well I should have shared my story months ago but forgot, D3-5 was a bust. C zone was a different story.
California shut down the national forests, even to hunters, for most of the hunting season due to fires. (something they have never done before. I hate to think of the precedence they have set.) My father-in-law has been hunting c-zone most of his life and he comes home with a deer most years. The 2020 season was rough because of a very large fire the year before and the forests being closed to even driving through them.
After riding in the back of a 2 seater side x side for 5 days I was sick of being uncomfortable. I'm 6'-3'', riding in the small bed for hours at a time was ridiculous. Road hunting is not my thing. On the evening of day 5 I talked my father-in-law into walking a BLM drainage with me. At last light we look up at the skyline and see clear as day a giant of a 2 point rack at 1000 yards with no optics. The first legal buck we had seen. We decided that we would head back to camp and take a walk up there first thing in the morning.
The next morning we did just that. We slowly worked our way up the drainage and didn't see anything. We kept going. Finally we just walked all the way up and stood right where we had seen the buck. Nothing. We just sat up there glassing and finally we spot a bedded buck 673 yards straight north of us on the other side of the butte we were standing on top of. he is a small 3x3. my last day to hunt was the next day so I decided that was gonna be my first buck I'd ever take, if I could get close enough to take the shot.
Here's the problem, its wicked flat from me to him and there is only 1 tree and a big bush between us due to the fire the year before. so I figure I need to take 350 yard off that distance. I take a few strides to my right to put a tree between me and the buck and I start to walk north slowly. Within 50 yards I spot another deer bedded on the right side of the tree. I don't bother measuring or glassing. I sneak to a point where both can not see me and I continue forward. Another 50 yards and I see a third buck on my right and he is looking at me. I lay on my belly and crawl to a point where 2 bucks are hidden behind a tree and one is behind the large bush that is now a factor. I can now stand and walk straight at the tree and no deer will see me. Walking quickly and quietly to the tree I see that it is actually 2 trees in a row about 50 yards apart. I get to the first tree and hide in its low branches. I count 3 bucks but think there are 4 because I cant see the original buck we glassed the first time. I get a range reading and its too far for me to shoot confidently. I get on all 4s and crawl to the next tree and amazingly the bucks are still there. I am now stuck! I cant go anywhere. Nothing between me and three bucks but flat lava cap rock. There is still that bush on the right of them but they are close to it and would see me if I made any attempt to get closer. Range, 327 yards.
Now starts the setup of the shot. My heart is pounding and my breathing is all kinds of crazy. Taking me what feels like 10 minutes to calm my adrenaline. At this time I had not realized the stock had taken over an hour. Finally feeling ready to take the shot, I see the three bucks. one is a forky and the other two are 3x3s I choose the bigger one. He is bedded broadside left. I get behind my tikka 6.5 Creedmoor 130gr TSX and dial in my vortex viper pst gen 2. one more breathing cycle and bang!
Chaos!!!! I cant even count how many deer stand up and scatter. My chosen buck does 3 hops and a drop, the shot right through the heart.
One blur takes off to the right and is never seen again by me. 4 more go left and run about 50 yards to the top of the small hill they were bedded on and stop. they stand there for just looking down at their fallen friend. Two forky's and two 3x3s slightly smaller than the deer I shot. After taking my shot my father-in-law starts walking my way to help out and when he gets to me the deer are still standing there dumbfounded. He raises his rifle and takes the next biggest one out of the group. 2 deer down.
He then tells me about the deer that took off to the right. He said it was Hank for sure, 5x5 at least.
We radio a hunting buddy to get the side x side and come get us and our 2 deer. Luckily there was a small trail were he could drive to within 150 yards of where we field dressed them.
So we head down to camp and put them in the truck and drive to a spot to get validated. One of the wardens starts going through his photos and tells me he has my buck on game camera photos along with the entire bachelor group he was in. It was so amazing to see. There was even a photo of mine when in velvet. Turns out Hank was a 6x7(counting cheaters) 230lbs beast. He was shot 2 weeks later by a land owner near that BLM land I was on.
It truly was the hunt I wished for. even though I could have had Hank for my very first deer.
