Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Ugly scouting trip

Well I hit the Yolla Bolly Wilderness (northern California) for a scouting trip and was pretty disappointed. I walked alot of miles and blurred my eyes looking dawn to dusk but saw almost nothing. For my efforts I saw two does on the road driving in, 7 bear including a monster in the 400lb range that was a unbelievable blonde shade, a mountain lion, missed a coyote and had a little bear try to steal my pack at least twice at night.

This is an area where I have seen dozens of deer and a couple of bachelor herds on previous scouting trips. Some of the main trails look like deer freeways even during the season. It was odd to not see any fresh tracks or beds. The deer are migratory and it looks like they just never came back up the mountain for summer.

There is water everywhere and tons of food, the bears look fatter than ever. We did get a June snowstorm and there were a few snow banks left in the shady areas. Im hoping the late snow just threw them off a bit, our season starts in the middle of September.

7 bears, one of that description, a cougar, and a run in that you can laugh about with a bear?

Man, can I get one of your "ugly" scouting trips? Deer are easy 'round here, it's the other stuff...

7 bears,a mountain lion and they all look FATTER than ever? hmmmmmm I got an ideer where the deer went

There are definetly times I wish I had a tag and the fact that I never get one means I will always see the biggest bears at rock throwing distance. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I guess ugly should have been qualified to say I was disappointed in the lack of deer. I was equally disappointed I did not bring my camera, the video of the monster bear did not turn out as well as I wanted (just to far away and it would have been a full day of hiking to cross the canyon and try to find him in the brush).

I could laugh at the little bear later but when he brushed up against the tent he was big enough to keep me from getting to much sleep. The second time around I could see he wasn't over 100 pounds but I was worried momma was going to show up. Im sure with more bear experience I will become more comfortable but this was a first for me to reach out and smack him with the barrel of my rifle to get him off of my pack. Sure made the imagination go wild for the rest of the night.

Well, that new Bisley .45LC ought to make things a bit more comfortable next time out... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

VAnimrod, did you get the stainless 5.5" Bisley?


Okie John

Varmintsinc my buddy and I are heading into the Yolla Bollys this afternoon for an overnight bivy. Everytime we go in there I always see more bears than anything. I heard a while back that they were releasing problem bears from the major parks but you know how rumors are.
I am thinking we are going to hit the south end. I will let you know how it goes. I usually hit the Trinity Alps, but the Yolla Bollys are a good conditioning trip. Take care, Matt

Matt,
I usually head out of the Green Springs trailhead and go north from there. There is still water everywhere and some big snow banks. It was 100 degrees in Corning but about 85 on the top of the hill, low for the night was only 75. Im sure this is not the best scouting weather but I still usually see deer despite the heat. Lots of coyote sign at the lower elevations so bring a call.