San Diego scores for mule deer
- Thread starter paulfishes
- Start date
I would think many Folks, if not most, would be surprised at just how big some bucks do get in San Diego county. Like anywhere, you need genetics, feed and AGE. Just take an evening trip to the Wild Animal Park when they are in velvet and you would be SHOCKED at the size of some of the bucks in there! A couple short hikes in Cuyamaca State Park during the rut and you will see some real dandy's as well. I took a local buck a few years back in which your hand would barley fit around it's antler at the fork...had 5 on one side and 3 on the other. That buck was aged at 9 years...OLD for San Diego! Would have loved too have found him a couple years earlier as he had unbelievable mass but looked to have been going down hill.
Why no pics Paul? He is about 97 - 104. Why don't you post a few pics Paul and let us guess? He is above average.
S
stikbrandon
Guest
View attachment 33609 View attachment 33610 View attachment 33611 View attachment 33612 View attachment 33613
Here are some good I have got in d16
I dont know how to post photos anymore. Photobucket broke or went crazy and all my old photos are jacked up. I just have pics on my phone and dont know how to upload them to this site. I can do it on Facebook because there is a button for dummies like me to push and upload.
I think people can open the files of a photo and find out where the pics were taken. Probably not the best thing to do on the internet.
How do upload from a phone to this site?
Paul,
I download all pictures on to my laptop.....Then down size them, if needed.....Normally about 35%.
I download all pictures on to my laptop.....Then down size them, if needed.....Normally about 35%.
Select more options then select up load a file then choose your picture album and select the desired pic .
Last edited:
Im a little suspicious about you killing all these bucks.
All these pics of dandy D16 bucks is why we sell out tags now LOL oh well here my best D16.
.
Last edited by a moderator:
Oh, no doubt I've seen plenty of BIG bucks with lots of points on them (the two spots you listed as well as a few other spots that I don't have permission to hunt)! It's just that the majority of bucks that I've seen in person and all of the ones I've harvested, all on public land, have been forks. I'll admit, I've been out of the hunting scene for several years for personal reasons so I don't have any recent info, but I've been following along this site as well as others. I do have an A22 that will see some cold weather mornings in a few weeks...
I have hunted D-16 since 1974 and for many years I never saw a buck with more than 3 points, and that was very rare....I'm sure they were out there, but just never got anything other than forkies.....Then the fires of 2003 happened.....Followed up by the fires in 2007 and fires near La Jolla Res and Mataquay Boy Scout Camp.....It was also at this time D-16 started selling out when the more and better bucks starting showing up on social media.
The forky gene is dominant in SD Co.....But with better habitat, bucks from a number of places that had the multi point gene started spreading thru-out the county. It is said that deer from Arizona (The Strip) were brought to Cuyamaca and Rancho Guejito.....The other factor is age.....IMO the bucks got to live longer with the better habitat as well.....Hence, many more quality deer.
ps.....If you want to see some multi pointed bucks. Go to the Wild animal Park.....These deer are from Rancho Guejito.
The forky gene is dominant in SD Co.....But with better habitat, bucks from a number of places that had the multi point gene started spreading thru-out the county. It is said that deer from Arizona (The Strip) were brought to Cuyamaca and Rancho Guejito.....The other factor is age.....IMO the bucks got to live longer with the better habitat as well.....Hence, many more quality deer.
ps.....If you want to see some multi pointed bucks. Go to the Wild animal Park.....These deer are from Rancho Guejito.
Looks like Steve just beat me to it..... 
The fires, and increase in food due to regrowth, had a lot to do with the uptick in rack size/tags sold the last 10 years. Along with the social media aspect now, where everyone can show them off, makes for some over anxious hunters......
The fires, and increase in food due to regrowth, had a lot to do with the uptick in rack size/tags sold the last 10 years. Along with the social media aspect now, where everyone can show them off, makes for some over anxious hunters......
I would also say rumors of pigs and pics of pigs taken here during deer season had some to do with it also. I have ran into hunters from LA , Orange county on several occasions who were down here looking for pigs and fugured why not have a D16 tag in their pocket. Glad all those pigs are gone now LOL
Just my opinion... but I believe D16 has a higher percentage of hunters that measure success on the "kill" rather than the hunt itself. There is nothing wrong with this but it does mean, in most cases, that anything legal is going down....even the younger/smallest forks and even does. On top of that, with forks being legal and the number of doe tags allowed...the only thing you can't take is a spike. There have been many studies that show that a spike is actually a genetically inferior deer. I sure would love to see it go to "visible horns" like almost every other state. I think you would see an increase in the available age class as most San Diego hunters would be just fine with a spike and you would be culling the inferior genetics. Too many doe tags is another issue all together.
I can tell you that as soon as the "hunt" became more important than the "kill" , that average size of the bucks I have taken became substantially larger!
In short...D16 is managed for opportunity over quality, and the occasional BIG one that hits the dirt is just proof of what could be if managed differently.
That all depends on the hunter. I can go to several spots on public land almost anytime during the year and see Big Bucks with lots of points. Its getting to them and making the long shot thats the challenge. Most guys run into a fork first and its over. From what ive seen the smaller bucks get pushed out of these hard to reach areas that hold big bucks by the big bucks.
Here one that was floating around social media a week ago. The story I read he shot it just a mile from camp. LOL Luck can happen that way also
.
Last edited by a moderator: