Deer Hunters on Spitler Peak trail

[Ulysses]

Ignoring Florians recent warning about gnats along the Desert Divide I headed up Spitler Peak trail Saturday on a one-way hike to Deer Springs trailhead. Florian was not exagerating!!! Fortunately they mostly went away further west, and by the time I got to South Peak they were mostly gone. By that time I became more concerned with lightning than gnats.

About a mile from the Spitler Peak trailhead I met a deer hunter dressed in camos carrying a rifle and large caliber handgun. He was friendly and said there were several other hunters down below in the drainage to the west. I was quite surprised as I was under the mistaken belief that hunting is not permitted in wilderness areas. I called the Forest Service office in Idyllwild and was informed that hunting is allowed in the wilderness as long as they are not in a game refuge or the State wilderness areas. I have hiked the Spitler Peak trail many times and never seen a hunter, but I guess I have never done it in peak hunting season. Since I was unarmed and alone I kept my opinions about people who slaughter small mammals for sport to myself. Please, if anybody knows of any other areas in the SJ wilderness where hunting is allowed please post.

[tomcat_rc]

Since I was unarmed and alone I kept my opinions about people who slaughter small mammals for sport to myself.

If they were deer hunters, they were not slaughtering small mammals for sport. Deer hunting for meat is a short season and I always recommend wearing bright colors when hiking during season(especially off trail). Usually the hunter has seen you long before you saw him. The further away from roads and trail heads, the less the encounters. Not many people are going to drag 250 pounds of meat for 5 miles.

[Ulysses]

250 pound deer in the San Jacintos??? Maybe 100 years ago.

[hvydrt]

I think the season started Oct 1st.

[Hikin_Jim]

Seasons vary so much area to area. The last time I looked at the DFG website, it was a confusing welter of goobledy-gook as to when rifle hunting was allowed where. I for one have no objection to wearing bright clothing in hunting season. I just wish that it were clear when hunting season was for a given area.

I find it quite unnerving to hear rifle shots echoing frequently around the canyons. It's inconceivable to me that deer are coming into a hunter's sights that frequently. I think a lot of "plinking" is going on. Either that or there are a lot of hunters who are not doing the very basic first step of positive target identification. I'm not sure that guys with rifles should be able to run around in the woods this close to major population centers particularly when there's pretty clear evidence that hunters are not being responsible. On the other hand, I haven't read of any deaths in S. Calif. due to hunting accidents so maybe I'm just having an emotional reaction to the number of rifle shots I hear.

HJ

[zippetydude]

Either that or there are a lot of hunters who are not doing the very basic first step of positive target identification.
HJ

If Dick Cheney can mistake a 78 year old man for a quail, you figure maybe a little more time on target identification is warranted. At least for some.

Anyway, I usually wear kinda bright colored clothing when I'm out in the wilderness. I hadn't thought about hunters, though, I always figured if I got hurt and a couple of SAR guys in a helicopter are out looking for me, the last thing I want to be wearing is camouflage.

I have nothing against hunters either, but I also find it a little disconcerting when I hear gunshots out in the wilderness.

z

[lilbitmo]

Either that or there are a lot of hunters who are not doing the very basic first step of positive target identification.
HJ

If Dick Cheney can mistake a 78 year old man for a quail, you figure maybe a little more time on target identification is warranted. At least for some.

Anyway, I usually wear kinda bright colored clothing when I'm out in the wilderness. I hadn't thought about hunters, though, I always figured if I got hurt and a couple of SAR guys in a helicopter are out looking for me, the last thing I want to be wearing is camouflage.

I have nothing against hunters either, but I also find it a little disconcerting when I hear gunshots out in the wilderness.

z

Yeah and it's even more disconcerting when grown ups drop their underage kids in the wild with guns, just ask the family of Pamela Amili - Seattle Times Article Aug 6th 2008 she was wearing a blue jacket and mistaken for a Bear - I didn't even know we had "Blue Bears"

[Andy]

If Dick Cheney can mistake a 78 year old man for a quail, you figure maybe a little more time on target identification is warranted.

[phydeux]

Deer hunting season around here starts about this time of year. Bow hunters get a two week head start. Odd as it seems, its legal to hunt in wilderness areas; its illegal to hunt in national parks.

The seasons vary depending on the animal being hunted. The state is divided into zones, and (for the ubiquitous deer) hunting season generally starts early in the north-most zone and slowly opens up later as you head south. Bear, bighorn sheep, elk, birds, wild pigs have their own seasons, some as short as 1 week.

[Florian]

Hiking the Desert Divide in August with Mark's (hvydrt) meetup group we saw a couple of guys in camo that appeared to be hunters. They had no firearms. Just binoculars. I figured they were checking out the area in anticipation of hunting season.

°Florian