CA A-16 Archery

1woolie89

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
174
Location
Fontana, CA
Hey guys had a question about CA zone X9A, A16 AO tag. Basically anyone here hunt that tag/ area, if so how was it? I see it’s basically Mammoth area. Wondering if the foot traffic there makes for tougher hunting conditions? Any tips/ altitude to get to? I’m sure the tourists won’t be that deep in but not sure about committing to this tag. Plan on giving it 4-5 days (if tag pulls) of camping in mammoth area, hunting the western hills. Also taking my fly rod 😉. Thanks guys!
 
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mproberts

WKR
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
393
I've never hunted that zone, but have hiked it a lot during the time period of that A16 hunt. I have honestly never seen a deer in the back country / western slopes leading up to the border with D7. All the deer I have seen have been below 9k feet close to trail heads. That's just what I've seen, but like I said I have never hunted it. I'm mainly on hiking trails, but I always bring optics and do a good amount of glassing. Good luck man.
 
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
2,238
I think with so few tags in that zone I’d be more focused on the low country resident deer in the sage. You would have virtually no competition and be able to cover a lot more ground and get into the deer which are fairly spread out there to begin with. And have more stalking opportunities. But either way it would be a nice hunt with very few tags at least.
 

Rsully661

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 25, 2017
Messages
208
Location
Bakersfield, Ca
It’s an absolutely terrible tag, mountain lions are over run, deer have all pushed over into D7. Plus the bears around mammoth eat every damn thing and the trash too. Mountain bikers and LA hippies galore. Continue with what you’ve been hunting cause that place is crap.


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Ryguy

FNG
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
29
Location
California
Little confused why you threw AO in the mix. You can’t hunt the x zones with an AO tag. That being said go high. I haven’t checked but that’s an early tag I believe and during the rifle hunt we were hunting deer above 11k. Hope you’re in shape


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1woolie89

1woolie89

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 23, 2016
Messages
174
Location
Fontana, CA
Little confused why you threw AO in the mix. You can’t hunt the x zones with an AO tag. That being said go high. I haven’t checked but that’s an early tag I believe and during the rifle hunt we were hunting deer above 11k. Hope you’re in shape


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Sorry for the confusion, I mentioned it was AO for the a-16 aspect. I also have a AO tag for my D zones. 11k sounds good I live at 8,000 ft in Big Bear right now. Thanks for the reply!
 

Ryguy

FNG
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
29
Location
California
Sorry for the confusion, I mentioned it was AO for the a-16 aspect. I also have a AO tag for my D zones. 11k sounds good I live at 8,000 ft in Big Bear right now. Thanks for the reply!

You can not hunt A-16 with an AO tag just so you know. Ao is good for A, B,C and d zones. No X zone hunts


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Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Messages
6
I think with so few tags in that zone I’d be more focused on the low country resident deer in the sage. You would have virtually no competition and be able to cover a lot more ground and get into the deer which are fairly spread out there to begin with. And have more stalking opportunities. But either way it would be a nice hunt with very few tags at least.
Would you suggest any areas? I got drawn and been scouting above the airport and below Bald Mountain. Not much luck.
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Messages
6
I think with so few tags in that zone I’d be more focused on the low country resident deer in the sage. You would have virtually no competition and be able to cover a lot more ground and get into the deer which are fairly spread out there to begin with. And have more stalking opportunities. But either way it would be a nice hunt with very few tags at least.
You know of any good specific area that are low? I got the A16 this year and just looking for spots. We scouted several days already and not much luck, any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
2,238
You know of any good specific area that are low? I got the A16 this year and just looking for spots. We scouted several days already and not much luck, any help would be appreciated. Thanks
I would suggest driving around on most of the roads looking for deer. Once you see some from the road, start looking more in the same area off the road. They live in pockets and there will be lots of country that does not hold deer. There are few enough tags for this area that it is not necessary to go far into the backcountry to find good bucks. Deer numbers are fairly low overall, and it’s dry this year. Focus on water. I don’t know where the big one lives but he is out there.
 

Jacobo2012

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 25, 2018
Messages
224
Location
Southern Idaho
I would suggest driving around on most of the roads looking for deer. Once you see some from the road, start looking more in the same area off the road. They live in pockets and there will be lots of country that does not hold deer. There are few enough tags for this area that it is not necessary to go far into the backcountry to find good bucks. Deer numbers are fairly low overall, and it’s dry this year. Focus on water. I don’t know where the big one lives but he is out there.

Most of the bigggins stay in the neighborhoods


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