Backpack hunting D7

[Red 1]

Does anyone have any suggestions for a public land hunt in D7? I don't have any vacation this year so I will only have long weekends -- 3 or 4 days at a time to hunt. This is my first year backpack hunting. I will use this year to check my preprations and physical training to see if I'm on track for longer trips in the future.

 

[Kevin Root]

I've backpacked in the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness and the John Muir Wilderness, mostly just to trout fish though in D7. There is some awesome and beautiful country back in there. 3-4 days at a time is awesome. If you can do some trips, 3-4 days at a time to scout prior to hunting season, I'll gather you will learn your areas well and it also helps in the conditioning for backpack hunting. The more your able to do it, the more comfortable you will be out there.

Have you called anybody in the Fish and Game to ask about general deer density counts or see what they say to pointing you to an area out in the zone? I've found the Fish and Game is pretty helpful in at least point out some general areas to start.

Best wishes and success to you on your coming D7 hunt!

 

[Red 1]

Thanks Kevin. I have not yet contacted fish and game, I will here real soon

 

[Graylight]

You should have a good time... If I were you, I would get above timber and work the granite basins... The bucks do hang out in bachelor groups up there and there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to hang a tag on one with a bit of effort... I have worked pretty hard to find a few areas up there that have animals in them and I can tell you, they are there 100%... I have not gone back because I keep going to Colorado...

The bucks will feed in the willows in the AM and work their way up into the granite with small bushes here and there... They'll usually bed up in those areas for the day, it is a tough hunt but can be productive with the right attitude... Be prepared to hike in at least 8 to 12 miles Good luck...

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I have backpacked and drop camped in D7 for over 50 years. Lots of good bucks above timberline, you just have to work for them. I have always come in from the east side of D7 from Mammoth and into whats now called "Ansel Adams Wilderness". When i first started it was not wilderness. I've always hunted between the north fork and middle fork of the San Joaquin River.

 

[Kevin Root]

Oh, I forgot about the Ansel Adams wilderness. It got it's name change in 1984. That is a awesome wilderness too. It backs up to Yosemite. I've always thought that would be a decent zone as it backs up to a National Park and X9a. D7 had a 7.3% estimated hunter success in 2011. That's not as good as X9a's 58% estimated hunter success being on the eastern sierras but D7 with 9,000 tags should be an easy tag draw when compared with 650 tags offered in X9a.

 

[Red 1]

Thanks a lot guys I know it won't be easy. I have been hunting D7 for years but not above timberline. This is my first year with my house on my back.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I've got a lot of pictures of some pretty good bucks taken over the years from that area. I'll have to scan them at try to get them into an album so you can see them. The last time I was in there was in 2005 after I retired and moved to Colorado. I went with my cousins and a few friends. We hunted hard and saw quite a few bucks. I spent 3 days working on a nice buck , probably 28+ wide around 180, but he just was too smart for me (and I'm getting a little old and a lot slower!!). Guess he didn't get that big by being stupid! Tought country to hunt, all above the timber line, lots of granite cliffs and ways to see you and slip away.

My family started packing in there right after WWII from Jackass Flats on the western side. Found it easier to get to where we like to hunt from Mammoth. Been there every year since 1946! My Dad is 94 and still wants to go but obviuosly can't. When he passes, I am going to scatter his ashes on a nice crossing at timberline that was his favorite place to hunt. My grandfater is already there since 1980. If you ever get to Red's Meadows Pack Station ask Bob Tanner (the owner) about the Lawrence Party. He'll tell you some stories.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

I've got a lot of pictures of some pretty good bucks taken over the years from that area. I'll have to scan them at try to get them into an album so you can see them. The last time I was in there was in 2005 after I retired and moved to Colorado. I went with my cousins and a few friends. We hunted hard and saw quite a few bucks. I spent 3 days working on a nice buck , probably 28+ wide around 180, but he just was too smart for me (and I'm getting a little old and a lot slower!!). Guess he didn't get that big by being stupid! Tought country to hunt, all above the timber line, lots of granite cliffs and ways to see you and slip away.

My family started packing in there right after WWII from Jackass Flats on the western side. Found it easier to get to where we like to hunt from Mammoth. Been there every year since 1946! My Dad is 94 and still wants to go but obviuosly can't. When he passes, I am going to scatter his ashes on a nice crossing at timberline that was his favorite place to hunt. My grandfater is already there since 1980. If you ever get to Red's Meadows Pack Station ask Bob Tanner (the owner) about the Lawrence Party. He'll tell you some stories.

I don't have any hunt info but just thought it was real cool CC that your family has been there for so long and that your family ashes are there. I bet there is some real good stories to hear.

 

[Kevin Root]

I don't have any hunt info but just thought it was real cool CC that your family has been there for so long and that your family ashes are there. I bet there is some real good stories to hear.

+ 1 from me as well CC. Sounds like you have some awesome heritage, history and memories there on that mountain. Just real, real cool.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

OK guys, got pictures uploaded and album done. Check my profile

 

[Kevin Root]

OK guys, got pictures uploaded and album done. Check my profile

Very nice CC. The deer log tells a pretty good story in itself. Looks like a nice catch of California Golden trout from what I thought I saw too in one of the pictures. Looks like some awesome memories.

 

[Graylight]

Here's a few pictures from a trip we did a couple years back... We went closing weekend, so the bucks were out of velvet and already transitioning... Biggest buck we saw was a 140's 4X3 but there are much bigger in the country... We went for 3 days and covered about 35 miles... We were pretty beat once back at the trailhead!

 

[Kevin Root]

Here's a few pictures from a trip we did a couple years back... We went closing weekend, so the bucks were out of velvet and already transitioning... Biggest buck we saw was a 140's 4X3 but there are much bigger in the country... We went for 3 days and covered about 35 miles... We were pretty beat once back at the trailhead!

View attachment 3034View attachment 3035View attachment 3036View attachment 3037

35 miles in 3 days up and down the mountains sounds like quite the tour. Looks like some nice country and sounds like a fun adventure.

 

[Red 1]

Thats awsome CC, you have a lot of cool old stories I'm sure. when I was a kid my dad use to pack in to the sallie Keys but I was never able to go with him. I was going to take a pack trip with him this year but dont have any vacation this year still trying though. I work for the state and vacation is by senority and I'm low on the totom pole. Would like to get the experiance of packing to pass on to my kids some day.

 

[Drhorsepower]

California is so ugly huh gray light? Cc you need to sit down and record all of your old stories so generations can pass them on.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Let me tell you a little about the picture with the trout. Those are Piute Cutthroats, which are pretty rare. One day back in the 70's my Dad got a call from a F&G biologist and told him Bob Tanner (owner of Reds Meadows) had told him that no one knew that country better than us. They had some pure strain Piutes that they wanted to plant in a stream that could be isolated from Rainbows and Brookies and did he have any ideas. Well we knew of one that had a falls at the end where it dumped into the SJ River and originated in a meadow and was barren. My Dad told them how to get there and they packed in the fingerlings the old way, by packstring. Those trout did well and are still there today. I doubt if anyone remembers they are there and I know nobody fishes them but us when we are deer hunting. Most of them are between 8 & 12", biggest probably 16. But they are stunning and very beautiful....good eating too!

 

[Drhorsepower]

That's awesome cc!!!

 

[Kevin Root]

Let me tell you a little about the picture with the trout. Those are Piute Cutthroats, which are pretty rare. One day back in the 70's my Dad got a call from a F&G biologist and told him Bob Tanner (owner of Reds Meadows) had told him that no one knew that country better than us. They had some pure strain Piutes that they wanted to plant in a stream that could be isolated from Rainbows and Brookies and did he have any ideas. Well we knew of one that had a falls at the end where it dumped into the SJ River and originated in a meadow and was barren. My Dad told them how to get there and they packed in the fingerlings the old way, by packstring. Those trout did well and are still there today. I doubt if anyone remembers they are there and I know nobody fishes them but us when we are deer hunting. Most of them are between 8 & 12", biggest probably 16. But they are stunning and very beautiful....good eating too!

Very cool story CC. I looked at the picture again at work this morning on a bigger screen. The parr marks stand out on what you caught and the fish had deep color and were real pretty. They are very rare. It's one of the rarest trout subspecies in North America. The Paiute cutthroat trout has the smallest historic range of any trout on North America. I've heard stories about the Fish and Game putting away some in far away isolated locations to try and keep a good strain going and away from hybridization, just in case they needed it. Sounds like that once barren water held them well. I was hoping they would open up the Silver King Creek so I could cross that form off my list on the California Heritage Trout Challenge. The Paiute is the hardest one to catch in some of it's native water on my list due to how limited that water is of the 11 forms.

 

[packer58]

Those are some cool old pics in your album...........gotta love the old pics...