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No Deer Hunting This Year!


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For the first time in my life, I have a coveted deer tag for Wyoming and will not be able to hunt. Planning all done, gear packed and gun sighted in. Then a week ago a fire started in the unit I had a tag for. Small at first, them exploded almost tripling it's size overnight to 100,000 acres. Wind over 50 mph 2 nights ago. IT's called the Mullen Creek fire in the Snowy Mts west of Cheyenne. Received a letter yesterday with all the forms to fill out to get a refund or another permit next year. Really disappointed, but there is next year.

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Sorry to hear this Big Sage. :(

You should inquire as to being able to get that same opportunity next year in the same area. 
 

I really hate these lottery hunting systems. It’s one of the reasons I gave up deer hunting. 

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Showing my ignorance here:

 

I know forests come back from fires better than ever for a while at least, but I don’t know how fast it happens.  Would deer/elk be able to move back into a burned area and survive within a year?

 

Bummer on having to cancel your trip.  Hope you find a fun alternative.

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Some areas they can mpve back in.

 

Wyoming will have to wait for a couple of years. I have a great combo deer/elk trip planned for here in Colorado in 2021. I have enough preference points to draw a great area next year, been waiting 10 years for this combo hunt.

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Same here.

 

Season for the zone my son and I have tags for opened yesterday.  Forests all closed.  NO refunds.  

 

I bought one tag - $33.48.  Son bought two - $75.35.  Out-of-state hunters had to pay $299.95 per tag, two tags max, plus license fee.  :(

 

Quote

 

On Wednesday, Sept. 9, the U.S. Forest Service announced the temporary closure of all national forests in California due to unprecedented and historic fire conditions. These properties are closed to the public, effective immediately, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is urging hunters to follow the order and keep away.

 

“We know that hunting opportunities will be impacted throughout the state, but no hunting opportunity is worth a human life,” said Chief David Bess, Deputy Director and CDFW Law Enforcement Division Chief.

 

California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 708(2)(b) prohibits CDFW from refunding deer tag application fees...

 

 

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19 minutes ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

Same here.

 

Season for the zone my son and I have tags for opened yesterday.  Forests all closed.  NO refunds.  

 

I bought one tag - $33.48.  Son bought two - $75.35.  Out-of-state hunters had to pay $299.95 per tag, two tags max, plus license fee.  :(

 

 

Seems like they could give you tags for next year. That's California....pretty Chicken DoDo!

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16 minutes ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

Seems like they could give you tags for next year. That's California....pretty Chicken DoDo!

Yep, and they do not care if you threaten to not fund their dept any longer through license fees. They couldn’t care less. Hence my reason for not buying here or in Oregon. Too much idiotic regulation. 

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2 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

Seems like they could give you tags for next year. That's California....pretty Chicken DoDo!

 

2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Yep, and they do not care if you threaten to not fund their dept any longer through license fees. They couldn’t care less. Hence my reason for not buying here or in Oregon. Too much idiotic regulation. 

 

And after the season you still have to report that you did not go, or pay a fine.

 

No kidding.  Bought a tag last year; didn't get to go, and forgot about it.  Had to pay a "fine" of $26.20 this year before I could buy a current tag.

 

Golly gee... they say they need the data.  Used to be you had to report a successful hunt, and the DFG folks were smart enough to figure out that "Hunh!  For this zone we sold a thousand tags.  Fifty folk reported they got deer, so that must mean that nine hunnert 'n' fifty were not successful.  Easy peasy 'rithmatic!"  

 

No mo'.   

 

Now, it's "Hey!  Let's add another worthless step to the hunting process so we can charge more for licenses to pay for it and charge folks if they don't comply!"   Silly

 

 

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1 hour ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

No mo'.   

In 2012 I lived near Sacramento. The whole time I lived in SoCal I tried to get a zone in Northern California and every year I got the “X” zone. Seriously. 10 years in a row I got X zone. Worst zone in the state. Only 2-3% success rate. So in 2012 I picked “A, B” and I think it was “Aa” or “A1” zones.

Thise dirty rotten no good Muthahumpin’ bastages sent me another X zone area permit. I was furious. I called but could only leave a message and boy did I leave a message!

I got a letter in the mail explaining that I wasn’t “lucky” enough to pull a good zone so I was given a permit in a zone I was familiar with.........:angry:

 

I think they figured out that I didn’t get a deer that year because I sent my permit back to them with the words “Shove this up your A**es” sprawled across it. They also got a letter telling them how I felt about their bureaucratic cesspool of morons, idiots and inbred window lickers. 
 

The CA DFG will never see a dime of my money. Oh, I guess it’s no longer DFG, it’s the Dept of Fish and Wildlife. I guess “game” made a bunch of people nervous and upset. 

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Season opener is October 1st for stick and string here. Kaya and I are going out. Over the counter tags. We can only shoot one buck per year but I think if I wanted I could shoot seven does without putting in for a draw. This year for firearms we are going to hunt opening day here in Indiana on the 14th then leave for the cabin that night. The opener there is Sunday the 15th.

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8 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

For the first time in my life, I have a coveted deer tag for Wyoming and will not be able to hunt. Planning all done, gear packed and gun sighted in. Then a week ago a fire started in the unit I had a tag for. Small at first, them exploded almost tripling it's size overnight to 100,000 acres. Wind over 50 mph 2 nights ago. IT's called the Mullen Creek fire in the Snowy Mts west of Cheyenne. Received a letter yesterday with all the forms to fill out to get a refund or another permit next year. Really disappointed, but there is next year.

We had some wicked smoke from the Mullen fire in the Cheyenne area yesterday. Ash was coming down and breathing was difficult along with eye irritation. Birds, cattle, and other wildlife were acting very strange. Even the buzzards were roosting in the middle of the day. The wind died down some and it cooled off today, we even got some rain. The sky was clear this evening. We've been smelling smoke from fires for the last month.

Rifle season opens this Thursday and I'll be in a different area. 

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26 minutes ago, Assassin said:

We had some wicked smoke from the Mullen fire in the Cheyenne area yesterday. Ash was coming down and breathing was difficult along with eye irritation. Birds, cattle, and other wildlife were acting very strange. Even the buzzards were roosting in the middle of the day. The wind died down some and it cooled off today, we even got some rain. The sky was clear this evening. We've been smelling smoke from fires for the last month.

Rifle season opens this Thursday and I'll be in a different area. 

I have a Unit 78 tag. I'll be mailing it back tomorrow for a refund.

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3 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

In 2012 I lived near Sacramento. The whole time I lived in SoCal I tried to get a zone in Northern California and every year I got the “X” zone. Seriously. 10 years in a row I got X zone. Worst zone in the state. Only 2-3% success rate. So in 2012 I picked “A, B” and I think it was “Aa” or “A1” zones.

Thise dirty rotten no good Muthahumpin’ bastages sent me another X zone area permit. I was furious. I called but could only leave a message and boy did I leave a message!

I got a letter in the mail explaining that I wasn’t “lucky” enough to pull a good zone so I was given a permit in a zone I was familiar with.........:angry:

 

I think they figured out that I didn’t get a deer that year because I sent my permit back to them with the words “Shove this up your A**es” sprawled across it. They also got a letter telling them how I felt about their bureaucratic cesspool of morons, idiots and inbred window lickers. 
 

The CA DFG will never see a dime of my money. Oh, I guess it’s no longer DFG, it’s the Dept of Fish and Wildlife. I guess “game” made a bunch of people nervous and upset. 

When I lived there I believe it was x5b was the best thing around me in Lassen Co . I drew it the first yr I lived there all the locals I knew were pissed , shot a nice 5x5 or a 10 pointer as we would call a Mi whitetail 

I was all new to this apply for a permit thing . In Mi everyone buys a combo , “two bucks” and in some areas you can shoot a doe a day if you want to buy the licenses 

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And don't forget to check the zone boundaries every year before buying your tags - they tend to change 'em from time to time, and don't exactly point out the differences.  I've gotten surprised a couple of times.  

 

Dang - when I started hunting in California we had Coastal Season/Zone, Inland Season/Zone, and a couple of "X" zones.  Now we gots somethin' like 44 different zones.  :wacko:

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20 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Showing my ignorance here:

 

I know forests come back from fires better than ever for a while at least, but I don’t know how fast it happens.  Would deer/elk be able to move back into a burned area and survive within a year?

 

Bummer on having to cancel your trip.  Hope you find a fun alternative.

I've hunted burn areas for elk a few years after a burn.  Aspen groves resprouted from their roots and provided elk easy browsing.  Elk herd tripled in size due to the increased food source.  However, in some areas fire was so intense it sterilized the soil and killed tree roots.  These areas did not provide food.  So will animals return to a burned area in one year?  I would scout the area before planning a hunt.

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Like you said, it depends on the area. Lots of times these fires skip areas and leave them as it was before the fires. the spotty green, forested clumps, are really gret areas for holding game. 

 

Next year I'll be hunting deer and elk here in Colorado. I have enough preference point to be able to draw great tags for both. The unfortunate thing is that will probably be the last time for me for these tags. It took me 10 years of saving points and hunting less desirable areas to get enough to draw the unit. I am 79 and in 10 years , who knows. Just thankful to still be hunting.

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20 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

Some areas they can mpve back in.

 

Wyoming will have to wait for a couple of years. I have a great combo deer/elk trip planned for here in Colorado in 2021. I have enough preference points to draw a great area next year, been waiting 10 years for this combo hunt.

 

Which area?  I just hunted deer in 511 and burned all my points to get it.  I have four points for elk and I'm going to try Ranching for Wildlife.

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I'll be hunting 70 4th season. Be careful with RFW . I've hunted it twice and won't do it again. These ranches, in order to get their tags to resell to their hunters and outfitters, have to let a few resident hunters access to their property, no trespass fees. The ranches set their own season and rules for the hunters who get drawn for a RFW tags. My experience has been they let the RFW hunters in after their own hunters are done with their hunts. On 1 ranch, never saw an elk. The other one, I got the only bull and my partner got the only cow on the ranch for 40 RFW hunters. The best RFW ranches, take a ton of points to draw. Just beware........

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23 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Showing my ignorance here:

 

I know forests come back from fires better than ever for a while at least, but I don’t know how fast it happens.  Would deer/elk be able to move back into a burned area and survive within a year?

 

Deer/elk will move back into a devastated area the moment vegetation begins sprouting again. They actually like burned stands of trees because it makes it easier to see any predators that might be trying to sneak up on them. Ground cover usually bounces back within a year of a burn.

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