I’m back!<\/p>\n
We didn’t harvest any game this year, but we managed to still have a great time.<\/p>\n
The conditions were absolutely terrible for deer hunting. It was hot and dry and dusty and dirty all week. Every day was in the 80’s. The sky was always clear and cloudless. Worse, the moon was full about mid-trip. It was so bright at night you could see everything.<\/p>\n
As a result of the conditions, we had about a 30 minute window each morning to spot game that was up and moving around–15 minutes before sunrise until 15 minutes after. Otherwise those wily and crafty deer were laying down in the thick stuff, motionless, and sleeping all day until the moon came up at night.<\/p>\n
So that meant we had to do some serious hiking. I was out busting the brush all day, hiking up and down the hills and through the thickest and nastiest Manzanita and Buckbrush.<\/p>\n
We saw very little game last week. I think I might have seen 5 does the whole time. Scott and I saw 3 bears, and Scott spotted another one the next day. We found very few grouse. Everything was too fast for us and got away.<\/p>\n
Finally on the last day at about 6am I spotted a buck by the road, a huge crooked-horn. He was at least a 3-pointer. Scott and I ran after him but he was too fast. We only got one shot off before he disappeared into the brush. I was so pissed I gave up on hunting the rest of the day. I went back to the cabin to drink beer and nap the hot afternoon away.<\/p>\n
All in all it was a good learning year. We gained yet more experience on that mountain. I feel confident that I could find my way from any point on Red Mountain and hike miles to any other spot. We’re also getting very good at spotting game. And we now know what we should be doing in any given weather condition.<\/p>\n
On the way home Scott and I stopped in Chico to grab a beer and a burger. We ate in silence, so very sad that we had left the mountains behind us. Drinking a nice cold beer at Joe’s took the edge off though.<\/p>\n