Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting High Sierra hunting?

Hello Gents, I've been wondering about something for a while now; I know that hunting is legal in many areas of the High Sierra, but the times I've been backpacking, I've never come across any hunters. So if any of you have ever hunted in the Sierra, or to a lesser extent any other California mountain range, what sort of reception have you gotten from people on the trail?

Hunting doesn't seem like it would be popular with the stereotypical backpacking crowd, multiplied by the fact that it's being done in such a gun-unfriendly state. I'm curious if hunters get mad dogged, or disgusted glances by other hikers.

In interest of full disclosure, I'm not a hunter myself...I shot a prairie dog once and felt bad about it, hahaha. But I have absolutely nothing against it our the folks who enjoy it. The last thing I want to do is start a flame war about the ethics of hunting, I'm just genuinely curious as to the social experiences of hunters in a not so gun friendly area. Part of me likes the romantic idea of wandering the wilderness with a pack and a rifle.

Jedi:

First don't judge all of Kalifornia by the antics of those that reside in southern CA and around the bay area. The majority of voters reside in those areas and they control the politics of the state. But they do not represent the rest of the state or the rural parts. In northern CA and southern OR there is a movement to secede from those states and form a new state; the State of Jefferson. Of course it won't happen because they are overwhelmed by urban voters. But the movement serves to display the fact that not all of the residents of Kalifornia are anti-gun communists, queers, or wet backs.

Anyway, to answer your question. I grew up in southern CA and hunted there as a youth. I've also hunted in northern CA recently. I've never encountered any anti-hunting sentiment while in the mountains. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist, I just haven't come across it.

KC

Thanks KC, I appreciate the response. I agree that not all of California feels the same way the urban areas do. But even still, a lot has changed over the past few decades. When I was growing up in the 70's and 80's in Southern California, the acceptance of guns was much more common than it is now. It made me wonder how current backcountry hunters are treated.

Jedi:

I hunted Columbia Blacktail deer there last September, in the Trinity Alps. Weaverville is a nice, quiet, little red neck town whose economy is heavily dependent on logging. We were wearing full camo and everyone that I met was welcoming and friendly. It seemed like I time warped into the fifties.

KC

It's interesting that you mention the Trinity Alps. A buddy of mine hunts there as well and has had nothing but good encounters with people. I'm wondering if the reaction would be the same for a hunter out of Agnew Meadows, near Mammoth, in the Ansel Adams Wilderness... Or any other heavily travelled "touristy" type spot. Like I said, in all my Sierra backpacking trips I've never seen a hunter. I don't mean to make it sound like I've gone on a gazillion trips, but I've never seen hunters on the trips I've been on.

I've spent a fair amount of time in Kalifornia Wildernesses. I've had a few uncomfortable looks, but most pay little attention to the fact that I'm wearing a handgun, off season, or hunting grouse the weekend after Labor Day. By the time the big game seasons open, most back packers have stopped using the high country.
I did have one unpleasant experience. The guy got upset that I was wearing a handgun at a popular lake for golden trout. A big guy, he ordered me to take it off and put it away. He then told me if I fired it while I was there, "I would answer to him...." I refused to put it away. Fortunately he backed down and didn't try to enforce his threats. A few minutes later, after he had cooled off and talked to his companions, we talked. I was able to tell him that I wouldn't be doing any hunting or any target shooting. He explained that his kids had been upset by other campers shooting on another outing. Apparently he wasn't familar with the fact that people do target shoot upon occasion when camping in the mountains.
Just that one instance. I live near some very popular wilderness and visit them year around for the last 15 yrs. I am always armed. E

I have hunted the Sierra quite a bit and usually by mid September most of the hiking crowd is gone. We hunt near the PCT so we do encounter people on the hike in and out. Some are stand offish and give you funny looks. Many just have questions and are polite. We are respectful and answer their questions. These are mostly dedicated hikers doing the PCT for long distances. It is CA you are going to run across people who are anti-hunting. Some will call you a murderer as they are eating a hamburger (irony is lost on them). Others like vegans think they are going to save the planet but have never done anything to help any creature. They want to stop your right to hunt but have no problem when a new mall goes in and that habitat is lost forever.

Joe

Not the high Sierras but I can report on popular hiking trails around Sun Valley, ID which is also a very popular tourist area.
95% of the hikers never leave the trails. Usually you can get a few hundred yards off a trail and it's like wilderness. The deer and elk adapt very quickly to hikers as long as they follow established trails. I have often hiked a popular trail early in the morning and found fresh elk & deer tracks from the night before. They use them, too, but at night.

We do get a few nasty comments from hikers but most of them are very congenial. Most will smile and ask how the hunting is. A couple years ago we got to the trail head with a deer and a woman came over to look. She said that 15 min before we got there, 5 elk walked through the parking lot and she told us which way they went. Unfortunately, elk season opened a couple days later.

I pack my meat out with llamas and I can say that they're real chick magnets on these trails. When I'm leading them, every woman on the trail wants to pet them and get a picture of her with them. One time we ran into a group of 18 women and every one wanted her picture taken Before it was over, it killed a half hour. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry. I find that it's good PR for hunters to talk to people while making sure that they see my rifle and that it's not shooting people at random all by itself.

I've had more negative run ins with other hunters as much as I hate to say it, but it's mostly due to the fact that most of the hippies are not in the woods that time of year and other hunters are bummed you are in their spot.

Here the hikers are out in force during hunting season. Many are getting in shape for skiing or snowshoeing. We have very little problems with them.

Same here. I've had a few negative comments from hikers over the years but I just give 'em a smile and a "have a nice day." Most are friendly though.

Two years ago I was walking down the trail back to camp in one of my favorite spots, about 4 miles in. There was a bowhunter from Michigan sitting on a log by the trail and when he saw me he looked up and made a snide comment about too many hunters being in the woods. So I plunked my ass down on the log beside him and said "is that so?" and asked him how long he'd been hunting the area. As expected, it was his first year hunting there. So I told him I hunted there every year (true) and it was always crowded with out-of-state hunters (not true).

Later on that evening after dark, he came stumbling through our camp looking for the trail and going in the wrong direction. He would've been wandering in the dark for a while if he hadn't lucked into our camp. He wasn't complaining about too many people in the woods any more.

I haven't really had any trouble with anyone. The positives far outweigh the few minor negatives. I live in Ashland, Oregon, a hotbed of liberalism. If would think if anyone would be hassled, it'd be me.

A couple funny (to me) things have happened.

Over by the coast I was walking up the Rogue River Trail one day packing my old pump .22 and a .44. I ran into a USFS trail crew doing training by doing trail maintenance. One of the little girlies asked if I was going to shoot her. I was about to ask what she'd done to think she deserved it but the crew boss got to her first. He read her his riot act, then sat the rest of the crew down for a long break while she dug all by herself. It made an impression on everyone I think. I hung out for a half hour or more BS-ing. Turned out the crew boss was the older brother of a good friend from high school.

The other was here on the edge of town. The watershed providing city water is on USFS and open to all legal public uses except right at the water treatment plant. The road through the watershed is used daily by mountain bikers and the ends (it's 18 miles around) by hikers and dog walkers. It's legal to hunt. To avoid conflict, and for safety, I got a really early start one morning figuring to be 3-4 miles "in" before the sun came up which would separate me from the other users. I came around a corner in the dark and I could see the silhouette of two gals making out in the middle of the road. They were pretty pissed at being caught. I recognized both slightly, both were married, and I don't think either husband had any clue. They weren't mad about hunting, they were mad about being caught.

I generally stop and BS with everyone I meet. Find out what they're doing, make some suggestions that might make that even better, point out attractions they might look at, pull out my digital camera and show them pictures, etc. We have a lot of chances to change minds. We should take them. Here I also get a lot of chance to interact with tourists from out of area and plant seeds in their minds as well. Bumping into other people doesn't have to be a bad thing. We have to remember that we bring as much to the situation as they do and the outcome is half ours, too. There will be those you just can't reach, but everyone one of them starts out worth trying.

Tom

I've only had 1 minor hassle myself. 2 of us were heading up a trail. Idaho doesn't require orange and we weren't wearing it just to be a bit more subdued around the hikers. A couple bikers came down and 1 snotty guy asked why we weren't wearing orange. My partner asked him why he wasn't since he was in an open hunting area.

I hunt the sierras every year. Ive had a few nasty looks, one guy said he didn't realize it was hunting season & regretted he wasn't wearing blaze orange, but last year I got to a trailhead to an area I hadn't hunted before, & there were 10 other backpack hunters there but no granola munchers. In the "golden trout wilderness" Ive found it not unusual to see other hikers & horse riders to be packin handguns in the summer. There are a lot of us who don't fit the liberal mold, just not enough.

I get more dirty looks from Hunters who think I "stole" "their" "secret" spot.

I've had a few ask if I'm going to kill innocent animals, and I assure them I'll target only the guilty ones. At which they look confused and doddle off...