Hunting and Foraging in California

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife manages over 1,100,000 acres of fish and wildlife habitat providing hunters, anglers, foragers and wildlife enthusiasts the opportunity to get outdoors and experience nature.

Hunting and foraging in California is a great way to spend time outside with friends and family, get in exercise and provide healthy, environmentally friendly food for your family. Hunters have always had a strong connection to conservation through hunting and hunting generated dollars help to fund the management and enhancement of lands so wildlife and ecosystems can thrive. Foraging makes for the perfect companion to hunting, as it provides a well-rounded compliment to your food source, while helping achieve a more sustainable lifestyle.

Why hunting and foraging?

Healthy and Organic Food

Hunting and foraging are the ultimate organic food source. If you are interested in knowing how your food was grown, harvesting it in an ethical way and ensuring it is free from antibiotics, hunting is one way to do so and the same can be applied to foraging. Utilizing hunting as a food source ensures you of quality, lean, free-range, organic game meat to help. provide healthy meals for your family. Nutrients found in wild edible plants are also unmatched by their store-bought counterparts in total antioxidant count (TAC). When humans consume natural plant-based foods containing TAC’s, the protective properties transfer over to benefit us considerably!

Quality Time with Family and Friends

Most hunters and foragers love the aspect of providing their family with free-range meat and healthy edible plants gathered through hunting and foraging, but they enjoy spending quality outdoor time with their friends and family through these activities as well. Studies have shown hunters, anglers and foragers receive social-emotional health benefits from spending time outside in nature. Hunting and foraging are great skills, which provide many benefits, and many hunters have been known to report therapeutic feelings from their time spent outdoors.

Where to Hunt in California

For more information on where to hunt in California and additional materials on how to obtain a hunting license, hunter education programs, regulations and more, visit the wildlife.ca hunting resources page.

Where to Forage in California

For more information on foraging in California, regulations, tips, tricks and safety information, visit the wildlife.ca foraging resources page.

California’s Wild Kitchen

For more information and video resources on how to get started hunting or foraging and how to prepare your wild game or foraging harvests, visit California's Wild Kitchen.

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