OK, I am back from the Klamath Bull hunt. While I did get a bull it was not at all what I envisioned when I spent several preference points on the hunt. The hunt area is also not at all like what is described by Fish and Game....more on that later. Some quick history on me, I have hunted since I was old enough to do so. I have killed numerous blacktail deer in California and have killed Elk in Colorado. I have hunted in Wyoming, Colorado and other states for both elk and deer. I am not new to hunting, though I do not consider myself some master huntsment either.
I shot my bull opening morning from about 400 yards away. We ended up having to pack it out on our backs after boning it out because it died in a steep narrow canyon choked with timber/brush. It was the second huntable and final bull I saw during the hunt and also the second biggest. The herd bull which was a nice 7x7 was dead by 0715 opening morning, he was a good respectable bull and would be considered a trophy by anybody, but is less of a bull than this hunt has produced in the past (several B+C bulls). I decided to shoot my bull after considering the hunting conditions and judging by how everyone else was doing this evening when I left, I made a good decision. My main issue with this hunt was the lack of information available from everyone involved, F+G, the timber company, previous hunters, you name it. It seems everyone wants to treat this hunt like it is a big secret when most people will only draw it once in a lifetime if the numbers stay like they are. Don't get me wrong, I did get some information mostly from this web site. I talked with an analyst from F+G who was very helpful, and his information was good. I was provided with the historical kill maps for this zone by the analyst which do who you exactly where all the elk are killed, and that is the in small area I mention. There is a lot more that could be told about this hunt, here is the low down so other people down the road know what they are getting in to. I only say this because I suspect most people will have the same reaction myself and several other serious hunters who were there did when we realized what we had blown our precious preference points on. I lived and learned, but maybe I can help someone else from learning the same way I did, I suspect the success rate for this hunt will fall steadily over the next few years as will the quality of the bulls harvested if hunting conditions remain the same.
First of all let me start by saying I considered most the premium elk hunts in California a chance to get a trophy bull. The Klamath bull hunt has produced great bulls in the past, and still may produce one or two in the future to those few who are extremely lucky not only in the draw but by being in the exact right place at the exact right time. Hunting has very little to do with this hunt, here is why. Although the zone is huge, 90% of it is devoid of elk. Why? Two reasons, one it is so heavily forested and brushy that elk are forced to graze in the only good habitat on the hunt. Two the hunt is sourrounded by Indian reservations (Hoopah one side and Klamath the other) and State Parks. The Indians can and do shoot any elk that venture within hunting range of their reservations. We were told during orientation explicitly NOT to hunt the Klamath River Side of the hunt or down towards Hoopah as there were NO living elk on that side of the zone. We were also told of a cow and a calf which tried to swim the Klamath River the week before the hunt started and were dead before they reached the other side, shot by the Indians. There was an area way up north by Pelican Bay State Prison which used to hold elk and produced some very nice bulls in 1999-2002 but as a timber worker put it to me, " you are farting in the wind if you are hunting up there, the elk haven't been there in years". He seems to be correct as folks who hunted up there reported seeing nothing but brush.
The very south part of the hunt zone near Williams Ridge Road off of Bald hills Road is the only area of the hunt where there are large numbers of elk. The terrain hers is grassy with timer patches, perfect for elk. The only problem is the entire area west of Bald Hills Road is a state park and made up of the same terrain, so basically you are hunting the park elk, you just have to wait for them to come off the park as you cannot hunt, or even carry a gun onto state park grounds. You are not allowed to scout prior to the hunt, the timer land is tightly controlled, there is a loop hole which I will mention later. You can only scout the evening before the hunt, so you get about 5-6 hours of scouting which I thought was odd until I saw what the hunt involved. Basically there is one drainage or basin whatever you want to call it with 3-4 grassy ridges running down into it, this is where the elk are. This was the only place we saw any number of elk that were huntable. This area can be scouted in about an hour. We saw a few good bulls in the park nearly every day but they don't leave or at least they did not when we were there. During the scouting session everyone saw these elk, they do not hide, they are right out in the open grazing. There were probably around 60-70 elk in this herd that I could see. There were numerous "rag horn" bulls and only one good bull. Come opening morning there were at least 40-50 people hunting this one heard because you have 10 bull tags and 10 cow tags along with 2 hunter helpers per tag and a few guides thrown in. Everyone is hunting the same area, if you paid a guide you wasted your money. By 0700 this heard was sourounded, by 0715 the heard bull was dead as were a couple of cows. From that point on it is anyone's ball game as the elk are in the timber looking for a way off those ridges and back into the park. Luck is the only thing that decides success from that point on in my opinion. Hunting hard or smart has very little to do with it. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to get a "bail out bull". Today when I left with nearly half the hunt over, the only animals in the freezer at the mill were the animals killed opening morning, this included the two bulls (including mine) and one cow. Nobody else had heard of any other elk being killed, and because everyone hunts the same area and stores their meat at the locker, if someone gets an elk generally everyone knows about it. Some more hunters may get lucky but I would be surprised. Today, the morning hunt consisted of about 4-5 guys including some guides trying to call a nice 8x7 bull out of the park. You see this bull every day when you drive to the hunting area, he is a beauty but he did not get that way by wandering onto the timber lands. I will be shocked if anyone gets him.
Hunting around so many people is not my cup of tea, if I would have known that 90% of that zone is devoid of Elk I would have never put in. I was told by some folks in Klamath that the hunt has steadily declined with the slow down in logging which I tend to believe. The slow down in logging means fewer cut blocks on the timber land to grow feed for elk. The cut blocks also provide the added benefit of being able to see the elk because if any of you have seen the coastal region hills, the vegetation and timber is so thick you could hide a car lot three feet of the road and nobody would ever know it was there. I was told the Del Norte hunt is now the hunt to get for Roosevelt elk but I know little about that hunt so take that with a grain of salt.
If you go on this hunt you can camp at the mill site or nearby in the Klamath Camper Corral RV park which is just down the road. We scouted the RV parks and that was by far the nicest one, don't bother with Kamp Klamath or Cat's they are both very shady and full of some questionable looking folks who may steal all your gear while you are out hunting. Klamath Camper Corral is very nice and clean and family oriented. By FAR the best part of the hunt was how accomodating the Green Diamond Timber Company was to the hunters. They tell you where the elk are, they give you detailed maps with all the entry points to their property clearly marked. They warn you about the many legal dangers of hunting near a state park, and provide you with keys to their gates. On top of that they will do almost anything in their power to help you get your elk out with a quad if it will not tear up their land. Quads cannot be used during the hunt but once you have an elk down you can call for permission to use one. The absolute shocker for me was the timber company even provides a huge walk in cooler for you to store your meat once you get an animal. They provide you a key for the cooler and pallets to put the meat on along with a pallet lift to move it around. The cooler is very nice, not some shoddy beer cooler we are talking a thermostatically controlled cooler you can drive a truck into. I was blown away by Green Diamond and their attitudes towards the hunters. They were very helpful and supportive of sportsman which you just don't see anymore. Green Diamond should be commended for their efforts in providing this hunt. The fact that the hunt has declined in my opinion is not their faults, environmental laws have slowed logging to a craw, vandalism and the Elf people don't help either.
Finally some hints for those who still want to put in. You can archery hunt for bear on Green Diamond lands with permission. This is how the guides all got in ahead of time to scout for elk, they were there under the auspices of archery bear hunting. From what I saw, you don't need a guide (incidentally I don't think any of the guided clients had killed bulls when I left). You will all be hunting the same elk, in the same area, a guide may help if you are new to elk hunting as far as calling and methods but that is it from what I saw. Overall I had fun hunting with family members and did get a bull so I am not eating $350.00 tag soup, but for those looking to spend their preference points wisely I would stay away. Too little huntable land, too many people. A suggestion to improve the hunt would be to not have the bull and cow hunters out there at the same time.
[attachment=44702:kbull__Large_.jpg]
I shot my bull opening morning from about 400 yards away. We ended up having to pack it out on our backs after boning it out because it died in a steep narrow canyon choked with timber/brush. It was the second huntable and final bull I saw during the hunt and also the second biggest. The herd bull which was a nice 7x7 was dead by 0715 opening morning, he was a good respectable bull and would be considered a trophy by anybody, but is less of a bull than this hunt has produced in the past (several B+C bulls). I decided to shoot my bull after considering the hunting conditions and judging by how everyone else was doing this evening when I left, I made a good decision. My main issue with this hunt was the lack of information available from everyone involved, F+G, the timber company, previous hunters, you name it. It seems everyone wants to treat this hunt like it is a big secret when most people will only draw it once in a lifetime if the numbers stay like they are. Don't get me wrong, I did get some information mostly from this web site. I talked with an analyst from F+G who was very helpful, and his information was good. I was provided with the historical kill maps for this zone by the analyst which do who you exactly where all the elk are killed, and that is the in small area I mention. There is a lot more that could be told about this hunt, here is the low down so other people down the road know what they are getting in to. I only say this because I suspect most people will have the same reaction myself and several other serious hunters who were there did when we realized what we had blown our precious preference points on. I lived and learned, but maybe I can help someone else from learning the same way I did, I suspect the success rate for this hunt will fall steadily over the next few years as will the quality of the bulls harvested if hunting conditions remain the same.
First of all let me start by saying I considered most the premium elk hunts in California a chance to get a trophy bull. The Klamath bull hunt has produced great bulls in the past, and still may produce one or two in the future to those few who are extremely lucky not only in the draw but by being in the exact right place at the exact right time. Hunting has very little to do with this hunt, here is why. Although the zone is huge, 90% of it is devoid of elk. Why? Two reasons, one it is so heavily forested and brushy that elk are forced to graze in the only good habitat on the hunt. Two the hunt is sourrounded by Indian reservations (Hoopah one side and Klamath the other) and State Parks. The Indians can and do shoot any elk that venture within hunting range of their reservations. We were told during orientation explicitly NOT to hunt the Klamath River Side of the hunt or down towards Hoopah as there were NO living elk on that side of the zone. We were also told of a cow and a calf which tried to swim the Klamath River the week before the hunt started and were dead before they reached the other side, shot by the Indians. There was an area way up north by Pelican Bay State Prison which used to hold elk and produced some very nice bulls in 1999-2002 but as a timber worker put it to me, " you are farting in the wind if you are hunting up there, the elk haven't been there in years". He seems to be correct as folks who hunted up there reported seeing nothing but brush.
The very south part of the hunt zone near Williams Ridge Road off of Bald hills Road is the only area of the hunt where there are large numbers of elk. The terrain hers is grassy with timer patches, perfect for elk. The only problem is the entire area west of Bald Hills Road is a state park and made up of the same terrain, so basically you are hunting the park elk, you just have to wait for them to come off the park as you cannot hunt, or even carry a gun onto state park grounds. You are not allowed to scout prior to the hunt, the timer land is tightly controlled, there is a loop hole which I will mention later. You can only scout the evening before the hunt, so you get about 5-6 hours of scouting which I thought was odd until I saw what the hunt involved. Basically there is one drainage or basin whatever you want to call it with 3-4 grassy ridges running down into it, this is where the elk are. This was the only place we saw any number of elk that were huntable. This area can be scouted in about an hour. We saw a few good bulls in the park nearly every day but they don't leave or at least they did not when we were there. During the scouting session everyone saw these elk, they do not hide, they are right out in the open grazing. There were probably around 60-70 elk in this herd that I could see. There were numerous "rag horn" bulls and only one good bull. Come opening morning there were at least 40-50 people hunting this one heard because you have 10 bull tags and 10 cow tags along with 2 hunter helpers per tag and a few guides thrown in. Everyone is hunting the same area, if you paid a guide you wasted your money. By 0700 this heard was sourounded, by 0715 the heard bull was dead as were a couple of cows. From that point on it is anyone's ball game as the elk are in the timber looking for a way off those ridges and back into the park. Luck is the only thing that decides success from that point on in my opinion. Hunting hard or smart has very little to do with it. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to get a "bail out bull". Today when I left with nearly half the hunt over, the only animals in the freezer at the mill were the animals killed opening morning, this included the two bulls (including mine) and one cow. Nobody else had heard of any other elk being killed, and because everyone hunts the same area and stores their meat at the locker, if someone gets an elk generally everyone knows about it. Some more hunters may get lucky but I would be surprised. Today, the morning hunt consisted of about 4-5 guys including some guides trying to call a nice 8x7 bull out of the park. You see this bull every day when you drive to the hunting area, he is a beauty but he did not get that way by wandering onto the timber lands. I will be shocked if anyone gets him.
Hunting around so many people is not my cup of tea, if I would have known that 90% of that zone is devoid of Elk I would have never put in. I was told by some folks in Klamath that the hunt has steadily declined with the slow down in logging which I tend to believe. The slow down in logging means fewer cut blocks on the timber land to grow feed for elk. The cut blocks also provide the added benefit of being able to see the elk because if any of you have seen the coastal region hills, the vegetation and timber is so thick you could hide a car lot three feet of the road and nobody would ever know it was there. I was told the Del Norte hunt is now the hunt to get for Roosevelt elk but I know little about that hunt so take that with a grain of salt.
If you go on this hunt you can camp at the mill site or nearby in the Klamath Camper Corral RV park which is just down the road. We scouted the RV parks and that was by far the nicest one, don't bother with Kamp Klamath or Cat's they are both very shady and full of some questionable looking folks who may steal all your gear while you are out hunting. Klamath Camper Corral is very nice and clean and family oriented. By FAR the best part of the hunt was how accomodating the Green Diamond Timber Company was to the hunters. They tell you where the elk are, they give you detailed maps with all the entry points to their property clearly marked. They warn you about the many legal dangers of hunting near a state park, and provide you with keys to their gates. On top of that they will do almost anything in their power to help you get your elk out with a quad if it will not tear up their land. Quads cannot be used during the hunt but once you have an elk down you can call for permission to use one. The absolute shocker for me was the timber company even provides a huge walk in cooler for you to store your meat once you get an animal. They provide you a key for the cooler and pallets to put the meat on along with a pallet lift to move it around. The cooler is very nice, not some shoddy beer cooler we are talking a thermostatically controlled cooler you can drive a truck into. I was blown away by Green Diamond and their attitudes towards the hunters. They were very helpful and supportive of sportsman which you just don't see anymore. Green Diamond should be commended for their efforts in providing this hunt. The fact that the hunt has declined in my opinion is not their faults, environmental laws have slowed logging to a craw, vandalism and the Elf people don't help either.
Finally some hints for those who still want to put in. You can archery hunt for bear on Green Diamond lands with permission. This is how the guides all got in ahead of time to scout for elk, they were there under the auspices of archery bear hunting. From what I saw, you don't need a guide (incidentally I don't think any of the guided clients had killed bulls when I left). You will all be hunting the same elk, in the same area, a guide may help if you are new to elk hunting as far as calling and methods but that is it from what I saw. Overall I had fun hunting with family members and did get a bull so I am not eating $350.00 tag soup, but for those looking to spend their preference points wisely I would stay away. Too little huntable land, too many people. A suggestion to improve the hunt would be to not have the bull and cow hunters out there at the same time.
[attachment=44702:kbull__Large_.jpg]
