C
chowell
Guest
Just got back from the muzzie opener in the central mtns. Our group draws this tag every couple years. We typically hunt the canyons off of skyline drive south up above mammoth lake, potters pond, etc. Each year, we see a handful of mature bucks on the opener, and then it gets quiet as more hunters move in. This year, we saw dozens of deer, but mostly does/fawns, and several first year bucks. This is the first time in about 8 years that we have not seen any mature bucks. Any thoughts on this? We hunted hard the first day as usual and exactly as we have done in the past to be successful. We just did not find them this year. It was very hot and dry so we hunted the dark timber and just didn't kick them up. Has this unit seen it's better days? Has the heat changed their behavior so drastically that we could not even kick them up out of the timber?