2014 G3 Goodale Hunt

Bohuntg

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I still have to pinch myself and every time I open up the nightstand drawer and look at my 2014 G3 Goodale tag, I still can't believe I drew it. Not coming from a hunting family I'm so thankful that I had to desire to follow heart and start bow hunting years ago, now I get to see the next generation,my son enjoying hunting. My son drew X7B this year and I have been investing my time there but it's time to start refocusing on my 2014 G3 Goodale hunt. Thankfully with my available vacation time left I am able to secure the two days before the season opener and the entire season for the hunt. My first thought is camping around the town of Independence (I'm open to other places)because it looks like it is in the middle of the zone. I am thinking about bringing a travel trailer but I can't decide if I'm going to drive north up to Reno and then head south all there or do I drive down to Bakersfield and come up from the south. I have drove this a few times but never pulling a trailer, any any suggestions? I am a little familiar with the high country in that area because I have done some backpacking in that region but I just ordered some more topo maps that will cover the entire area. After I get the Topo Maps I will probably spend many nights pouring over them to try to figure out some of the areas I should target. Everything I do is pretty much DIY and I have to figure out since I started hunting on my own back in the early 80's but now 30 years later I finally get the chance to take my first decent buck Iand the best part is I get to do with my son. Can't wait to get down there and to meet fellow hunters. I will keep planning and hopeing it will pay off so I can post my pictures. Until now any suggestions you have would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Congrats on a great tag. Not sure if you've searched and read other posts on here, but it sounds like it becomes a zoo down there during the season. Some of the hunters that show up have several buddies helping find deer. Also sounds like allot of other people out looking at all the bucks. Most great bucks are sat on a few days before the season and will get shot at first light. Not trying to discourage you, just giving you a heads up. Wizard or someone on here lives down there and is a wealth of knowledge. I'd definitely get in contact with him. As far as which way to go I would plan on the closest route as long as the weather is not a problem. Not sure of the pass from Bakersfield, but Highway 395 is usually pretty good during that time of year. But it can get bad as it's around 8000' elevation down by Mamoth Lakes. Good luck on your hunt.
 
Thanks for the heads up for a possible contact and giving me a perspective what to expect. I usually go to fish lake Crowley every couple of years in the summer via hwy 50 to Tahoe then south on 395 an I know about the passes. Just trying to figure if it is wroth it to take a litte longer route to have less passes at that time of the year. Thanks for the reply.
 
Nickman is the guy you want to talk to.....also, I believe Paul Crawford had this tag a couple of years ago. He's on here quite a bit...

Steve

Cancer doesn't discriminate...don't take your good health for granted because it can be gone in a heartbeat. Please go back and read the last line. This time really understand what it says.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-12-14 AT 09:38AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Oct-12-14 AT 09:38?AM (MST)

Five years ago my son was drawn for Goodale, he killed the buck on the left.
Last week I hunted x7b, and the buck on the right came from there.
395b62614f9e17daf7ff9b7a8b87991e_zpscd6ed636.jpg

I'd stay in the Mt Williamson Hotel. It's about ~$60/night and it's right in Independence. Showers and comfy beds, worth all the tea in China after a tough hunt.
Justin shot his on opening day. 26.5"4x3
If we had to do it over? We would pass , as there are so many majestic bucks to look over. Why didn't we pass? You try telling a 12yonot to shoot that buck!!
Plan on having them both scored next week.
 
Thanks for the links, I appreciate it. From what I am hearing sounds like I need to get down there a week before the opener instead of three days. This is even better because now my countdown days leaving for the hunt is closer. Thanks Again.

Bohuntg
 
if you decided to go through the tehachapi mountains and take the 58 you would be fine with weather that time of the year, also congrats on a great tag! did you get it with max points or random draw ? you should expect to kill 26-28 inch buck if your patient enough. It has been really hot up there but the deer are migraing and by december it shouldnt matter either way !
 
Thanks for comfirming my plan, My first though was the route you mentioned, Tehachapi and then Hwy 58. I looks like it is farther but I will trade a extra hour or two driving south on HWY 5 though Tehachapi to avoid then few moutain passes pulling a Travel Trailer up Hwy 80 then down Hwy 395. I did draw with Max points, I wish it was sooner but after this hunt I am free to look at other zones. I was thinking of going 2 to 3 days before the hunt but it sound like I should get there sooner. I am checking today to see if I can adjust my schedule to go sooner. I will be patient, probably need ho had my ammo over to son for the first day, wait a minute, he has never harvest a buck an no were close to that size. Anyway it is not only a hunt, its a vacation too and we will have fun and make the most of it.

Thanks for the reply.

Bohuntg
 
How did you and your son do on his X7b hunt? Im pretty sure i talked to you guys on the evening before the opener on dirt bikes. You had mentioned you drew the G3 hunt when we were talking. I didn't find anything worth shooting on the first few days of X7b. Im gonna try and head up the last weekend.
 
My son did not fill his tag the opening weekend. My son is like me, this is the first year either of us drew a tag and want to make the most of it. The day we saw you we did not see anything, but we went up there a few times to scout before the season and did see a few nice bucks. My son has only havested one buck and he was disappointed when we left but hopefully we can get back up there for another chance. I know it would put an smile on his face and sometheing we could talk about for the next year if he could get a 3 point or better. I will let you know. Speaking of dirt bikes, when we were come across Russell Valley on the second evening when it was dark, we had some guys in some kind of prerunner trying to see how close they can get behind us, I was like a jackrabbit in a headlight, thankfully I new the trail split going back the hill and yelled to my son to hang a left. It was crazy. well anyway, I wish you well and success in your hunt.

Bohuntg
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-14-14 AT 11:24AM (MST)[p]That is a fun tag to have. Never drew the tag but I used to spend a lot of time around Independence and I have seen some nice bucks killed from 26 to 32 inches. It is not a real hard area to figure out. Main thing is good optics. I would be glad to share what information I have. I will send you my email and phone number if you want to contact me.

pm sent
 
I appreciated your phone calls. Hearing your stories,ideas and suggestions are a big help to my planing this hunt.

Bohuntg
 
My wife had the tag in 2112.We were patient and hunted hard, and she scored on a buck of several life times,probably the best buck that year.
Get away from the roads and hunt high or at the snow line. have good glass and most of all practice with your rifle to 500 yrds .Shots will most likely be long and the wind will be blowing.
Good luck,RS
 
Happy for your wife, her screams probably were heard down the canyons after she downed it. Speaking of patients, how many days did your hunt take? I fell good at 300-400 yards, probably wouldn't hurt test myself out to 500. Thanks for the reply.

Bohuntg
 
We killed her buck on her 4th day hunting .Yeah you could have herd us from Hwy 395.LOL. If you practice at 500,300 will be a chip shot.
RS
 
Man I have hunted some pretty open country and I have never shot a buck over 150 yards! One of the reasons is I know beyond 200 hundred I would more than likely not hit them.
 
I am curious about what other have done after the shot for this hunt. Because I do not know anyone with privite property I end up hunting wilderness areas. I know what it take to process game the the areas I have hunted but for this hunt there is the luxury of a campground, a town nearby or even motel. Wow, I could get use to this the older I become."reality check" this is the fist time I drew a tag in my home state, dont now how many I will draw in the future. But seriously, I wander if I need to rethink my after the shot game processing.

Bohuntg
 
Okay guys, this is it, The trucks is loaded up and I had out tomorrow. I first want to say thank you for all the private messages they are very helpful. From what I'm hearing this weather is going to favor the hunt this year, how exciting. Hope I can make some posting while I'm down there but until then I have my cameras packed ready to take a picture of probably the biggest buck I will ever shoot in my life. Thanks again for all your replies.

Bohuntg
 
Good luck Kill a Monster.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]
 
good luck cant wait to see what you get ! wish I could head up that way but im in the middle of moving so the lack of time I wont be able to !
 
>anyone care to say how many
>points it takes these days
>to draw this hunt please?
>thanx Manny


Max points! Think this seasons draw was 12 points
 
No luck yet, first two mornings I hiked way up into some canyons away from the road access and other hunters. Seen lots and lots of bucks, no shooters yet, I almost pulled the trigger the first morning but I had to ask myself "I waited this long for this buck" hope I was right. only heard a few gunshots and talk to other hunters, it doesn't sound like there's been a whole lot of deer taken already. We need some more weather down here, we been hike it up to the snow level but it's quite a ways up there.

Bohuntg
 
LAST EDITED ON Dec-17-14 AT 09:51PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Dec-17-14 AT 09:47?PM (MST)

LAST EDITED ON Dec-17-14 AT 09:40?PM (MST)

4220image.jpg


Well guys my hunt is over. I will try to post a picture of me with my buck and the snow cap mountains in the background. Let me give you a brief recap of my trip. As I mentioned, I don't have any family members that are hunters and I am starting the legacy of hunting in my family, I typically hunt with only my son and my wife. It the start I was able to get all of the time off for the hunt but because my son had interviews for a new job he could not get the time off so my wife went me. I ended up pulling my trailer down and around Bakersfield and it up to Independence. We got there we set up camp at the campground in Independence and was the only Hunter in the campground and there was only one other trailer. I was able to scout a day and a half before the hunt and was able to hit all the recommended places suggested by comments and private messages. Do to the fact that my wife and I are hikers and I want to get away from some of the roads, every day except for three mornings we were up at 4:30 AM and at the spot we start hiking up the hill by headlight at 5:30 AM. I must say I never ever been hunting and seen so many bucks and 90% the bucks were bigger than I've ever seen before. I almost pulled the trigger the first day but my goal was to get a 4 x 4. Since the places I hiked up into I never saw another hunter and I had a good feel of the bucks in those places, I heard there was a storm coming in and I decide to hold off and see if the storm brought any new bucks in a couple areas I had targeted and did not see any other. For a couple days while we were waiting for the weather to change was one of the highlights of my trip because I got to go around and meet fellow hunters which was a joy to swap stories. Unfortunately waiting for the weather to change was a gamble for me because a issue came up and my wife had to get home. I was now facing the fact that I had to cut my hunt short or drive home 500 miles away and turn around and Drive back back for the three days of the hunt. On Saturday I knew I didn't have time to hike up one of the two places where we seen some nice bucks I decided to take a drive up the road that goes to Onion Valley. As we were driving up I seen a buck on the morning skyline that caught my eye. As I was getting gassed hiking up the hill I came into a big group of does that was between me and where I saw the buck crestover the ridge. Not wanting to blow the does off the ridgetop I decided to lay low and see if some kind buck would be sniffing his way up to the does. My hunches were right because the fourth buck that came up was the one I shot. The great thing is my wife caught up to me and was 20 yards behind me and saw the whole thing. The shot was probably my best shot ever, the buck never took one step and the best of all he was almost at the top of the hill. When I got to my buck I knew that I've seen bigger bucks in those two places we hike into but this but still was the biggest buck I've ever taken in my life and I was very proud of it. Knowing I had to get moving I placed the G3 tag on the horns, said a prayer and was thankful I live in America to experience one of the best hunting times of my life. Two hours later I had the trailer loaded up and we were on the road back home. Now that I've got all the personal things addressed I just took my buck into the taxidermy to have it mounted. Again thanks for all the comments and all the p.m. messages and a big shout out to all the hunters I met on my hunt but most important a big thanks to my wonderful wife was a trooper and hiked up all those hills and wants to be part of my life adventures.

Bohuntg
 
Great story and congrats on your buck. It's all about the memories and the experience of the hunt. I've shot lesser bucks simply because of the "work" it took to get on him. I hope you had a good time and that's pretty cool that your wife was able to share it with you. Congrats again and keep up the legacy for your family.

Steve

Cancer doesn't discriminate...don't take your good health for granted because it can be gone in a heartbeat. Please go back and read the last line. This time really understand what it says.
 
Nice ending to a good hunt. Congrats on taking a good buck.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
>[Font][Font color = "green"]Life member of
>the MM green signature club.[font/]
 
how big did he end up being ? how wide ? congrats glad to see you filled your tag, great picture thanks for sharing with us .
 
Bohuntg, That's a Dandy Buck!

Nice hunt report, Thanks for posting, and Congrats!!!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Congratulations on your trophy! Great buck to take out of the herd on limited time. He looks like he's been around awhile.
I commend you for "starting the legacy of hunting in your family." We need more like you.
 
Thanks for your reply mulebuck. While I was there talking to some folks I heard stories of other hunting trips they have been on and also some bucks taken out of the Goodale area in prior years. Since I personally do not have any hunting trips to compare to, the Goodale G3 hunt was truly the best hunting opportunity of my life time. When I started hunting with my son, year after year we see pictures of big bucks and we talked about all year long in hopes we could see one. On my hunt, hiking up those hills and ravines I got to see more bigger bucks in just 8 days than all my years hunting and now I have a story of my G3 Goodale Hunt to pass down. I know other members of my family cannot understand why I like to hunt and do not want to hear or see pictures of my trip when we go and get together for the holiday so having a forum to read and talk about hunting has been rewarding to me. Starting the hunting legacy with my son and wife keeps us together and is building memories, along with backpacking, I cannot think of anything else we do as a family that gives us the quality uninterrupted time to spend together
 
Well I decided to have my G3 Buck mounted battle wounds and all. The Taxidermists did not wanted to use the cape off the buck because of all the battle scars it had on the cape and he was willing to give me a beautiful cape. I remember walking up to the buck an see the he had a couple of open gouges on his face and his neck was full of battle wounds he had from a rough night of fighting. But because of the long wait and it was a special hunt I got to share with my wife I wanted that lasting memory of my G3 Goodale hunt preserved in my mind the way it really was every time I walked into the room and looked up the buck. Thanks for all the comment on this post.

Bohuntg

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Thanks. The Taxidermist thought drug it for a long ways, he never took a step after it took the shot. I had a couple of nice guys that come over to check out the buck and told me that there was a spot they think I could get my truck close to the buck. They were kind to help carry in a short distant and now I want to return the favor to someone else some day.

Bohuntg
 

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