California archery deer rant

[DavePwns]

I've been hunting d3-5 and d6 HARD in the Sierra mountains. It's my first year hunting in California and I'm not sure what I am doing wrong or if I am just straight unlucky. Over the past 2 weeks I have found / spotted 18 deer, 0 of the 18 were legal bucks! Do bucks just eat at night so I never see them?? Or is there an extreme poor buck to doe ratio. Anyways, I've covered a wide variety of altitude (4000-10000ft), and a variety of terrane glassing, still hunting ect. Has anyone else had a similar experience this year? Or have any advice for me?

 

[Arrowslinger]

I’ve been lucky to kill a buck in D3-5 the past 7 years straight on public land. There are lots of bucks and if you finding deer, they’re there for a reason. Keep looking and you’ll find bucks. I hunt till I find sign, then I keep going till I find antlers. Don’t get frustrated and don’t quit.

 

[amassi]

Your 2 weeks into a 6 year masters degree on finding finicky heavily pressured deer

18:1 would be a generous buck to doe ratio in some parts of d3-6, alot of that country simply will not support a mature buck. Sure, some guys will kill a snowflake or spork in the 90% dead zones but in my experience in d3-6 only about 10% of ground will hold mature bucks with any consistency

Further complicating things, the herds are highly migratory and are hard to pattern, they dont always go back up where you saw them the year before especially the d6 herd they have 2 sanctuaries(x8, yosemite)

theres a ton of water in the hills right now and some areas have food, water and cover so the bucks wont leave until they're chest deep in snow

Happened to notice the moon was very full last week, so yes bucks get very nocturnal

Your tags also cover about 5000 sq miles so no shortage of opportunity

Go check some of the 2015/16 burn areas, I bet the fringes and cooler zones are nicely recovered and will provide some good glassing

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[TravKatQ]

No experience in D6 but I hunt D7 (only archery season) and can tell you welcome to CA deer hunting! Lots of pressure, lots of predators and mismanaged forest leads to low deer populations and tuff conditions. Keep putting in the miles and looking for honey holes where bucks will hide out from the crowds.


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[DavePwns]

I appreciate all the responses, you guys all inspire me to be better and to work harder

 

[amassi]

I appreciate all the responses, you guys all inspire me to be better and to work harder

Lots of luck involved too

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[Bubblehide]

I feel for you, welcome to hunting California. It can take years to learn an area to the point where you can consistently harvest bucks. So you may want to consider harvesting the first legal buck you see, until you get an area down to consistently seeing legal bucks.

 

[Dukslayer26]

Good Luck!!

 

[DavePwns]

Your 2 weeks into a 6 year masters degree on finding finicky heavily pressured deer

18:1 would be a generous buck to doe ratio in some parts of d3-6, alot of that country simply will not support a mature buck. Sure, some guys will kill a snowflake or spork in the 90% dead zones but in my experience in d3-6 only about 10% of ground will hold mature bucks with any consistency

Further complicating things, the herds are highly migratory and are hard to pattern, they dont always go back up where you saw them the year before especially the d6 herd they have 2 sanctuaries(x8, yosemite)

theres a ton of water in the hills right now and some areas have food, water and cover so the bucks wont leave until they're chest deep in snow

Happened to notice the moon was very full last week, so yes bucks get very nocturnal

Your tags also cover about 5000 sq miles so no shortage of opportunity

Go check some of the 2015/16 burn areas, I bet the fringes and cooler zones are nicely recovered and will provide some good glassing

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

Really helpful stuff right here, thank you

 

[eLightfoot]

Your 2 weeks into a 6 year masters degree on finding finicky heavily pressured deer

18:1 would be a generous buck to doe ratio in some parts of d3-6, alot of that country simply will not support a mature buck. Sure, some guys will kill a snowflake or spork in the 90% dead zones but in my experience in d3-6 only about 10% of ground will hold mature bucks with any consistency

Further complicating things, the herds are highly migratory and are hard to pattern, they dont always go back up where you saw them the year before especially the d6 herd they have 2 sanctuaries(x8, yosemite)

theres a ton of water in the hills right now and some areas have food, water and cover so the bucks wont leave until they're chest deep in snow

Happened to notice the moon was very full last week, so yes bucks get very nocturnal

Your tags also cover about 5000 sq miles so no shortage of opportunity

Go check some of the 2015/16 burn areas, I bet the fringes and cooler zones are nicely recovered and will provide some good glassing

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

" two weeks into a six year masters degree" Truest and funniest shit ever. I dont hunt D zone but if its anything like b you better be packing in or on private property. That is if you want to regularly find where the bucks are. They arent stupid in CA, they go where people don't disturb them.

 

[itsTyrtruion]

what everyone has said here is mostly true... to a point.

what everyone has not said. d3 and d5, because the thick, rough hard to access terrain, and miserable to hunt properties of it... hold the biggest deer in the state.

 

[DFLYFISH]

keep at it and don't give up. my average is also about 20:1 doe to buck ratio. I will say i have found a lot of decent bucks this year. im chasing a certain buck again this year that i didn't get last year so i have passed on a few already.

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[Sawfish]

You will never kill a big one until you start passing on the little ones.

 

[Jimmy]

Sometimes it's just process of elimination. Lots of good country in those zones with not many deer, or does and not many bucks. Stick with it and you will find them! Unfortunately it could be a few years to compile information and get experience. OR, you could make it happen much quicker. Then the hard part is shutting up and not letting everyone know where you found bucks haha. There are lots of guys that fill their tag EVERY year and could tell you exactly where you could find a buck and at what time. But they won't for obvious reasons.

Right now I'd spend time hiking through timber and potential bedding areas. Gotta scare em' up sometimes because they won't be coming out in the open.

Look for places that no one else wants to go. Maybe it's really steep, really far, or really thick. If people don't want to go there and there is food, water and cover for bucks, you'll likely find a buck in there.

 

[trad_bowhunter1965]

You really want a Ph degree hunt D zones with a Stickbow I have had more opportunity on Black bears than Bucks. And I love every minute of it.