Paunsaugunt Archery!!
Duckdude
5/5/08 10:25pm
After 9 long years, I finally got my tag! I'm totally stoked about hunting in the land of the giants. Whether the Pauns is down or not, it's still a spot where a guy could get get an absolute toad. I live in Northern CA and plan on heading down there around the end of July for a scouting trip and back again a week or so before the season. I'll have around 10 days to hunt, so hopefully this is all enough to find the bucks.
I've never been there before, so if anyone has any information on where to start or what to expect, I would totally appreciate it.
Thanks,
Duck
I've never been there before, so if anyone has any information on where to start or what to expect, I would totally appreciate it.
Thanks,
Duck
28,434
I spend quite a bit of time there, actually LOTS. :)
Find bucks all the time, some big and some not so big. :thumb
I'll give you a few ideas and keep you posted as to what I think. I don't start looking much until about the middle of July though.
DD
I know with archery, sometimes you can be snakebit on the success end of it so I don't tie my happiness to the killing. I'm hoping to just see some nice bucks and have a few chances.
Hammnit
MA
Congrats and welcome, I'd still take the tag although it's not what it used to be. :thumb
No I haven't been out scouting yet. I'm leaving on Friday the 8th to go down and I'll scout until the opener. What do you mean by a hunt? Is this a good thing or a bad thing....now you've got me wondering!
Duckdude
Congrats on the tag. Lets see the buck from a few years ago.
Some pretty country for sure, thanks for sharing and I look forward to the other pics.
I wanna see a close up of that junk if you get a chance.
what is this back magic you speak of?
I actually have a couple of still pictures of him from this summer. No video of him this year, 1st year I haven't tried to film him and just went after still pics. He is going to be VERY difficult to kill IMO. He is WAY smarter than he used to be and VERY tough now. I saw him on about 3 different occasions during the summer but he really doesn't like being seen much anymore and will take off on the dead run from a LONG ways off.
Best of luck, have you seen anything good or seen any bucks taken yet?
Enjoy!!
Brett
He is one smart deer, I'll be impressed if a bow hunter takes him. And they better dang well let me know if they do. [-o< :thumb
I'm hoping he rides off into glory and dies of old age, sorry guys. His body is HUGE agreed.
:not-worthy :not-worthy 10sign:10sign:
thanks brett, i needed a fix
9er
Yes he had the little drop junk last year on the side of his face, might be a touch longer this year?
Haven't heard this myself, hope someone can confirm if true.
10sign:
I've had a blast watching him, this is the first year I didn't get any video of him. I left the video camera at home at went for still pics. Man it's tough. I doubt I'll draw a tag so I'm hoping he runs his time and old age gets him. :)
-Muleyarcher07
Welcome and thanks for sharing the story. I believe I know who you are through a friend and yes your correct as several skilled archers have came close and for whatever reason haven't been able to seal the deal. He is getting smarter and tougher every year it seems. This year is was WAY more difficult then I've ever seen him.
How do I go about seeing your video, you would make my day. :thumb
-Muleyarcher07
Brett
Glad to see that the Pauns thread is still alive and kicking.
As for Black Magic, I lucked into an encounter with him 2 days before the season. I got some decent footage of him with a group of other bucks. Black Magic definitely gets your attention! I hunted the area the first two days of the season and I gave up on him and another couple of bucks that I was after. They were in a big wide open flat, but it was adjacent to some thick stuff. I imagine that they go back into the thick stuff once the pressure hits.
I ended up having a great hunt. All I can say for the Pauns is that if it's down now....damn, what was it like before? Must have been pretty awesome.
Yes the Pauns is down from what it used to be trust me. :)
Black Magic is a site to behold isn't he. Did you tag out?
What a buck!! 10sign:
Congrats on a fine looking animal and thanks for sharing him, lets see some more photos. :thumb
We saw 5 different cactus bucks, including Black Magic two days before the season opened. The buck I got was around the 5th to 7th biggest buck of the trip. I was told about my buck and another much larger buck running together from a guy on one of these websites. His information was dead on. It took me 5 days of hunting this area before I finally ran into the bigger of the two. He was a mid-thirties gigantic deep forked 4x4 that was near perfect. After a couple of close encounters, unfortunately I couldn't get a shot at him. The next day I went back into the same area and ended up catching my buck bedded with a couple of others. After a 26 yd shot, my hunt was over. Even though I didn't end up with the bigger buck, I was totally pumped with the one I did get. Like I mentioned, he was 29.5 inches wide and 20 inches tall. He has a short back tine and is missing one eyeguard. With that, he'll end up grossing in the 180's and I'll find out what he nets later.
Anyways, the Pauns is definitely a special place. Just don't go down there and expect to see big bucks everywhere. You still have to do your homework and hunt hard if you want a good one.
DD
My guess is 190+ gross and net in the 180s
great buck, awesome main beams and g4's congrats.