Apprentice Hunts

[Hunt4more]

My 15 year old has max points and with this being his last year to apply as a junior, i’m torn between three apprentice hunts for his application. I always thought we would just stay the course for the J12 as hunting mule deer has always been more attractive. But given that max points only will give him a 6-7 percent chance to draw based on last years number, I’m also looking at the Shasta - Trinity and Tehama Wildlife area hunt (rut hunts for blacktails). The TWA hunt is only for 2 days and I’m not sure if it’s even possible to scout and I can’t tell the exact boundaries for the Shasta Trinity hunt but it looks like it would be NF land west of Redding. The odds for the latter two hunts are much better but still only about 20-25 percent.

Has anyone been on these hunts and would be willing to share some experience, comments etc plus or minus to help me with this decision?

 

[NE-ELKHTR]

My 15 year old has max points and with this being his last year to apply as a junior, i’m torn between three apprentice hunts for his application. I always thought we would just stay the course for the J12 as hunting mule deer has always been more attractive. But given that max points only will give him a 6-7 percent chance to draw based on last years number, I’m also looking at the Shasta - Trinity and Tehama Wildlife area hunt (rut hunts for blacktails). The TWA hunt is only for 2 days and I’m not sure if it’s even possible to hunt and I can’t tell the exact boundaries for the Shasta Trinity hunt but it looks like it would be NF land west of Redding. The odds for the latter two hunts are much better but still only about 20-25 percent.

Has anyone been on these hunts and would be willing to share some experience, comments etc plus or minus to help me with this decision?

I know this does not apply to your question but are applying him for any of the elk hunts?

 

[Hunt4more]

I have been applying him for the adult elk hunts like NE archery.

 

[Mooretitan]

Have they killed a deer yet, what type of hunt are they looking to have. What part of the state do you live in.
My kids have have tried for J12 and never got they tag in the mean time that have each killed deer in other units so waiting on j12 was not hard. Now if they have not killed a deer I would but in for the best tag they could draw and hunt that unit and not worry about J12

 

[Hunt4more]

He's killed a couple blacktail and one mule deer in Nevada. We live in Mendocino County.

 

[HuntnProf]

Tehama in a second! Those are not Blacktail, ,they are mule/Bt hybrid. The deer in west part of Lassen Park winter in TWA. I’ve seen some great deer come out in youth hunts, as well as G1. G1 is super weather dependent, while in Nov, they are setting up shop to winter (and rutting).

And yes, you can access, but not in fall. Summer scouting would be really to get lay of the land, as there are just resident small deer there prior to Nov. Roads are pretty crappy.

 

[NE-ELKHTR]

I have been applying him for the adult elk hunts like NE archery.

Just curious as to why you have not been appling him to the junior elk hunts, ie the the NE apprentice hunt?

 

[pacer1975]

My son killed a nice buck on the j10, fhl base.

 

[270Hunter]

J12 is a great hunt but just really tough odds to draw. I had the J3 tag when the junior age was 17, so the year was 2016 and yes you are allowed to scout the Tehama Wildlife Area beforehand. My dad and I scouted the area for three days before season and we saw one shooter buck each day of scouting and both hunting days but I was unable to get on them. When I say shooter bucks on the Tehama we were looking at low to mid 20s 3 and 4 points. However it’s only a two day season which really sucks, because like the year I had it the first day for about the first half of the day it was so foggy you couldn’t see more than 100 yards. Now the J4 hunt is the one I would recommend, you get to hunt west of Redding around Trinity Lake and Lewiston lake and in the French gulch area and by the end of November, which is when that hunt is a lot of the deer from the Trinity Alps have migrated down around to the Trinity lake area. I’ve spent a lot of time in that portion of the zone when that hunt was happening and I’ve seen some really nice bucks. They become a lot more active. The does really start to concentrate on acorns that time of year and they’re easy to find, and the bucks are generally right there with them.

 

[Hunt4more]

J12 is a great hunt but just really tough odds to draw. I had the J3 tag when the junior age was 17, so the year was 2016 and yes you are allowed to scout the Tehama Wildlife Area beforehand. My dad and I scouted the area for three days before season and we saw one shooter buck each day of scouting and both hunting days but I was unable to get on them. When I say shooter bucks on the Tehama we were looking at low to mid 20s 3 and 4 points. However it’s only a two day season which really sucks, because like the year I had it the first day for about the first half of the day it was so foggy you couldn’t see more than 100 yards. Now the J4 hunt is the one I would recommend, you get to hunt west of Redding around Trinity Lake and Lewiston lake and in the French gulch area and by the end of November, which is when that hunt is a lot of the deer from the Trinity Alps have migrated down around to the Trinity lake area. I’ve spent a lot of time in that portion of the zone when that hunt was happening and I’ve seen some really nice bucks. They become a lot more active. The does really start to concentrate on acorns that time of year and they’re easy to find, and the bucks are generally right there with them.

Great summary

 

[Hunt4more]

Just curious as to why you have not been appling him to the junior elk hunts, ie the the NE apprentice hunt?

no reason except I wasnt aware of it. Good thing I got a couple more boys almost of age. Thanks

 

[hntnfool]

The J4 hunt is awesome, my two sons hunted it 5 years ago ( it might have changed some) probably the best chance to kill a giant true blacktail without paying for it! If your son applies and draws, I’ll provide as much help as I can.

 

[Woke710]

My 15 year old has max points and with this being his last year to apply as a junior, i’m torn between three apprentice hunts for his application. I always thought we would just stay the course for the J12 as hunting mule deer has always been more attractive. But given that max points only will give him a 6-7 percent chance to draw based on last years number, I’m also looking at the Shasta - Trinity and Tehama Wildlife area hunt (rut hunts for blacktails). The TWA hunt is only for 2 days and I’m not sure if it’s even possible to scout and I can’t tell the exact boundaries for the Shasta Trinity hunt but it looks like it would be NF land west of Redding. The odds for the latter two hunts are much better but still only about 20-25 percent.

Has anyone been on these hunts and would be willing to share some experience, comments etc plus or minus to help me with this decision?

For my mule deer around LASSEN area is definitely my x zones and can spend some points depending if you do late season bass hill

 

[Teemo896]

The J4 hunt is awesome, my two sons hunted it 5 years ago ( it might have changed some) probably the best chance to kill a giant true blacktail without paying for it! If your son applies and draws, I’ll provide as much help as I can.

My 15 yr old daughter drew it this year. I’ve been up scouting twice now. Won’t mean much until the rut, but helps to get the lay of the land. Any tips on areas to concentrate? I’ll go back up Nov 11&12 to try and narrow down an area