2018 General Season Fun!!!

Well its that time of year that the big game season is starting to wind down and we start to transition to upland birds and waterfowl. Our season officially started in April with Turkeys and Wild Pigs and we have been at it ever since chasing Blacktail deer, Pronghorn and Mule deer.


The Spring found us out in the green landscapes chasing wild turkeys and boar. We hunted public land as well as some private and were able to connect on numerous birds and a nice 175lb boar.  The highlight was taking a good friend and his grandson out for the grandsons first hunting experience. My self and friend were able to connect to two toms the first day and a tom and jake the second. It was an amazing weekend and you could see the passion in the grandsons eyes by the end of the trip.

Grandfather and Grandson packing out the public land birds!

 Emily and I with a public land Double!

Emily and Scott (Brother) With a nice rainy day Tom.

My Spring Boar.


May through July we spent traveling as well as getting in some fishing. We were able to land plenty of Salmon, Kokanee, Trout and Mackinaw.

Nice California Mack

Some fat Kokanee

Keeper King Salmon

Scott with a nice King

Emily with a nice King

August put us in the mountains of Mendocino County chasing Blacktails and pigs in A and B zones. A zone was very productive, putting a few pigs on the ground as well as a nice 16 inch fork for Emily. The other highlight was watching a father son on their first hunt together take a giant pig! What a Hunt!

JP and Wyatt with their Giant Boar!

Happy Hunter

Emily getting ready for the shot.

Emily's buck

The B zone trip was epic with some close encounters with bear, pigs and nice bucks. JP and myself were able to connect on a five day adventure taking some great deer with our bows. My Buck expired down in a steep draw and the entire group came in and helped me pack him out. Its times like these where I feel the most lucky to have these kinds of people to share this passion with.

JP's Buck

My buck

The pack out crew

September took us half way across the country to the middle of Wyoming for Pronghorn. Its was a wonderful group hunt with both of our dad getting to join us. All of us got great pronghorn plus a few bonus does. Pronghorn meat is one of our favorites and this trip filled the freezer.

Emily's Doe

Johns (Emily's Dad) Doe

Emily's wide 75" buck

Johns Heavy buck

My Dada using the home-made game pole

My pop with his 80" buck!

JP's Buck

My Old buck before the shot

My 75" buck

October took us to Idaho for Moose! A good friend of mine drew a moose tag in the same unit I had drawn in 2016. It was a great hunting helping out a good friend. We spotted 14 different bulls and were able to connect on a giant 43 inch bull.

Small Bull bedded in the sage.

The giant emerges!

All Smiles!

Before the shot

October also meant Mule Deer season! My dad had drawn a tag in Nevada in a unit we had never hunted. We only had 4 days so we tried to make the most of it. On Day two I was able to find a nice 24" 5x4 and my dad made the shot at 323 yards. He was all smiles.

My pops buck before the shot.

Nice 3x3

Helping pack out

His 8 bonus points were well worth it!

That is it for now, next up will be more bird hunts as well as a December Mule deer hunt in Nevada!

2016 California Big Game Wrap up

2016 was a great year for us in our home state. We were able to get out at least once a month from July through October, experience some great places and put some awesome animals in the freezers.

July brought A zone archery deer and pigs. We were able to hunt two different ranches and put numerous stalks on some nice bucks and even get some shots. The deer didn't work out but Emily was able to connect on a nice 70 lb boar. She was all smiles.

August and September brought another A zone and a B zone deer hunt with our bows. We saw some nice bucks in both zones but were again not able to connect. The pigs however cooperated great! Emily was able to put down another great meat hog and I was able to take two great tuskers. All three pigs with our bows! That's 4 great hogs for 2016!!!

 

October brought cooler weather and a B zone and X zone hunt. The B zone hunt was in the eye of the storm, we hunted for 3 days in the rain and wind and saw over 30 deer before finding a decent fork. One shot at 150 yards did the trick.

Emily's X zone hunt was a blast! It was warmer weather than we wanted but we were able to get on some great bucks and by day 7 Emily connected with a nice 4x3.

 

Emily's Buck before the shot.

That wraps up California Big Game season for us. I still have a bear tag however with an Idaho deer hunt still on schedule I think I will pass on the bear hunting. 4 pigs and 2 bucks made 2016 California another blessed year for stories and the freezers.