Zone C-4

[buckbuster64]

Anybody hunting around Chester area?(archery)how was the hunting?Is there many bucks this year?

 

[cahuntr]

I have 3 friends that hunted up there opening week and they killed two bucks and a bear. The two bucks were a forked horn and a three pointer.

 

[buckbuster64]

Hey great,hope they left one for me,going up for Rifle season.Do you know about where they hunted?I have hunted all round the Chester area know it preety well.

 

[cahuntr]

They hunted around Prattville(sp). We all used to hunt up there but then everyone started going different ways and they are the last one left out of our group, I still have about 7 tree stands padlocked on to trees that I left up there.

 

[sageadvice]

Hi Guys! i live in Chester, don't hunt archery anymore but keep my finger on the pulse of what's going down outdoorwise here abouts. The word among my buds was that it was a pretty good year for those that knew where to go and how to hunt them. Some real good bucks got away, i know of a dozen guys or so that got theirs. One friend told me last Tues. that he had seen 4 different 4x4's, any of which he would gladly have mounted. Couple days later he killed a 4x3 with a 22" spread.

Usually, most of these deer would be gone, in the game refuge, before the rifle season opener. So far this year it's been pretty mild and the archery pressure is getting lighter every year so there still should be some, not a lot, nice bucks around if we don't get any big snows or severe cold before the opener.

I long for the old days seeing 30-40 bucks a night. Those days are long gone but at least a guy stands a chance at a nice buck.

Cahuntr, hope you guys weren't too close to Prattville. There are pet deer there that the residents care for, feed and give names to. They will eat out of your hand. It would sadden me to hear of guys on this site who target tame/pet deer. Once on the migration trail or out in the back woods...that's another story.

Joey

 

[RACKMASTER]

ya...not fair having watermelon rind in your gut pile!
rm

 

[Model_70_Guy]

I remember the old days around Chester especially if the weather stayed nice when the rifle season opened. All it took was one storm and they high tail it to the refuge. I have been up there twice when that took place. One morning I killed a small 3 point in the Yellowjacket area and the store at Paynes Creek a warden was there and he validated 24 bucks that morning counting mine. That does not happen often. Another year we caught the tail end of the deer moving out of the park and we actually drove in to an huge canyon area that was full of deer
for a day and a half and we had shots at bucks that you would not believe could copme from that area.

Most years we hunted around Chester the deer are long gone come rifle season but if you luck out and hit it right you can be in for a fun hunt. Joey is correct however about the deer population. My Cousin and his buddy have hunted the archery season every year for 20+ years and every year they have seen a decline. Both of them used to tag a buck every opening week and see countless others but that is not the case now.

Jim


"Only Two Things are Infinite" -
The universe and human stupidity and I'm not so certain about the universe.

 

[cahuntr]

Sageadvice, No, we weren't close to Prattville. We were across the highway from it. I just said that because that was the closest landmark I could think of.

 

[sageadvice]

Cahuntr, Fair enough! I've even made more than a few hunts through that area myself. That used to be a major staging area that lots of bucks held up in before moving down. I got turned around leading a group down to Butt lake on the back road, main road was closed, one night, couldn't believe the nice bucks that were on the road in our headlights. That country doesn't look like much but it holds good deer.

To give you guys an idea what i think about the hunting during rifle season around here, i leave and hunt up by Burney and McCloud. Last year, last weekend, i took a 40 mile cruise-road hunt thru some of the best this area has to offer. Never saw 1 single deer. Sad!!

Good luck on your hunt!!
Joey

 

[buckbuster64]

Yea man i remember thoughs days as well,back in the 80's(early) used to see 100 deer a day.We used to hunt Soliders Meadows area(Archery then Rifle)stated going down hill late 80's& is still going.Not because of hunting,but i believe is miss managed & the rule of the Mtn.Lion.If CA. took care of it's deer herds like Colo. does it would still be good hunting like it used to be.We just go anymore to have a good time,realy don't expect to get anything,even though we get a buck about every 3-years

 

[sageadvice]

buckbuster, That Soiders Meadows area is still a decent place to hunt out of. There has been a few outsized dandy's come from there every year.

Not to out do your memories but if you think that there were a lot of deer here in the early 80's, there were, you should have seen the place in the mid 60's to early 70's! It just was not safe to drive over 40 MPH. A drive in the woods was a exercise in counting to 200. The country was just packed w/ deer, all fat and healthy. Now they, F&G Biologists, say that there's no habitat. B.S.!!

Anyway, Good luck!! Joey

 

[buckbuster64]

Thanks Joey,and your right about everthing,thats when you could hunt anywhere in the state.We used to in at (Panther Springs),drop down to (Big Oak Grove)down to (Wild Horse Correll)and hunt Mill Creek Canyon in Nov.Thoughs were the days.And thanks for the heads up on Soliders may have to go out there and try it again.Coming your way from Marysville Sept.17th,be going up to Rice Creek& High Bridge area............Rick

 

[sageadvice]

Thanks Guys! One good thing for anybody heading this way for the opener, because the deer numbers have tailed off these last 10 years or so to a point that getting a buck can be very tough, not too many hunters come up here anymore like the old days. There ain't near the road hunters there used to be. That's a good thing!

Another place you guys may want to check out is the road between Mineral and Hiway 44. The road starts just a couple miles West of Mineral, it goes all the way up and over to Hiwy 44, dumps out on any of several branches one of which is near Shingletown. This road skirts the West side of Lassen Park for a good long ways. If we get some early storms, there will be some nice bucks killed near that road by guys sitting on the major trails that come down from the park to winter grounds down below. Just a thought! Good luck to all!!

Joey