NorCal and Central Cal Public Land: Precautions?

[NickTheGreek]

On greater than 50% of my hunts I'll have at least one. I've gotten them hiking on established trails. Maybe it's just me? Last month in cache creek I picked 12 off of me in 2 days and the other 3 guys I was with had zero. I don't shy away from busting brush or walking through grass. My record is 17 picked off of me at FHL in a single afternoon. Pretty gross.

I just went up hiking and got flicked two off my pants and found one under my shirt when I got home. So now I have had 4 on me in my entire lifetime.

[Ethon1]

My post is not meant to alarm anyone. I just wanted to share and bring about an awareness. I learned a while ago that the wife of an instructor at the Braille Institute was diagnosed with the Lyme disease. Found the following link regarding a rise in the spread of the disease.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/local/doctors-lyme-disease-likely-spread-person-person-c/nfrxL/

There are lots of information available and here are just a few:

http://www.aldf.com/lyme.shtml

http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/

http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php/about-lyme/tick-vectors/photos

http://site.petstruly.com/blog/2010/04/flea_and_tick_season.html

Enjoy, stay safe and all the best.

[Iskra]

If you don't sleep in all your clothes you brought too many (or too heavy a sleeping bag).

[m98]

I don't see the problem packing a sidearm. I always bring one when rifle hunting. I'd rather dispatch a wounded animal with a .45 or 10mm than blast another .30-06 hole at close range and demolish the meat. However, I'm a fit guy, so packing an extra couple pounds is not as big of a deal as someone who is already carrying an extra 50lbs around the waistline.

+1. Witness first hand. Had a relative nailed a buck. It was not a clean kill and buck was not dead when he arrived. All he had was his 06 with him. When the buck realized he was nearby it got up and bolted even though it was a gut shot. He took aim and took a running shot. Missed. Racked it again and sent another. Missed. Racked and sent another and hit the spine and stopped it. The buck was still alive. He now only has 1 rd left and put it right in the boiler. Needless to say we had lost a lot of meat due to the rifle round. And another note. This fool now was COMPLETELY out of ammo. If he had gotten lost or came in contact with mama bear or big kitty its game over. He used believe that a hunter only needs to carry however many rds that their bolt guns can hold. I told him of his stoopid philosophy. Now he carries 40 xtra rounds. So for the guys that says to only carry a fews rounds. Imo dont be stoopid. Dont just put in a gallon of gas in your truck and hope it makes it into town 25miles away from the your house located out in the woods. You dont have to carry 500rds just carry more than enough atleast imo 20rds plus the rds in the rifle. And other thing is us hunters in this PRESENT time may have to deal with the no espeaka einglish pot farmers packing fullauto ak's. So unlike the Ol' timers huntin back in their days us hunters can face a real danger besides wild animals. Times have changed. Evolve to and adapt to survive. Thats why me and the majority of my hunting buddies/party now carry a sidearm and quite a few of us now only hunts with an AR. If you die by the hands of a pot farmer in the woods, 99.9999% chance justice will never catch up to that scumbag. So you would want to atleast better your odds by being better prepared.