Find a way or make a way

[B W E]

So i've got one scouting trip under my belt. I don't really now what I'm doing, so we basically found a secluded chunk of BLM surrounded by millions of bucks and headed for the middle of it. 6 hours later we get detained by Fish & Wildlife because he wasn't aware that the BLM land existed. We saw a grey squirrel. And a pile of deer bones that was aced by a mountain lion.

Today I headed out to another spot that looks promising (to someone who doesn't know what "promising" looks like) Approaching my spot, I get to a gate saying "road closed to motor vehicles" and was still several miles away from where I wanted to be. So.... I came up with this..... I believe I can ride all the way to where I want to glass for a couple hours, and when Im actually hunting, it will certainly help to expedite the exodus from the field.

Picked it up on Craigslist for $45. I can haul all of my gear in it, wear comfortable riding clothes, and in the event I need to hoof it, I can change and go. This may even help to get farther into the hills, faster, than everyone else in the area.

 

[d16ridgehiker]

Where there's a will there's a way. Go for it.

 

[Srfnkill]

I like it!

 

[motorhead]

You,ll be making lots of friends with that.....

 

[baboltin]

haha very nice !

 

[8SteelTown]

It'll be funny if you come along a hiker or mountain biker and they look in to see your baby and end up finding a meat pile!

 

[Bowman]

hahahaha that's for sure. great thinking out of the box. good luck to you.

 

[Deleted member 27310]

I believe that's what it takes to be a successful hunter, doing what you think works... trial and error. Good Luck I can already imagine a buck in that cart doing 5 mph down the hill... good luck and keep us posted.

 

[B W E]

On our way for a scouting trip now. The best part is it folds completely flat and there's a quick release to remove the wheels....would easily fit in a trunk. I'll take pics of it loaded up and let y'all know how she does.

 

[Lungpopper]

"we get detained by Fish & Wildlife because he wasn't aware that the BLM land existed"

Just wondering what this conversation was like?

 

[Sdbirds]

I'm doing that this year

 

[B W E]

"we get detained by Fish & Wildlife because he wasn't aware that the BLM land existed"

Just wondering what this conversation was like?

I had to show him all the maps I had on my phone, with the BLM overlays. He had nothing on him to prove I was trespassing, with the exception of a no trespassing sign posted right where we were standing that was illegally posted by an organization that represented the local landowners (this organization no longer exists).

All of my maps clearly showed the road he was on butted up against the land I was on, and his argument was that the 6' of land between the edge of the road and where I was standing (the easement) was private property. I even have an overlay that shows all private land with the name if the owner, which I used to dispute that. In the end, he took a picture of the map on my phone, gave me back my handgun, and let's us go.

This past Monday I called DFG in Fresno because I wanted to solidly establish we were legal the entire way in the event we decide to go back. I got a call back from his supervise who confirmed we were good, and then the officer we dealt with called shortly after and apologized.

 

[motorhead]

LOL.. LOL that is awesome to here. Nothing like being prepared and knowing the lay of the land. Sounds like you did your homework on the area you were in.

 

[ilovesprig]

Outstanding work on your part and great gesture from DFW law enforcement............10


Doubtful that scenario would be the same down here in SD.......... :-\

 

[B W E]

OK, so we have one successful scouting trip with the Meat Wagon. In all honesty, while it was much faster than hiking, and we brought a ton of crap with us, there were several times (go up hills) when I asked myself "What the F were you thinking?" My taint took a constant beating for 13 miles.

The wagon itself is about 20 lbs, and we had almost 2 gallons of water in it, 2 folding chairs, hiking boots and a change of clothes, binos, rangefinder, 3 MREs, first aid stuff, a couple hundred feet of paracord, 2 big straw hats for shade while glassing, a poncho, a backpack to hold most of that crap, portable power to keep our phones charged, miscellaneous wrenches and tools for bike issues, 2 spare inner tubes, and.... I think thats it., Oh, and a 5lb rock, because my buddy's crank was jacked up and we had to stop every so often to pound the crank back onto his bike and re-tighten the bolt (next time we'll add a bolt kit and lock-tote to the gear list). Then we each had a camelback with miscellaneous crap in 'em.

We went 6.5 miles out and 6.5 back. Our spot was on top of a little ridge that overlooked ANF land on one side and BLM land on the other. We were about 250' above a very clear game trail leading from a small collection of pine trees across the dirt road, and down to water. Where we were and the trail & trees are on BLM. We are thinking we could set up a camp where we were and easily take a shot at deer on the game trail below us, around 200-250 yards.

All in all, we went 13 miles, glassed for an hour and 40 minutes (which included exploring the game trail, shady bedding area, and folioing tracks across the dirt road to the shady area). We started at 12:30 and got back to the truck at 5:30. Would have taken WAAAAAY longer if we were on foot.

So, I have a couple questions....

1. I am thinking of getting a game camera and setting it up in the shady area that the game trail leads to. Makes sense, right?
2. Realistically, we shouldn't see much deer activity in the middle of the day, when its 95 degrees, right? They'd be bedded down somewhere until morning, evening? I'm hoping the lack of observed deer activity does not mean there's no deer there. We did see a million tracks though.

So here's our glassing spot.....


This was taken standing at the tree I want to put a camera in.

 

[motorhead]

WOW that road/spot looks like it has had a lot of HEAVY traffic as in Tractors and equipment. Hunting season is coming up and I would want to know what is being done out there and how long there going to be there, unless it is a fire road they are maintaining. Hope you are taking the easy route in.

 

[Lungpopper]

"we get detained by Fish & Wildlife because he wasn't aware that the BLM land existed"

Just wondering what this conversation was like?

I had to show him all the maps I had on my phone, with the BLM overlays. He had nothing on him to prove I was trespassing, with the exception of a no trespassing sign posted right where we were standing that was illegally posted by an organization that represented the local landowners (this organization no longer exists).

All of my maps clearly showed the road he was on butted up against the land I was on, and his argument was that the 6' of land between the edge of the road and where I was standing (the easement) was private property. I even have an overlay that shows all private land with the name if the owner, which I used to dispute that. In the end, he took a picture of the map on my phone, gave me back my handgun, and let's us go.

This past Monday I called DFG in Fresno because I wanted to solidly establish we were legal the entire way in the event we decide to go back. I got a call back from his supervise who confirmed we were good, and then the officer we dealt with called shortly after and apologized.

Sounds like its been classified as an off limits area in the past. Nice job on your homework for that area. Look for water and you should do well.

 

[ilovesprig]

My thoughts exactly.......For a 6.5 bike in, that road looks pretty active......If you saw fresh deer sign. Then there's deer......Right now, they're very early & very late.

And congrats on going the extra mile to get it done......Your dedication will eventually pay off......

 

[B W E]

Everything up there was fire roads, and other than the somewhat recent looking maintenance, there was no other traffic. We didn't see a soul up there.

 

[Baldkrash]

That's a great idea!, May try something like that myself.