First and foremost, I was not successful. I got up there late Thursday night. Scouted out of Pine Springs campground Friday morning. Friday evening hike a few miles in from Yellowjacket. Spotted lots and lots of fresh sign and 1 doe. I decided I wasn't far enough in from the parking area so Sat morning I decided to hike in 1 mile, then head a different direction hoping to get away from the crowds. Didn't happen. Saw at leaset 15 flashlights before sunrise and 8-10 guys after light came. At least one of them used his binocs instead of his rifle scope to check me out. At least 30 gunshots in a 3 mile radius from the trail. 1 group of 20-30 mexicans in Pine Springs managed to get a 3x2 Sat afternoon.
Sunday morning we decided forget the trails and hike cross country from grade valley. More sign, does, and only 2 hunters seen. Nothing in the morning so we went back to camp for lunch and a nap. Drove around grade valley road a bit to see exactly how many people were out there. Got back to camp early afternoon and had to stop at the campsite of 20-30 mexicans (yep, in 1 campsite lol) cause they had a vehicle blocking the road. Watched 6 of them get out of an extended cab pickup. 4 grab their bush beater sticks out of the back and 2 grab another buck. Small forkie. Yes, I really watched them grab their bush beater sticks. No joke. 6-8 of them brought another small forkie back to camp before we left for our evening hunt on Sun. Great for them. I figure after the 30 of them split the meat since they all had a part in it they'll prolly get 10lbs each. If that...
Oh, I forgot about the navy blue late 80's or early 90's model single cab toyota with a camper shell driving Grade Valley rd near Fishbowls trailhead with a teenage mexican sitting on the tailgate firing his gun into the hills every 100 feet. Awesome...
The story only gets worse so I'll leave it at this.
I stayed until last night (Wed) and gave up. I never quit anything, especially when I'm trying something for the first time. I considered moving campgrounds to a different area, but just called it. We packed up in the dark. My brother and I worked hard. We layed down 30+ miles of leather on our trip. Saw lots of sign, 6-8 does, fresh bear scat (I coulda squeezed the moisture out of it), blah blah.
DFG was out their all weekend. They stopped and checked me Sat morning outta yellowjacket. Of course I was all legal, no bullet in the chamber, tag filled out, with lead ammo. Rumor around Pine Springs was they confiscated a 3x3 from yellowjacket Sat morning after checking me cause it wasn't tagged.
.
Oh yeah, hiking back from Fishbowls 5 miles in the dark with a cat rawr 200 feet from the trail with 2 miles left to the truck sucked. The only time I was scared. And maybe when I saw the fresh bear scat near Cedar Creek with no tag.
At least we didn't get shot at. We wore our orange. Nobody scoped us with their rifles to my knowledge. So that's a plus.
Sunday morning we decided forget the trails and hike cross country from grade valley. More sign, does, and only 2 hunters seen. Nothing in the morning so we went back to camp for lunch and a nap. Drove around grade valley road a bit to see exactly how many people were out there. Got back to camp early afternoon and had to stop at the campsite of 20-30 mexicans (yep, in 1 campsite lol) cause they had a vehicle blocking the road. Watched 6 of them get out of an extended cab pickup. 4 grab their bush beater sticks out of the back and 2 grab another buck. Small forkie. Yes, I really watched them grab their bush beater sticks. No joke. 6-8 of them brought another small forkie back to camp before we left for our evening hunt on Sun. Great for them. I figure after the 30 of them split the meat since they all had a part in it they'll prolly get 10lbs each. If that...
Oh, I forgot about the navy blue late 80's or early 90's model single cab toyota with a camper shell driving Grade Valley rd near Fishbowls trailhead with a teenage mexican sitting on the tailgate firing his gun into the hills every 100 feet. Awesome...
The story only gets worse so I'll leave it at this.
I stayed until last night (Wed) and gave up. I never quit anything, especially when I'm trying something for the first time. I considered moving campgrounds to a different area, but just called it. We packed up in the dark. My brother and I worked hard. We layed down 30+ miles of leather on our trip. Saw lots of sign, 6-8 does, fresh bear scat (I coulda squeezed the moisture out of it), blah blah.
DFG was out their all weekend. They stopped and checked me Sat morning outta yellowjacket. Of course I was all legal, no bullet in the chamber, tag filled out, with lead ammo. Rumor around Pine Springs was they confiscated a 3x3 from yellowjacket Sat morning after checking me cause it wasn't tagged.
.Oh yeah, hiking back from Fishbowls 5 miles in the dark with a cat rawr 200 feet from the trail with 2 miles left to the truck sucked. The only time I was scared. And maybe when I saw the fresh bear scat near Cedar Creek with no tag.
At least we didn't get shot at. We wore our orange. Nobody scoped us with their rifles to my knowledge. So that's a plus.
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