Well, I know it’s been over a week since I returned from the woods, but I have only just had time to sit down and compose a bit of a write-up about the hunts at Coon Camp Springs.
The epic version is on Jesse’s Hunting and Outdoors, so I’ll spare you the 3000 word version. If you wanna read it, go on over and check it out. (Registration may be required, but it’s free.) Dave will be reprinting it, along with his own write-up, on the Coon Camp Springs site as soon as he gets a chance. I’m working on video too, but will be waiting for some still photos from Josh.
So anyway, in a nutshell the hunting was really tough.
It looked really promising, as I got a call from my partner, Dave, on the first evening. One of his hunters tagged a really big forked-horn on the first afternoon. Normally, you wouldn’t expect someone to pay for a guided hunt in the Eastern Sierra and then settle for a forked-horn, but the hunter, Jack, had specifically said he was looking for a really nice forkie to go with his other mounts (a 5×5 and several 4x4s). This one definitely fit the bill, with a huge body that would easily go over 230lbs, and a spread in the neighborhood of 20 inches.
About halfway through the first week, a storm rolled through and it seemed like it simply washed the deer off of the property. Tracks were washed away, and for the first day and a half after the storm, no new ones appeared. Deer finally started to appear near the end of the first week, but we were unable to locate any shooter bucks for Jerry (Jack’s buddy). They rolled out on Thursday morning, and I spent most of the rest of the day scouting the ranch to figure out where the deer had gone… with minimal success.
Arnie and Josh, a father and son team from Central California rolled in on Friday at around noon. These would be “my” hunters, but Dave took them on an introductory drive after they unpacked, while I went back to scout some more. During the drive, they had a great opportunity at a real nice 3×3, but since it was the first day, Josh decided to pass on the shot.
In all, we averaged seeing one buck per day, terrible ratio for this property, but all things considered, it worked out. Josh took a really good 3×3 on Sunday (after a frighteningly long period of indecision as the buck stood and watched us from 225 yards), and Arnie ended up tagging a nice 3-pointer on the next-to-last day of his hunt.
We didn’t take any monsters over the two-week hunting period, although Jack and Jerry did spot a really nice buck on the neighboring property. Even so, everyone went home happy, and everyone had shot opportunities (Jerry passed up on several bucks, and Josh and Arnie passed on a couple as well).
Here are Josh (on right) and Arnie with Josh’s buck. Click for the full-size image.
Glad you had a nice outing! Nice pic too…