2002 Deer Hunting Journal-I enjoyed keeping a journal of last year's deer hunting. I haven't really put in much useful information (like weather, moon phase, etc.), but in the B-zones, the weather is fairly constant... HOT, DRY, and sunny. Also, I know this section could really use some pictures. Some technical complications have separated my working computer from the one with my camera software, so I'm sort of at a loss right now. Hopefully, I'll square this away soon. I'm also taking some shots with the 35mm, and will scan any that have relevance. Of course, if I get lucky this year, I'll have pictures one way or the other. |
I drew B-zone and G-1 tags for this season. Since I am also hunting archery for the first time this year, I'll be able to hunt from 08/17 through 11/03. As you can see, the end of the B-zone and the beginning of G-1 will overlap. I'll straighten this out as the time comes closer, and I decide where I'll be hunting. |
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Saturday, 9/21 B-zone Rifle Season Opener 0400 - Kat is joining me for the rifle season opener. We hurried to get here last night, afraid that someone would be camped at the trailhead to Kokopelli Valley. Fortunately, we arrived at a reasonable hour (appx. 2230) and had the place to ourselves. After a nightcap and short planning session, we were in bed by 2300. That made getting up today a little easier. 0515 - I marked the trail to Kat's stand with reflective tacks, but I want to guide her in this first day. We have plenty of time before shoot time, so I figure I can get her situated, then head over to My Hill. There has been no traffic on the road this morning, and I'm actually a little hopeful that we won't see too many more hunters. Maybe they still think the fire damage has wiped the area out. We reach Kat's position, but she's a little nervous about sitting there alone. Probably shouldn't have told her about the lion I saw during bow season. Oh well, I'll sit with her this morning. It's a good spot, and two sets of eyes are better than one. As we set up, we decide to call this spot Katbird Ridge. 0620 - We're nice and comfy as the sun rises. The moon was huge and full (it always seems to be full on the rifle opener), and I don't hold out high hopes for seeing much movement at first light. Sure enough, nothing is moving as the sun rises higher. 0800 - Scanning the west ridge, I notice two shapes moving up the ridge. I have no idea how they got down there, and I've never seen anyone hunt the ridge from that direction before. No idea what to expect now. All the patterning and planning I have done is based on people doing what they usually do... walking down the west ridge from up high and pushing through the canyon bottom. We watch to see what the hunters push, and shortly we're rewarded by the sight of two deer scampering down the ridge and into Kokopelli Valley. No horns, though, so we keep watching. I notice that there are two trucks parked at the north end of the canyon. Looks like road hunters. 0900 - I'm glassing the ridge and spot movement in a saddle. I focus the glasses and see a deer skylighted on the top. It's a HUGE buck! Two more deer step out beside it. They're both legal bucks! They stand looking north for a moment, well out of my range. Several more deer break cover from behind the bucks, and rush down the canyon wall into a gully. The bucks stand a moment longer and follow. The gully leads down into the canyon near the apple orchard. While a big part of me doubts that the bucks are actually going to come off the ridge, I decide I better go over there and see if I can head them off. As I'm deciding, I see another figure coming down the west ridge from the north. So the deer were caught between two sets of hunters. I offer Kat the option of sitting tight and seeing what comes down the escape route, or coming with me. She chooses to sit. I head out, moving fairly quickly off the little ridge and into the Long Meadow. I'm stopping occasionally to glass the hillsides, tracking the movement of the other hunters as well as looking for signs of those bucks. Usually, bucks jumped on the ridge will cross over to the west side and hide down in the steep thickets. But with so many hunters up there, I'm hoping they'll break cover and come into the canyon with us. As I cross onto the old road by the orchard, I see a figure coming toward me from the north. Another hunter! Damn! As I stop to wait for him to see me, I look around and see another man halfway up the east ridge, and the two trucks from earlier have come down the road parallel. They're driving the canyon! This is what I'd hoped for earlier, when I set Kat up on the escape route, but I didn't expect quite the chaos I'm seeing this morning. As the first hunter draws near, I spot another to the west, on the other side of the orchard. Three drivers in the canyon, and one up on the ridge. Plus those other two guys. I briefly greet the first hunter and ask if there's anyone else. He points to the two guys I spotted earlier, and the one on the ridge. I ask if he's seen anything, and he says he only saw two does which he pushed up to the east. Either he's lying to me, or he didn't see the action up top. As fast as he's moving though, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't see the bucks. I let him go on, and I continue back the way he'd come. There's another escape route back here, and I hope I'm not too late. As I head back, I hear a couple of shots. They're close, but I don't think it's in the canyon. 1000 - I guess I was too late. Either that, or those bucks circled back over the ridge and went down the other side like I'd expected. Anyway, I watch as the drivers meet the trucks at the trailhead and go on down the road. I'm glassing around, and to the north I spot movement up near the road. I see several guys, and realize they're dragging a deer down out of a gully. That would explain the shots. As I glass, I keep coming back to watch their progress. They reach the road and load the deer into a truck. Instead of jumping in and leaving, though, they walk to the other side of the road and look down. The canyon I call Kokopelli Valley doesn't really end where I am standing (about 1 mile from the trailhead), but kind of forks. The westward fork peters out into the west ridge pretty quickly, but the east fork winds into a narrow gully for maybe another mile or so to the north. The group of guys heads down into the far northern end. Then I spot two other figures in orange hats at a slide. They have another deer down! I watch as more and more figures materialize. How many hunters are in that party? 1100 - I have had enough. It's hot as blazes, easily approaching 100 degrees, and my water is almost gone. There's no more movement here and I'm also getting hungry. I head back to collect Kat, and we go back to camp. She has seen the drivers, but no deer. 1200 - I can't believe the heat. I'm getting short-tempered. Kat wants to go to the creek and swim, but I'm afraid that if we leave, someone else will make camp in our spot. Finally, though, the heat is too much. I throw everything into the back of the truck and we head off down the mountain. 1230 - This is more like it. It's much cooler here by the water. I've had a sandwich and my temper is coming back under control. Kat takes a chair and goes to sit in the creek. I swim a little, drink another liter of water, and go sit with her for a while. Finally, I decide to go stretch out in the truck. 1600 - I wake up with a start! We should be down in the canyon already! We boogie back up the mountain, and as we round the turn near the trailhead my worst fears are realized. A jeep is parked at the trailhead. I recognize it as belonging to the bunch of hunters I'd seen earlier, dragging deer out of the canyon. I wonder how many of them are in the canyon now? I decide to go up the road a little ways, and work along the east ridge onto a couple of hilltops. I've seen good trails here, and expect that it's as good as anything while these guys are down in the bottom. With any luck, they'll push some deer to us. 1700 - I've set Kat up one ridge over, and I'm now perched on the side of the ridge looking down on My Hill. Through the binoculars I can see at least three guys hunting the canyon. The sun is setting directly across the canyon from me, and the direct rays are frying me. It's so hot my feet feel like they're blistering through my shoes. I can't wait for the sun to drop below the west ridge. 1730 - I've spotted several more hunters in the canyon. Three are moving from the north, and there are two or three along the east and west ridges. None of them are as high up as Kat and I, though, so I think we're safe. They're pushing through the thickets at the north end of the apple orchard. 1745 - A shot rings out across the canyon. It's definitely close. two or three more follow. Someone's shooting long range at a deer. I've heard that before. After about six shots, it stops. I'm watching the drivers to see if one of them fired the shots. They're communicating with radios, so I expect to see them go toward the shooter's position, or the downed game (if it's down). Instead, I see them begin packing up and heading toward the trailhead. It's as if the hunt is over. The drivers are no longer moving stealthily, but walking along chatting with one another as their trails converge. I had sadly miscounted the number of hunters, and it suddenly seems as if the whole canyon is moving. When all is done, I count 15 hunters in the group! Well, so much for an evening hunt here. If there was any game, it's been run out now! After all the drivers have collected and moved to the trailhead, I decide to call it a day. They are leaving, so Kat and I can have our campsite back at any rate. 1800 - I stop to see if Kat wants to hunt some more, or if she wants to come back to camp with me. There's an hour and a half of shooting time left, and she wants to give it a go. She heads to the apple orchard, and I go get the truck and move it back to the trailhead. I'll remake camp, take a shower, and have a drink while she finishes her hunt. 1830 - Back at the trailhead, I find that the hunters have left their trailer, apparently intending to come back and pick it up. One of the party is still here, and I ask him how they did. In addition to the two deer I saw them dragging, he said they also took two others this morning. He didn't realize that we had gone in on the east ridge, but he said that about 1700 (when we were walking in) a nice buck came down out of the rocks and ran right by the group in the bottom. I think Kat and I must have pushed that buck out, and I'm glad in a selfish way that they didn't get him. He also explained the shooting I'd heard earlier, and said another hunter up on the west ridge had shot a buck. 1900 - The rest of the big party returned down the hill, collected their trailer and took off to make their camp for the night. I glassed the west ridge, and located the lucky hunter boning out his deer up on the hillside. I radioed Kat and told her that he was up there. I then fixed a drink and got undressed to shower. As I was getting the shampoo out of the truck, I caught movement in Surprise Meadow, about 100 yards below me. A doe and a fawn grazed across nonchalantly. Well, at least there are still deer in Kokopelli Valley. 2000 - Kat is back in camp. She didn't see anything at all on the evening hunt. Sunday, 9/08 04:15- We wake up and make plans for the day. I want to pack lunch, and spend the whole day in the field today. My plan is to start out with Kat on Katbird Ridge and myself on My Hill. After daylight, I will work my way north around the orchard and head back up onto the west ridge. I want to get up to that saddle where I'd seen the bucks, and maybe glass the bedding areas on the west side. Hopefully I'll push something out of day beds and it will run back to Kat. Or else I'll get the shot. 0530 - Kat initially had a hard time finding the trail to Katbird Ridge, so I waited until she was well on the way then headed over to My Hill. I get on up without too much problem, and don't spook any deer in the process. 0630 - Shooting light, and I hear something moving in the thicket above me. I realize that in the dark I'd picked a spot that is very exposed, but it's too late to move. Whatever is in the thicket is about to pop out. I freeze as a deer materializes out of the new growth of oaks. It's a doe, and she's walking steadily toward me. I'm right beside the main ridgetop trail. She stops at about 10 yards and looks back. I hear more rustling, and another deer comes out. I can barely make him out in the shadows, but the doe is too close for me to reach for the binoculars. She's spotted me, but she's unsure of what I am. When she puts her head down for a second, I raise the rifle and use the scope to check the sex of the second deer. No horns, but as I'm looking the doe spots me again and freezes. I'm busted. I sit with the rifle raised, propped on the fingers of my left hand. It's getting heavier and heavier, but the doe neither spooks nor ignores me. After several moments (it feels like hours) I can't take it anymore. I have to lower the rifle, deer or no deer. The doe snorts and stots up into the edge of the thicket. She stands there and blows again, then stots off out of sight. A minute or two later, she is back in the clearing. Obviously unsure of what I was, she's back. She blows again and stots off. Jr. stands there looking at me, and mom returns again. She repeats the cycle several more times before finally taking Jr. and disappearing for good into the thicket. I can finally take a deep breath and get more comfortable. I also slide back a little to have a more concealing backdrop. 0715 - I hear something coming up the hill. There's a deja vu moment, and I flash back to opening day two years ago, when a little spike came up onto the hilltop with me, and grazed acorns within 10 feet. As I'm thinking about that experience, I see a deer's head rising over the edge of the hill. I see antlers, but my excitement gives way quickly as I see that they are only thin spikes, maybe 6 or 8 inches long. I sit frozen as he tops the hill and noses the ground for acorns. I hear more movement behind him, but cannot see what other deer are with him. I hold my breath, hoping he is followed by a legal buck. I ease my .44 into my lap. Before the second deer tops the hill, the first one stops browsing and looks right at me. The wind is swirling a little, so maybe he's scented me. But instead of bolting, he starts to walk toward me like a dog. It looks for all the world like he's planning to walk right up and sniff me. He's a little alert, but not especially so. He pulls up short at a distance of no more than five feet. I'm not sure I've ever been closer to a deer in the wild. As he stops, the second deer tops the hill. This one is a smaller spike, maybe 4 inches. I move my head slightly when the second deer tops the hill. Now the first spike is on full alert, and he steps to the side. It almost looks like he wants the second deer to come up and have a look too. I can feel myself starting to grin. This is very cool. Finally the larger spike decides that things aren't exactly kosher here, and turns to stot off the way he came. The smaller spike follows, and then I hear the sound of a third set of hooves! Dang, was there another buck? Maybe the more mature buck waited below for the youngsters to recon the hill? I jump up and run to the edge and try to spot the deer. I see the larger spike, and catch a glimpse of a tail as they all dive into a gully and disappear. I move around to different vantage points, hoping to get another look, but the deer are gone. 0930 - I radio Kat and tell her what I saw, and also let her know that I'm going to head north and start working my way up to the west ridge. It's already getting hot, and I hope I've got enough water. I packed four 24 ounce bottles along with my sandwich. I work my way up the canyon, satisfied to see several sets of fresh tracks on the old road. The deer were active here last night, probably regrouping from the opening day chaos. 1100 - I'm about halfway up the west ridge. The climbing is tough, and I'm in the direct heat of the sun. I stop for a drink, and realize I've already knocked out one of my bottles of water. As I sit trying to get my breath, I hear voices above me on the ridge! Bad luck! I look up and see one of the guys from the big party yesterday. He's on the radio, and as I watch him another appears coming downhill directly toward me. I stand up, and he stops. In a moment of idiocy that absolutely infuriates me, he raises his rifle and glasses me with his scope. He lowers the rifle quickly when he sees me raising my fist in a single finger salute, and turns to go back up the hill. I decide to hang out where I am. No point killing myself to get to the ridgetop if there are already at least two people there. I have a very good view of the creekbed, as well as the north end of the orchard. This is usually a good evening hunt, so I settle in and radio Kat that I won't be pushing the ridge. 1200 - I'm eating a sandwich and relaxing as much as I can in the blazing heat when I see two does suddenly pop up out of the creekbed below. They come directly toward me, and I realize that a trail leads right below my position. I move a little for a better view, and dislodge some rocks. The does bolt back into the creekbed. As they do, two more pop out a little to the south of the first two. No antlers anywhere, so I watch as they trot away into a ravine and disappear. 1300 to 1930 - I'll cut this short because nothing else happened. I finally managed to get comfortable enough for a nap, but my position on top of a rock pile was constantly exposed to the sun. I would doze off, then wake up soaked in sweat. At last the sun went behind the ridge, and things started to cool off. About 1745 or so, I heard voices above me again, and watched in amazement as all 15 hunters from yesterday marched back up the ridge to the other trailhead. I couldn't believe they'd all been up there. No wonder I didn't see anymore deer. As dark lowered on Kokopelli Valley, I clambered down off the ridge and marched back to camp. Opening weekend is over.
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