Four of us (Don, Dan, John and me, Jerry) met at the Coffee Creek Campground just north of Trinity Center (west of Redding) on Thursday, September 15th to set up camp. "Camp" was comprised of a 12 x 14' Outfitter's tent and all the necessary other "stuff" for a nice comfortable stay. As wet weather was predicted, we threw up the fly over the tent, trenched it and set out a ground tarp, raised at the edges.
Friday was "Scout the area Day". As a side note, Don has been hunting this area for many years and he knows it well. I was here two years ago, so I had a fleeting knowledge of the area. Even though we blanked two years ago, we had high hopes this year, as the ground cover was in great shape after the fires. We drove all over, pointing out the landmarks to newbies Dan and John, and showed them several good spots to sit or walk. Toward the end of the day, we came to an area that Sierra Pacific Lumber was clear-cutting a few years ago. As we started down the logging road, I spotted three deer on a lower road, one buck, one doe and a yearling. We watched them for about ten minutes as they walked down the lower road, turned left, climbed the clear cut and stepped out on the upper road about 100 yards away. They then turned right and slowly walked down the upper road to a crossing and disappeared. Because of a pine tree resembling a Christmas tree, we dubbed it "Christmas Crossing".
The next day, opening day, I went to one of my favorite spots. The others spread out over the area. Although we saw deer, no one scored. The rain started in the afternoon and POURED during the night. We got a little wet inside the tent, but a slight adjustment to the ground tarp fixed it. We got to sleep in, and then went out later in off-and-on light rain. Again, no luck. Monday and Tuesday produced the same results except for one thing. Don and I were checking out "Christmas Crossing" when a large buck bolted from its hiding spot near the tree. Duly noted! John got a nice surprise when a fair-sized bear popped out about 50 yards from him for several minutes. Wednesday was a trip to Weaverville for fuel, supplies and a Starbuck's Chocolate Cream Cold Brew. Oh yeah, John got a bear tag!
Thursday, we all hit it with a vengeance. I sat on "Christmas Crossing". I had two bucks walking down the upper road, but a truck driving down the road spooked them and I never got a shot. Don sat on his favorite spot, "Jeep Shot", seeing deer, but no shots. Dan and John started up the hill, but John spotted two bucks off the side of the road. They stopped the car and walked back to where they saw the deer, rifles at the ready. Dan spotted one as it walked through the scrub brush and cranked off a quick shot, hitting the chest area and right shoulder. It struggled to limp off when John finished it with a spine shot. One deer in the bag! Liver & onions for dinner!
The next day, I again sat on the crossing. Don went back to his spot. About 7:30, two good-sized bucks started up the clear cut behind me and to my left. They were moving out, not a full-boogie run, but they weren't letting grass grow under their hooves either. The lead buck went by me about 75 yards down the cut and then turned right, coming up the hill to the road I was sitting on. My rifle was already set on its rest pointing right down the road. The deer stopped on top, 60 yards away, right at the shoulder of the road. I could tell he was NOT going to wait for an invitation to cross the road, so I just lowered the crosshairs to the center of his chest right behind the shoulder and my 308 went off! He spun around and raced down the hill. I'm yelling at him under my breath to "DROP, DROP, DROP"! FINALLY, after about 75 yards, he went head over tail several times, rolling like a pinwheel and landed in a heap. BBD! (Big Buck Down!)
I packed up my gear, went to the road crossing, and hid everything except my fanny pack behind a large bush. I then climbed, crawled and slid down the slope about 250 yards to where the buck was lying. After filling out my tag, I tried to move him. Forget it! NFW! OK...let's get rid of some weight. Even after gutting him, it was still NFW! I crawled back to the road to where my gear was stashed and waited for Don to return. After five minutes, a truck with a husband and wife hunting team drove down the road. They stopped and asked how I was doing. My reply was "Good, but not good". I told them I had a big buck down in the cut and couldn't get it out and that I was waiting for help. They immediately replied they would help. YES! They drove over to the upper road, above the deer, and broke out a long cable-pull nylon rope, just what was needed. The man and I went down to the deer and tied the rope to the antlers. The wife tied the other end to the ball-hitch of their truck and we pulled the deer up the slope, 60 feet at a time.
Just as the deer got to the top, Don showed up and we finished getting it onto the road. Don lowered the tailgate of his truck and it took all four of us to lift the deer and swing it into the truck. It was then that I saw a second deer inside the truck under a tarp. Don had also scored! It was a two-deer day! I gave the liver and heart from my deer to the good Samaritans for helping me. They were ecstatic and thankful. Earlier, Don had been sitting at his favorite spot when two bucks, both forkies, started playing "ring around the pine trees" in front of him. One was bigger than the other, and when it crossed, or so Don thought, in front of the trees, he fired. It went two feet...straight down! Unfortunately, as they were running around the trees, Don lost track of which deer was which, and he wound up shooting the smaller of the two. SBD!
We then returned to camp. We backed the truck up to our hanging tree. Dan and John set up the block and tackle and gambrel to raise my deer. Don asked, "Where's my gambrel?" They both looked at us with a WTF look on their faces. Don reached over and dropped the tarp hiding his deer. The looks on their faces was something to remember. Priceless! We had a great dinner that night...as I remember. The level of the Scotch in the bottles was a lot lower the next morning.
We have already reserved our campsite for 2023!
Friday was "Scout the area Day". As a side note, Don has been hunting this area for many years and he knows it well. I was here two years ago, so I had a fleeting knowledge of the area. Even though we blanked two years ago, we had high hopes this year, as the ground cover was in great shape after the fires. We drove all over, pointing out the landmarks to newbies Dan and John, and showed them several good spots to sit or walk. Toward the end of the day, we came to an area that Sierra Pacific Lumber was clear-cutting a few years ago. As we started down the logging road, I spotted three deer on a lower road, one buck, one doe and a yearling. We watched them for about ten minutes as they walked down the lower road, turned left, climbed the clear cut and stepped out on the upper road about 100 yards away. They then turned right and slowly walked down the upper road to a crossing and disappeared. Because of a pine tree resembling a Christmas tree, we dubbed it "Christmas Crossing".
The next day, opening day, I went to one of my favorite spots. The others spread out over the area. Although we saw deer, no one scored. The rain started in the afternoon and POURED during the night. We got a little wet inside the tent, but a slight adjustment to the ground tarp fixed it. We got to sleep in, and then went out later in off-and-on light rain. Again, no luck. Monday and Tuesday produced the same results except for one thing. Don and I were checking out "Christmas Crossing" when a large buck bolted from its hiding spot near the tree. Duly noted! John got a nice surprise when a fair-sized bear popped out about 50 yards from him for several minutes. Wednesday was a trip to Weaverville for fuel, supplies and a Starbuck's Chocolate Cream Cold Brew. Oh yeah, John got a bear tag!
Thursday, we all hit it with a vengeance. I sat on "Christmas Crossing". I had two bucks walking down the upper road, but a truck driving down the road spooked them and I never got a shot. Don sat on his favorite spot, "Jeep Shot", seeing deer, but no shots. Dan and John started up the hill, but John spotted two bucks off the side of the road. They stopped the car and walked back to where they saw the deer, rifles at the ready. Dan spotted one as it walked through the scrub brush and cranked off a quick shot, hitting the chest area and right shoulder. It struggled to limp off when John finished it with a spine shot. One deer in the bag! Liver & onions for dinner!
The next day, I again sat on the crossing. Don went back to his spot. About 7:30, two good-sized bucks started up the clear cut behind me and to my left. They were moving out, not a full-boogie run, but they weren't letting grass grow under their hooves either. The lead buck went by me about 75 yards down the cut and then turned right, coming up the hill to the road I was sitting on. My rifle was already set on its rest pointing right down the road. The deer stopped on top, 60 yards away, right at the shoulder of the road. I could tell he was NOT going to wait for an invitation to cross the road, so I just lowered the crosshairs to the center of his chest right behind the shoulder and my 308 went off! He spun around and raced down the hill. I'm yelling at him under my breath to "DROP, DROP, DROP"! FINALLY, after about 75 yards, he went head over tail several times, rolling like a pinwheel and landed in a heap. BBD! (Big Buck Down!)
I packed up my gear, went to the road crossing, and hid everything except my fanny pack behind a large bush. I then climbed, crawled and slid down the slope about 250 yards to where the buck was lying. After filling out my tag, I tried to move him. Forget it! NFW! OK...let's get rid of some weight. Even after gutting him, it was still NFW! I crawled back to the road to where my gear was stashed and waited for Don to return. After five minutes, a truck with a husband and wife hunting team drove down the road. They stopped and asked how I was doing. My reply was "Good, but not good". I told them I had a big buck down in the cut and couldn't get it out and that I was waiting for help. They immediately replied they would help. YES! They drove over to the upper road, above the deer, and broke out a long cable-pull nylon rope, just what was needed. The man and I went down to the deer and tied the rope to the antlers. The wife tied the other end to the ball-hitch of their truck and we pulled the deer up the slope, 60 feet at a time.
Just as the deer got to the top, Don showed up and we finished getting it onto the road. Don lowered the tailgate of his truck and it took all four of us to lift the deer and swing it into the truck. It was then that I saw a second deer inside the truck under a tarp. Don had also scored! It was a two-deer day! I gave the liver and heart from my deer to the good Samaritans for helping me. They were ecstatic and thankful. Earlier, Don had been sitting at his favorite spot when two bucks, both forkies, started playing "ring around the pine trees" in front of him. One was bigger than the other, and when it crossed, or so Don thought, in front of the trees, he fired. It went two feet...straight down! Unfortunately, as they were running around the trees, Don lost track of which deer was which, and he wound up shooting the smaller of the two. SBD!
We then returned to camp. We backed the truck up to our hanging tree. Dan and John set up the block and tackle and gambrel to raise my deer. Don asked, "Where's my gambrel?" They both looked at us with a WTF look on their faces. Don reached over and dropped the tarp hiding his deer. The looks on their faces was something to remember. Priceless! We had a great dinner that night...as I remember. The level of the Scotch in the bottles was a lot lower the next morning.
We have already reserved our campsite for 2023!
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