When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

eelgrass · Jul 5, 2008

I took my annual 4th 0f July drive over to Trinity Co. yesterday. It's pretty smokey over there. This is from on top of Southfork Mtn. looking toward Hyampom and Hayfork. I stayed up high!

I think smoke will be in the equation from archery season clear into rifle season. Probably until Fall rains come.

The good news is there will be lots of good hunting in a couple years as this old burn shows.

BigMass · Jul 5, 2008

I'm heading to Hayfork the 18th of July for a motorcycle run. How close are the fires to Hayfork? I was planning on taking 299 across.
BigMass

Deadred7o7 · Jul 5, 2008

Did you get one chained to a tree for the bow opener?

Kyle
"If it moves shoot it again"

sageadvice · Jul 5, 2008

Eel, heck, from the look of your nice pictures, you guys got it pretty good over there. The smoke over here in Chester is bad, about as bad as i've seen it. Visibility looks to only be about a mile, if that, bad enough that you can always smell the smoke and it's dark, feels like evening all day long. I'd swear that a huge fire is right outa town, don't think so, maybe comming from over your way.

Joey

RACKMASTER · Jul 5, 2008

tell me all about it.........
my truck still smells of smoke!
rm

eelgrass · Jul 6, 2008

BigMass, I'm not sure where the fires are, there are so many of them. One of the bigger ones is just west of Hayfork. I think how bad the smoke will be depends on the wind direction and velosity. Plus the firefighters are making some progress and things should look better as time goes on.

Kyle, I saw one REALLY good buck, but he's too close to the road. I'm sure others have their eyes on him too.

Eel

RACKMASTER · Jul 6, 2008

http://165.221.39.44/state/5/

http://www.fire.ca.gov/index_incidents.php

heres a few links...
heat wave on the way Tuesday!
bet them slugs become nocturnal!
rm

Model_70_Guy · Jul 6, 2008

I hunted on a ranch out of Hayfork a about 9 years ago.. or I should say went on a deer shoot.. wasn't something you could call hunting.. just pick out the biggest two point you could find and fill your tag. Went with a guy from work and never went back. Live and learn...

eelgrass · Jul 6, 2008

RACK, thanks for those links! The smoke you see in my photo is mainly comming from the Lime Complex fire I believe. Although I talked to a firefighter who was fighting another fire across the river from the Lime fire. So who knows?

Jim, sorry about your experience at Hayfork. It sounds like they need a better management policy. Hayfork has all the right stuff for really great bucks.

Eel

CABugle · Jul 6, 2008

Smoke or no smoke I'm ready to fill my A and B tags!

CABugle

Model_70_Guy · Jul 6, 2008

>
>Jim, sorry about your experience at
>Hayfork. It sounds like they
>need a better management policy.
>Hayfork has all the right
>stuff for really great bucks.
>
>
>Eel

Steve,

It just wasn't what I expected. I understand the reason the rancher hunts his place the way he does as it is a good source of income. It's just to bad that some of the deer don't get a chance to mature... and for someone that either can't get around or does not have the time it was a good place to hang a tag on a buck. It's funny I had forgotten about Hayfork until I read your post.

Jim

Califelkslayer · Jul 7, 2008

Sage, I was at Almanor Sat the 5th, kicking some butt in a horseshoe tournament. Smokey is an understatement. Couldn't see boats 500 yards out on the lake. Hope it's cleared up. The Honey Lake valley was beautiful the last 2 days.

By the way, I've been in the Moonlight fire enough times to cut 11 cords of wood. Neat habitat!! Fire burned the underbrush in some areas, killed trees in others but no burnt wood and other places the trees are severly charred and no new vegetation growing yet. There are gonna be islands of cover everywhere. Easiest wood I've ever cut.

sageadvice · Jul 7, 2008

Califelkslayer, Yeah, been real nasty outside around here past couple weeks. Didn't seem so bad today. Next time, or one of these times you're over this way give me a heads up. I'd like to meet you, buy you a soda, we could talk huntin and fishing.

Congrats on the easy firewood. The lodgepole, what most of us burn, around here is getting tough to find and expensive, gas, to get in.

Thanks for the report from the fire. I'm seriously thinking of putting in for that area next year. I'll have 3 points, might be enough, i know my way around that zone some, it bumps up to the East Shore of Almanor, and have seen a few nice ones when out and about.

We need some rain. No lightning, just rain.

Joey

sageadvice · Jul 7, 2008

Hey guys, speaking of smoke getting in your eyes. I could hardly believe what i was seeing today at the filling station. GAS CAME DOWN $.10 That's right, Gas came down a dime a Gallon. Been awhile since i seen that, thought it was the smoke bluring my vision, now $4.79 gal f/reg.

Joey

Deadred7o7 · Jul 8, 2008

Yeah it was down $4 on wallstreet today I think it droped $5 yesteday that would = $00.10 a gal. LOL

Kyle
"If it moves shoot it again"

Blacktailslayer · Jul 11, 2008

I drove 299 on July 3rd and there were fires and smoke around junction city that were burning right off the edge of the road and the smoke was pretty darn thick, but only for a little ways. Then it would clear up for a bit, and then you hit another patch of smoke. Watch for rocks and tree limbs in the road though.

Ryan

Califelkslayer · Jul 12, 2008

Sage, The X6A herd is a fraction of what it used to be. Haven't spent much time on your side of the unit except when working for CDF out of Westwood in 78/79. The Dyer Mtn burn was new back then and saw lots of bucks in it.

I did hunt with my daughter on the migration trail across 36 bout 8 years ago but we were too late and missed most of it.

I applied for that unit this year with the intention of huntin behind our dump. Split my 3 points with girlfriend and didn't draw.

sageadvice · Jul 12, 2008

Elkslayer, Thanks for the post. I been up top above Greenville a couple times going fishing in those high lakes up there and have seen some pretty good looking deer country. That big fire can only make it better. A warden that i talked to a couple years ago told me that there was a major lion problem in that area. He said that they had already taken 50 cats from that area alone. Take that for what you paid for it but that sounds like a lot of mt. lions from one area, even big as it is.

A taxidermist, Rick S. had a shop in Taylorsville when i moved to this country in '83-84, as usual some huge heads and racks on the walls. Most of them, he told me, came from that area, while he was looking back over toward you. I don't know, i guess i'm kinda down on Kali muley hunting, Kali deer hunting in general. It's close, there's always a chance... that's what keeps me going i guess.

Report; there was 5 huge crane type helicopters at the Chester Air Tanker base this morning. These are big birds for sure. They were comming and going, fighting fire someplace close!

Joey