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Northside Unit success or failure this year ?- lets hear from others that hunted Northside.
Me and my dad put in 10 days in the keeney camp- long creek - kahler butte area- I must of hiked 3 to 5 miles a day in camos- fully descented- seen on average 30 to 50 doe or yearlings a day. took 6 days to finally find something with horns- midafternoon going up a spur road about a 1/4 mile in and above 3 deer camps I finally jumped 6 does with 2 bucks about 200 yards out- a 4x4 and a fork- by the time I got a opening for a shot they were running downhill away from me at around 300 yards mixed with the does- the fork finally cleared the does breifly and I dumped him -never seen the 4x4 again after the first sighting he must of stayed in cover- hunted 4 more days and the only other buck we seen was a big rack that blasted in front of us while driving to a hunt near keeney flats - we were in that nasty lodge pole pine reprod that is thick and tight- on both sides of us for 1/4 mile - he blasted across the road 50 yards in front of us from 1 thicket to the next only seeing the flash as he went across- I tracked him for 1/4 mile then gave up as he was headed downhill into nasty reprod.
I have hunted this unit many years and to me the total population of deer was down 50% or more and the buck to doe ratio was horrid compared to previous years- atleast I got my deer- but feel for my dad at 76 that he didnt connect on what he feels maybe his last year of hunting.
I did get into elk several times - including a herd of 20 cows and 1 massive 7x7 that i got to spend 15 minutes with at 50 yards from them . got many pictures of them and him and a 1 minute 30 second video of him - FUN! we were in a drive hunt on a 2 mile sidehill and I had to carefully alert them to my presence without them blasting off and spoking everything for 1/2 mile around- I whistled 3 times and they just looked my direction and sniffed some and kept grazing- finally had to stand and make movement for them to spot me and slowly they moved off.
Seen 1 black bear at about 80 yards up on kahler butte briefly - maybe a 250 to 300 pounder.
Overall a enjoyable hunting experience but disappointed in the deer population and buck doe ratio of the area to years past.
I'll get a photo of the fork up as soon as I get back to dads to take 1 - unusual he is in lopesided horn growth - one side much shorter and both sides still covered in velvet- weird
We did see a few camps with meat hanging but there were alot more camps without something hanging then with.
Lets hear how you did in the Northside unit!
Me and my dad put in 10 days in the keeney camp- long creek - kahler butte area- I must of hiked 3 to 5 miles a day in camos- fully descented- seen on average 30 to 50 doe or yearlings a day. took 6 days to finally find something with horns- midafternoon going up a spur road about a 1/4 mile in and above 3 deer camps I finally jumped 6 does with 2 bucks about 200 yards out- a 4x4 and a fork- by the time I got a opening for a shot they were running downhill away from me at around 300 yards mixed with the does- the fork finally cleared the does breifly and I dumped him -never seen the 4x4 again after the first sighting he must of stayed in cover- hunted 4 more days and the only other buck we seen was a big rack that blasted in front of us while driving to a hunt near keeney flats - we were in that nasty lodge pole pine reprod that is thick and tight- on both sides of us for 1/4 mile - he blasted across the road 50 yards in front of us from 1 thicket to the next only seeing the flash as he went across- I tracked him for 1/4 mile then gave up as he was headed downhill into nasty reprod.
I have hunted this unit many years and to me the total population of deer was down 50% or more and the buck to doe ratio was horrid compared to previous years- atleast I got my deer- but feel for my dad at 76 that he didnt connect on what he feels maybe his last year of hunting.
I did get into elk several times - including a herd of 20 cows and 1 massive 7x7 that i got to spend 15 minutes with at 50 yards from them . got many pictures of them and him and a 1 minute 30 second video of him - FUN! we were in a drive hunt on a 2 mile sidehill and I had to carefully alert them to my presence without them blasting off and spoking everything for 1/2 mile around- I whistled 3 times and they just looked my direction and sniffed some and kept grazing- finally had to stand and make movement for them to spot me and slowly they moved off.
Seen 1 black bear at about 80 yards up on kahler butte briefly - maybe a 250 to 300 pounder.
Overall a enjoyable hunting experience but disappointed in the deer population and buck doe ratio of the area to years past.
I'll get a photo of the fork up as soon as I get back to dads to take 1 - unusual he is in lopesided horn growth - one side much shorter and both sides still covered in velvet- weird
We did see a few camps with meat hanging but there were alot more camps without something hanging then with.
Lets hear how you did in the Northside unit!
