LASSEN P1 ANTELOPE

manzanamangler · Jul 25, 2012

I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM THE DFG. THEY AWARDED ME A LEFTOVER ANTELOPE TAG FOR THE FIRST PERIOD IN THE LASSEN ZONE. THIS IS MY YEAR FOR LUCK. WITH DRAWING A BULL TAG I WON'T HAVE TIME TO SCOUT BEFORE THE HUNT. I HAVE ONLY DRIVEN TROUGH THIS ZONE ONCE. I HAVE A MAP OF THE ZONE. I WILL BE SHOWING UP A DAY BEFORE THE OPENER. WHAT PART OF THE ZONE SHOULD I START LOOKING IN? ANY INFO WILL BE APPRECIATED.

THANKS

downhill · Jul 25, 2012

Go on the DFG site or wait for the DFG to send you the tag and it will have a flier with it telling you where the biggest concentrations of antelope are. Go to those spots and check them out, there are lopes in all of them and some good ones too. My son drew a second season tag this year so I will be going along with him also. It's a fun hunt and if you work at it and choose wisely there are some big ones out there. I know I'll only get one scouting trip in, probably the last weekend of the first season but that will have to do as scouting ealry will not always hold true from first to second season. Pick out one of the areas it tells you about such as Shinn Ranch, Painter Flat Madeline Plains etc and get there the day before and scout it out. Those are just general areas and there are lopes in lots of out of the way places too. With that said, if I was you and had the first season I would make a couple of trips up to find a big one with as hard as this tag is to get. Good luck

chasendeer · Jul 26, 2012

What number were you on the list. I have a friend that was 4 on it.
Thanks
Jay

knthartter · Jul 26, 2012

My Wife had period 2 4 years ago it was a great hunt, PM me and I will give ya what I have on the area.

Kevin

manzanamangler · Jul 26, 2012

Califelkslayer · Jul 26, 2012

If you want a taxidermy bill, come up here and scout it for 2-3 days in mid-August. It's a really good tag. PM me your number after you get a BLM map and I'll direct you to some areas where you'll see goats.

manzanamangler · Jul 26, 2012

I will have the eagle lake and susanville blm maps early next week. After opener do they scatter or do all of the good bucks just get shot?

sageadvice · Jul 26, 2012

manzanamangler asked, "do they scatter..."

I have not hunted that zone myself but live nearby and do have lots of buds who have. It's about as sure a thing as Calif offers as long as you are not needing to kill a Record Book buck. There are lots of lopes, most groups will have decent bucks and a lot of the groups you may come across will have really nice ones.

One friend has taken two smoker bucks thru the years buy hunting very isolated water holes close to the Nevada border. Those few lopes in there hardly ever got hunted but there were monsters to be had, they were off the map of good places, and he worked hard to get them.

Depends on what you want. You probably can go take a nice respectable antelope in the first few days, few hours maybe, or you can go, work your tail off humping the country, learn the odd places that hold a few lopes but maybe a smoker among them. Then too, sometimes a guy right off the hi-way can drive up to a Book lope and dump him in the first 10 minutes of the hunt but don't bank on that. It's a great hunt, enjoy it!

Joey

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

manzanamangler · Jul 26, 2012

Okay, perfect, just the info I needed. Thank You guys for all of the help, I really appreciate it.

CAelknuts · Jul 29, 2012

LAST EDITED ON Jul-29-12 AT 04:24PM (MST)[p]You have what I consider to be one of the best antelope tags around, anywhere. I've hunted up there a fair bit over the years, and it is an outstanding trophy antelope unit. I've seen some giant bucks up there in past years. If you can get your hands on a copy of the June 2010 Huntin Fool, you'll be able to read an article I wrote about my son's 2009 pronghorn hunt in that unit. That other buck in my son's article was 16 1/2" and scored 85 3/8 net B&C. My son's buck was a freak that was 15 1/2" and who's horns went out over his nose, very cool looking buck. He very nearly killed that B&C buck, but sometimes dumb luck goes against you.

I have a buddy archery hunting that unit next week, going to be interesting to see what he comes up with. I'll probably be up there next weekend, scouting for him, while he hunts a certain waterhole that I expect he'll kill a great buck at.

If you need some help, feel free to contact me.

Califelkslayer · Jul 29, 2012

To answer the question, "Do they scatter or do they just get killed?"

Every year there are a few great bucks killed during the second season. I know guys that have hunted their 1st and/or 2nd bucks and turned others on to their 3rd or 4th buck after the 1st season and the guy that got the info, killed a dandy buck during the second season. SO in some pockets they never even get disturbed during the first season. But as a rule, if you can find them pre-season, and he's a book quality buck, someone else has seen him too.

But a good, heavy. long pronged 15" buck is very do-able if you scout.

NickW · Jul 30, 2012

East of Ravendale, up against the Nev. border. As said before Painters Flat, north to Dunn Reservoir.

manzanamangler · Aug 14, 2012

Any word on the Rush fire and how it might affect the Antelope hunt?

NickW · Aug 15, 2012

Not looking good!
See 6x7"s thread on x5b burning!

Califelkslayer · Aug 15, 2012

95,000 acres this AM. Will probably concentrate the animals. The west side of 395 hasn't burned (yet). So some will move over to that side.

CAelknuts · Aug 16, 2012

I didn't realize anyone else had started a thread on the rush creek fire. 95,000 acres may be the official acreage count, but a buddy of mine who works around the fire service just told me its a hell of a lot bigger than that. It's gonna affect the pronghorn hunters quite a bit, at least those who hunt east of 395. Still a lot of good pronghorn country, and some excellent bucks, west of 395.