Archery Elk Mt. Nebo

[elknr]

I drew an archery elk tag on the steep rugged Mt. Nebo.Is there anyone with any sucess stories and pics of recent hunts on nebo.Iknow i have my work cut out for me.Im pretty familar with the unit,but will appreciate any and all help or direction from you guys.Is the southern half of the unit worth scouting,or are most the elk in the northern half?any water holes off trails and roads?any help appreciated thanks

 

[AWHOLELOTTABULL]

I would concentrate on the Northeast part of the unit and the Southern. I live on the North end and ride that area quite a bit on horses and I only saw one bull in the 300" class all winter long. I have a couple of friends that archery hunt it for spikes every year and they too have said that the only bulls they have seen are a few 300-320". They do sit water a lot and basically in the same area all the time so they don't cover a lot of ground. I know that Dry Mountain usually houses a good bull or two on the East side but if I had the tag I would look hard at the South end.


It's always an adventure!!!

 

[nebo12000]

I flew part of the western side of the southern part (Nephi to Levan and north of Moroni)of the unit with the DWR. I only lasted 3 hours but in that 3 hours we counted exactly ZERO "0" elk ! Sad but true. Tried to get them to reduce the antlerless tags even more on that unit at the RAC, but didn't get far with it. I have seen the count numbers and the area they are in and the elk are concentrated in the north east section of the unit. The other parts of the unit have been decimated by antlerless harvest over the past 8 years. The elk in the northeast part of the unit are doing well because they use primarily private ground during the fall and winter months and are protected from antlerless elk permit holders. I don't see the unit making much of a come back especially now that anyone that may be hunting any hunt with any weapon can kill a cow during any of those hunts if they have an antlerless permit. My prediction is that the success ratio for antlerless elk permit holders will increase dramatically. The DWR did decrease the number of rifle tags on the unit but increased the archery tags-- smae number of hunters and revenue-- just shifted them to archery. They also decreased antlerless tags from 230 to 130 and kept the mitigation tags at 116. Looks like they took away with one hand and gave it back with the other hand. The count this past year was about 950, they then add an extra 20% which ends up about 1140 animals. The POST season objective is 1450. I guess they are not quite ready to get serious about getting it back, however they did accept the Elk Committee's recommendation to put it at the 5.7 to 6.3 year old bull age objective. The current average is about 5.3. If the next hunt average doesn't hit at least 5.7 then they will decrease LE tags.
Anyway, have great hunt. I did see a 350+ bull at the end of the LE hunts. He was in some miserable stuff and would be a tough bull to get to, especially with archery.

 

[elknr]

looks like i have my work cut out for me,to even see a bull,what a great limited entry..if anyone has any pointers let me know.thanks

 

[Dr_Hunter]

Unfortunately, that's the same story I've got. I didn't see a single elk last year when I was out with my friend. It wasn't until the third day that he finally located a herd. He did end up shooting a 320 class bull, but he said it was a very tough hunt-not like the LE's that he is used to.
Good luck.

"Half of being smart, is knowing what you're dumb about."

 

[eurosbyRT]

Been out looking on the mountain behind me and have already seen some out to their thirds, bunch past their seconds. Seen about 15 bulls already. Its not to hard to find a decent bull, you just have to know where to be looking




Skull Designs: Quality European Mounts at affordable prices

 

[Wasatch]

Euro.....PM Sent.

 

[Wasatch]

Sorry its not the best quality, I took the picture with my cell phone, but here is a photo of a huge bull my brother in law took off of Nebo....They are out there! There just aren't that many left. It still gets me going to think about the possibilities though!

 

[swbuckmaster]

900+ count on the elk and everybody says there are no elk.

whats the bull to cow ratio 40 bulls to 100 cows?

dont let everyone get you down. id love to have a nebo tag. Ive never had a hard time seeing elk down there. Now getting one with a bow is a whole other story.

good luck

Nets are for fish!!

 

[AWHOLELOTTABULL]

Put it this way - I live on the unit, spend hours and hours upon days on that unit riding horses. I'm also an avid elk hunter and would do just about anything to chase bulls. That being said, the Nebo unit is the absolute last LE unit I would apply for in the entire state right now. With what I've seen on that unit in the last couple of years you will absulutely have your work cut out for you. It's doable but I wouldn't pass up any branch antlered bulls if you want to kill one. If you are satisfied eating tag soup then hold out for a 320+ bull. Good luck and I sincerely mean that.


It's always an adventure!!!

 

[swbuckmaster]

I will agree with a lot of what AWHOLELOTTABULL said.

it is not a unit with monster pavant bulls in it. but it is a unit where you can imho find good bulls, hunt good bulls, and have a great time hunting them. Now this is where I think I differ from lottabull. I would be dang proud of taking a 240-320 bull on any Le unit with a bow. Anything better is icing on the cake. But I would not shoot a raghorn I dont think things are that bad on that unit. JMHO

this year you have better dates. Do some ground work, look over as many bulls as you can. make a decision on the caliber of bulls you have seen if it is a shooter or a nonshooter. That is as good as you can do. then when you actually put a bull on the ground you will know if you settled or you done well.

From the numbers there are about 300 bulls on that unit. average age killed is 5 or so.

The oakcreek unit is the last unit I would want to draw for bulls.

Ill send you a pm on where you could start looking for bulls if you don't have any idea.

maybe lottabull will send you some areas as well.

Nets are for fish!!

 

[AWHOLELOTTABULL]

I would be happy to help you out. All my contact info is on here. Call, PM, or email me and I can give you a few places to start looking if you need some help.


It's always an adventure!!!

 

[goofyelk]

SWB,,,,,PM sent.

 

[nebo12000]

To say its sad what has happened on this unit is an understatement. I drew out on the unit way back in '98, and it was without a doubt the most enjoyable hunt ever. I saw an average of 20+ 6x6 bulls a day between 300 and 350, and a couple that were in the 360-375 range. My boy drew in '06 and saw an average of 3 bulls per day all around 300. In '98 a 400 bull was killed on the unit but its been down hill ever since in regards to size and amount. Whats interesting is that the DWR claims the number of animals (up until this last count) has always been around 1400 to 1500 animals,it is now at about 1150. Makes me kind of feel like agreeing with what the DWR biologist said " I think we have over done it on this unit" ! Hopefully better times for the unit.
I hope you have great hunt, I know there are some good bulls there, but be aware that you will have antlerless hunters there with you too.

 

[ditchparrot]

these guys are telling you the truth but don't let it get your spirits down. Go hunt hard and have fun! You will be in some of the most beautiful country for big deer, I would imagine you will see a couple.
I live in Mona and watched the winter range for elk and didn't see anything worth hiking for, mostly rag horns. IMO, the late hunt a few years ago, put the hurt on the unit big time. On that same note, I personally know somebody who helped kill a solid 380 bull this past year. So, I know there are a couple up there.

 

[Wasatch]

Nebo 12000,

PM Sent.

 

[scopeitout]

I did see a couple bulls that were not to shabby, but did see a handful of raghorns too. I also live in mona

 

[elknr]

YEA IM NOT LETTIN IT GET ME DOWN.BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW IF I HAVE A LIMITED ARCHERY ELK TAG,CAN I SHOOT A COW LIKE OTHER ARCHERY HUNTERS.I HOPE IT DOESNT COME TO THAT BUT THE LAST DAY IT MIGHT JUST HAVE TO,DEPENDING ON WHAT HAPPENS ON MY HUNT.

 

[EDGE_1]

You will only be able to shoot a bull. No worries, get some scouting in and that will give you a good idea what to set your sights on. I think you can kill a 300+ bull, or at least be hunting them daily.

 

[busted]

I've spent a fair amount of time on the Nebo and to me is a tricky unit. Yes there are some well know canyons that hold bulls every year. However, there are other areas that some years hold elk and the next year nothing. There are areas that you just can't glass that well from the road that may or may not hold elk. You have to hike/ride in on horses just to see what is there. I also wonder how many elk migrate over from the Wasatch and Manti (Spanish Fork Canyon & Birdseye. Wintering bull elk numbers seem to have gone way down the past few years. However, once the cows come in plenty of Bulls show up? For all the doom and gloom talk harvest data doesn't look as bad as you might think. Here are some examples: Check out the premium data. Hunters put in a lot of days in the field and it paid off. They averaged 10 year old bulls. Only Pahvant and Book Cliffs killed older bulls with their premium tags. Archery harvest percentage better than the Dutton and older bulls killed. Rifle odds on Nebo and Fishlake were the same at 81% with a half a year difference in age of bull. Like others have already said, put in your time scouting and hunting hard and you will have your chances. I do agree that there are too many LE and cow tags for this herd and I'm all for decreasing the numbers. With some better management, Nebo could be producing much better numbers. My 2 cents...

 

[goofyelk]

I've lived on the unit for 33 years..............
Nebo 12,000 & Whole lota nailed it!

 

[woodruffhunter]

LAST EDITED ON May-15-10 AT 08:29PM (MST)[p]I have put the story already on here and have spoke a lot about this unit. Me and my dad hunted (he had the tag) and before the hunt, we had never been on the mountain/unit.

Fortunately, good people like AWHOLELOTTABULL helped us out. During our hunt, we saw about 7-10 bulls. However, it was so thick that we could hardly see...anything. Counting the various bugles, I would say that there were 15+ bulls in the area we hunted.

One of the bulls we seen was pushing 340 IMO. We ended killing a 320ish bull the last day of our hunt.

Its the hardest hunt I have ever been on. The elk are smarter than any I have ever hunted, you can't see, and its the thickest crap I have ever hiked.

Now don't let this get you down. You can kill a good bull. i would drill anything with six points. I would sit and sit, and sit some more at wallows/water holes. Find out which ones they are hitting and just wait for them. Its a big challenge stalking them.

You can do it! It sounds like you have the right attitude. I would hunt every second you could. Instead of going back to camp at mid day, take a lunch and stay as much as possible.

Best of luck!

 

[Horseguy]

Is your brother-in-law Jason?

 

[Horseguy]

I ride up there almost every weekend the entire year, and have hunted the unit for big bulls with people the last 8 years every year. There are still some nice bulls up there but you will have your work cut out for you. I agree with what the other people have said about the shape the unit is in right now, but you can still have a fun hunt if you get off the trail. If you need some ideas I can tell you where I would go, but i have horses so it is a ways off the road. Just remember the best way to ruin a hunt is to base your success on a tape measure.

 

[Wasatch]

Horseguy, PM Sent!