Northeastern Calif (Modoc) report on Mule Deer

[spike]

Folks,
Just returned form seven day hunt in Modoc County.
The good news is if I get drawn next year for Nevada I know I'll have a decent chance at a good buck.
The bad news is that after 36 years I will never buy a deer tag in Calif. again.
Don't let the statistics in Tracks Magazine fool you. I found out the hard way.
DFG states that the success rate in zone X3B last year was 30 %.
What they don't tell you is that out of that 30% I'll bet my house that about 80% or better of those bucks were taken on private land (alfalfa) between Eagleville and Fort Bidwell.
I have never in 36 years of this game seen so few deer.
Opening day, no other hunters for literally miles, I climbed to the top of Mahogany Mtn my partner climbed to Baldy. Prime country, several canyons, ravines, Quakies, all the good stuff.
Came off the mountain at 2:30 pm.
Total deer spotted with scope and glasses - one doe and one fawn
My partners day - one doe one fawn one yearling doe
Elevation - 7900 - 8200 ft.
Time to move
Broke camp traveled to Coppersmith hills. Passed approx a dozen camps - saw no deer hanging, talked to 8 or 10 hunters - Hardly any deer seen - no shots heard.
Time to move again. Next stop- prime last resort country - Dismal Swamp
The sort of ground you see on the cover of SCI or Mulie Madness magazine.
No deer hanging- few deer seen by guys who had been in since thurs or fri.
End of story.
In 5 days of hunting this country hard I saw:
About a dozen does
No bucks (not even a spike)
I'm embarrassed to say my partner killed a spike/fork on the third day for a piece of meat.
Most interesting conversation:
Met a guy one day in camp and started shooting the breeze about bear hunting ( we both had been enjoying this exercise for about 20 years) and he tells me that his buddy is also a houndsman that is a biologist for Calif. DFG.
He told me that (if you are not sitting down feel free to do so at this time)
his buddy had tracked and killed over 100 lions in the last ( you ready?)
2 years in Northern (Modoc) Calif.
Since we absolutely cannot get a straight answer from DFG on the lion kill issue lets do a little math. 100 dead lions that we know about. The Ranchers, sheepherders, cowboys, and just about everbody else in that country are killing every lion that they can and we are not making a dent.
The Mule Deer (in huntable numbers) are gone, and it will be a very long time (if ever) before they are back.
See ya in Nevada.
Spike

[NorCal]

Bummer on your hunting trip Spike. My buddy went and scouted dismal swamp and saw several bucks and a big 4x4. He has an advantage and knows where the bucks hang out there. Hes been going there since he was a boy. I hunted near Hayfork and saw 4 bucks in 2 days. I'm embarrassed to say I could not get a clean shot at any of em. I going back tomorrow.

[spike]

I'm sure that there are afew bucks in that country, but very few. Total deer numbers are staggeringly low. Lest anyone think that I sat on my arse in the truck doing laps, I can tell you honestly that we dropped off into several great looking canyons and just could not believe that there were not any deer to speak of. If you are familiar with the area I will give you a good example.
On the main road past Dismal Swamp a mile or so (maybe farther) you come to a fork in the road at what is shown on the topo as Snow Lake(dry hole). We drove to the right and came up on top of Bidwell Mountain(not Mt. Bidwell). The top here is as flat as a table and you can walk all the way around the perimeter and look down prob 1500 or so feet. We realized that the full moon and no weather would have these deer in their beds early so we glassed until about 9:30 and bailed off the top. This truly is as good Mule Deer country as I have hunted anywhere in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, or Idaho. It just flat should have been packed with deer, at least does. We dropped in one at a time, and leapfrogged through the entire bench that wrapped around the mountain with one of us always on higher ground. This country is semi-open, some timber, pockets of Aspens , rimrock, shale slides, I mean to tell you it has it all. We pushed every inch of it in about 4 1/2 hours and never heard, jumped, or saw one single deer period.
I don't want to sound like I am crying the blues and that I am just another disgruntled hunter, I'm just putting this info out and everyone can do with it as they wish. After talking sith several local hunters, a couple of which said they had been hunting this country since you could buy a tag and hunt anywhere in the state, and they all commented in the same way. The lions have all but decimated the deer herds in Modoc County. They all said that things have gradually gotton worse over time and that this is the absolute worst they have ever seen. Your best chance at a truly good buck in Modoc is to bite the bullet, pay the big fees, and murder one in the alfalfa.
nuff said
Good Hunting
Spike

[Haary]

I hunted in X3A this season. I got a 28" 3x3 Muley buck the afternoon of opening day. He had great mass with burr's 9" in circumference and 7" in circumference around the bases. The G3's were 28". My friend friend got a 23" 3x3 Muley buck morning to the second day. We saw six legal bucks the first day and a half of the season.

We saw 12 legal bucks in three days of scouting two weeks before the season opened. One was a 4x4 nicer than the 3x3 I got.

The bucks are there.....

[NorCal]

Well, my hunting trip was allright. I did see 5 legal bucks and several does. I had one oppurtunity to shoot a small fork the size of my dog but didn't. The one big buck, about a 25 inch 4x4 had me figured out before I knew he was there. Oh well. Next year. Maybe I'll get X3b finally.

Spike...I feel for you man. I still haven't spoken with my friend since his trip into dismal but I would imagine he killed a buck. They always do. They know of a rocky rim rock canyon that holds 25-30 inch bucks reglurly. It is near where you were hunting but far enough and secluded enough that if you didn't see it you wouldn't know it was there. The lion problem up there I'm sure is as bad or worse than everyone thinks. Not only are there cattle for them to eat, but a large amount of rabbits, grouse and deer. I wonder how bad it will have to get before Fish and Game starts actually managing the lion/deer popultion and quits sucking up to whomever on the political side that still thinks the lion is animal that needs to be saved.

[spike]

I am anxious to hear how your buddy did up there. I have to think that the canyon you are referring to is the one that we pushed hard. It is below Bidwell Mtn. and looks all the way down on the alfalfa fields in Fort Bidwell. and is directly next to the private property on top. Let me know how he did. thanks and good hunting,
Spike
PS - Will be after another large bear in a couple of weeks

[NorCal]

Hey Spike. My buddy saw the 25" 4x4 that they scouted the month prior. The only problenm is the guy they were trying to get to kill it is in his late 60's and a little slow. It got away. My buddy did manage to kill a 27" 3x3. Beautiful rack. Picture perfect. He mentioned that he saw lots of sign of lions and he saw an old timer jump out and take a shot at a lion that ran across the road infront of him. I wonder how long it will be until they do another law to let us start thining the lion herd. Already dreaming about next year.
Later
Norcal

[spike]

Congrats.

Glad to see that you had a good hunt this year.

looks like the place to be this year was either Idaho or Colorado.

My hunting partner just got back from Idaho and had a hell of a rough time. Took his horses into the usual spot, got snowed on for 10 straight days, limped out and got resupplied and went back in lower. Country filled with ATVs. Said he saddled up at 3:30 just to beat the crowd and within an hour on the trail had to keep pulling over to let the traffic by. Saw dead bulls everywhere. This early weather pushed the elk out early and they were in big trouble Six of my other buds just got back from Colorado. Score - 6 big bulls and six equally big bucks in one week.
Oh well, can't be everyplace all the time.
GOOD HUNTING

Spike

[NorCal]

This next year I will be heading to Colorado again. Looking forward to it. Wasn't able to go this year. This year my Dad's party saw planty of Elk to kill but got greedy and then skunked. They had oppurtunities and could of have killed several bulls, but were so far back in the woods they had to get out before a storm came in and dropped about 20" of snow. Oh well. We killed so many Elk last year that it makes up for this year. At one point my dad had about a 35" 5x5 buck bedded down about 500 yards away. Well, he screwed around so long that it got up and stepped into those magical bushes that swallow deer up. Next year. Hopefully I go to X3B and Colorado that would be a great year!

Norcal

[poloman]

WHere did you see/kill the deer in X3A? We drive through there on our way to Alturas and we usually see deer in the alfalfa fields around adin and canby.