A Zone CA hunt or not?

[Redmt]

I hunt A Zone on our place most every year. Except 2 years ago when the fires wiped out most everything that had fur. After the fire that destroyed 380,000 acres the surviving deer walked around dazed and starving. Last year they started coming back a little and it was cool watching them replenish. This year we have some really nice bucks running around. I just can't decide whether or not to hunt. One side says either the lions or some outside hunter will get them so I should put one in the freezer for us. The other side says that I've been watching them grow and just leave them be. My self imposed rule has always been 3 point or better.

 

[jryoung]

I hunt A Zone on our place most every year. Except 2 years ago when the fires wiped out most everything that had fur. After the fire that destroyed 380,000 acres the surviving deer walked around dazed and starving. Last year they started coming back a little and it was cool watching them replenish. This year we have some really nice bucks running around. I just can't decide whether or not to hunt. One side says either the lions or some outside hunter will get them so I should put one in the freezer for us. The other side says that I've been watching them grow and just leave them be. My self imposed rule has always been 3 point or better.

I'll come shoot them

 

[LosPadre]

What did you decide? Odds are the lions got any you passed on. Mountain lions are out of control in California, just like the Supermajority who keep them protected.

 

[Blowdowner]

Mountain lions are very wary. By hunting one deer you probably scare a mountain lion away from 10 deer.

 

[LosPadre]

Mountain lions are very wary. By hunting one deer you probably scare a mountain lion away from 10 deer.

Possibly. But even then, for how long? Five minutes? Or until the lion goes over the ridge and hunts the remaining deer on that side? How many deer does each lion kill per month? Have a few cubs, then how many is it? Everyone has more cubs the next year then how many is it? By year three, how many is it? This great liberal lion-saving experiment (anti-hunting control exercise) is on its third decade. How many thousands of lions are there now? Deer populations in mountain lion parts of California are wayyyy down from what they used to be. Anyone hunting in these areas understands this. The lions need to be managed, not let loose like Antifa to run willy-nilly and further destroy the diminishing deer population. This is entirely about leadership. FAILED leadership. Which is what California is.

 

[Dave N]

 

[Redmt]

Possibly. But even then, for how long? Five minutes? Or until the lion goes over the ridge and hunts the remaining deer on that side? How many deer does each lion kill per month? Have a few cubs, then how many is it? Everyone has more cubs the next year then how many is it? By year three, how many is it? This great liberal lion-saving experiment (anti-hunting control exercise) is on its third decade. How many thousands of lions are there now? Deer populations in mountain lion parts of California are wayyyy down from what they used to be. Anyone hunting in these areas understands this. The lions need to be managed, not let loose like Antifa to run willy-nilly and further destroy the diminishing deer population. This is entirely about leadership. FAILED leadership. Which is what California is.

This guy is so full of crap it's a joke. I will challenge anyone on here that is more remote than we are and spends as much time in the back country as I do. In 40 plus years of working outside in remote areas I have seen 3 lions and one deer kill. Lions primary choice of kill is the pigs. They are a hundred fold more plentiful and very slow compared to the deer. This guy seems to me to have a sour grapes agenda because he sucks at deer hunting.

 

[2rocky]

Red, There's a difference between hunting and KILLING. I reckon spending time in the hills with a rifle is gonna be valuable from the standpoint of doing a first hand inventory of does fawns, bucks and performing coyote and feral swine control...

Give yourself a challenge of not shooting until you see 10 separate bucks. (or whatever personal limit sounds worthwhile). my guess is that by doing that you are gonna see a whopper that will test your restraint..

 

[Redmt]

Red, There's a difference between hunting and KILLING. I reckon spending time in the hills with a rifle is gonna be valuable from the standpoint of doing a first hand inventory of does fawns, bucks and performing coyote and feral serwine control...

Give yourself a challenge of not shooting until you see 10 separate bucks. (or whatever personal limit sounds worthwhile). my guess is that by doing that you are gonna see a whopper that will test your restraint..

Well,,,, I probably see 5-10 deer every day without looking. They hang out pretty close as there's no real threat in a mile every direction. There will be a doe and her twins move in behind my shop in a couple hours lounging in the shade. It not hard to find a nice buck it's just a matter of patience and self control.
You're definitely correct in the difference of hunting vs. killing.