x9a

[fritojay]

we went scouting up in x9a last wed-sat.myself,two young sons and a hunting buddy from nev. camped at big springs and scouted from north west of lee vining to west of crowley lake.we scouted mostly around 9,000-10,000 ft.
we did see lots of does and fawns but only one very small spike buck.

not knowing the area very well most of our time was spent learning are way around the dirt roads and trails.we found lots of track and droppings,just not a lot of bucks.
we did gps some good looking areas and plan on hiking up to higher ground once we actually hunt. w'ell hunt the last week of the season.
a couple of questions.
1.by october do the deer usually come down lower.(8000-9500 ft)
2.we found some great looking spots in the sage flats and rolling sage hills east of the 395,but only lots of does.do the bucks start showing in those areas by october or does it totally depend on the weather

w'ell camp at glass creek campgrounds this time when we hunt, i'm no softy but i have never smelled pit toilets like i did at big springs.
any answers appreciated.
fritojay

[YORT40]

Fritojay,
Around the middle of Sept. there should be frost on the ground, if not earlier. If you are lucky, a big snow storm in Oct. The flats will have some bucks floating around. In past years I've been up high having to listen to all the action way down low.

[fritojay]

yeah i was wondering when the first snows would hit up high since you can still see snow up top.hey,one more question:who do you recommend in bishop to take game for processing.there are three of us with tags so hopefully we have some luck.one thing is for sure,that is some awesome country.
we went from 100 ft below here in el centro to 10,000 the first day
frito jay

[YORT40]

Theres only one horse in town. Go see Mike @ the Meat house on Main St. of Bishop, right next to Culvers Sporting Goods. If you stop-by on the way to your hunt, he has his cell phone # posted on the door so if you are coming in at closed hours with a animal, he can be reached to meet you.

[karstic]

Yort

Do you know how much Mike charges to process a deer?

[Steve K]

Thank YORT40! Hay it sure would be a big help if someone going through Bishop and has time to stop at "THE MEAT HOUSE" maybe post his hours and cell phone number, I know for sure I'd appreciate it.

[subfan]

If I remember right, he charged me $85 last year for my order. He was about a week behind on processing.

[YORT40]

Ya, $85.00 was the going price. If you want a lot of jerky cuts, it may be more. Usally takes a week or so to get your meat ready. Also, I believe Mike can make arrangements to have your meat sent to So. Cal. Business hours are 9 to 5, mon - sat. Closed on sunday. Like I said, call his cell and he will open up. (unless he has his own tag to fill). 760-937-6427

[Steve K]

Thanks YORTY.
Steve K.

[jerkee]

Jeez, he got me for $120 last year. I thought that was high considering a cow elk cost $100 in Utah.

[Capt. Nixon]

FritoJay--

I just got back from a last-minute scouting trip in x9a. I found a bunch of nice bucks in the sage east of 395. So they are there...i'm just hoping there will be even more come the last week of the season. I think you see more does only because they are less concerned about humans than bucks are.

I was hiking around yesterday and scared up about 8 does. They were about 200 yards from me and i continued to watch them for a while until they went into a draw and disappeared. I kept glassing the area hoping to see some bucks. I eventually left. After walking only about 10 yards i turned around for one last look, and to my surprise i saw 5-6 bucks right where the does were. I think those bucks just hide from us better.

[fritojay]

capt. nixon, thanks for the info about bucks east of the 395. it sure looked good to us where we were scouting but after only seeing does i was starting to wonder.i think we will probably start on the west side.weve seen some nice areas that were up around 10000 ft and fairly easy for this out of shape fellow to get to.im just planning on being out all day and being patient (not my strong suit).
good luck to ya,we are staying at glass creek campground,driving a 2000 chevy z-71 w/ a faded flag on the back window.if you see us stop and say hi,we are hunting the last week of the season.

p.s. what can we expect weatherwise,it seems like it is pretty warm up there still.
(hope for early snow!!!)
fritojay

[Capt. Nixon]

I'm pretty sure i'll be up there that weekend...if i am...i'll stop by. Good Luck!