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DEER DRAWINGS COMING UP -- matthews 11may05
Top picks for June 2 deer tag drawing
By JIM MATTHEWS, Outdoor News Service
Some of the best deer hunting in the Western United States is right here in California if -- if -- you get lucky in the annual deer tag drawing. Or if you don't get drawn for enough years that you accumulate a pile of preference points, assuring yourself of that premier tag.
The Department of Fish and Game's 2005 Big Game Hunting application booklet, 2005-06 hunting licenses, and deer tag applications are available at license agents now. There is less than a month to make some decisions of which of the special hunts you want to fill in for that first choice on the application, which must be in Sacramento by June 2.
The whole process is complex, and most of us spend several hours each year studying the regulations, drawing odds, and hunter success rates. The best hunts for a quality buck are G3, the late-season Goodale buck hunt in the Eastern Sierra; G39, another late-season hunt held in Round Valley near Bishop; and G6, the Kern River late-season buck hunt held near Lake Isabella. Odds are steep for drawing a tag -- about one in a 1,000 for the Goodale hunt if you are not applying with the maximum number of preference points, and about only about one in 50 if you have three preference points. Odds for the other two are only slightly better.
Regretting that I'm telling you this, the two sleeper general hunt zones that have been guarantee-draws if you apply inside the June 2 deadline are Southern California's two desert zones -- D12 and D17. Both have higher-than-normal buck-doe ratios and both produce as many or more older age class (you can read that "trophy") bucks than other general hunt zones. More than half of the bucks taken in D12 were four-point or better last season, a percentage that is rivaled by only a few of the special hunts, while in D17, over 35 percent of the bucks taken were four-point or better. Last year, D17's quota filled June 21st, and the D12 quota filled July 21.
If you opt for a desert tag, just know the hunting is not easy and deer numbers are sparse.
"I get calls all the time from guys asking if they should come down and hunt deer. I tell them, `you'll probably come here and you probably won't see a deer, you probably won't get a shot, but you'll have a great camping experience.' Deer season is just a beautiful time of year to be in the desert," said Leon Lesicka, a 72-year-old hunter from the Imperial Valley who's spent a lifetime chasing D12 bucks. His best is a near-30-inch four-pointer.
Top picks for June 2 deer tag drawing
By JIM MATTHEWS, Outdoor News Service
Some of the best deer hunting in the Western United States is right here in California if -- if -- you get lucky in the annual deer tag drawing. Or if you don't get drawn for enough years that you accumulate a pile of preference points, assuring yourself of that premier tag.
The Department of Fish and Game's 2005 Big Game Hunting application booklet, 2005-06 hunting licenses, and deer tag applications are available at license agents now. There is less than a month to make some decisions of which of the special hunts you want to fill in for that first choice on the application, which must be in Sacramento by June 2.
The whole process is complex, and most of us spend several hours each year studying the regulations, drawing odds, and hunter success rates. The best hunts for a quality buck are G3, the late-season Goodale buck hunt in the Eastern Sierra; G39, another late-season hunt held in Round Valley near Bishop; and G6, the Kern River late-season buck hunt held near Lake Isabella. Odds are steep for drawing a tag -- about one in a 1,000 for the Goodale hunt if you are not applying with the maximum number of preference points, and about only about one in 50 if you have three preference points. Odds for the other two are only slightly better.
Regretting that I'm telling you this, the two sleeper general hunt zones that have been guarantee-draws if you apply inside the June 2 deadline are Southern California's two desert zones -- D12 and D17. Both have higher-than-normal buck-doe ratios and both produce as many or more older age class (you can read that "trophy") bucks than other general hunt zones. More than half of the bucks taken in D12 were four-point or better last season, a percentage that is rivaled by only a few of the special hunts, while in D17, over 35 percent of the bucks taken were four-point or better. Last year, D17's quota filled June 21st, and the D12 quota filled July 21.
If you opt for a desert tag, just know the hunting is not easy and deer numbers are sparse.
"I get calls all the time from guys asking if they should come down and hunt deer. I tell them, `you'll probably come here and you probably won't see a deer, you probably won't get a shot, but you'll have a great camping experience.' Deer season is just a beautiful time of year to be in the desert," said Leon Lesicka, a 72-year-old hunter from the Imperial Valley who's spent a lifetime chasing D12 bucks. His best is a near-30-inch four-pointer.
