New Member Introduction from California

[Black_Pelt_Hunter]

Good morning everyone, new member here just introducing myself. My name is Nick and I have been passively reading on here for a few months now but this is my first time posting. A little about myself...I am living out here in the sunny dumpster fire that we call California; Corona (Inland Empire) to be more specific. I have had a little experience with traditional archery from my youth on a fiberglass garage sale longbow but ultimately I have only truly entered the discipline as of this past April. Plenty of frustration and loose arrows but I am loving it and practice everyday...the groups are starting to come together. I am also an adult onset hunter and just got my hunter safety course finished right before the COVID shut us down. I am pretty much going the self taught route at the moment as I do not have any hunting buddies...that is another big reason I am here, to find some hunting buddies in the are or mentoring possibilities. I mostly stick to the mountains and do a lot of backpacking stuff so that is my hunt style.  Anyway, hope to meet some great people here and look forward to learning more. Thanks.

[durp]

welcome to the addiction   

[M60gunner]

Welcome to the gang. CA. has many active archery clubs. Try looking up CBH on the Internet. There was a list of all the member clubs. There is also a trad club and if you look at the list here you can get a contact. That would be my recommendation for finding some like minded folks. Trying to place Corona but if it's in the LA basin you have more than a couple clubs to look into.

[Car54]

Welcome!
Good luck on your journey. 

[Sam McMichael]

Welcome from Georgia. Now for some friendly, albeit unsolicited, advice I hope you don't mind). Once your gear is tuned, concentrate on form. That will do wonders for your shot making. When your accuracy is good out to 15 - 20 yards, in my mind you are ready to hunt. The archery aspect of bowhunting must be backed up with hunting knowledge and woods lore. Spend a lot of time studying your chosen game to know its habits and likely hangouts. Likewise spend a lot of time studying the areas you will hunt. Since you are a backpacker, handling yourself in the wilderness should not be a problem, but, still, study first aid and orienteering. This sounds like a lot of chore work, but you will find it quite fun to learn these things. You can never learn it all, though. All this stuff is fun, especially when you find some buddies to share these adventures with. You have embarked on a fun journey. Good luck and good hunting!

[Black_Pelt_Hunter]

Welcome to the gang. CA. has many active archery clubs. Try looking up CBH on the Internet. There was a list of all the member clubs. There is also a trad club and if you look at the list here you can get a contact. That would be my recommendation for finding some like minded folks. Trying to place Corona but if it's in the LA basin you have more than a couple clubs to look into.

thanks for the info. I was looking into getting a membership for Riverside Archers...I really like there range in the foot hills. Yeah Corona is a spit shot from Riverside

[Black_Pelt_Hunter]

Welcome from Georgia. Now for some friendly, albeit unsolicited, advice I hope you don't mind). Once your gear is tuned, concentrate on form. That will do wonders for your shot making. When your accuracy is good out to 15 - 20 yards, in my mind you are ready to hunt. The archery aspect of bowhunting must be backed up with hunting knowledge and woods lore. Spend a lot of time studying your chosen game to know its habits and likely hangouts. Likewise spend a lot of time studying the areas you will hunt. Since you are a backpacker, handling yourself in the wilderness should not be a problem, but, still, study first aid and orienteering. This sounds like a lot of chore work, but you will find it quite fun to learn these things. You can never learn it all, though. All this stuff is fun, especially when you find some buddies to share these adventures with. You have embarked on a fun journey. Good luck and good hunting!

I will take any advice thrown my way  I have been focusing 100% on my form and not setting myself up for shoulder surgery in the future. Tom Clum's Solid Archery Works has been a real life saver. The big thing I had to admit to myself was going down in weight on bows. I was originally using a 45# but have since dropped to 30# and man does that make a difference in being able to focus on my back engagement and not constantly collapse my form...it has also done wonders on my stamina of course haha.

Being in the back country a lot has definitely served me well in my entrance to hunting (I rarely stay to the trails...bushwhacking is more fun). Like you said orienting, first aid, and general wilderness skills  are a chore to learn but thankfully I have a solid foundation of knowledge there to keep me from getting bogged down or frustrated with the myriad of other things I need to learn. Been all about that mountain river/creek trout fly fishing for years now too which has only trained me that much more for complete failure and frustration lol.

[Black_Pelt_Hunter]

Im getting god groups now at 15 yards so until I am proficient at 30 yards I have no intentions of taking any shots at anything. I told myself it could take up to a year or more and not to rush it. I have been scouting though with not too bad results. Spotted a black bear in a creek canyon as well as a bunch of other sign along the creek...going to set up some trail cams and see if I cant pattern it. I also found a lovely flat covered in acorns and fresh green browse with deer track everywhere...again throwing another trail cam up to see whats roaming around. I am having a lot of fun just scouting. 

[Benoli]

Welcome to CA and most importantly the sport. You are very close to the Oranco range just North of the Prado Dam along Hwy 71. In years past I participated in many a 3D shoot there. As mentioned look Oranco and others up on the CBH (California Bowman Hunters) web site. Best of luck and maybe I'll run into at shoot once this COVID thing is over or under wraps. https://www.cbhsaa.net/

[Pine]

Welcome from Michigan 

[PASQUINELL]

Welcome! I lived in LaMirada, Whittier and Huntington for 25 + years. There are some nice Blacktails in the Azusa/ San Dimas area. Watch them Rattlers though!  You will love this site

[Deno]

Welcome to the Gang Nick   

Deno

[Friend]

Welcome Nick....

[That_MN_Guy]

Welcome! I'm a newbie here and to trad shooting too. This is a great resource!

[M60gunner]

Riverside is a great range, lots of history there. I was an active member of Bearstate BowHunters in San Diego area. Met more than a few from Riverside. Ask if anyone was friends with Don Brown. He was somewhat of a legend in that area shooting heavy weight LB's. A lot of us learned by watching and asking questions and most guys are more than willing to tell you how it's done. Just take what is said with a grain of salt until you prove to yourself otherwise.

[Bobaru]

Greetings from Western New York!  Welcome to tradgang. 

I like tradgang mostly because it's a hunting archery site, not simply an archery site.

Years back I went to a training seminar to learn how to "winter mountain climb" in the Adirondack Mountains.  One fellow was complaining he spends all his free time hiking, but never sees game.  I thought what a shame.  The woods around here are loaded with game.  But hiking and seeing game are two distinctly different activities.  Hunting game is a third distinctly different activity.  It's a skill that takes a lifetime to acquire, even if you read all the "how to" books (which I have).  Maybe that's why I like it so - for the challenge.

I hope you love being challenged by nature, because that's what traditional bowhunting will do for you.  It's humbling.  But, it's richly rewarding for that type of person who enjoys such challenges.

Around here we have the Whitetail.  He's the most difficult of game animals, save the Blacktail which you have in abundance (probably north of where you are, up in the Trinity Mountains of Northern California).  If you can successfully hunt a blacktail, you've accomplished a whole lot.  And most of the rest of the game animals will be a walk in the park.

Have at it, Mister...  and enjoy.

[Bow man]

Welcome!!!

[tom cunningham]

While so-cal is not a hunters mecca...there is lots of archery going on, from get out there hunting to trad to 3-d target to horseback archery!  This site and others will keep you informed.  Best,  Tom.

[curlis]

Welcome, you will find many archers in your area.

[Doug Treat]

Nick, I noticed something you said that I have found prominently with traditional archers in California. You said that you wouldn't hunt before you're proficient at 30 yards. Why? Why can't you limit your shots on game to 15 yards?