A GREAT 2015 NOR CAL ARCHERY SEASON
Contributors to this thread:Mule Deer
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
This time of the year is great as a lot of time scouting and hard work to find deer then pattern them can come together. I had two bucks that caught my eye but as luck would have the first buck disappeared and relocated prior to the season.
I then switched my focus to a second buck who was a little elusive on his pattern but in the area. Here's a pic of him the week before season started.
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
The second day hunting this buck, I saw him emerge from a heavily timbered creek bottom in the distance right after shoot light. He had came into the other side of a meadow where there were some blackberry bushes the deer were feeding on. I then relocated my stand to this location. First few sits I saw some smaller bucks but no sign of the buck I was after. Here's a small one I took a pic of after he ate blackberries for 15 minutes just 10 yards from me.
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Pat takes pics of his boots I take pics of my hats...
From: Jack Harris
31-Aug-15
always look forward to this post every year! Keep it coming...
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
he fifth day hunting came and it was 98 degrees with the moon nearly full. I had low hopes deer would be moving in shoot light but I was proven wrong. A few early does moved through the creek drainage into the meadow. And then 10 minutes later the buck I was after emerged from the cooler creek foliage into the meadow on the trail I was set up on. As he turned broadside at 18 yards i released my arrow and hit him about 3" further back then I wanted to. He slowly walked off back down into the creek bed. Arrow as I found it buried deep into the ground.
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
I elected to wait until morning to trail him which was a smart choice as I found him just inside the brush not 45 yards from where Id shot him. He was barely starting to stiffen up and I could tell he probably died just prior to finding him. I was very happy with him as he has a great big frame.
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Love hunting these bucks! Never gets old
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Now it was time to get to work on this buck.... Soon to be Vittles! Tag #1 punched....
To be continued.........
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
Well I located a buck early that was worthy of my attention. Once I gained permission to hunt his turf the game was on. I was in his staggin area as he left his bed to feed at night in the meadows below. He was by far the heaviest buck I've ever laid eyes on and anticipation of opening day was killing me ....
From: sticksender
31-Aug-15
Beautiful buck, congrats....your work & patience paid off!
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
Opening day I had my blind tucked in a brush pile on the trail he used 3-4 nights a week coming out of his bed to the meadows below. Opening day was 100+ degrees and my blind was like a sauna. Well he made an appearance but stopped at 11 yards head on and I wanted to wait for him to turn. Once he turned he moved behind his buddy and never offered me a shot and walked out of my shooting lane down the trail. My heart sank. Missed my chance opening day
From: Jack Harris
31-Aug-15
Congrats Chris what a massive buck! We can pretty much set the bowsite Calendar with you and Joe putting down some massive NorCal deer around this time every year, talk about constancy!
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
Second day I was posted up at 530 am hoping to catch him leaving the lower fields and passing my blind but he never showed. So that Eve I settled in for the sit and was praying he hadn't been killed as I knew there was a neighbor hunting him also. At sundown I heard the leaves crunching and his homie was first in line with my buck in tow. At 16 yards I got my mental mind together and sent a perfect arrow thru the beast. He made it about 120 yards before piling up. I was beyond jacked. I recovered him later that night once darkness set it.
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
By far my best buck and pix don't do his mass justice. Pretty happy with the outcome.
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
Love chasing these deer. I took the pix with a timer so I was running around like a wild man trying to get some cool images. This was best I could do.
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
I don't know which trophy pic I like better. Myb some of you can help me pick?? :-)
From: IdyllwildArcher
31-Aug-15
Grats guys! Those are some great bucks
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
Mass comparison...
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Every year joe and I love having friends and family out to hunt these deer and turkeys .... It's always great times! Well this year we took our buddy Rich out and after 3 long full days in a blind with no activity in 100 degree heat (brutal), we moved Rich to another spot and he was rewarded for his time on this great character buck.
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
While I was hunting my buck my buddy Blake from arizona was hunting another buck we had found eating from a very small Apple orchard hidden in a big wooded area far from any civilization. This was a cool lucky find we located a few years ago running and bowin turkeys. After only sitting in the blind for an hour the buck showed up and he made a great 30 yard shot. Some people have that kind of luck. He was pumped to say the least! We figured we both actually saw and shot our bucks within a few minutes of each other showing with weather and moon conditions they (deer) just have that internal clock telling them when to move.
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Pic of blake's buck....
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Another pic of Blake's buck just before he shot it.
..........
From: Jack Harris
31-Aug-15
Congrats Joe - I swear both of you just keep shooting bigger bucks every year... What would your tape out at gross? God it looks like 190 or more but I am clueless when it comes to your norcal BTs...
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
We thought we were all done for the week and I remembered I had one more buddy worthy of trying to get a buck. I knew where some bucks bedded at one of my spots and I figured we could try an afternoon spot an stalk if we found them. Sure enough they were there and long story short my buddy tagged his first archery buck. A great first buck with a bow. He was pumped said he wanted to get another one lol. Good times with great people.
From: joehunter8301
31-Aug-15
Jack I am not really sure and I don't really care bout score. He was 26 1/4" outside spread an bases were near 8". Good enough for me.
From: njbuck
31-Aug-15
Wow, some amazing deer there. One thing is for certain, you guys certainly have these blacktails dialed in. I would not want to be a buck there with you guys after me!Congrats
From: Jack Harris
31-Aug-15
I cannot fathom a deer wih8" bases -just insane... Those deer sure grow a lot of bone out there... Any idea on what age it takes to reach that size? Are they getting any agriculture as nutrition or is it all woodland browse?
From: EmbryOklahoma
31-Aug-15
Very nice! Congratulations Chris and Joe.
From: GhostBird
31-Aug-15
Congratulations boys... awesome!!!
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Thanks guys! Jack, joes buck is a rare freak. In all my years living here I've only seen two bucks with that kind of mass, one being joes. On nutrition were in an area with great browse and tons of white and black oaks that rain acorns as their number one food source. This year the acorns have already been dropping early and deer are on them mainly.
From: Pass-thru
31-Aug-15
Awesome pics and stories! Slayers for sure!
From: otcWill
31-Aug-15
We'll done boys!
From: elkmtngear
31-Aug-15
Great job boys...the mass on Joe's buck is just insane!
That big forky is pretty impressive too! Nice to see all the recon you guys did pay off.
Best of Luck, Jeff
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Thanks guys! Now time to chase some Bulls in couple weeks.
From: cityhunter
31-Aug-15
great deer ! Im jealous been spending my days in a court room jury duty.
From: Zackman
31-Aug-15
Congrats boys! Way to start off your Cali season with several great bucks
From: JW
31-Aug-15
Wow guys! Getting to be pretty common seeing you guys behind big blacktails! Grats!
From: trkyslr
31-Aug-15
Ha thanks guys! Louis guilty guilty guilty! lol now go elk hunting
From: ben yehuda
31-Aug-15
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
From: joehunter8301
02-Sep-15
Thanks everyone. Love this time of year looking back and seeing how eveything panned out. It worked out pretty good for us we are very fortunate. Still a lot of tags to punch this fall things are just getting started. Good luck to the rest of you guys as I know elk is gettin close!!!
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
So worked on helpin a junior get on the board yesterday but it didn't work out as planned ... Last day of the archery season was today and was able to get my cousin on a nice cali buck. After a short sit in the blind he made a great shot on this buck you can say. What a great season for us!!!
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
Heart shot deer don't go far!
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
Smile says it all!
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
Good times!
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
Try that one again
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
Pre sliced Vittles!
From: t-roy
06-Sep-15
Great deer guys! As usual!
How long is archery season in your area? When do the deer rut there as well?
From: trkyslr
06-Sep-15
T-Roy , thanks!!! archery season is usually 3 full weeks long, this year was August 15- sep 6th, then there's 2 or 3 weeks ( depending on the year) rest until the general season (open to boomsticks, bows, etc)... This year I beleive General season goes through until November 1st. The last few years I've seen a lot of pre rut activity the last two weeks in October. The peak of the rut here is usually thanksgiving week.
From: joehunter8301
07-Sep-15
Good work homie. Def a fantastic archery season :-)
From: IdyllwildArcher
07-Sep-15
Love seeing those Cali bucks. Great thread guys. Grats to everyone. Hopefully there's a few more to post up (SoCal opened on Saturday).
From: Jimbo
07-Sep-15
Is anyone on here hunting in Plumas County? I grew up there (Quincy) and am just curious if any Bowsiters hunt in that area.
From: ki-ke
07-Sep-15
Great thread and awesome Blacktails! Cool that you also share the bounty with a few close folks!
Thanks for sharing
From: mrw hunter
07-Sep-15
Congratulations guys!!!!
From: t-roy
07-Sep-15
Thanks for the info Chris.
Do you & Joe ever hunt them during the prerut or are you ALWAYS done by early Sept.? ;>)
From: trkyslr
07-Sep-15
Thanks guys!
T-Roy, last year I held out on my last tag for the end of the season and the pre rut action.. Enjoyed the deer activity and attitudes seen very much.. I'm doing the same this year with my last tag to see what bucks emerge with dominance and live on their mind. Hope we get some early weather to move that along.
From: Alexis Desjardins
09-Sep-15
Some dandys guys, pretty country out your way congrats to all. thanks for Sharing
From: Dan Mallia
09-Sep-15
Strong work, as usual.
From: Beav
09-Sep-15
Congrats on a great season! Always great pics.
