Hunting

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Hunting on the Carrizo Plain

The Carrizo Plain National Monument offers a wide variety of hunting opportunities. The CPNM, contained within the California Department of Fish and Game Region 3, has populations of California quail, chukar, cottontail rabbit, deer, Tule elk and wild or feral pigs for the hunter. Varmint hunting is legal for coyote, feral pig, California ground squirrel and black-tailed jackrabbit. Nearly all of the CPNM is open to hunting. Areas NOT open to hunting include a large safety zone surrounding the Guy L. Goodwin Education Center and Painted Rock, all designated campgrounds, management facilities and ranches (including Painted Rock Ranch, Washburn Ranch and MU Ranch), all pullouts, Soda Lake, Travers Ranch and Wallace Creek. Public and employee safety requires these closures. There is also a substantial amount of private land within the CPNM.  Please respect private property and know where you are at all times. Maps may be obtained through California Department of Fish and Game or Bureau of Land Management offices.

Attention Varmint Hunters

An ad placed in Outdoor Life magazine in May 2006 lists the Carrizo Plain National Monument as one of the five top varmint shooting sites in the west. This ad is misleading - the land is not irrigated, and while California ground squirrels are found here, so are many other endangered, threatened or otherwise sensitive species. These include antelope ground squirrel, kit fox and burrowing owl. The entire Monument is set aside as protected habitat for sensitive species. There are severe criminal penalties for killing these species. Please refer the Non-Game Species section at the bottom of this page for more information.

Attention Hunters!

Please help us save California condors, golden eagles, turkey vultures and ravens from dying due to lead poisoning. Burying gut piles or dragging remains into deep vegetation minimizes the chances of these birds feeding on them.

When condors, eagles vultures and ravens feed on carrion which contains lead bullet fragments, their digestive tract stops functioning and the birds die a slow agonizing death.
Please help us reduce the chances of this occurring by burying all gut piles and carcass remains, by pulling remains into thick vegetation, or by throwing remains into deep ravines.

Your help is appreciated.

Quail and Chukar Hunters for the 2004/2005 Season

This summer's guzzler counts conducted by the California Department of Fish and Game report upland game bird numbers to be up from the previous two years. Birds have benefitted from the increased rainfall experienced this past rainfall season.

Upland game

The Temblor and Caliente Mountain ranges are the most popular locations for upland game hunting, primarily for California quail and chukar. Mountain quail are very restricted in range, and are not commonly hunted on the CPNM. Quail and chukar are common to abundant in most years, but, as is the case with all upland game, their populations are very sensitive to rainfall, especially late spring rains. Without adequate rain to cause green-up of the hills, quail and chukar will not even begin the normal breeding activities, and will stay in large coveys throughout the year. They essentially forego any significant reproduction, and their populations are reduced as a result. In contrast, in times of abundant rainfall, quail may have up to 3 broods during the season, and their populations can explode.

The best hunting for quail and chukar occurs in the Temblor Mountains south of the Crocker Springs Road and in the southern portions of the Caliente Mountain Range including Padrone Canyon. The Department of Fish and Game has installed many underground water devices known as gallinaceous guzzlers for supplying water to wildlife. Quail and chukar, as well as a wide variety of non-game species make use of these water sources. Current regulations on the Carrizo Plain prohibit camping or sitting in or outside of a vehicle within 200 yards of any water source.

Rabbit (the cottontail rabbit and black-tailed hare or jackrabbit) populations are cyclic, changing dramatically from year to year, generally as a result of either weather factors or disease processes. Despite these cycles, some can generally be found throughout appropriate habitats. Cottontails are most common in the low rolling hills of the Temblor Mountains and the foothills of Caliente Mountain Range, on the southern end of the CPNM. Jackrabbits can be found throughout the flat areas of the CPNM in areas with limited shrub cover. 

Mammals

The CPNM is the only place in California, and indeed the world, where the Tule elk and pronghorn antelope have been reintroduced into historic habitat.  Limited hunts, previously held for both species, are now only available through the lottery process for Tule elk. The pronghorn antelope hunt has been canceled due to a dramatic decrease in numbers within the Monument.

Big game species such as deer, elk, antelope and wild pig, generally have more stable populations, usually changing relatively little from year to year. They can, however, be significantly affected by weather factors. Wild pigs, for instance, can be severely affected by drought, leaving the National Monument boundaries and moving to better available habitat. They can suffer significant reductions in population size, and take quite some time to bounce back when the rains return.

Elk are commonly found west of Soda Lake in the hilly areas of the northwest portion of the CPNM or on the adjacent private land. The Soda Lake San Diego Creek Road (Sprague Hill Road) can be used as a focal point for viewing elk. They are also found on the southwest flank of Caliente Mountain, near and below the cell phone tower and the FAA VORTAC site. These areas also have private lands adjacent to the east.  Please respect private property!  Public lands are accessed (during dry weather) from the Selby camping area via Caliente Ridge Road.

Pronghorn antelope are commonly seen near the Education Center and Painted Rock, by the entrance to the Washburn Administrative complex, near the KCL Campground, and sometimes in the southern portions of the Elkhorn and Carrizo Plains. They are sometimes quite unconcerned, and allow cars to stop relatively close-by without running away, and at other times, the same group will run if a car is seen approaching. The reasons for these different behavior patterns are not known. It is also not clearly known why numbers of pronghorn seem to be diminishing within the Monument.

Deer are most common in the hills of the Northwest portions of the CPNM, the Caliente Mountain area and in the Temblor Mountains. Each year, several deer are tagged from the CPNM, but it is not known as a hotspot for deer since much of the area is too open for prime deer habitat.

Wild pigs can, in a wet cycle, become somewhat common on the CPNM, but in most years, they are scarce to nonexistent. Where they do occur, pigs are usually found in the Caliente Mountains.

Non-game Species

Non-game species including the coyote and the California ground squirrel, are relatively abundant and available to hunt year-round. Please be aware that at certain times of the year the Carrizo Plain National Monument is home to protected species that are very similar in appearance to these two animals considered to be varmints. The San Joaquin kit fox, a federally and state protected species can look very much like a juvenile or scrawny coyote. Burrowing owls - a small, well camouflaged ground-dwelling owl - can often be found in close proximity to ground squirrels and actually use their abandoned burrows. Approximately the same size as a ground squirrel, they often sit near their burrow openings and look quite similar to squirrels if looked at without binoculars. These birds are state protected and federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Please know your intended target and be sure before you shoot!

2004 - 2005 Seasons:

The following seasons are current for the 2004 - 2005 license year. Please consult the regulation booklets published by the California Department of Fish and Game for further information. Laws (passed by the Legislature) and regulations (adopted by the Fish and Game Commission) are formulated to protect wildlife and to provide for an equitable distribution of harvestable animals. In so doing, these measures also allow for non-hunting uses such as photography and wildlife watching.

• Uplang Game Bird Hunting Information
• Big Game Hunting Information
• Special Permits

California's 2004 - 2005 hunting seasons, bag limits, and the permitted hunting methods are contained in booklets published by the California Department of Fish and Game.