Opener reports

[Hunter_Dan]

I ventured out to D7 for the weekend and my first western hunt. It was everything I had hoped for, minus no deer sighting, but it was an awesome experience. Ive always wanted to hunt the mountains and they definitely humbled me. I worked hard all summer and got into the best shape I've been in since high school, yet those mountains still kicked my butt!! Also got 1st hand experience in how fast the weather can turn and got to sit through a pretty good thunderstorm. All-in-all, it was the experience I was hoping for and every step up that mountain was worth it once I got to the top and started glassing. Have a couple more excursions planned and i'm looking forward to laying eyes on that first deer.

How did everyone else do? Being this is my first year in CA i am curious to hear some reports!

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I have shot a ton of deer in D7, where (generally) did you hunt?

 

[Hunter_Dan]

I was in the Ansel wilderness area around Madera Peak. Lots of traffic but I got away from most the crowd, road hunters. I mainly scouted D8 this summer, because it was closer to home, but have a D7 tag so it was a mixture of a scouting/hunting weekend.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I hunted D7 almost every year from 1955 to 2000 when I retired, shot probably 50 bucks during that time. Check my albums I posted. I always came in from the Mammoth side and hunted the east side of the unit. I hunted most high stuff at and above the timberline up to 11,000'. My family started hunting there in the 40's.

I retired and moved to Colorado in 2000. I have been back to D7 4 times since I retired.

 

[Never in Doubt]

I backpacked into the high sierras Friday and hunted Saturday and Sunday morning. Even with the 5+ hours of rain and thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon, I got 2 stalks in on bucks.

When the storm died down Saturday, I spotted 2 nice bucks feeding out into the open above me at the base of some cliffs about half a mile. The wind was blowing over the ridge and downhill. I managed to climb up and alongside the ridge, and get in range. There was a huge boulder that I hoped the bucks had fed behind. But I didn't know for sure, perhaps they had slipped away unseen. I ranged both sides of the boulder, and it was 50 yards. I had an arrow nocked, waiting for the bucks to hopefully feed into the open. Then it all when to crap. The wind swirled and pushed from behind me, and the bucks blew out of there. They stopped at 94 yards and looked back. They didn't know exactly where I was, but knew something was up. So after a few minutes they trotted over the hill and out of sight.

The stalk was unsuccessful, but I felt great about it all. I had found bucks, stalked in on them in a really tough location in the high country, and if not for an unlucky gust of wind, I should have been wrapping my tag on my first archery buck. If it had been rifle season, I could have shot a buck many times on this trip. The challenge of bow hunting however, is addicting.

I got another stalk in on a smaller buck in the morning, but he ghosted out of there and vanished.

 

[B&C Blacktails]

Trinity Alps smoked in bad. Visibility was less than 400 yds with few deer spotted and no opportunities. Packed in 3 miles, we were the only hunters at the TH. I'm watching the forecast for this weekend.

 

[Sawfish]

Killed a non-typical in B-2. Not an easy critter to corral on opening weekend!

 

[chiefgobbler]

Hunted the Emigrant Wilderness area of D6 opening weekend. Only saw two Deer. Both were forks and my son John was able to take one. Green and lush in the high country this year. More feed, water and wildflowers than there has been in many years. There was also considerable drift smoke from a wildfire that the Forest Service is managing at a lower elevation.

 

[Fins_N_Tines]

Buddy and I hunted 5 days for archery opener in the high country and saw 8 different bucks. One was a 170 class buck got within 55 yds and than wind swirled and gig was up.