Deer hunting season and the fall turkey hunt, which overlapped for the first time in San Diego hunting history this year, ended last Sunday.
Reports indicated that it was a lot better hunt for bucks than it was for turkeys.
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Online: Tomorrow afternoon, look for the first of Ed Zieralski's daily reports on hunting whitetail deer in Pennsylvania. Zieralski's updates will focus on the people he meets, the experiences of the hunt and the goings-on at his deer camp in northwest Pennsylvania. The six-day series will appear at uniontrib.com/sports/outdoors
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Many hunters checked in with what were bucks of a lifetime for San Diego County.
Cris Cornette, Cal Fire captain in Julian, validated a monstrous 4x4 for Chris Sabus of El Cajon. Cornette said it was the biggest buck he'd seen taken in the county in 30 years. Sabus, who was hunting with his father, Pierre, shot it on public land in the Laguna area.
“It was so huge my dad and I had trouble getting it into the truck,” Sabus said of the buck that weighed 155 pounds dressed out. “What made it nice was that the rack was perfectly symmetrical. It's the best deer I've ever shot here.”
Cornette and his son, Cody, each shot forked horns.
Cornette said he saw more bucks on public land this year than ever and attributes it to the fact that much of the public land was burned in recent fires and thus is more accessible for deer. The land has better browse, too.
Sabus, 47, who began hunting deer here when he was 8, agreed with Cornette's assessment.
“I shot a forked horn earlier in the season that was a really nice buck,” Sabus said. “In the last four years, my dad and I have noticed a lot more deer, a lot more oversized forked horns. We're seeing some of these big bucks coming out of the desert that we never saw back in the day.”
Mark Muller of Bay Park Seafood Co. said the group he hunts with had a very productive deer hunting season, with many members taking their biggest deer ever. Muller said his buck was his best, and he also harvested an antelope in Northern California.
John Ogle and his daughters, Sarah and Rebecca, all shot bucks this fall. Sarah, 13, shot her first buck; the 3x3 with a 13½-inch spread weighed 182 pounds.
Cal Fire Battalion Chief Ernie Marugg of Lemon Grove took a nice forked horn, his first buck in 20 years of hunting San Diego County.
Jene Calloway also shot a massive, high-racked forked horn that weighed 138.2 pounds field dressed.
Turkey hunting was tougher in the fall than many wanted, but there were reports of some birds taken. Scott Cannon of Rancho Penãsquitos, with his sons, Dylan and Landon, managed two fall turkeys, both hens.
Top 10 fatties
In the wake of that world-record pending 381.1-pound yellowfin tuna caught on the Royal Star by
Dennis Williams of Carlsbad,
Bill Roecker of FishingVideos.com and the San Diego Sportfishing Council has revised his Top Ten Tuna list of all-time.
1. Mark Gasich, 399.6 pounds, Polaris Supreme, Clarion Island, Nov. 15, 1992.
2. Dave Manella, 395.4 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, Feb. 19, 1993.
3. Curt Wiesenhutter, 388.75 pounds, Royal Polaris, San Benedicto Island, April 1, 1977.
4. Dennis Williams, 381.1 pounds, Royal Star, Finger Bank, Baja, Nov. 21, 2008.
5. Al Herzog, 380 pounds, Qualifier 105, San Benedicto Island, Jan. 11, 1981.
6. Kenneth “Corky” Yokoe, 376.38 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, Jan. 5, 1996.
7. Joe Simmons, 370 pounds, Clarion Island, Qualifier 105, June 1989.
8. Dick McKenzie, 364.8 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, April 20, 1982.
9. Dick Minor, 363.9 pounds, Polaris Supreme, Roca Partida, Jan. 1993.
10. Roger Hawtree, 361.9 pounds, Royal Polaris, Clarion Island, Jan. 12, 1992.
Previous No. 12 was Jim Nemlowill, 361.63 pounds, Red Rooster III, Socorro Island, Dec. 6, 1981. And John Carbone, master rod builder James “Doc Ski” Labanowski and Capt. John Klein all pulled on a 377-pounder aboard the Qualifier 105 at Clarion Island, Dec. 14, 1991.
Ed Zieralski: (619) 293-1225; ed.zieralski@uniontrib.com
