Opened my hunting seasons with a buck

[Marc]

I got a forkhorn Thursday evening. We were at our back country camp that we use the mountain bikes to get to. No pictures because we forgot the camera. My wife still has a tag and I will get another tag so deer season isn't over yet. Hope to find something bigger next time. Actually saw a bigger buck Friday morning when we went to get the fork horn out. He was at the bottom of a deep steep canyon. I have never bothered a buck at the bottom of that canyon and I probably never will, but at least we saw one. The fork horn was not in good condition and none of the deer we saw looked fat and happy. It looks like the drought is hurting them. Our normally golden hills are brown with only sparse short grass and a lot of bare dirt showing. We need rain bad this winter.

We did fairly well getting in to camp and getting the deer out. I have been declining for the last couple years and wasn't sure I could still make it. The thing that made it possible is that I started using a CPAP machine two months ago. It has made a miraculous difference in my energy levels. I have a new lease on life!

The trip was bitter sweet for me because my old long time hunting partner passed away last winter. It was his favorite place. Every place I look reminds me of him. We had a lot of good times out there. He hasn't been able to come out for several years because of declining health so it isn't because he suddenly isn't there. I don't think his passing really hit me until I got out there. My friend Bill will be missed!

[Blaine]

I'm sorry for your loss.....
Are those black tails there?

[Borregos]

Sounds like a good trip.
Sorry about your friend Bill though.

[oldguy]

MARC
glad your health is improved, you were able to make it back in there, not an easy ride.
you got a deer.
it sounds like you have 2 more tags ?
good for you and your wife.
oldguy.

[El Chivo]

Congratulations, can't be without venison this holiday season. Glad you are feeling better. About the drought, we seemed to have a good rainy year or two but, judging by tracks and scat, game has not come back. I don't get out like I used to, but when I do there's not much sign of anything. I saw a doe in a creekbed in April or so and she looked pretty scraggly too.

My first year of hunting was 2006 and there were tracks and scat all over the place. I remember walking through a sandbar hidden by rushes, next to the creek, and it was just carpeted with deer poop. When I go there now, there's nothing, not even the rushes.

I know there are still some deer, but unfortunately I lack the time to really get in there and do it right. This year looks like another one of those. The last year I really hunted was when you took me up to the top of that cliff over Ojai, five years ago. I had that whole week off. Since then it's been fire closures or canceled vacations or just too tired, one thing after another.

[Nath]

Good for you friend and sorry for your sadness...what is it you suffer with please?

N.

[Shasta]

Congratulations on bagging a buck. That's getting to be a tough challenge around my area as deer are getting more scarce. Those little Blacktail bucks may not be much to brag on, but the meat is very good, and with a second tag you still have an opportunity to add to the venison supply.
I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your hunting buddy.

SHASTA

[Pitchy]

Sounds like a good trip.
Sorry about your friend Bill though.

+1

[Mike Armstrong]

Congratulations; those CA bucks aren't easy! If you're huntin' anywhere near Ventura, especially in the coast ranges, you NEED to be in shape!
When I was in college at UCSB in the early 1960s, we used to hunt deer in several canyons behind the Gaviota Pass that we called "The Deer Factory." LOTS of blacktails and a few hogs then. Suspect it's the other way around now.

Now I hunt birds and varmints "over the hill" from you in the Carrizo/Cuyama boonies along the inside of the coast range. But this year I expect to be locked out by fire danger closures a lot. And I expect the quail and chukar populations are down to the point where it makes little sense to hunt them. (Seen or heard any?). Anyway, I'm going to take a .22WRM rifle with me when I go up there, just in case it turns out to be a "ground squirrel safari" instead of a bird hunt....

[Marc]

Thanks for your condolences. Bill and I covered a lot of miles together. Bill was a tough farm boy from Michigan. We started backpack hunting together. Not to many people will do that in this country! He was a meat cutter by trade and taught me how to butcher like the pros do. He was a good provider to his family. He was active with the Boy Scouts when his son was a member. He was a good one.

The DFG says these deer are "California Mule Deer". I read or heard something recently that says they are a cross between Mule Deer and Blacktails. I am not sure what they are but they are small and tasty. If we get several wet years in a row we find more bigger bucks like the one my wife has in the picture below.

I hope it rains this winter. The worse drought I have seen was in the early 90's. I remember seeing more deer skeletons than live deer. It was hard to even find a track. If it doesn't rain this winter it will probably be like that next year. We saw only a few Quail. Not like it usually is. There are probably plenty of ground squirrels on Carrizo!

Nath, it turned out I am mostly suffering from the normal "old man" maladies. Enlarged prostate so I have to take a drug to take a leak, I have to take something to have a bowel movement and I don't sleep well at night without help. I have sleep apnea so I wasn't getting enough air when I slept. I woke up constantly because I couldn't breath when I was asleep. You don't know how valuable a good nights sleep is until you can't get one. I was running down like a cheap watch. Now I wear a mask at night and the CPAP machine pumps air to the mask to keep the airways open and help push air into my lungs. Now I only wake up once or twice a night or if the mask gets out of position and leaks a lot of air. I actually feel like doing something now when I get up in the morning.

[Nath]

Thanks Marc.
Thats a bummer but it sounds like your back on top (a little) and so be it.

Take care n' then.

Nath.

[Old Savage]

Marc, there is a very lovely little chiropractor in Ventura on Telephone Rd who may be able to help you with some of your issues. Her name is Jennifer Francisco.

[Mike Armstrong]

Marc, thanks for the quail info. I'm told by CA Fish and Game (OH, excuse me, I of course mean Fish and Wildlife; gotta be politically correct at all times....) that OUR coastal deer are "Desert Mule Deer." Blacktails start up where it rains, Monterey County and north. But they say that the ancestors of mule deer were blacktails, so I guess it takes DNA testing to tell who's what. I don't actually have those forensic skills, tho.

Whatever they are, they are about the sneakiest critters in the deer clan. Only deer I've ever seen slither UNDER a bush!

Sympathize with the old age stuff; I just hit 70 and am in permanent low gear. Sometimes Excedrin can get me into compound low, tho!

[mod71alaska]

Marc, congratulations on a successful hunt! You represent us old guys very well!

[Marc]

OS, I have never used a chiropractor but my insurance does pay a portion for them. I may try one yet. Thanks for the reference.

Mike, I am deer hunting above the Cuyama valley-not very far from Carrizo. I forgot, we don't have a DFG anymore! As far as the deer ancestry, I don't think anybody knows or cares enough to find out. Our little deer don't get any love from the DFG or whoever they are now. I always thought it was the way you say. Blacktails are up north. Everybody has a different opinion. A few years ago DFG printed a map on the back of one of the hunting brochures of the different deer species in California and our area was labeled California Mule Deer so I just go with that. Good luck with the quail. There ought to be a few around yet.

You represent us old guys very well!

Thanks! I work hard at it!