Where to hunt d3-d4-d5

[Bossbrott]

Better let him walk, for the sake of the species!

 

[CApighunter]

Whose going up for the archery opener? I'll be hunting D5 next weekend and found a nice buck scouting two days ago. Outdoorlife, was that on public land or private?

 

[sabershooter]

I was up scouting d5 friday and Saturday found alot of fresh sign water and food

 

[Outdoorlife]

Capig. Yea that is on public land.

 

[dchunter]

Hunters in the Sierra waste a lot of time and money chasing tracks.

If you have not scouted a buck with your own eyes then it makes no sense to go there.

D3-5 is one of those places where there might be only one single buck in the whole zone.

It really sucks as a hunting area.

The locals will tell you as well.

LOL. Are you from PETA? Hilarious. You're nuts. I have seen mounts of some big as bucks taken on public land in D5. You are too funny.

 

[slanttop357]

I see the problem..................those Deer are in Tasco not in d5 lol.

 

[Outdoorlife]

I just went out and checked the camera again and two bucks on it again feeling lucky. Haha the tasco camera was retired and a new one went up wasn't doing the job.

 

[Hikingwithguns]

Everyone knows there are no deer on public land ig-laughing:

Nice looking bucks.

 

[r08ert209cali]

Our recipe for successes in the D zones and X zones has been under constant adaption over the past several years as the environment we hunt in is under constant change.

Here are some things that work well for us.

Other hunters do not matter to us as if there are shooters in the area we will use the hunters to our advantage by finding and staking out escape routes.

If you are not seeing deer or sign move. hunting in ares with no deer is a waste of time.

we have no time to scout areas anymore and it has worked to our advantage. Deer we find in June/July or even Aug are seldom there during opening day. What we do is scout/hunt at the same time. D-5 has tons of public accesses we use the roads to find the tracks and other deer sign. We travel light with our packs so when we find the sign we can pack in for a spike camp if need be. You would be surprised the amount of nice deer we see less then 80yds from the road that other hunters will drive right passed. Go slow look hard. Remember you are looking for parts of deer not deer.

If you ever get a chance to hunt the first big storm of the season it will change your outlook on the number of legal bucks in the D zones.



Don't worry so much about getting away from people as getting on the deer. We have packed in above 9000 ft 3-6 hrs and where all alone only to turn around and come back out cause there was just no sign. We then drove to around 4k ft and had a legal buck in about 2 hrs. Other hunters where everywhere.

Glass Glass Glass if you are in open country use a spotting scope and get comfortable. More densely wooded use 8 or 10x power binos. Scope of your rifle is not for glassing.

We have found that deer are in different locations year to year so you must repeat the scouting process yearly. Conditions are always a lil different from year to year,once you get used to finding the deer it gets easier over time if you hunt the same general area. For us we stick to highway 4 above Arnold to the crest,and X12 when we get drawn. Changing Zones up too much proves to be too much work for a couple guys who are short on time and need to make every second in the field count.

If we are not on deer by 11 am opening day no matter where we are we move to find them.

This is a tough water year and I would expect to actually see deer between 3500-and below 5k elevation this year. We will be looking for heavy bedding areas and the biggest concentration of tracks as this is most likely where they where before season opened. do not expect to find them there on opening day and be prepared to look at the topographical map to get an idea of where they would move to to get away from people. It is typically the easiest route with the most cover and food. I am starting to care less and less about watering holes and look more for what they love to eat and deer themselves. All to many times times we see areas that look great and have everything you would expect but not a single deer, Again no deer move.


This is not the end all way to hunt D Zones but has been working well for us. YMMV.

 

[r08ert209cali]

Opening Day X12 buck 2011


Packed in X12

Hunting the first storm in 2012 Deer everywhere and on the move.

Packed in to wheeler lake area, All alone and not a deer any where. On our way out of there.

Buddies D-5 opener Buck last year.

 

[Bossbrott]

Love hunting when we get weather! Great pics of x12 there, along with a cool pic of your spike camp, thanks for sharing.

 

[DaVe.]

Hunting the first storm in 2012 Deer everywhere and on the move.

I believe I was in the same spot during that storm. Lots of deer moving and I blew a awesome opportunity to tag a nice buck!

 

[r08ert209cali]

I believe I was in the same spot during that storm. Lots of deer moving and I blew a awesome opportunity to tag a nice buck!

Yeah seen 4 nice bucks taken off that small hill over 4 days,never got my shot but it was a great hunt.

 

[CApighunter]

Just got back from busting my butt hiking all over a valley in D5 I know holds quality deer and saw only 3 does. Would have stayed later, but ran out of water around 2:00 this afternoon and hunted until 5 or so. Trying again tomorrow....

 

[oldskool67]

209 cali,
Great pics and good advice. Thanks for sharing!

 

[OVHunter916]

From my experience Norcalihunter is right on about many bucks being killed near HW 50 and 80 areas. I raided one of the spots he talks about up in D3 the last couple years and got a nice 3x3 in 2012 and passed on a decent fork opening day of last season. Probably the most productive/popular spot up HW 50 is the Crystal Basin-Union Valley/Icehouse area. You may find some bucks up in the desolation wilderness/wrights lake area, but they tend to migrate down when the acorns start dropping from all the black oaks in the old burn area. There are several productive pockets in this rather large area. I have an old friend who scores consistently here. Up HW 80 you have the Lake Valley/Monument Ridge area which definitely holds some big bucks. They tend to filter down through the old burn site around Emigrant Gap late season. Also, the area from Fuller Lake through Bowman Lake a short drive off HW 20 holds quite a few deer. Now all these spots get a ton of pressure opening weekend. Friends I know who are successful took years to get to know these areas. The deer are there but you rarely see them during daylight hours unless you know exactly where to look. Lots of guys like to hunt the extreme high country (7,000 plus feet for deer) during rifle season, but in my experience it dries up there and the deer move down into the denser mixed conifer forest (4,000-6,000 ft) where there are lots of black oaks, manzanita, ceanothus and other groceries. I'm sure there are great spots up HW 4 and HW 88 too at these elevations. There are also pockets of public land in the foothills below 3000 feet that hold resident deer all year around and can be very productive. The most successful hunters in D3-5 that I know hunt from stands or use well planned party drives to beat deer out of the brush. And hunt the same spots that they know well year after year...

 

[fixitquick79]

Not gonna say where I was in D3 (still have rifle season) but I went there last week for 3 days. Saw 5 legal bucks, missed a nice 4 point that spun away right as I released, and was unable to get close enough on a true bruiser. There was water running in the small creeks and springs about every third canyon. Whoever says there is no water this year is not hunting where I was.

 

[Brnsvllyjohn]

I think I am done with archery season this year and I just returned from 2 days of hunting in D-3. Last week in 2 days I saw 3 forked horns all small but legal bucks. Wednesday of this week I saw a fork and a 4 point. I was not able to get a shot this week and last week I missed but there are bucks in the area. I had no problem finding water although some areas that normally have water were dry. All on national forest land that gets a LOT of pressure during rifle season. Learning the areas is going to be key to finding deer. You may not have to hike in 5 miles but you may need to hunt something that others do not like to hunt. D 3-5 is not a "waste of time".
John

 

[jcctez]

I came across this the other day made me change my mind on my opening weekend hunt. the info was old but some is better then none at all goggle Ca. deer spot kill maps

 

[jerryt]

I hunted 4 hours on public land last Saturday and I saw a crap load of deer. Most were does with Fawns, which is a good thing but I did see 5 legal bucks and a couple spikes. Wish I had a D3-D5 tag left for this year but I am tagged out. I'll be stratigically located in a canyon for the D5 rifle opener waiting for the deer hunters to push me a bear.