Disabled Veteran

March 25, 2021

Question: I am a disabled veteran and was wondering if there are any hunts on Grizzly Island in Solano County that I could participate in. (Hal) 

Answer: The Grizzly Island Wildlife Area has a duck blind reserved for those with disabilities each shoot day during waterfowl season. It’s available via CDFW’s Online License Sales and Services website. If nobody claims the blind one hour before shoot time – it becomes available on a first-come, first served basis to those with disabilities.

There is a separate online reservation application process for mobility impaired waterfowl hunters. CDFW and the national wildlife refuges it staffs during waterfowl season have dozens of duck blinds throughout northern California reserved just for disabled hunters via this online application process. Our advice would be to not limit yourself just to the one blind at Grizzly Island. Disabled duck blinds at Gray Lodge and Little Dry Creek – among many others – can shoot really well at times. Here’s a link to all of those blinds along with instructions on how to apply along with other entry procedures once the waterfowl season rolls around in the fall: wildlife.ca.gov/Hunting/Waterfowl/Disabled-Access. It would also be a good idea to give the staff at Grizzly Island a call to see just how popular the mobility impaired duck blind is, how it shoots and whether your chances are good at accessing it without a reservation. Grizzly Island staff can be reached at (707) 425-3828.

While Grizzly Island hosts some limited, big-game hunts each year – for tule elk in the fall through CDFW’s Big Game Drawing and for wild pig in the spring on its Joice Island Unit through a separate, online drawing – there are no special, mobility impaired offerings here.

As a disabled veteran, however, you may qualify for CDFW’s Disabled Veteran Reduced Fee Hunting License, which is available at a significant discount to resident and nonresident disabled veterans honorably discharged with a 50 percent or greater service-connected disability. You might also be eligible for a Disabled Archer Permit, which allows the use of crossbows during California’s archery-only deer seasons (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, section 354(j)). More information is available at CDFW’s Reduced Fee Hunting License and Disabled Entitlements webpage.