Western deer and trad MLs

[leslie]

Around here almost all the land is either up or down at times very steep and rough going of the logging roads and owned by timber companies. Until recent times the gates were left unlocked during hunting seaons.Recently due to vandalism,thievery and trash dumping access is being seriously restricted.One company is selling permits to certain areas.There are plenty of deer and are a bit of a pest,don't shoot one in town unless you want to get lynched even though this is a serious hunting area.Most of my friends seem to fill their tags quite close to town.

 

[longcruise]

It is very possible to shoot camp deer does, and small bucks letting them see you draw and shoot.

Yeah, like this one that visited my camp on the 4th of July a couple weeks ago. They will hold still for guacamole and chips! :haha:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I've never hunted whitetails. But I've got a few Primos "The Truth" DVDs and was shocked to see trophy whitetail bucks prancing around in broad daylight without a care in the world. . . . . Just tell me those weren't really the legendary, elusive whitetails most people hunt cause these guys were literally setting their watches by them as they ran the same trails from cover to feed plot.

Not the kind I'm familiar with. :haha: But I've watched the infomercial hunting shows on Saturday and seen the Texas ranch whiteails wandering around - and several large racked deer in proximity to each other. And coming to the C'mere Deer buffet (hunting over bait is illegal in NY, as, IMHO, it should be).

I usually only get a glimpse of single bucks. They go pretty nocturnal at times (hunting here ends at "official" sunset). I have never seen two of anything with more than six points together once they're out of velvet. But, yes, I have seen deer in fields. I have seen good-sized bucks bed in the middle of a field where it could see or smell any hunter (we used to be shotgun-slug only and pre-in-line that was pretty limited for range; now those m/l are used in regular season the deer will adapt). Seems the one thing you can count on a whitetail doing is what you don't expect. They are VERY habitual and, if undisturbed, will keep a routine. Unlike a mule deer the bucks have a territory and patrol their scent scrapes and rubs looking for mates or challengers. At peak rut they get stupid for a few days.

 

[44-henry]

If you know your rifle and it is adequate for the job a 100 yard shot isn't out of line. I've shot a lot of deer with traditional muzzleloaders in North Dakota at that distance and I have never lost one. If possible I always try to get a bit closer though.

 

[Deadeye]

Zip, go up to Mendocino county (more Deer killed there than anywhere else in Ca)or to the Yollo Bollys in Trinity co. Unless they've changed the seasons since I left, it opens next week in A zone
for about 6 weeks then opens for another month or so in B zone. Lots of public land there. There's open country and also thick brush. I learned to "still" hunt as a kid in the Mississippi swamps
and hunted the same way in Ca. for 35 yrs. and still hunt that same way in the Oak brush and quackie patches of Utah. California has some of the best hunting for Deer, hogs, squirrels, quail, pheasants, ducks, everything, and great weather to do it in.
Deadeye

 

[Zip]

Thanks for the tip Deadeye. My buddy and I have already picked up tags for the central Sierra Nevadas. He still works so I try to accomodate him since I'm already retired. That leaves us the weekends (he still has a young family) and the need to hunt places we can get to with minimal time spent driving. I have heard of the places you mentioned. I hope to someday get up there, but for now I'm most familiar with the old haunts.