my first sponsors as a kid was Quiksilver, and I stayed with them until I was about 21 and I had moved out here so I went with a different company. And when that ended, I went back knocking on the door at Quiksilver. And they said, “We’re not going to bring you on as a 100-percent surfer, but we’ll bring you on as a surfer part-time and work you into a marketing position and build a future here.” I said, “Sign me up.” At the time, they were the Nike of the surf world and I wasn’t going to miss that opportunity. Over a 16-year run I worked my way up to one of the marketing directors. Eventually I got caught up in the corporate downsizing but they gave me a great package, which gave me time to sit back and realize what I wanted to do. And then I did my first FLW tournament and in the first year I was able to win angler of the year (in 2013). And this was something that I really wanted to do. I thought, “I can’t make a living at it necessarily right now, but I how do I do this, pay the bills and feed the family? But the timing couldn’t be any better because at the time, the Association of Surfing Professionals changed hands to a new group and renamed it the World Surf League. They brought in a unified broadcast team for the world tour events. And I was able to join that team and that has been the nucleus of my income, traveling the world to the tour events as well as some of the qualifying series. And I’ve been able to work with them on a schedule to give me the opportunity to fish the FLW events. And it’s come full circle. I’m living the dream life.
CC How much do you enjoy talking about surfing now?
TK I love it. I still get to travel to some amazing places. I just got to go to Western Australia near Perth, and (this month) I get to go to Fiji and that’s one of, if not my favorite place, to go in the world. There’s a small island called Tavarua, where the people are amazing. I’ve been going there for years, and I won’t see those people for a year and as I get off the boat with 50 other people, they’ll say, “Hi, Todd!” It’s so cool that they’re on the other side of the world and they still know my name. I love the job; I’m still passionate about surfing and how it’s continuing to evolve.
CC Were you always thinking about fishing while surfing consumed you?
TK In Florida I fished a lot more than I surfed, partly because it was so accessible there. Here, it wasn’t as accessible. When I traveled around the world, I brought along a fishing pole. I used to bass fish in Japan. When I got back here, I didn’t really get into (bass fishing) until 10 years after I moved to California when I stumbled across a little pond called Laguna Niguel with a buddy. We crushed the bass, and six months later I bought a bass boat, and in another six months I started doing team tournaments. And I haven’t looked back since.
CC And you can thank the trips to the casino for that.
TK (El Capitan Reservoir) is right around the corner from Barona (in Lakeside), and I’d see a beautiful bass boat and I would ask, “Where are you going bass fishing?” I was almost shocked to see a boat. But I bought a lot of books and researched online — it was about the time the Internet was just kicking in — that highlighted all the different fisheries in California. You read about the bass in the teens and all the opportunities to catch giant fish. I was like, “Whoa, this is right here? This is a great place to fish.” And it’s not Florida but at times it can even be better than Florida. So that’s when I started to dive into it.
CC What’s the biggest bass you’ve ever caught in California and how about in tournaments?
TK I actually caught two that were exactly the same — they were both (12 pounds, 6 ounces). The first one I caught early after the process started. I was fishing Lake Mission Viejo out of a rental boat and I had my wife with me. I was dropshotting a Roboworm in probably 25 feet of water. I got bit and set the hook and couldn’t move it. My wife was sitting back in the sun and I said, “Honey, I think I got a giant one.” As it was coming up you could see this huge fish. I had never seen a bass that big. Once it broke the surface I said, “Oh my gosh.”
Probably four years later I was fishing Vail Lake (Temecula) with a friend, Art Hill, and we were throwing jigs. I got bit and swung and caught a fish just under 10; we were high-fiving and put it in the livewell and we were going to take pictures. I retied to make sure my knot was still good and fired right back on the spot. I felt the same bite and set the hook. I told Art, “I think this one was bigger,” and it was also 12–6. I had one fish over 8 pounds at, of all places, Lake Havasu on the final day of an FLW (event). And last year I got one almost 8 in the Delta. Those are my two biggest in tournaments.
CC If that wasn’t enough, you’re guiding now (toddklinefishing.com). Where do you take your clients out now that you’re the one who’s the California bass fishing guru?
TK I just started doing it this year, but it’s mainly Lake Perris and El Cap. For me, the lake I know most — and unfortunately it’s closed — is Diamond Valley. That’s going to be reopening and I’m super excited for that opportunity. I can’t wait for (San Diego’s San Vicente) to reopen.
CC What’s the FLW experience been like?
TK This is my fourth year and it’s been fun on a lot of levels. I’m learning a ton, I’ve had success and I’ve met great people. One of the cool things is I’ve literally had pros either call me or pull me aside and ask me questions about how I’ve had that success in such a small span. They’ve (asked about) the mental capacity in competing. They want to pick your brain. To me, that’s rewarding. CS
Editor’s note: For more on Todd Kline and his guide service, go to his website (toddklinefishing.com) and follow at instagram.com/ toddokrine.
A FAVORITE IN HIS TACKLE BOX
One of Todd Kline’s favorite bass weapons is a topwater lure, jerkbait or crankbait from Ima, a Japanese-inspired company based in Temecula.
Kline’s experiences fishing at Temecula’s Vail Lake with his friend Art Hill, who regularly threw Ima products at hungry bass, introduced him to the brand.
“A lot of times, if I was using a particular bait and wasn’t getting bit, he was using an Ima bait and I’d say, ‘Let me get one of those.’ It got to the point where they were baits that, for me, were sought after,” Kline says. “And once I got into the FLW Tour, I was going to reach out and see if I could partner up with them.”
“We were able to set something up that worked for both parties, and this is my third year now. It’s been a good relationship.”
Kline thinks his time in Japan surfing and bass fishing also makes this a good fit for him to represent among his sponsors.
“I think they pay a lot of attention to detail and I think that translates to the baits that they make,” he says. “Everything from the paint jobs, the hooks, weighting for casting or the bills that they put on and make them run, all of that goes into the making of a perfect bait. Sure, they don’t work every day. But they do seem to rise to the occasion more than the other manufacturers that make a crankbait or jerkbait. (Ima) has something more that make those fish react to them.” CC
Originally published at calsportsmanmag.com on June 17, 2016.
The following press release is courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announces the recreational Pacific halibut fishery will close Saturday, Sept. 24 at 12:01 a.m. for the remainder of 2016. Based on the latest catch projections, CDFW expects the 2016 quota of 29,640 pounds will be exceeded unless the fishery is closed.
Formal authority to close the fishery resides with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which took action to close the fishery following consultation with CDFW.
Beginning in 2015, CDFW committed to tracking the fishery inseason to ensure catch amounts would not exceed the California quota. The quota amount is determined annually in January through an international process, and is largely driven by results from the annual stock assessment conducted by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC).
Pacific halibut occupy a large geographic range, from the Aleutian Islands eastward through Alaska to British Columbia and throughout ocean waters of the Pacific Northwest. Along the West Coast, they are commonly found as far south as Point Arena in Mendocino County. In recent years, catches in northern California have increased, consistent with a general shift of the stock to the south and east.
CDFW field staff sampled public launch ramps and charter boat landings to monitor catches of Pacific halibut along with other marine sportfish throughout the season. Using this information, CDFW conferred with NMFS and IPHC on a weekly basis to review projected catch amounts and determine when the quota would be attained.
For current information about the Pacific halibut fishery, science or management, please check one of the following resources:
Originally published at calsportsmanmag.com on September 22, 2016.
The following press release is courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
The fish ladder at Feather River Hatchery in Oroville opened on Monday, Sept. 19, signaling the start of the spawning season on the Feather River. California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) hatchery workers opened the gates in the ladder about 8 a.m. They will take more than 3 million spring-run eggs and 12 million fall-run eggs over the next two months in order to produce Chinook salmon for release next spring.
Visitors can observe the salmon through the viewing windows and from the observation deck located at the base of the fish barrier dam. At the main side of the hatchery, visitors can observe CDFW technicians performing the spawning process. Thousands of school children tour the Feather River Hatchery each year. For more information about spawning schedules and educational opportunities at the Feather River Hatchery, please call (530) 538–2222. For information about hatchery tours, please call (530) 534–2306.
There are eight state-run salmon and steelhead hatcheries, all of which will participate in the salmon spawning effort. Those hatcheries, along with federally run hatcheries, will be responsible for the release of 40 million juvenile salmon into California waters. These massive spawning efforts were put in place over the last 50 years to offset fish losses caused by dams that block salmon from historic spawning habitat.
Once the young salmon reach 2 to 4 inches in length, 100 percent of the spring-run stock and 25 percent of the fall-run stock will be adipose fin clipped and implanted with coded wire tags prior to release. CDFW biologists use the information from the tags to chart the survival, catch and return rates of the fish.
For more information about California’s fish hatcheries, please visitwww.wildlife.ca.gov/fishing/hatcheries.
Originally published at calsportsmanmag.com on September 20, 2016.
The following press release is courtesy of the Golden Gate Salmon Association:
Fisherman Dan Hofbauer won the $1000 first prize for the biggest salmon in last Saturday’s annual Golden Gate Salmon Association Red Bluff Salmon Derby held at the Durango RV Resort in Red Bluff. Hofbauer’s king weighed in at 16.88 pounds, gutted and gilled. All three winning fish placed within a pound of each other. Second place went to Garland Hoffman. Hoffman took the $500 second place prize with a king weighing 16.33 pounds. Third place and $250 went to Steve Duncan at 16.07 pounds. Additionally, the winning fish was caught with river guide Robert Weese who won the $500 prize for the guide who put the winning fish on board.
“The salmon derby was a great event. Everyone had lots of fun while supporting GGSA’s work to rebuild big salmon runs in the Central Valley,” said GGSA executive director John McManus. “We still have work to do, as the 5-year California drought is not leaving as many fish as we would hope in the river.”
Proceeds from the derby will support GGSA’s working, including projects to restore key juvenile salmon rearing areas and guard against losing salmon to heated water or sudden reductions in flows from Shasta Dam. Stronger salmon runs provide a major economic shot to both the coast and along the Sacramento River.
“On both the coast and in the upper Sacramento River basin, people view salmon as a valuable food source. All of these derby fish will likely get smoked before they’re enjoyed by the lucky fisherman who caught them,” said McManus
GGSA extends a very warm thanks to derby sponsors including: Durango RV Resort, Corning Ford, Red Bluff Dodge, Pro Troll, Finance Concepts, Sportsman’s Warehouse, Victory Auto World, Strictly Fishing, Brad’s Killer Fishing Gear, Warden’s Lure Co., Yakima Bait and Tackle, Les Schwab, Western Outdoor News, Fish Sniffer, Northern California Guide Service, Bud’s Jolly Cone, Red Bluff Sporting Goods, Luigi’s Pizza, RedBankOutfitters.com, sacriverguide.com, and the Riverbend Store.
Originally published at calsportsmanmag.com on September 19, 2016.
Where and How to Hunt for Bucks as Seasons Get Cranking in September
By Bill Adelman
With several deer hunting seasons in full swing in California, options are many for hunters, assuming one will fit our personal needs.
Not many of us own or have access to a 20,000-acre ranch in the B Zone (most of the North Coast from the border to the Bay Area) that is crawling with deer, hogs, coyotes, cats, game birds and snakes. Option two is to join an established annual dues hunting club that offers access to hunts behind locked gates (reservations for all hunts required). You generally have good property to hunt, though you’re entirely on your own.
Number three might be a guided hunt, of which there are a few options. A fully outfitted hunt offers full-time guides, generally two to one, unless you kick in a few extra bucks to hunt one on one with
a guide. They provide lodging, food, transportation, spot and stalk, blinds, in-field care, skinning, and in some cases even a walk-in cold box to hang your game. These are really the cat’s meow.
Other choices are semi-outfitted hunts, where the program offers private land, lodging, cooking facilities and direction to use the best methods, but you’re on your own from here on out. So first and foremost, bring a sharp knife.
A fourth possible choice might be the access-fee hunt, where you’re entirely on your own from setting up camp, scouting in your own vehicle and going at it blind unless you’ve been there before. Even though it appears we have ample opportunity to deer hunt, with the first season, archery, opening about the first weekend in July up to the final opening, about the first few days of October, opportunities are still extremely limited. You must decide and apply. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife website is much easier to decipher than it used to be and well worth checking out for particulars.
FAMILIARITY RULES
Knowing the lay of the land is necessary, and venturing out of state to hunt an access ranch is a daunting task. The same applies to California. There are many prebook questions that must be answered to your satisfaction. Four of us took this chance in 2010, venturing to Wyoming with deer and antelope tags in our luggage. We had to arrive prior to opening day, attend a seminar regarding the rules and regulations of the property, and tour the main sections of the ranch with the hunt coordinator and his son. Their prehunt requirements were well laid out and ranchers were available every day to rely on for advice.
Our hunt was five days in the field, and every tag we had was punched. We headquartered 11 miles from the ranch at a campground in Kaycee, Wyo., where there was a cooler available for our bagged carcasses. Everything we learned there was imperative information for here in California.
GOING PUBLIC
Back home brings us to the final option: hunting on public land. For most of us who started out on public land, this brings back positive memories of past successes and a few hairy situations. For me, it was introducing my then 10-year-old son to the new snows just at the edge of a pine forest while awaiting the migration — then getting our vehicle stuck. Of course this was before the days of the state’s zones.
Public hunts are available on CDFW land, state wildlife areas, ecological reserves, U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management ground. Research is necessary. There’s also the SHARE program, PLM tags, and special hunts for juniors.
The terrain might dictate any physical limitations as well as expected harvest figures, which are available from the CDFW website and broken down by zone. Travel distance is another consideration.
Before the zone days my son and I used to travel to the backcountry of Plumas County for weekend hunts, leaving after school on a Friday. A six-hour drive was rewarded with outstanding country and successful hunts. It’s still good, but you must draw for it.
Later on, at a friend’s suggestion we hunted public land in Mendocino County. We settled in on an area called Poison Rock, just north of a defunct Eel River ranger station. All of the ridges to the north of the dirt access road were closed to all vehicular traffic — thus the hunting was fairly good. It’s still a huntable area but much busier, especially with road hunters. There’s a bunch of land available if you’ll walk just a little.
When hunting close to private land, as in Trinity or Lassen Counties, a boundary line defined by a GPS is critical. Remember that trespassing without permission is against the law, and there’s a gray area between trespass and wanton waste. Public land abounds the further south you venture, but the success rates rapidly diminish and the hills get steeper. Right up the central California corridor, opportunities present themselves on both sides of I-5. We used to take off about a month prior to opening day and just drive, hitting huntable ground and making our own maps.
LIVE WELL IN CAMP
We’ve located our ideal campsite, so what’s next? As you age, it becomes apparent that comfort is just as important as any other feature of the trip. Sleep on the ground just once more in a tent? You can’t be serious. This desire prompted our first four-wheel-drive truck and a mini 18-foot travel trailer that seemed like a five-star hotel at the time.
We then added a 500-watt generator, an enclosed portable shower and a screen tent. Just as a mention, after arriving at your hunting location, this is not the time to sight-in five weapons and raise Cain in the campground. Public ground allows one to camp almost anywhere they wish, so don’t be surprised when you venture out opening morning — 4 miles from your chosen hunt area — to find six camps that were set up the previous night.
Try to stay hidden rather than stop right on the top of a ridge to glass for 30 minutes. Glassing for 30 minutes is the right approach, just not skylighted. If you carry a shooting stick, it can be used to steady your binos, as well as to shoot from.
When shooting on a stick, lean it towards you with the leg away from your body. This is far more stationary than leaning forward. Slowly check out the shady spots not only across the canyon but below you as well.
If you were able to reach these areas in the dark and used a green headlamp rather than a white light, sit for a spell and look. If cover is scarce, why not try a lightweight blind like the ones a turkey hunter uses?
Deer pick up movement far more quickly than they do a stationary hunter. The wind direction is critical, and when you have the option of watching a western slope in the morning, give it plenty of time. Spotting the glint of a buck’s antlers as soon as the sun hits them is far easier than picking them up in a darkened area.
If you are on a private-land hunt, consider a pop-up blind that’s properly placed and camouflaged. Chances are it will remain unmolested in your absence.
Since blacktail and granite bucks are not as predictable as whitetail, blind location should be in a general area where you feel confident that deer will be moving, such as at a pinch point. In our early zones and many later areas, it will be hot. If everything comes together, deer will move to water midmorning to midafternoon, as well as unbed to feed. Setting up in a forested area with the sun at your back where possible limits your shooting lanes, but that’s where the deer will be.
If approaching an open meadow, rather than just trek right through the middle, why not circle the edges inside the trees and stop to glass every 20 to 30 yards? The pattern here is obvious.
Going slow and having good optics are key, but patience is the largest key. When your camp holds three or four hunters, midmorning pushes will produce in blacktail country.
The shooters should be out of sight and the pushers with the sun at their backs should be slow and quiet. The
deer will know you’re coming well in advance of your movements and might not be running full tilt as they fly by your posted sitters.
One last bit of advice: When you hear one of your hunters say, “deer down,” the entire hunt should terminate and full focus be placed on taking care of the animal.
Good luck this season. CS
Editor’s note: For season-opening dates, check out our Outdoor Calendar on page 33 and get more complete deer zone schedules at wildlife.ca.gov/Hunting/Deer.
Originally published at calsportsmanmag.com on September 15, 2016.