La Panza Cow Elk Hunt

[nickman123]

My dad drew a cow tag this year for the La Panza hunt. Never done this hunt before and not real familiar with the area. What I've heard is that there are decent numbers of elk on the Carrizo Plains Monument and that you can shoot your elk there without having to pay a guide or a trespass fee to get on private land. If anyone is familiar with this hunt and could share some info I'd really appreciate it.

 

[bobby7321]

yes there is a good herd in the carrizo plains area. but lots of times they are just over the line on the private property. BUT they do draw a few names to hunt the DFG ranch nearby, so you have that possibility as well. what really sucks is they draw the names the day before the hunt (at orientation) so you really can't plan one way or the other. I would say plan on hunting Carrizo, then if you get lucky and get drawn even better. If you don't draw, hunt the carrizo plain for a week or so. If you feel like its futile, call up some of the private landowners and see what they want to shoot a cow on their place. Then decide if its worth spending the money, or tough it out on the public land. I believe that the success rate is decent on the public land. Keep in touch with the biologist, they usually do whatever they can to help you out.

 

[easymoney]

What bobby said.
It's a huge place, mostly wide open nothing, no trees, no cover and little to no water. The elk hang out near or where the food and water is, that is mostly on the private ranches some of which sell tags or hunts for money.
This year like always on the Carrizo Plain water will be the key, find a water hole, tank or seep, and the game might be nearby.
Call the the regional DFG biologist, talk to the BLM rep at the kiosk, or query wildlifebranch who frequents JHO and always has great info.
And of course get out and scout. You have to scout this area and learn it, the legal roads(not all are), the public vs private property boundaries, where you can stay or camp, where you can get fuel(50miles or more) and what ever you do stay on main roads if it rains, as a tow is long way away... There are some nice bulls taken and there are loads of cows, the herd is growing, so I would think positive if I were you. I am still waiting to get drawn for a La Panza tag...
Good luck,

 

[nickman123]

Thanks for the info. So you are saying there is a DFG orientation for this hunt? I asked my dad about it and he insists that when he received his tag it came with no info about an orientation.

 

[Bubblehide]

What was already said. However, if you do go the public land route, good optics, and a few buddies with good optics could be benifical. Given your father has a cow tag, the odds are with you. Hopefully your father fills the tag, and you'll have some good eating meat.

Best of luck!

 

[6x7]

My girlfriend drew a diffrent cow hunt and there was nothing said of a orientation, they may not do it for cow hunts.

 

[DFGELK]

Congrats on drawing a tag for the La Panza hunt (or congrats to your dad). He should have received a letter and tooth envelope in the mail. In that letter it directs the hunter to our web page for additional information and legal description of the hunt area, plus rules and regulations. If you click on this link http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/elk/tule/docs/lapanza/LaPanza.pdf it talks about the hunt and the orientation that is required. Feel free to give me a call or the unit biologist to get some more information on this hunt. The elk use both the private and public property, but looking at telemetry data over the years there are usually elk found somewhere on public property during the hunt. You are just not going to see them from the roads. That is not to say that at times they do leave the public and go to private but will cross back and forth. Again, give me a call if you need more information.

Good luck

Joe

916 445-9992

 

[quicknick]

That whole area has been goofy the past year or so due to the solar panel project. You may find more elk on the monument because where they use to hang out alot is covered with solar panels. I know one of the ranch owners out there that guides for elk. last year was tough on them and they had to send tags back because the elk were moving to different areas of the valley.