For the next 10 days or so I’ll be in Northern California trying to fill my Late Season Archery tag.

Looks like conditions will be close to ideal for finding rutting blacktail bucks.  Friends have been seeing bucks with the does for the last two weeks. 

The bucks are winding up the rut around Sonoma and Marin County.  This buck was keeping an eye on a doe not far from my home.  I hope I can find one this “in love” this week.  If one would pose like this at 25 yards as well would be GREAT!

Weekend of Oct 24th

The trip started with meeting up with my hunting partner Rich Howarth, Friday night at our ranch.  We loaded his gear in the pickup and headed up to the hunting area.  We probably left at 9:00 pm.  By 1:00 am we arrived at the camp site of another one of my local contacts, also named Rich.  For story telling purposes he will be OLD Rich.  Old Rich had hunted this country since he was a teenager, and had 40 years of experience.  At first light we had loaded up in the pickup and went off to the spots he thought we needed to know.

We went to sleep under the stars like the weekend before.  This time with the acorns falling each time the wind blew.  

We spent the morning  learning more access points to the rugged areas we wanted to get to.  Each landmark had a hunting story, and forty years of history unfolded as Old Rich told of bucks taken and bucks that got away. 

We stopped back at camp for a bite of lunch.  Young Rich and I went for a walkabout that afternoon.  We only found a dead coyote, but we had boots-on-the-ground experience and found some vantage points we hadn’t seen previous.

That night young Rich panfried up some potatoes and onions that he served with bear backstrap from this years bear.  It was outstanding.  It was a testament to how good bear meat can be if prepared properly. 

The next morning we delved deeper into the fringes of our go-to spot.  We saw deer hanging in camps and heard shots.  We even spotted a doe and fawns feeding midday. 

We finally packed up at mid-day and bid fare well to Old Rich.  Since it was the last day of the Rifle season the road had a number of hunters headed home as well.  After a couple of stops to chat with other locals about our up coming hunt.  Each had a nugget of advice we filed away for future reference. 

We made it back to the ranch in the dark, and Rich still had to go home.   For the next 3 weeks we will stay in contact as we pull together our camp gear and make plans for a week long hunt.

I spent two weekends in my hunting area.  Those weekends happened to be the last two weekends of Rifle season.  One thing that told me was where the deer were now, and if there were folks hunting an area, then it has produced in the past. 

Weekend of Oct 17

I left work Saturday at 1:00pm and arrived at my hunting area at 6:00 pm with about an hour of light left.  All the way up the road I saw hunting camps occupied.  I found a relatively flat spot and pulled off the road.  I was near the center of the area I was focusing on and it was apparent that the Rifle hunters focused on this area as well.  I had three camps within hearing distance, and I estimate about 50 hunters in those three camps.

My camp was pretty spartan.  A cot and sleeping bag, a roll up table, and a two burner propane stove.   Dinner was a can of soup, some French bread, and a cold Fat Tire amber ale.  The forcast was clear so I slept under the stars in my 30 degree rated Western Mountaineering Megalite down bag.   I did put it inside of a Ti Goat Bivy sac in case of a heavy dew or rain shower. 

In the morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a bowl of instant oatmeal as I waited for the sun to come up.  Since I’d never seen this ground before, I wanted to wait for daylight to drive the roads in the area and familiarize myself with the lay of the land.  My first foray was down to a trailhead that lead into a DEEP canyon.  After chatting with some other hunters I found another trail on the top of a ridge that I thought would give me a good view of the heart of the area I planned to hunt. 

I left my pack in the truck since I was just walking down the ridge.   I carried my rifle and a bear tag on the off chance that I spotted a bear.  By 9:00 am I spotted a bear feeding in a patch of oaks below me.  300 yards of hip high brush separated us.  The bear was oblivious since he was focused on feeding on the acorns that were falling like rain.  I tried to get him in the cross hairs, but the bear kept moving around the tree and feeding out of sight.  Twice, he fed around out of sight.  I had nothing for a good rest. 

Finally,  I found a low spot in the brush and took a knee when the bear fed out at 303 yards at a 19 degree down angle.  He turned broadside and the crosshairs danced over his shoulders.  I took a Deep Breath and….

JERKED THE TRIGGER!

The bullet kicked up the dirt behind and above the bear and I saw him wheel and dash into the trees.  I could hear his rhythmic stride and he busted through the brush headed to the deep and steep brushy draw below.  No bawl, no crash .  Just Thump-Crash, Thump-Crash getting further away.

And then the Fog rolled in.

At that point I decided to hike back to the truck and get my pack and wait for the fog to lift.  45 minutes later I was looking for the spot I fired from and eventually re-spotted the site of the shot.  I stepped off into the brush and fought my way down to the open oak patch.  A distinct bear trail lead through the oaks with bear scat every 6 feet along it.  I looked and found the tracks of my bear but no blood.  I did find a rodent chewed 3 point shed though.  After a Clif Bar and some jerky I fought my way through the brush to the top of the ridge.  That took me an hour to go 300 yards to the top of the ridge.  At that point I was glad I wasn’t weighed down by bear meat and a hide!

I spent the reminder of the day driving to lookout points and finding landmarks on the map.  I drove to the southern edge of the area my tag allowed me to hunt.  Doing that helped me to eliminate much of the area for a November hunt.  My one day of scouting had been worthwhile and I now had a knowledge base for the next weekend.

Mike Hoppis is a fellow California hunter who was fortunate enough to draw a Nevada tag for Mule Deer.  He put in a lot of time scouting the unit before hand and managed to connect on a nice mature buck after scouting a total of seven days before the season.   It was  the fourth day of the season when he finally squeezed the trigger on a nice 3×4 buck that in Mikes Words was “the best buck I saw by far and was just too good to pass. ”

MEEKER, Colo – The Colorado Division of Wildlife Hunter Outreach Program and a private landowner in the Meeker area are teaming up to offer a special youth deer hunting opportunity during the upcoming 4th Rifle Season. This is a unique, guided private-land deer hunt in Game Management Unit 23 for one young person between the ages of 12 and 17 who holds a valid Colorado Hunter Safety Card.

Youth interested in applying for the hunt must submit a letter of interest including their name, age, address, phone number, hunter safety card number and hunting experience (if any). Previous hunting experience is not required but interested youth applicants must NOT have drawn a Colorado 2009 deer license. Applicants should also include a brief essay (less than 500 words) on the importance of hunting as a wildlife management tool in Colorado and why they should be chosen for this once-in-a-lifetime premiere private land deer hunt.

The letter of interest should also include the name and contact information for a parent or guardian who will attend the hunt with the youth. One parent or guardian must attend the hunt and a brief orientation and site-in the day prior to the hunt. The parent of the selected applicant must also attest that the youth has passing grades in school.

Applications must be received at the Meeker DOW office by 5 p.m. Wednesday, October 21. Applications should be mailed to Bailey Franklin/Youth Deer Hunt, PO Box 1181, Meeker CO 81641.

Youth selected for the hunt will be notified prior to Wednesday, Oct. 28. The 4th season runs Nov. 11-14. Youth and parent/guardian will be responsible for providing their own meals and lodging in Meeker.

Questions about the hunt or application process should be directed to the Meeker DOW office at (970) 878-6090.

Many of you might recognize Nate from his African adventures chronicled here in past years. Well his far flung archery success hasn’t taken away his appreciation for his local deer. Once more he has produced a freezer full of venison with his bow.

I had just settled into my stand last night at about 5:00. I wasn’t expecting anything yet so I broke out my new book about a guy who walks the Baja Peninsula on a burro. I figured I’d kill an hour or so reading and then get serious. About 20 pages into it I glanced up just in time to see a lone deer cross an opening 25 yards below me. I put the book down on the seat of my treestand, stood up and grabbed my bow. She went behind a thick oak tree and out of sight. Several minutes went by and thought she had walked away, out of sight. A gust of wind came and started ruffling the pages of my book. I thought, well at least she’s gone now because the noise of the pages rapidly flipping would have surely scared her. I re-situate the book to quiet it. I look up again and the deer had stepped out into a small clearing. She had been there all along, just silently hanging out under the tree limbs, blocked from my view. I made one last check to make sure no fawn was with her.

She stood broadside at 28 yards, but not where I ever expected to shoot at a deer from out of this stand. I had to turn around in the stand,squat into the catcher’s position to get under a limb, and make a clean shot. I hit her right through the shoulder, cutting off the top of theheart and both lungs. She did a death run out of sight crashing into every bit of deadfall in the process. It sounded like a herd of buffalo crashing away. Then all went silent. I waited 20 minutes, went and checked a game camera, then went back to the site of the shot.

I found my arrow, broken in half, and a good blood trail. The blood was heavy. I followed it about 40 yards where I could see she jumped over alog and some deadfall. Right over the top of the log she lay. It was pretty textbook. I wished they all worked out this way.

She was very healthy and covered in a nice layer of fat. Surprising, given our drought conditions. Even the fireman who validated my tag remarked how good she looked. My only concern was that she did not get bred last season. She was totally dry. That is a good doe to take, but it still concerns me as a healthy doe like this should have had at least one fawn.

No apologies here. I like venison and these deer are some of the best on the table. This is a heavily hunted public land area in San Diego County where success is very low, even for filling an either sex tag.

She’ll be a welcome addition to my freezer. Even better, I still have another tag left! We’ll see if I have the restraint required to holdout for a buck.   Probably not!

Lucas Spence is a fellow California hunter who put the work in to apply for some of California’s Draw Archery hunts. Not many folks think of California as a Mule Deer state, but there are opportunities for respectable bucks and even an occasional magnum muley along the Sierras from Oregon to Nevada. It just takes some work to find them .

Lucas sent me a picture of a nice velvet muley from the Northeastern region of California. After my Nevada hunt, I can really appreciate his well deserved success.

I shot a very nice 4X3 Muley which was 24 wide 17 tall and had actually 2 nubs starting on his right which makes him a 5×4. He weighed somewhere in the 250 to 300 lb weight. He was a huge bodied buck. Shot him at 40 yards one shot put him down within 40 yards. Was a great hunt and got to share it with my dad

Great clean archery kill Lucas. I look forward to seeing more from you in the future.

On the Second Sunday of the California A-Zone General Season my father, and our pointers, Jake and Gator were successful and connected with a Blacktail buck.

Dad was hunting with a group of us as we made a traditional deer drive in Northern California. California permits the use of dogs (one per hunter) during the firearms season, and it is one of the few ways that hunters on the coast can root the secretive blacktail deer out of the thick coastal brush in the steep canyons.

The morning hunt started in a canyon that had a fire some years prior and the brush has grown back with a vengeance. The brush runners entered at the top of the canyon, while other hunters watched the historic escape routes. Old Jake (13 years) made long forays into the steep canyon,and after bringing out a doe, was done in. Luckily he was smart enough to go back to the truck and shade up, so Dad gave him some water and the rest of the day off. Returning to the canyon,Gator wanted to dive off the point of the ridge,but Dad called him to the left side to investigate a likely looking patch of brush. He rousted out a small forkhorn that ran past a hunter on a stand who let him go by.

Young Gator came back, looking for more action. Dad followed Gator down into the patch that had interested him earlier. In a matter of moments he started barking wildly and made a run far down the canyon. Shortly after, the buck apparently circled back up the ridge and came out of the high brush weaving through some lower stuff up towards Dad. His first shot missed and the buck turned and headed up and across the ridge. The second shot entered the top of the shoulder, angling through the neck. Gator made the scene shortly after. Dad remarked “It was just a quail shot” referring to the instinctive follow up snap shot that successful California deer hunters just seem to master with the fleeting opportunities the coastal blacktail offer.

So young Gator got a buck, as seasoned dog runners would put it. With 4weeks left in the season, it’s anybody’s guess as to what the canyons hold,but I think there is a pretty good chance he will roust out a few more before the season is done.

I lifted this from the Web and thought I would get the rumor mill a good shove…

The “alien dreadlocks buck” is a B zone Kalifornicated buck. He was killed approx 30 miles west of Interstate 5, well within the B&C boundaries. The buck is NOT a cactus buck, but possibly a hermaphordite. It had normal size kahunas and two great looking racks. One on top of its head and the other on the belly side. We have a shed from last year that scores approx 91 inches and has I believe, 11 or 12 points. He had double drop tines to kill for (one massive 9″ tine dove down his face and forked off and the other side had a skinny 13″ drop tine curve back under his chin. Last year he had a tad over 6 inch bases and this year he has bases over 12 inches!! The buck weighed approx 140″s live weight. My brother made some jerky out of him and the meat was excellent. This buck is not your normal rack buck. He is basically a 3×3 frame (about 16 inches tall) and his bases grow on top or under each other. Our plan is to score him SCI with the velvet on, and then strip the velvet and see if it can be scored B&C. This buck is so crazy that It will be difficult to score. One side frame looks like a big 3 point pitch fork and the other has an additional 17″+ split mainbeam. OR maybe its the real mainbeam.

Several people vouch for having seen the buck, so I’m sure it is real.  I’m sure pictures will surface soon…

The Long Story….

 It was a challenge getting ready for this hunt. Physically, mentally, and organizationally. I was preparing to go to a new area that I had never set foot in.  I applied at the invitation Jerome, who has hunted elk with my family and I in Wyoming.  Applying with me was my hunting partner Cal Farnsworth, one of my archery mentors, and good luck token. 

Once we found out we were successful in the Draw, it was a scramble to coordinate schedules.  Jerome volunteered to do the cooking, and shopping, as well as contribute a wall tent, folding woodstove, riding stock, and pack animals.  His  25 years of hunting expertise contributed greatly to seeing the number of deer we did on the trip.

We met Jerome at his home on Friday.  We packed coolers and panniers for the 3 pack horse loads, and organized our tack for the morning.  We ended the night with a meal at a local Basque restaurant complete with lamb, sweetbreads, garlic and Picon. 

In the morning we were at the door of the local supermarket at opening  to purchase dry ice and cubed ice for our insulated panniers.  Then we drove to our hunting area, finally arriving at the trailhead in the afternoon.  We had horses saddled and packed and hit the trail at 5:00 pm.  By 8:00 pm we had the tent pitched and a fire started in the stove for a hot dinner as the moon rose over the aspens.

The next six days consisted of many miles covered on foot and horseback from 8500 to over 10,000 feet in elevation. 

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