Includes:
San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Kings, and the western parts of Madera, Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties.
Josh Kidwell - Policy & Events Lead
Josh is a third generation Californian, born and raised in Bakersfield, CA but living intermittently on his grandparent’s property on the foothills of the Southern Sierra Nevada’s. A descendant of a family with a vibrant outdoor heritage, his great grandfather grew up on a ranch in Cuyama Valley where he worked as a cowboy running mule trains, packing hunters and fisherman into the Sisquac River for Jim Heath. His grandfather worked for the forest service maintaining trails while his grandmother worked as the camp cook during Josh’s young mothers first year in a wall tent.
Josh is passionate about things that give him an excuse to be outside, from overlanding, to backpacking, surfing to sailing, anything for an adventure! A generalist hunter and bow-hiker, he pursues waterfowl, small, upland, and big game. Josh didn’t become a hunter until his early twenties but he was surrounded by a family of retired hunters. The mementos that adorned their walls as monuments to adventures from years gone by planted the seeds for his own. Josh is a lifetime angler and now mostly fly fisherman who was fortunate enough to find a quality hunting mentor during the five years he lived on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula to help him develop his hunting skills. After returning to California Josh put hunting on pause but never stopped seeking adventure, backpacking and fly fishing much of the Central and Southern Sierras, but the North and South Forks of the Kern have a special place in his heart and have become his home waters. With his sons now grown and proudly serving in the US Navy and US Army, their love for hunting has fueled him to return to all the wild places he can in search of game with them. With a 2yr old daughter, Josh has a renewed commitment to ensuring the rich heritage of the American woodsman and waterman continues for generations to come.