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Pretty sure A zone is bigger than most of the US states i am not too worried about it. But now you have me wondering if there is some super secret magical zone in CA with huge bucks that I don’t know about?!

Absolutely. There are places where you just cannot go because if you killed a deer in there, you might die packing it out. One such place we hunted as dumb college students. About 9 miles in and the trialhead was about 2000ft higher than where you hunt... uphill pack out. Backpack hunt with...

All it takes is a few days on any of these units and a guy will wonder why he took up deer hunting in the first place. I am not too worried about it they sell something like 10,000 tags in my home unit. The more the merrier I guess.

I choose to kill what I want. Sometimes I pass nice bucks looking for a giant, sometimes I am happy with a small or young buck. I am under no illusion that passing a deer will do anything for populations that are down. If anything I might pass a buck that I personally will look for the next...

It may be a conditional plea? If he goes hunting during that timeframe the judge can then throw the book at him. Kind of like probation.

There are some crusty, old bucks in the d zones. Pretty darn good age class on the winter range most years. Super long season with a nice early opener some bucks still in velvet.. I keep saying if I put as much effort into my local D zone as I do into my out of state hunts…or maybe held off on...

Eh, if you are practiced and really know your equipment it does not take very long to get off an accurate shot. A lot of guys are messing with rangefinder settings, wind meters, dope charts, bipod settings, scopes they don’t use often enough, wiggling around, etc. when you actually practice how...

I think I’d do a 3rd season hunt and learn the country with plans to come back in a couple years with a second season tag..but the OP is not a mule deer nut so maybe that’s not in the cards

I had a very similar, 58 yard shot on a solid buck in Wyoming. The shot felt perfect and I thought he was unaware. By the time the arrow reached him, he was on his feet and it stuck into the dirt in his bed. My wife had been watching from across the canyon and says the rest of the bachelor herd...

Looks like a pretty similar trend as Utah. I wonder what could cause that kind of correlation across two states with very different management?? Weather perhaps?

Yep we are due west of independence. On our side of the mountains it’s fairly wet and green, although after our years of drought I think my perspective is skewed..

Hard to draw conclusions..in Fresno county we’re somewhere between 80-90% of normal rainfall. This is on the heels of obviously a great water year last year, so theoretically soil moisture should be good. Up on the Sierra crest we had so much snow last year…in September the forage looked more...

Coyotes hunting is probably the best way to get proficient at making the shot opportunity count on big game. Small target moving a lot doesn’t give much time for screwing around behind the gun. And learning to deal with buck fever… coyote running in on your setup will get the heart pounding quick!

Go hunt and enjoy it. Mule deer populations are down, but they are cyclical. Shooting a buck will not affect population growth.

248k hunters in 1988! And we complain now about hunter crowding.

If it’s in 242 and you can get a deer tag…sell it and go buy just about any elk hunt you want with some cash left over 😂

I’d like to think what they call “climate change” is just prolonged drought that will correct itself..but no denying the lack of feed is wrecking havoc on your herds and mine to the south of you. Sounds like Oregon is ready to admit they have a problem..wish I could say the same about my state.

I cleaned up my language too..but I can take it and don’t mind a heated debate one bit!

Yes, it could be totally destroyed. The antis would love to take it away from you and your granddaughter. That’s the most realistic way it’ll be destroyed. The elk are not going anywhere. And while we’re arguing about crap that doesn’t matter (tag cuts, buck:doe, age class structure), we should...

how about honesty, and a realistic outlook! Realistically we are in a valley. I believe there are some peaks yet to come. During the peaks we can have plenty of opportunity AND some great animals out there to hunt. Heck, I am having great hunts every year on crappy tags where herds are not doing...

If guys could just be HONEST about what they want.. I get it. Average bucks and bulls don’t get you excited anymore. You want to be wowed. You’ve seen and killed some giants in the past and want another one. That’s totally fine, but be honest about it. You want quality over opportunity. And...

Serious question—do your grandkids care about the size of the antlers? Are they going to turn there nose up at a 300” bull?

I’ll agree that the DWR is trying to do the right thing, Utah at least has that going for them. I don’t know of another state doing as much research and trying to understand mule deer like Utah is. I don’t think the biologists give a crap about the money but obviously more players are involved...

You can choose to identify as one of the washed out if you want but it wasn’t explicitly directed towards you Elkass! If the herds disappear despite good, biology based management then at least we did our best to prevent it. If the herds disappear because we have too many bar stool biologists...

We ALL want our kids to hunt and the herds to be healthy. I’d prefer my kid to actually have a tag, even if it’s a glorified forky hunt, rather than sit on the sidelines so the washed out old farts who have selective memory about the glory days can ride around trying to recreate something that...

I don’t know anything about that Columbia basin, is there ag that’s providing some extra food and water? I just know in the desert times are tough but hopefully will improve with this weather and the drought breaking. And what is the benefit of age structure in herd health? Obviously we hunters...

How is that any different than in the 60s? How many guys were actually trophy hunting vs shooting a forked horn or a doe? half of those forkies are not going to survive the first year of life anyways.

High Buck:doe is correlated with low DOE fat..leads to smaller fawns which are less likely to survive. Nobody is saying the bucks are killing fawns.

Nope, it’s because of drought. If you listen to the biologists you might learn something. Eastern Oregon had something like 30% fewer days of green feed in recent history…which means skinny does, skinny fawns, and less survival. yearling bucks have something like 50% mortality, not just hunting...

Great podcast, I enjoy hearing from the experts…the same old BS on this site can get pretty stale. For those too stubborn to listen… The connection between high buck:doe ratios and decreased productivity (ie fawns recruited into the population) comes down to skinnier does. The biologists are...

On my last hunt in colorado 2nd season we were into deer from 10,500 down to the winter range. They were fairly spread out. We got a bit of a cold snap and snow (not a ton, maybe 12-18” up high and about 4-6”at 8000). It made for great hunting for a few days with bucks sniffing does and out...

Wish they would have just made it illegal to sell sheds. Maybe the only thing CA has done right..

I still can’t believe I got that tag in 2022. Looking at the odds for being one of the few lucky NR…sheesh. It is nice that Nevada is slow to increase tags. I don’t blame Utah for increasing opportunity, on the other hand. Young bucks have a high mortality even without hunters in the...

Long wait for a forkie! Although I’m sure there’s some good bucks around..7-8 points sounds like a longgg time to wait for that. Crazy what things have come to. Although in your neck of the woods 7-8 points doesn’t mean a darn thing for nonresidents 😂

Well if you like forked horns I’m sure they will be on offer with great production last spring and probably this one too

😳 there’s gonna be some gnashing of teeth with those deer permit recommendations

I’d echo the advice to learn from a mentor. I’ve taught several people to reload and helped them find good equipment, I’m guessing they will be happy to help. The kits are fine but you end up with quite a few things you don’t need. Plus I prefer vintage/older tools and equipment. Feel free to...

I think you end up spending more, and shooting more. Not including the equipment, I spend $1-1.20 per round with premium components for creedmoor sized stuff. Closer to $1.50 for magnums. I do load for my .223 with the cheapest stuff possible at .34 each but still make great ammo that I practice...

I decided on 67, more than enough points for either but doing some e scouting and talking to a few helpful members here..67 fits my style a little better. On paper 66 looks better but success rate is decent for each, feel like I can’t go wrong. Plus I will be hunting with my buddy more this way 👍🏻

So many interesting facts in there. Too bad a bunch of the naysayers don’t trust the biologists…fake herd counts, money grabbing DWR, and other conspiracies are easier to believe than low buck:doe ratios actually being GOOD for herd growth..