7 points in Ca and I was able to draw an X12 tag, thanks to the recommendation by some of the fellas on this forum. I E-scouted all summer and searched everywhere, any conversation I could find online for any morsel of info. I had been in contact with a local from Bridgeport named Jim that had spent his lifetime running around the eastern Sierra.
I expressed to Jim I was not a road hunter and willing to put in the work, we had several conversations and was forthcoming with good information. He recommended the last 2 weeks of the season, hoping for cold weather to get the deer on their feet. I chatted with Jim all summer and soon found myself in his door step introducing myself. We spoke briefly and I was off to a recommendation in the backcountry. We spent a few days deep in the wilderness with camp on our back and nights in the low teens! Deer were moving but I was still left searching for a toad. Having waited 7 years I had no intention of shooting an average buck.
Back into town to have a warm meal and chat with Jim. This is where my season took a turn, I can only assume that after Jim saw the work I was willing to put in, and my determination he proceeded to give me directions to “the land of milk and honey” his personal hunting spot!! I was excited to get back into the wilderness but unfortunately my hunting partner was exhausted and could not handle another trip into the woods and the brutal cold. A quick trip to bring him home to San Diego, and visit my wife and I was back in Bridgeport the next day!
The next hike was 5.5 miles and well over 2k feet of elevation. I found myself at 9500’ way into a massive canyon that most will only visit on horseback. I made it to what I would make my base camp and quickly found my Sawer water filter was busted! Not enough fuel to boil water for eating and drinking my time would be limited. But I stayed positive and hunted hard, the local fires made it tough to glass.
This is where things got interesting, in just a day and a half the mountains were full of quality bucks! I saw no less than half a dozen 4x4’s mature bucks all over the woods. The place was a gold mine! On the first full evening I glassed up 3 mature 4x4’ I took my time and picked the best buck out of the group. Best I could tell he was a 170’+ deer. I ranged him and settled in for a shot. One shot “bang” he fell to his knees and did not take a step, I quickly reloaded and watched for a follow up shot. The bucked rolled on his back and was down for the count! I got back in the binos and made sure he was down and not moving. Having confidence I just whacked a stud I gathered up my knife and game bags to go to work. I marked my GPS as the sun was setting and headed to the deer. To my horror he was gone!!! Blood covered the ground but he was no where to be found, I did my best to trail him but there was little to find for blood outside of the voluminous amount where he tipped over. I spent that night and most of the next day trying to locate the buck, unfortunately with no success.
Heart broken I lost a toad of a buck and worse that I wounded an animal. I could not bring myself to consider hunting any further. I packed up camp and hiked down the mountain. I made a quick stop to say thank you to Jim for all his help.
With my tail between my legs I drove home. I’ll never forget the lessons learned from this hunt, I pray when I draw X12 again my legs can get me back into that glorious country. If anyone has 5+ points X12 is an amazing unit, and some areas in my opinion are the best mule deer hunting I have ever seen.
I expressed to Jim I was not a road hunter and willing to put in the work, we had several conversations and was forthcoming with good information. He recommended the last 2 weeks of the season, hoping for cold weather to get the deer on their feet. I chatted with Jim all summer and soon found myself in his door step introducing myself. We spoke briefly and I was off to a recommendation in the backcountry. We spent a few days deep in the wilderness with camp on our back and nights in the low teens! Deer were moving but I was still left searching for a toad. Having waited 7 years I had no intention of shooting an average buck.
Back into town to have a warm meal and chat with Jim. This is where my season took a turn, I can only assume that after Jim saw the work I was willing to put in, and my determination he proceeded to give me directions to “the land of milk and honey” his personal hunting spot!! I was excited to get back into the wilderness but unfortunately my hunting partner was exhausted and could not handle another trip into the woods and the brutal cold. A quick trip to bring him home to San Diego, and visit my wife and I was back in Bridgeport the next day!
The next hike was 5.5 miles and well over 2k feet of elevation. I found myself at 9500’ way into a massive canyon that most will only visit on horseback. I made it to what I would make my base camp and quickly found my Sawer water filter was busted! Not enough fuel to boil water for eating and drinking my time would be limited. But I stayed positive and hunted hard, the local fires made it tough to glass.
This is where things got interesting, in just a day and a half the mountains were full of quality bucks! I saw no less than half a dozen 4x4’s mature bucks all over the woods. The place was a gold mine! On the first full evening I glassed up 3 mature 4x4’ I took my time and picked the best buck out of the group. Best I could tell he was a 170’+ deer. I ranged him and settled in for a shot. One shot “bang” he fell to his knees and did not take a step, I quickly reloaded and watched for a follow up shot. The bucked rolled on his back and was down for the count! I got back in the binos and made sure he was down and not moving. Having confidence I just whacked a stud I gathered up my knife and game bags to go to work. I marked my GPS as the sun was setting and headed to the deer. To my horror he was gone!!! Blood covered the ground but he was no where to be found, I did my best to trail him but there was little to find for blood outside of the voluminous amount where he tipped over. I spent that night and most of the next day trying to locate the buck, unfortunately with no success.
Heart broken I lost a toad of a buck and worse that I wounded an animal. I could not bring myself to consider hunting any further. I packed up camp and hiked down the mountain. I made a quick stop to say thank you to Jim for all his help.
With my tail between my legs I drove home. I’ll never forget the lessons learned from this hunt, I pray when I draw X12 again my legs can get me back into that glorious country. If anyone has 5+ points X12 is an amazing unit, and some areas in my opinion are the best mule deer hunting I have ever seen.
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