There are some good bucks up there they are just few and far between. Beautiful looking country for sure. Did you guys do any good up there? Does anyone know the name of the packer up there? Thanks!
I pulled X-10 last year, saw several already dead deer and saw 1 live buck as I was heading home for the last time...almost hit him with my truck. Onne guy got a deer, but had to leave it on the mountain overnight. All he got from that was the head, a bear ate the rest of it.
From the guys that I talked to, the majority of the deer are up high, i.e., 2,000+ft climb and 3+ miles in, it's wilderness area, so you either pack in, ride a horse(s) or find somebody to pack you in.
It's also very crowded around Monache.
Another forum member also went up to Monache last year and had somebody take a shot over his head at a deer he was tracking.
There's a packer that works at the very northern end of X-10, called Horseshoe Meadow, but you're looking at a minimum of $500 per horse per day for them, unless you can work some kind of deal with them. I forget the name of the packer, but it's easy to look up, they're out of Lone Pine.
The trailhead is at 9,200 feet, the lowest pass getting out of the trailhead is 10,400ft, again, all wilderness area.
I went up there first last year, according talking to a packer there, there are some nice bucks, but it's tough hiking (at least it was with 100+lbs of kit and no acclimation to the altitude).
I didn't get a chance to do much scouting before hand and the problem I found is that you have to get up over one of the passes and down into the next meadow or out on to a ridgeline. Because of all the trees, you have to get a good distance back in order to see anything, and if you find one, you have to go back up to get him. If you get one, you're looking at several trips over the pass and back to get him and your gear out.
Certainly not impossible, but requires a good bit of work and/or outside assistance.
I'd like to go up again, but I would want to see if I could work a deal with the packer to haul food and water in for me so that I could go in with over a week's worth and set up a base camp to work out of.
I wasn't sure what the drill schedule was this year, so I didn't apply for anything, I'll just do over the counter (D8). But next year, I hope to get X-10 and go in through Horseshoe Meadow again, with better prep ahead of time...
