What deer unit for my son with 8pts.?

So, my son has gotten a bull elk and nice blacktail when he was a youth.
Then college, job search, marriage etc. He lost interest in hunting but I continued to apply for points for him and now he wants to try it again.
I dont know the best unit for him to see some bucks and a chance at shooting one, size does not matter that much.
I just want him to have a chance to get his heart pounding and maybe get the hunting fever.
Thanks for any help,
Gregg

LAST EDITED ON May-19-15 AT 11:20PM (MST)[p]A chance to hunt with your son and 8 points. I would think that you should aim for a unit that requires only 3 or 4 points so that you can both hunt on these points (and any that you have accumulated) if you apply as a party. I live in N Cal and so I can only speak of the units around here, but whichever unit you select it should be one that you can scout and become familiar with. For me, the excitement lies in knowing that a particular buck is out there and that if I play my cards correctly, I will get a crack at him. In other words, it lies in the anticipation of the hunt. Also, I like to hunt open country simply because the spotting itself is exciting. An anonymous buck stumbling through the woods that gives only seconds to enjoy is less interesting to me... but I am not the one hunting here. With this in mind I would look to any of the X-zones for which I had the points to draw. Honestly, every zone is a good zone--pick one that you can learn during pre-season and which affords enough of the roughest terrain that you can handle so that you will be able to get away from the roads and other hunters if that's your style. Whatever your decision, it sounds like a very good time and I wish you luck.

I hunt enough that I don't need to share his points. I want him to get the best unit that he can with his 8. Most of my knowledge is from archery hunting and that does not always help during rifle season. I am in El Dorado county and he is in San Diego, but I have the time to scout anywhere in the state.

It would take a lot of time to learn this country well, and you are a long way off... Nevertheless, he could draw any X zone except X5-B, and my next two choices would be X2 or X5A. Each produces big deer. I haven't hunted them in years as I am not content to wait this long for a tag, but they are very good places to start if all other considerations are equal.

In the event that you draw, get up here in August and learn the roads. Locate rough canyons and boulder pockets that provide mid-day shade and you may find good bucks. In remote country they may remain undisturbed during archery season and you will find them in the same locations during the rifle hunt. Climb to the peaks and rely on your glass. Do not encroach upon their bedding areas. It may take awhile to locate a good bunch of bucks, but you may be surprised what you will turn up in this seemingly barren country. Barring interruptions by other hunters (always the greatest concern), you will have a very good chance at killing a specific buck if you have found "the one" during pre-season.

Bullskin, +1 good info!

If you were thinking of going X-5a, i can tell you that going back awhile, 3 different years i've had that hunt and enjoyed hunting every day of those seasons until the last weekend when i took bucks that i had passed on earlier. I'd hunt it again in a minute but i don't care to wait that long to draw.

I didn't find near the mature bucks that i thought i would with the effort i put in. It's not a zone that you'll see a whole lot of deer, it's no way a easy hunt, but the country is ideally beautiful to hunt and has good trophy potential.

Though i've hunted a lot of the zone, i just may not yet have found the honeyhole's where the best bucks of that zone live as there's Dandy bucks come outa there every year.

8 points would probably get your Son a tag but with the talk of a zone consolidation in the works for next year, who knows if more guys than usual burn their points this season.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"