Deer hunters last fall first alerted the  Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office to marijuana being grown in the area several miles west of Hornbrook on US Forest Service land.

The marijuana had been harvested last year, but evidence of the garden was apparent.

Aerial surveillance found water lines and marijuana being grown in the same area this year.

On Tuesday, the sheriff's office and members of the Siskiyou  Countywide Interagency Narcotic Task Force, U.S. Forest Service, California Highway Patrol and deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department all participated in the operation.

Approximately 10,000 marijuana plants were harvested, and an estimated 30,000 plants remain.

At least six suspects have been living in the garden and were confronted Thursday by authorities.

The suspects dropped a pistol and a semi-automatic weapon and fled on foot. As of Friday they hadn't been detained, and authorities believed them still to be in the area.

Camps, kitchen areas and a lookout tower were found in the garden.