Southern California hunter David Sylvester took a great buck in 2008 from a pocket deep in a side canyon of the San Bernardino National Forest. Photo courtesy of David Sylvester.

Some hunters will swear there are no deer left in Southern California. They've either quit hunting the D Zones or pray to get drawn for a Northern California X-Zone hunt.

Then there are those who put in for out-of-state, high-dollar hunts that are equally hard to get.

But there's a third group.

These guys hang in there and put in for a D-Zone tag each year. They sometimes harvest bigger bucks within an hour's drive of their suburban homes than the other hunters do on the other side of the state or in the Rocky Mountains.

How do they do it?

It takes a combination of skills and knowledge, plus sheer doggedness to hunt this tough country.

It's tough because there are a lot of problems to deal with: ever-encroaching housing developments; increasing numbers of motorcycles and quads that roar through deer country every weekend; and the almost endless stream of mountain bikes, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts who head to the local mountains and desert on weekends.

Add to that the unforgiving nature of the habitat itself, and you have some very difficult hunting.

While deer get pushed around by all these intruders, it doesn't mean hunters have to seek the far-off reaches of wilderness areas. That can work, but hunters who seek out the tiniest pockets of habitat kill some of the best bucks taken in Southern California.

One hunter that has learned to do just that is Chad Gierlach. This archer has taken several D-Zone giants in the Los Angeles. He took a 143-inch buck in the mountains of D11, and a 136-incher in D15.

These are big deer, and when you consider that Southern California's coastal mule deer is smaller than its Rocky Mountain counterpart, the numbers are impressive.

Gierlach uses his gear to his advantage by avoiding rifle hunters.

"I've moved down out of the higher forest and into the foothills, and often quite near the suburbs," he said. "You have to find spots where you aren't trespassing on private land, and where shooting a firearm is either illegal or impractical."

There are a number of such spots along what is known as the front of the San Gabriel Mountains, just above the foothill communities of Altadena east to San Antonio Heights. This is in the D11 Zone, and there are places like this in other zones where local regulations have restricted the use of firearms. Some have early archery seasons, while others have special archery hunts that go till the end of the year.

A bowhunter with a simple archery-only tag may hunt during the rifle season, and if you are able to hunt in an area where firearms are not permitted, you have a long season.

Gierlach also uses tree stands whenever he can. He picks his locations after reviewing images from several trail cams.

"I use a lot of trail cameras to show me where the deer are," Gierlach said. "Two months before the season starts, I have a minimum of five cameras in position."

By the season opener, he has between eight and 10 different spots he could hunt. They run from D15 to D11 in different terrain and setups for various conditions.

"Things change," Gierlach said.

In one D11 spot, Gierlach would usually see at least three bucks under his tree stand. But last year, he didn't see a single deer for days. That's why he has other options ready to go.

Gierlach won't shoot bucks under 120 inches. Last year, he missed what would have been his biggest buck, a nearly 150-inch deer.

If you plan on using a stand, Gierlach said get settled in by first light. Or climb in at midday and stay till after dark.