2012 G-37 Help

Cumminsfan · Oct 13, 2012

Hi Guys,

After 10 years of trying, I was fortunate this year to draw the Anderson Flat Buck Hunt.

I'm 44 years old and an avid hunter. I realize that I won't have this wonderful opportunity to hunt trophy Mule deer in California again for many years.

I also recognize that this hunt is extremely weather dependent and I plan on hunting the entire season to increase my chance of success.

Any advice regarding good camping areas or general information about this hunt would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Ed

canyoncrosser · Oct 15, 2012

I have never had the tag, nor am I very familiar with the unit, but use the search on this site. I have read some good info before on this unit here.

nickman · Oct 15, 2012

Thought maybe some of the more local guys would have chimed in.

This is a great hunt, as you said however, it is very weather dependent.

If, as I suspect, we don't get the winter storms we need, you will want to plan your hunt in the East section of the unit to take advantage of the deer migrating out of the park for the rut or the Winter, such as it may be.

Planning on a campsite is also dependent on what the weather does. Since you are planning to hunt the entire period, I would make NO solid plan until I actually had my feet on the ground in the zone, scouted some potential areas and see what the weather has done/will do.

This might mean staying in a motel the wednesday and thursday prior to your hunt and THEN evaluate your base camp using the info you have collected.

"I could eat a bowl of Alphabet Soup and
sh!t a better argument than that!"

Gator · Oct 16, 2012

added note I would book that room now.I would also listen to Nickman he knows that area.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
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Cumminsfan · Oct 16, 2012

Thanks for the info nickman.
I appreciate any and all advice about this hunt.
I'm just praying for snow.....

Ridn9high · Oct 16, 2012

when are the dates of the hunt?
If the snow isn't too bad by the time your hunt comes around and you are still able to get up around the park fence line, shoot me a PM. I know some really good areas up in the crocker ridge area that the deer push through on their migration. But if the snow is deep by then, most will be lower than the Crocker area, and I have never spent time down there. The last year I hunted Cali(2004), I killed my best D-zone buck in Crocker during a snow storm.

Good luck and congrats on a tag of a lifetime!

D6hunter · Oct 17, 2012

i sent you a pm

Cumminsfan · Oct 18, 2012

Thanks for the info Gator.
I'm working on getting a room for the first few days.
Praying for snow....
Take care,
Ed

AntlerJunky · Nov 6, 2012

Sorry I took so long to respond to your question!! I got back from Colorado and Nevada a week ago and been trying to catch up with work ever since. Anyway I have a buddy that drew the archery tag this year and we know the area like the back of our hands. He has hunted there for over 40 years (possibly more) and I have hunted there off and on for my entire hunting career. (when theres weather)! PM your email and keep in touch, I might be able to help you out.
Pay attention to Deer Flat (you can find it on a map!) The deer will congregate here when the weather gets really nasty. Like 2 to 3 ft of snow above crocker. If there is no snow, concentrate on Little Nellie and the Hay stack(if you have hunted there you know where it is) I can explain that later.
The area is riddled with roads and most of the hunting is done that way, but there a few areas you can hike into if you know how to get there. You are basically gonna intercept there migration route! They eventually will cross the road via these routes, so it depends on you how hard you want to hunt! This area pretty much goes against the rule of get away from the roads. I have had the G37 once in 98- only got to hunt 3 days because of college. Had the archery hunt like 4 times. Missed a bruiser on one trip, killed a 145 inch buck on another. Seen a few bucks we could not get on that would give just about any out of state deer a run for thier money!!! (rack wise atleast)(the biggest one was standing right in the middle of the damn road!!!)
Email me and I will send you some Google Pins on Google earth of some places you can look. Hope this helps. Thanks

Cumminsfan · Nov 6, 2012

Thanks for the info AntlerJunky.
I appreciate any help I can get.
I'll send you a PM.

AntlerJunky · Nov 8, 2012

Got your PM, sent you my contact info back. Thanks

D6hunter · Dec 6, 2012

So how did it go? Post up a report.

Cumminsfan · Dec 6, 2012

The 2012 Anderson Flat Buck Hunt was an amazing experience.

I'd like to begin by thanking all of the members of this forum who took the time to provide me with some advice to make this a successful hunt. I would especially like to recognize AntlerJunky(Dan), who was kind enough to spend a day scouting on Crocker Ridge with me. All of your help was greatly appreciated.

The weather this year just did not cooperate. The first few days were in the 60's and the deer were not moving. The storms that would come later in the week would provide lots of rain and wind but not any snow. My hunting partner Ron and I hunted from sunrise to sunset everyday and covered a ton of area, but saw very few deer. Ron was fortunate to harvest a beautiful 25" 3x3 buck not far from 2S30 and 2S40. I would have to wait for my opportunity to come.

We hiked up to the parkline everyday off of Crocker Ridge and in the end those steep climbs paid off. I missed a tremendous 28+ buck on Wed due to some really bad luck. I left the blind shortly after lunch to check out a different spot and if I would have spent an additional 5 minutes, I would have had a 25 yard broadside shot on a real smoker. Ron thought that the buck was actually going to walk through the ground blind. Oh well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be...That buck will haunt me for a long time.

After 8 days of difficult hunting my luck would improve. I was completely soaked to the bone and was considering heading back
to the truck to warm up.
However at 12:30 things got interesting. 2 does decided to jump the boundary fence 50 yards away from me. They kept looking behind them and I just knew a buck was behind them.
10 minutes later a beautiful 24" 4x4 showed up. I harvested him with a neck shot at 67 yards, and he dropped instantly. Thankfully the 1 hour drag to the truck was mostly downhill.

It was by far the most difficult hunt that I have experienced so far. It was also the most rewarding. Hiking Crocker Ridge everyday was hard.I actually lost 13 lbs. in the 8 days that I hunted G-37. I may not have been fortunate to harvest the 30" Mule deer of my dreams on this hunt, but I harvested my best deer so far and have countless wonderful memories from this trip.

I look forward to hunt Anderson Flat again. Hopefully it won't take another 10 years to draw this great tag.....