Hello from SJ/Kelseyville, CA

[Konocti's Wigwam]

I am just allowed to create a post, so let me explain how I ended up here and what I'm looking to get out of it.

I'm getting close to being able to retire and one thing I have been planning is building a log home with a shop where I can retire to.

I have owned the property for 24 years next month, and unfortunately it's in California. Oh, I love California but it's not clear how long it will take to clean up this mess. I fear the next couple years will be difficult for me to wind up my career. I currently live in San Jose and plan to keep the home, but I see myself spending more time in Lake County than Santa Clara. There must be some irony there, I'm going from possibly the richest county in California to the poorest county. Yes, Lake is the poorest county in CA. My property is located in Kelseyville and most of the people have been very nice to me.

As a plus, Lake County is much more hunting and fishing friendly, and does have several perks. This is a beautiful area also, but most all of California is beautiful.

This is where I'm at as of last week on the shop. I have the log shell down in Morgan Hill, CA and hope to move it up to the lake soon. I have a decent amount of tools and machines for most metalworking and woodworking. I also hope to build 4 bolt actions when I retire, but I need the shop setup before I do anything other than my lake project. I am an owner-builder, however I hired a contractor to do the shop for me. This is about 3 hours from my current home in the South Bay.

 

[homers]

Welcome

 

[Elkhunter24]

Welcome to HT!

 

[pabearhunter]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Thanks guys! So far I like it here.

 

[Redmt]

Thanks guys! So far I like it here.

I'm right over the hill from you on the east side of Mt.Hamilton. We built my shop in 2000 where we cut all the wood for our log home in 2005. You might say " been there done that".

 

[Rzrbk]

Welcome to HT. Defensible space for wildfire danger is important in your area but you're probably already aware. I used to work around the Clear Lake area.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Welcome to HT. Defensible space for wildfire danger is important in your area but you're probably already aware. I used to work around the Clear Lake area.

Indeed, they won't let me forget about it. There's a meltdown currently going on over home insurance, it seems that many of the insurance companies are bailing out of California as Captain Hairdo put a 15% cap on insurance increases, so many of the companies are only honoring existing plans.

What does this mean to me? At this point it's not clear what will happen, but I feel my shop is about as fire resistant as possible, it has Hardiboard on the outside and the eves are covered as well with it. The Hardiboard is a fiber cement siding that is fire resistant.

The log home will be more resistant than a typical R-13 home, and it would take a long time for the logs to ignite, they would mostly smolder...so I don't plan to do too much yet, just keep an eye on insurance and get it if/when I can afford it. There are fire hydrants in the subdivision (Buckingham Park) which are connected to the water tanks owned by Buckingham Water District.

There's a lot to clean up in this state...

 

[2rocky]

Hello from Sonoma County

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Hello from Sonoma County

Hello neighbor!

I drive through Sonoma a lot. My normal drive to Lake County is to head up 19th street and over the Gate and up 101 to Hopland, and over 175 to Lakeport. I mostly hang out in Lakeport, Kelseyville and now Highland Springs since joining Konocti Rod & Gun Club...not a bad range, better than the Bay area.

I once went fishing with my son about 20 years ago at Lake Sonoma...and about 18 or 19 years ago we went fishing on Clear Lake. I fished more as a kid than hunted, but we're both interested in hunting to get some meat. Have you hunted any pigs in the area?

 

[2rocky]

Hello neighbor!

I drive through Sonoma a lot. My normal drive to Lake County is to head up 19th street and over the Gate and up 101 to Hopland, and over 175 to Lakeport. I mostly hang out in Lakeport, Kelseyville and now Highland Springs since joining Konocti Rod & Gun Club...not a bad range, better than the Bay area.

I once went fishing with my son about 20 years ago at Lake Sonoma...and about 18 or 19 years ago we went fishing on Clear Lake. I fished more as a kid than hunted, but we're both interested in hunting to get some meat. Have you hunted any pigs in the area?

I wouldn't call LS a slam dunk. It's archery only, and the pigs figured out they are being hunted. Cats are killing as many as hunters if not more.

Landowners know they can get $5-600 for a weekend meat pig hunt in the area around there, and mst just lease it to an outfitter.

If i was retired in your area I'd consider investing in a Golden Ram membership. Not cheap but If you aren't going out of state, It would cost the same as a week long guided hunt or 3 weeks of DIY in 3 states...

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

I wouldn't call LS a slam dunk. It's archery only, and the pigs figured out they are being hunted. Cats are killing as many as hunters if not more.

Landowners know they can get $5-600 for a weekend meat pig hunt in the area around there, and mst just lease it to an outfitter.

If i was retired in your area I'd consider investing in a Golden Ram membership. Not cheap but If you aren't going out of state, It would cost the same as a week long guided hunt or 3 weeks of DIY in 3 states...

For some reason I thought that Lake Sonoma allowed centerfire rifles. That's a huge problem with a lot of the area, archery only. It's tempting to get a bow, but I have rifles and would like to hunt pig.

I've seen some self guided hunts that are cheaper, but yeah, seems like everyone wants to capitalize off letting people hunt on their property.

I'm not familiar with the Golden Ram membership, will google that.

 

[Redmt]

I've seen some self guided hunts that are cheaper, but yeah, seems like everyone wants to capitalize off letting people hunt on their property.

Correct me if I'm taking this wrong. Do you think it's wrong to capitalize from hunters wanting to hunt the property that you own and pay taxes on? Sometimes it's helpful to get a few dollars to help with the maintenance and care of huntable land.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Correct me if I'm taking this wrong. Do you think it's wrong to capitalize from hunters wanting to hunt the property that you own and pay taxes on? Sometimes it's helpful to get a few dollars to help with the maintenance and care of huntable land.

To go on a hunt and pay $2000 to meet 2 pig requirement, yes, considering the pigs are destroying their crops. Seems to me they need people to pay $2000 more than I need a pig.

 

[Redmt]

2k is a little steep. BUT!!! It's a seller's market. Everytime I let hunters come for a hunt I usually trade for labor. I have been burned every time. I've never asked for $$. Pigs are nomadic. If I charge per hunt, the hunter probably won't be happy. If I charged per pig, I'd be at the mercy of the hunters abilities and the whims of the pigs. Still, 2k for 2 pigs is crazy.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

2k is a little steep. BUT!!! It's a seller's market. Everytime I let hunters come for a hunt I usually trade for labor. I have been burned every time. I've never asked for $$. Pigs are nomadic. If I charge per hunt, the hunter probably won't be happy. If I charged per pig, I'd be at the mercy of the hunters abilities and the whims of the pigs. Still, 2k for 2 pigs is crazy.

Me thinks it may have been easier in the past, but with the current economy I would imagine things are tightening up. I fully understand about taxes, but someone that owns a couple thousand acres, $2k in taxes is probably not gonna amount to much. Most of the professional are $2k, about $1250 for the first and another $750 for the second. I did take a home butcher class at Oakstone Outfitters in Paso Robles. Great class I got to skin half a pig. I feel more confident I could go out on public land and harvest and pack one back.

 

[Redmt]

CA has the Williamson Act. I don't know exactly what a couple thousand acres taxes would be but it would surprise me if it was much over 2k. We had a 25 acre piece under Williamson and the taxes were $78.00 per year. CA booted properties under 100 acres . They raised it by a 10x factor.
Did you actually pay to learn to skin a pig? I could have my wife teach you for free!

 

[Redmt]

Skinning tip for pigs. Drag them with a hay hook through lower jaw. Dragging them backwards as a bitch. Skin them before you clean them. Hang them head down to skin. Get it skinned 1/2 way down and cut off the hanging skin so you don't have to fight it. Never cut the skin from the outside you will destroy your knife.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

CA has the Williamson Act. I don't know exactly what a couple thousand acres taxes would be but it would surprise me if it was much over 2k. We had a 25 acre piece under Williamson and the taxes were $78.00 per year. CA booted properties under 100 acres . They raised it by a 10x factor.

That's encouraging to look for land that I could hunt on, but most of the acreage in CA has gone through the roof. My 2 acre parcel has gone up 3x in 24 years.

Did you actually pay to learn to skin a pig? I could have my wife teach you for free!

Yes, I did, and honestly it was well worth it.

Butcher Class

Want to know how to ethically slaughter, properly field dress and learn essential butchery skills? Our Butcher Class is perfect for you!

oakstoneoutfitters.com

Wish I had know about you and your wife but as I said, I think it was well worth it. Looks like you have a nice stock on wild pig! You should try to setup some classes, there's a lot of people that would like to learn how to butcher a pig.

 

[Redmt]

Like I said pigs are nomadic. I've only seen 1 pig a few times in the last month or so.
My wife happens to love wild pig pepper snack sticks. Whenever her stash gets too low, I get a strong request to go whack a pig or 2. I make smoked Canadian type bacon from the hams and the rest goes to pepper sticks at the butcher.