FNG D3-5 California foothills

[COLD SMOKE]

Greetings forum members.

FNG And on top of that I’m a Californian.
Although we live pretty far back.

I’m interested in information on blacktail, mule deer, black bear, and turkey habitat and behavior.

The .223 hunting thread had been incredibly informative on what construction can do in terms of bullet lethality.
It brought me in and the empirical results don’t lie.

I’d like to get better at distance shooting, improve my archery skills, and upgrade my knowledge ( and gear ).

I have a few personal goals to attain this hunting season. 1st one is to get into good shape via distance running so I can hike into ( and out of ) our steep terrain in D3-5.

Second one is to be able to improve my marksmanship.

3rd is to spend a lot more time in our desolate canyons And granite. I usually hunt at 3-5k for blacktail and want to spend some time at 6-10k scouting for mule deer.

Thanks this seems like a knowledgeable community.

 

[Lou (Louis)]

Welcome aboard!
Following

 

[Rob5589]

Welcome! If you're living back in the zone you have a huge advantage over most. I'd start scouting now and maybe set up some cams.

 

[eddielasvegas]

As the self-appointed chairman of the welcoming committee, it is my privilege to extend a laurel, and hearty handshake (virtual, of course) to our new member.



Eddie

 

[COLD SMOKE]

Thanks all for the welcome,
@Rob5589

Trail cams are a great idea, I don’t have any set up currently but plan to in a few weeks in the higher elevations.

I’m currently scouting mid elevation “headwaters” at 5-6k.

little pocket meadows that spring feed some smaller creeks. Thinking of heading up higher in elevation to the eastern end of d4-5 as the snow melts. Might be more backpacking than scouting as I’ll likely bring my pup to explore with me. He loves to chase the bucks

I’ve seen several bachelor groups of resident blacktail in the early am this past week. 3-4K elevation.

The buck on the right in the pic had a unusual rack . Left side was stunted or broken. I’ll keep an eye out for him as the season progresses.

 

[Hunt_Jefferson]

Welcome, maybe I’ll see you in D5

 

[Perfecto_Fiesta]

Welcome!

 

[Fire power]

Welcome aboard.

 

[zpearo]

Welcome, fellow CA FNG

 

[COLD SMOKE]

Had a good day scouring the granite, found some pools and a nice cinnamon sow with 2 cubs. Need to get some trail cams as I have a feeling their is a big boar in this area. Found a huge scat.. all grass..

The sow seemed to be foraging on small grasses And possibly some pine logs that held ants/Insects.. we treed one of the cubs rhem gave them a wide Berth to exit.
Would post the clips I have but apparently you can’t post video on this forum .

So.. Here’s a pic of the local boys at 9:00 pm it’s a super moon tonight so they’ll be hanging out till dawn.
+ some of those granite pools and swamps. The high country shots are at 7.3k in the north central Sierra.

 

[Rob5589]

Great stuff

 

[Lou (Louis)]

Had a good day scouring the granite, found some pools and a nice cinnamon sow with 2 cubs. Need to get some trail cams as I have a feeling their is a big boar in this area. Found a huge scat.. all grass..

The sow seemed to be foraging on small grasses And possibly some pine logs that held ants/Insects.. we treed one of the cubs rhem gave them a wide Berth to exit.
Would post the clips I have but apparently you can’t post video on this forum .

So.. Here’s a pic of the local boys at 9:00 pm it’s a super moon tonight so they’ll be hanging out till dawn.
+ some of those granite pools and swamps. The high country shots are at 7.3k in the north central Sierra.

Nice bucks!

 

[Hoghead]

welcome frome central California.

 

[COLD SMOKE]

Thanks all again for the welcome.
Some blacktail pics of a few nice bucks l. 9:00pm dusk.
The 1st pic is just a little spike. But he had a large body and was tall. Located solo about 1/4 mile from the herd

The larger bucks are a 3x3 and a 4x3 I believe. They both should have some nice racks. The does withe them look pregnant to me ans I did not see any fawns.. there were 4 does with these 2.

I did see a few fawns earlier today. And my neighbor said he saw a twins recently.

 

[Lou (Louis)]

Wow! Nice bucks!

 

[Cubby]

Welcome and nice pictures!

 

[Bwblodg]

Nice bucks

 

[COLD SMOKE]

1st day of rifle nothing. Found the mulies but only saw the does. Ran into one guy which was a surprise.
he had trail cams in the area and said the stud was nice 4x4 with a couple 3xs with him. Maybe he got him idk I peeled out to another spot at 2pm. Didn’t hear his gun but his truck was still there.
a great spot to watch a pocket water hole though, this area is really dynamic geographically and I’m going back in deeper mid week to set up a campsite. The pack out would be rough ( especially for a bear ) so it will make me be selective. Which is good as it’s a progression step.
2nd spot had a killer perch with multiple shots at 150-350 yards.. lots of bear shit around my perch. ( weeks old ) there were 4-5 dumps around the perimeter of a pine at the edge of a clearing. Literally his bathroom.

Going for blacktail tonight, just messing around but who knows. Full moon coming up so they’ll be more active in the coming days.

 

[Jnichols]

Thanks all again for the welcome.
Some blacktail pics of a few nice bucks l. 9:00pm dusk.
The 1st pic is just a little spike. But he had a large body and was tall. Located solo about 1/4 mile from the herd

The larger bucks are a 3x3 and a 4x3 I believe. They both should have some nice racks. The does withe them look pregnant to me ans I did not see any fawns.. there were 4 does with these 2.

I did see a few fawns earlier today. And my neighbor said he saw a twins recently.

Welcome! Nice pics

 

[PlumberED]

Welcome and thank you for the pictures.