Post by lawrencecountyhunter on Sept 18, 2017 14:42:34 GMT -5
I'll start this off by saying I didn't shoot a deer on this trip. I've been meaning to do a quick write-up for quite a while, but haven't found the time until now.
Last September, I flew out to California to participate in their Columbia Blacktail season. There is not a clear geographic line that differentiates blacktail deer from mule deer, but the area I hunted is generally agreed to be near 100% blacktail.
I decided to focus on California's B-Zone, due to ease of drawing tags and it being the type of country I was looking to hunt. I chose to hunt the Trinity Alps Wilderness, starting at around 3k and working my way up to around 7k feet elevation. I had 6 days to hunt.
I flew from Indy to Reno, NV, then rented a car and drove another 6 miles to access the Trinities near Weaverville. I set up a base camp about 1 mile from and 1k feet above the trailhead, then hunted further in each day. Weather was warm and dry, and although there were plenty of does around, buck sightings were few and far between. I passed on a fleeting opportunity at a small forky on day 1. I found a small 3x3 on Day 4, but didn't get a clear shot opportunity. For the most part, I think that the bigger bucks were still hiding way up high and hadn't yet migrated down. Next time I go out there, I'll probably go later in the season to try and catch the migration out of the high-country, and/or commit to packing in to the to the tops and glassing down.
But to me, as always, time spent in the mountains with a backpack and a rifle is never time wasted. I'll try to follow this post up with some pics, if Flickr cooperates.
