2013 Blacktail Hunt Story

[chevy_dog]

Hey Roksliders,

I am new to the forum, so I decided to do my part by sharing my 2013 blacktail story.

I wish I had more pictures to show for, but it was a helluva trip, and I did not have much time to bother with pictures, but I will include pictures from past hunts in the area, to give you an idea. I will make this a long story, so that you guys can re-live what I did and how I got to hunting the Trinities.

I have been hunting B-Zone in the trinities for about three years. Now, I don't want to say that I am in the best shape of my life, but I can hold my own with the best of them, and you won't hear any complaints from me on the trail. I have in fact been hunting my whole life in California. Shot my first deer when i was 13 in Ukiah, and have taken respectable bucks from then on. My problem with hunting is that when I go hunting, I want to do just that, I don't go to drink beers, I don't go for the scenery, I don't go for the camaraderie, I go hunting to HUNT. In the past, I have found multiple hunting partners that say they are hunting, but they don't put in the level of effort that I require in a hunting partner. Most will get out of the truck and look at the mountain that I wanted to scout, and say "you are out of your mind!" or make little comments on the way up about how far it is, etc..., which is fine, but this is not what I want in a hunting partner. I don't want to come off sounding like a pompous jerk, but I take hunting seriously, especially if I have to take time off of work. I have spent my fair share with fair weather hunters, and noticed that most of them have tended to rely on me to put them on the deer. I am kind of over that at this point now.

Well, I think that I finally found a hunting partner. I met my friend on a hunt with my father back in Wyoming a few years ago. He is actually a friend of my father's friend, and when we met at deer camp that year, we exchanged stories over the campfire and hit it off. My father is 56 years old, and I love hunting with him. He got me into the outdoors as a small kid and I took to it like flies on $hit. However, he is a smoker, in relatively good shape, but being a smoker will not get you to the places that I wanted to hunt as I got older. Well, over the campfire, I got a good idea of how my new friend hunts, and what he is after, and it was different than most people that I hunted with in the fact that he is very persistent and always goes the extra mile, and he is really a pack horse as well. No complaints from him. I am 30 year old and spend most of my work day behind a computer, and about 15% of my time on a drill rig. This guy is 56 years old, and a carpenter, and is 140 pounds soaking wet. Nevertheless, my new hunting partner fit the bill, friends of his know that he can out-hike and out-haul most everyone - this was my kinda partner!

We had a good hunt that year in Wyoming. I took a 30.5" 4x3, a buddy took a 25" 5x4, and the rest were all smaller 4x4's I believe. We all got two doe antelope as well, but no elk - they had moved out of our hunt area the week before. At the end of the hunt, I had mentioned to my new hunting partner that I was planning on a solo trip into the trinities, to get away from everyone. My new partner said that he had the right hunt in mind, and all his other partners declined to ever go back up into that hell hole (honey hole) ever again, but if I was interested we could do it together, so I accepted. Now we had the whole winter and summer leading up to the hunt to plan for this hunt, but really, there was not much planning to do. He knew where to go, when, and how it is hunted, so I was really just along for the ride. But let me tell you, it was a looong off-season, and since this was my first hunt that year, I was really looking forward to it.

To be continued...

Here is a pic of me and my kids: Bella-11, Gwenyth-5, and Hunter-2 (yes, his is a really big 2! My wife is 5'10", and I am 6'3.5").



Here is a glimpse of the terrain we hunt (pic from last year's hunt)

 

[RosinBag]

Hey Ryan, be careful with your big scenic pics. Trinities are hunted by many and no the country well. If you are killing bucks people will find your area based on pics. A smaller area pic is ok as it is not as descriptive. I have hunted there the last 20 years and every year more and more people show up.

 

[chevy_dog]

Gotcha Rosin. I understand the resolve of the "internet hunter". I am one too! I am posting up some pics of the general area that I hunt. If people want to find out where it is, I am sure that they can, but it is not for the faint of heart. We pass multiple outfitters on horseback on the way in. A few years ago, my buddies' other hunting partner was helicoptered out of there due to a bad fall which resulted in a compound leg fracture. It is very rugged.

Anyway, just want to give you guys an idea of what the Trinities are like. There is plenty of room up there to find some big bucks, you just got to get away from everyone. Next year, it will be the Ruby's. I will try to get some other shots that don't give up too much info.

 

[RosinBag]

I know the guy who fell and broke his leg. I was hunting about a mile from him. I lived in same town as him for several years and have many mutual friends.

The Rubies are majestic and I have done well Bowhunting there the last couple of years. You will see dozens of hunters there. You can't get that far back in there before you get to another trailhead. You will see bucks in every basin you look in though.

 

[chevy_dog]

You are right in that there are lots of hunters up in the trinities in general, but the area that we hunt, we have never seen another hunter in the area - it is just too hard to get to. We do hear far-off shots, but nobody ever thinks about going where we go, it is just that nasty. This is why we keep on going back in - to get away from the crowds, which is another reason why it is good to not reveal too much in pictures.

I will continue the story tomorrow, buenos noches rokslide, time for some bourbon!

 

[chevy_dog]

If you know the guy that broke his leg, then you probably know my hunting partner. He is the one that called the helo and rode out with him. Best part was, it was a CHP helo, so the state picked up the tab. He did not have to pay a dime for that packout!

 

[RosinBag]

I probably do. At the time there were about a dozen of us from the same town hunting different parts of the trinities. I hunt 11 miles back to my base camp and two more into where I hunt and I still see rifle hunters. Archery hunters are different, I have never seen another up there.

 

[chevy_dog]

Ok, so back to the story.
I needed to get into shape for this hunt, since it had been a long off-season, and I had just been coaching soccer, I didn’t have much time to get out. I started training for the hunt at the gym. Mainly cardio, but some weight training as well. Everything was going great until about June when I got into a car accident. I was on the freeway slowing down in traffic, going about 35 mph, when all of the sudden I got creamed by a cargo van that did not even slow down. The police said that he was likely going 65-70 mph when he hit me in the rear. Needless to say, I got pretty banged up, and was worried about making it for my backpack hunt. However, as time wore one, my back started feeling better and I was able to get back to the gym. My hunt wasn’t totally over, I just had to take it slow.

September came around relatively quickly, and before I knew it, we were one week away from our 5-day 4-night trip in the Trinities! We went over our gear, making sure that we are not carrying too much while at the same time not skimping out on the necessities. My opinion has always been “less is more”, but there was a fine line between lightweight and crazy. I wanted my pack to be as light as possible, so I loaded it up with all the light gear that was necessary for the trip, and left anything else that I did not need. When it was all said and done, my pack weighed in at 32 pounds, including my rifle. I thought that was pretty good for a 4-night trip.
The morning of our hunt, we met up in a city outside of Sacramento, and carpooled up to the trailhead. The whole trip consisted of hunting stories, and it wasn’t before long that we arrived at the trailhead. One last look through our gear, and we were off on our adventure. We discussed that we would not make it all of the way to our main camp on the first night, so we would do a spike camp down lower, then wake up and make the 4-hour trek to our main camp of the trip. We passed some outfitters setup, without speaking a word to them, we just walked on through. After a while, we took a less-than used trail up the drainage, and never saw another person for three days. The hiking was pretty easy at first, but then the drainage started to close in, and we started going up. Climbing out of the forest and into the manzanita and brush made for a slow hike. We stopped every now and then to filter some water, but after setting out at the trailhead at 10:00 a.m., we were finally at our first camp at 6:00, after an eight hour hike.


After a light breakfast, we packed up our gear and took off for our base camp. Now, this is the hardest part of the hike. As you can see in my picture above, there is no trail to follow. We are buschwacking for the next 4 hours to camp. To make matters worse, it is only about 1.5 miles to camp, but we have an elevation gain of 2,000 feet. After an exhausting hike, we finally make it to our main camp and we have the place all to ourselves. We are overlooking several ridges, and we have the altitude to drop over the ridge to look over multiple drainages. Not a soul in sight! Perfect. We set up camp and then by the afternoon, we go out to glass for something to shoot on opening day tomorrow.

However, this is the part of the story that sucks. We saw over 15 black bears, a bunch of does, but not one buck. This was the same story throughout the opening weekend. Temperatures were hot, and what wildlife was out, they were only out in the early morning or late at night. Opening day came and went, and on Sunday morning, after not glassing anything up, we decided to pack it in and cut our losses. What took about 12 hours to get to camp, only took about 5 hours coming out of it. We were back at the truck at around 2:00 p.m. and went into town to get some pizza and beer. Pretty disappointed with this area. Here is an idea of what we were glassing over, without giving up too much detail.

Despite the fact that we did not see any bucks this trip, it was not a total loss. I got to see some great country, had great company, and overall had a great time. The bear up there were plentiful, but if you shoot one where we were, good luck getting him out. We saw some nice bear, some only about 25 yards from us (he snuck up on us on the trail going in). One of the springs around our main camp had a seep that we were able to filter our water, and at this seep grew wild onions. It was pretty amazing when mixed with mountain house lasagna.
Anyway, my buddy had told me that there were big deer in that area, and I believed him. Sometimes, they are just not there. So, knowing that the area looks like it can hold some monsters, and from what he has told me that they have pulled out of that area in the past, I decided that I wanted to go back next year (2013) if he wanted to go again. Well, my partner is always up for adventure, so the next trip was planned.
To be continued…

 

[chevy_dog]

The off-season came and went rather quickly, and during that time, I was able to update my gear – I got a new one person tent, and a new stove for myself that I am quite pleased with. We had been talking during the off-season about the hunt, but really, there was nothing to plan for any different than last year’s hunt.

About a week before the season opener, the weather started to change. Everyone who hunted up there opening weekend knows that the weather moved in, making the hunting great and miserable at the same time. Well, Thursday rolled around and we were off to the trailhead again, just me and my partner. The forecast called for clear skies Thursday, with a storm system rolling in Friday and Saturday. There was a 60% chance of Precip on Friday evening, and 75% chance Saturday morning, clearing up in the evening.

At the trailhead, I decided to take my one-person tent. It weighed in at 3.5 lbs, but based on the weather information, I wasn’t going to chance it. I also brought some rain pants (frog togs) to keep me dry when moving through the brush. I had a waterproof jacket (or so I thought) and an extra pair of socks. I usually just carry the clothes that I wear hiking in, and wear those clothes during the whole trip, but based on the weather, I decided to pack the socks and an extra shirt and the rain pants. My partner had lightweight raingear that he packed; however, he did not have a tent. He brought a homemade bivy made of Tyvek and tyvek tape to put his sleeping bag in. This trip, my pack weight 37 pounds at the trailhead, including my gun. My partner’s pack weighed in at 32 pounds. Our plan was to hunt until Sunday at about noon, then pack it in.

We set out on the trailhead in good weather, and only about 100 yards from the trailhead, the silence is broken up by the ear piercing buzz of, you guessed it, a mountain rattler! He was sitting right on the trail. We decide that it would not be a great idea for this guy to sit on the trail and strike a horse or hiker, so we get some rocks and attempt to kill it, but apparently, we have the accuracy of a 3 year old girl, and miss it, so it just slithers off. Back to the trail.

We got a later start than last year, so we did not hit the trail until about 2:00 p.m., so we were not able to hit the first camp on the first day. We stayed the night at a lower elevation in some oaks, and the mosquitos were so thick! My buddy did not have a tent to get out of the mosquitos, so I suggested that we try 2 guys in a 1 man tent. I would not recommend this, and I am breaking my promise to him to never discuss that night again! The mosquitos left us alone though. During the night, I constantly heard footsteps on the oak leaves – I believe that it was just a doe walking through, but it keeps you up at night thinking it is a bear looking for something yummy.

The next day, we busted our butts getting up to the main camp. About 200 yards below our main camp, we bust a pair of forkys in the brush. This was very reassuring, since we had not seen a buck up there the previous year. They were dead on opening day if we wanted them, but we had something a little better in mind. That 200 yards to camp probably took 30 minutes. Moving through this terrain is incredibly difficult.
Though we had no cell service, we could see the storm system coming in. Luckily for me, I brought my tent, and proceeded to set it up. After the tent was set up and camp was made, we went down to the seep to gather water and onions for dinner, then it started to rain. We decided to go up to the lookout near camp to see what the primary drainage held. Here is the lookout and our vantage point:



Right away we started seeing deer. We spotted a couple of other forkys, but nothing we wanted to put our tags on for opening morning. I had an idea that this was going to be a really good trip! The rain started to come down some more, and we were getting wet, so we decided to cook some dinner and settle in for the night.

All night it rained, then snowed. I was really comfortable in my North Face tent (very glad I brought it). I woke up to white-out conditions. There was a couple of inches of snow on the ground. We could not see for more than 100 yards because of the snow and fog. My partner had a miserable night – condensation in his Tyvek bivy had gotten his sleeping bag wet in some spots, and he was cold. He woke up and built a fire and huddled around it for the morning. There was no point in going out hunting because we couldn’t see anything, so we just waited it out until the fog lifted.

Well, the fog and snow did not let up until about 1:00 in the afternoon. I had went to the lookout while my partner had gone to look for an additional sleeping bag and other supplies that he had left in a bear box in previous years. At the lookout, I had found the buck I had seen the previous day, and some does, and another small buck some 100’s of yards away. Then, looking across the canyon, I found him. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon. He was out in the brush about 750 yards away. Looking through my binoculars, I could not count the points, but I could make out that he was a big, wide buck. This was something that I could justify hanging my tag on. But it was getting later in the day, and to close the distance, it would take about an hour from where I was at now. I decided that I wanted him, so I ran back to camp, got my pack and supplies, left a note for my partner, and took off after him!

To be continued…

 

[sojourner]

I can't wait to hear the rest! I've been backpacking in the Trinities all my life- I love it up there. It is a dream of mine to take a big blackie out of there some day.

 

[chevy_dog]

Back to the story. Sorry – I have been busy with work.

So, I took off after the buck. The snow had let up and I had a pretty good window in the weather to get after him. I went off after the buck, occasionally stopping to glass some draws that I could not see from the lookout point, just in case I spook other deer and blow the hunt. I got about half way to where the buck was when the fog rolled back in and it started snowing again. I had to cross two more ravines to get within eyesight of the buck, and I felt that the fog and the rain hid me pretty well, so I took advantage of it and slipped in.

I popped over some rock outcroppings and tried to get the buck in the binoculars, but the fog was too thick, so I crouched down into the outcropping and put my pack over my left side to prevent the snow from building up on me, and waited. And waited. And waited. The snow was not letting up, the fog was coming and going, and I still could only see about 80 yards in front of me. I was just hoping that the snow and fog would pass, so at least I could confirm that he was still there. It was starting to get COLD, really cold. So cold that everything started to get soaked. My lens cleaner for my binoculars was drenched at this point, so I had to use the middle of my t-shirt to un-fog the binos. A whole hour passed while I was waiting there. I was shivering to the bone, and was running out of daylight. Finally, the snow started falling lighter than before, and I can see down the mountain that the fog was lifting. About 5 minutes later the fog lifted to where I was positioned, and I had my opening I was waiting for. I could now see about 200 yards in front of me, so I continued glassing the area that I had last seen him. And there he was, right where I had left him!

The buck was about 150 yards in front of me, straight across a steep draw. I put the scope on him and started to count the points. No Way, I told myself. I was staring at a wide and heavy 2x2! Like I said before, I could not count the points from so far away, so I was astonished when he turned out to be a fork. But the more that I looked at him, the more I liked him. He was positioned in some brush facing away from me, so I really did not have much of a shot at this point. To top it off, the snow started falling more heavily, so I was not sure how that would impact my shot, so I waited a little longer for the right opportunity. The buck was just standing there, looking straight down the draw, and had no idea I was there, so I felt comfortable waiting for the right shot. The buck did not move, did not feed, did not poop, nothing for a whole 30 minutes! Still as a statue! I was getting so cold at this point, I could not hold the rifle still, so I propped it up on the outcropping with the front and rear stock supported, so I only had to pull the trigger. Time was still passing, without a shot, and I was getting nervous about the fading light. Then, suddenly, the buck took a few steps back, revealing a broadside shot, with just the top portion of his lungs presented.

I thought to myself, “it is 4:30 p.m., and if I take this buck, I better take him now, or else I will be packing back in the dark.” I steadied the Tikka, chambered in 6.5x55 sweedish, and leveled the cross hairs on my Leupold 4.5x14 AO scope on his vitals, and pulled the trigger. Since I was not supporting the rifle with much of my body, the recoil was much more intense than I expected, and I took a few seconds to get back on the deer. He was nowhere in sight. I felt that the shot was good, so I took a few minutes to glass the immediate area, and did not see him thrashing around or running off. But I knew that the shot was good. I made it up in my mind that he is just dead right where he was standing, so 10 minutes after the shot, I took off after him, to where I had last seen him. It took a good 20 minutes to get up to where he was last standing, but with the brush so thick, I was not exactly sure of the immediate area. I got up above where he was and looked down, then I saw the dark grey body, to my relief, right where he last was, underneath some brush. What a relief!

I get to the buck at about 5:00, and grab him by the horns. He was a very nice blacktail. I had a tailor’s tape on me and measured the outside spread to 23”. He ended up being a 2x3, but the third point was so small, I don’t consider it really. He is a BIG 2x2 to me. As they all say, now the work starts.

It was 5:00, and I was a good 1.5 hours away from camp at this point. It starts to get dark up here around 6:30, and it is completely dark at 7:00, so I had to hurry. I started to skin him on the ground. I got the guts out to make my job a little easier (I have heard of the gutless method, and tried this, but it was my first time doing it and was taking longer than I expected, so I gutted him instead). Got the quarters off, and the backstrap and tenderloins out, then the neck and rib meat. At this point it was 6:00.

When I packed my bag at home, I had the “brightest idea” to pack a hacksaw blade instead of a hacksaw, to keep the weight down. Well that was a mistake I would never do again. I took this hacksaw blade (it was for metal, not wood) in my hand and started going at his skull plate. I could not get a good start on this, and had multiple tries at it, and it was just taking too long. I finally got a good groove going, but the blade in my hand was causing me pain and cramps, and it was bending. I would never do this again! After about 20 precious minutes, I finally had the antlers off the buck. I loaded up my pack with the meat and horns, had a quick moment with the buck, and then put the pack on my shoulders to take off. I did not have enough daylight to bone out the meat at this point, so I packed all 4 quarters, backstraps, tenderloins, and neck/rib meat, and put the gun on my pack as well, and it was just so much weight! To top it off, I was traversing some really steep terrain, and everything was wet, making it slippery and miserable.

I fell a few times, which really hurt, and I ran out of water about ½ way back to camp. I reached the bottom of the drainage where our camp is at about 7:30. This is only about 400 yards to our camp, but the bottom of the drainage is covered with willows and brush that is almost impossible to get through. I was about 200 yards down the ravine from where I should have been to cross (there is a trail through the brush up there), but I thought that I could get through by cutting the distance, and did not want to go back up there. I decided to go through. It is only about 30 yards of brush to get to the other side. Well, that was painful. It is hard enough to get through that brush without a pack and a rifle. I hurt myself by falling on the rocks pretty good trying to get through that brush in the dark, with my head lamp, but I finally made it through after about 20 minutes. I was done though. Over 80 pounds of meat on my back did me in.

It was pitch dark, and I knew that our camp was just above us, so I decided to drop my pack, and bring the antlers and my rifle back to camp, and come back for the pack the next day. I found an old snag and decided that I could probably find this tree the next morning, so I laid the pack next to the tree trunk and started my way up the steep mountain side. I get back to the lookout spot about 20 minutes later, to hear my partner calling my name. I yell out to him, and he finds me in short order. I was spent though. We get back to camp and I am absolutely soaking wet. There was not a dry piece of clothing on me. My underwear was soaked! He already had a fire going which was nice. I tell him the story, and he congratulates me on my nice buck. He did not turn anything up worth hanging his tag on, but he did find an extra sleeping bag to keep him warm. We eat our mountain house dinners, and I shed all my clothes, then crawl into my bag and fall asleep immediately.


To be continued…

 

[chevy_dog]

So, my buddy decided to do a morning hunt over the top of one of the ridges, and I had some work to do with my deer, so by the time I woke up, he was already gone hunting. I got up around 7:30. The night before I had hung up my jacket in the top of the tent in an effort to dry it out, but that did not do much of anything – it was still soaking wet. My clothes were outside of my tent in the vestibule and when I unzipped my tent, the air was so brisk and cold, I dreaded going out there and putting on my wet clothes. I laid in my sleeping bag for another 30 minutes, just dreading the thought, but there was work to do. I finally got out of my tent, naked, with the sleeping bag draped over me. My clothes were basically frozen solid.

I decided to make a fire and attempt to dry out my clothes. All of the wood around us was wet, so I made an effort to collect as much as possible and try to start a fire, all the while running around a mountaintop naked in the cold morning. I get the fire going and while holding up my underwear, I proceed to dry them out, then put them on first. I still have my sleeping bag around me, and within an hour and a half, and a couple of burn marks in my clothes, I have successfully dried out my clothes, though I smell like chimney. I gather what I need and proceed to go back to where I left my pack last night.

As I am walking down the hill, I am looking for the old snag where I left my pack. However, now that it is daylight, I see a LOT of old snags around me, so it took me some time to find where I left the pack, but I finally found it. I decided to bone out all of the meat, so that I did not have to carry the extra weight. After about an hour, I have all the meat boned out, and I make the trip back to camp, where I proceed to break down our camp.

My partner comes back after a while, without seeing any worthwhile bucks, and we take a couple of pictures with his camera. Here is the only shot of my buck that I have on the mountain.



Now, we begin the trek back to the trailhead. As I stated before, I am not one to complain on the trail, but it was hard coming back to the trailhead. I had to take more breaks than ever before because of the load that I was carrying. Luckily, my partner carried my sleeping bag and tent for me, so that did lighten the load by a few pounds. It took us about 7 hours to get back to the trailhead with my load. The sight of the car was absolute heaven!!! As I dropped my pack, I noticed that the seams on my waist belt were ripping apart; I was lucky to get back to the car before they failed, and at that point, I would have been in a bad way for sure.

Since this trip, I noticed that if I want to continue to pursue deer by backpack, I definitely need to upgrade. I was using an old Coleman Peak 1 polycarbonate external frame backpack. This is not something that was designed to carry heavy loads, but since it had the flexible frame, I thought it would be great to tie down my load nice and tight. However, it just didn’t work out.

After reading reviews of backpacks for hunting, I came across this forum. I have to say, there are some great gear reviews here. This is how I decided on purchasing my Stone Glacier backpack. I purchased it after my blacktail hunt and used it on a trip to Wyoming, where I packed a mule deer over 5 miles back to the truck, and I have to say, it made a world of difference. I can hike all day with a load like that on my back (probably not, but it was much, much more comfortable). The pack keeps the meat evenly distributed and close to the frame. The game warden that I ran into was impressed with it as well.

I yielded a lot of meat out of this blacktail. While it is not the biggest blacktail that I have killed, it is my favorite because of the experience. All the backstrap and tenderloins are already gone, and we have made some killer Jerky as well. My kids love deer meat and my wife enjoys it because it is “organic”, lol.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the story. Next time, I will pack a camera, even though it adds the extra weight.

Take care,
-Ryan.

 

[Shrek]

Thanks for the great story. The part about running around naked in the cold sounds crazy miserable but you survived none the worse for the experience.

 

[focker34]

Awesome read! Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[Timberninja]

Congrats on a well earned deer and thanks for the great story, sounds like quite the mission!

 

[7mag.]

Great story, I enjoyed it. The extra hard work, and often miserable conditions, are something many don't understand, but it makes the hunt more special to me.

 

[carnyman]

Awesome experience.

 

[LP_805]

Great story and writeup thanks for sharing! I appreciate hearing the honest reflections on gear and choices made during hunt. Thats what I love about being in deep backcountry - no distractions from everyday noise just us and our instincts.

 

[eLightfoot]

hahaha, awesome story and nice buck! I was deep in the back country during that same storm. Came out with a nice 5x4. Blacktail hunting on public land is the ultimate deer hunt. Highly underestimated and over looked, it is tough, but the reward is unbeatable.

 

[greyghostnw]

cool to see...... blacktail are never far from my thoughts.