San Juan elk Muzzy

[steepandeep]

It seemed like forever, but I finally got lucky and drew an awesome tag!! I have had a hard time sleeping at night I'm so excited! I can't wait to get down there and learn the country, it's been a long, long time since Ive been down on Elk Ridge. I would like to hear from anyone who has hunted it in the last few years, so I can get somewhat of an idea of what to expect, and maybe see some pictures of the animals you killed. Thanks

 

[Ryan55555]

Just curious how many points did you have?

I was down there 2 years ago and had a blast. You should have a good time and get a chance to look over a few good bulls. Don't shoot the first one that you see, go down a few days early and find out where they are at. My dad shot the first bull we saw on the 2nd day, it scores just over 350. I saw one bigger on day 1, couldn't get him on it and when he saw the bull he shot it was big enough for him and he was more than happy. Could he have done better, maybe but he was happy and who shouldn't be with a bull that nice. I was just bummed that I had 10 days off and we only got to hunt 1 day and 1 hour.

Good luck and hope you do well.

 

[YELUM]

My friend also drew the muzzy tag. I think he had 16 points.

Yelum

 

[carbonnation]

Congrats! That is a great tag. I had the tag back in '09. My only regret is that I will probably never get the chance to have the tag again. I did a write up on my hunt a month for so ago.
http://www.monstermuleys.info/cgi-b...=show_thread&om=13148&forum=DCForumID12&omm=0

I hope the link works. Other wise it is in the elk forum on page 2. I think it is title my 2009 muzzy bull.

You are in for a great hunt.

 

[stinkystomper]

Ask bessy. Hes the resident expert on that mountain but from what I've seen and heard you better not be passing up any 350 bulls if you can find them. there just aren't many great bulls left anymore. I hunted spring creek in the peak of the rut last year and easily saw over 50 6x6's per day. In 9 days of hunting we only saw two bulls at or over 350. the rest were 330 and less. Let there be no doubt that the quality is way down. Just don't be expecting a monster bull and you will have fun and get a decent elk.

 

[steepandeep]

I had 9 points, and even with that I feel way lucky! Carbonnation thanks for posting your awesome experience, the photos of all those nice bulls and the details, has got me more excited then I was before! Thats a really nice looking bull you punched your tag on, it paid to hold out like you did, that can be tough to do. I sure hope I can hold out for one of those BIG herd bulls. I will definently have to get down there to scout it out in mid sept just before my hunt. Ive heard from a lot of people that summer scouting can be difficult in turning up bulls.
How was the the hunting pressure on the bulls during the muzzy hunt? With only 13 tags and a huge unit, I imagine that you dont run into very many other hunters while out in the woods.

 

[stinkystomper]

run into very many other hunters?????

Thats a great crack pipe dream dude. Utah is the worst state in the west to hunt when you start talking of pressure!

Utah issuing 13 tags is the same as a normal state issuing 300 tags for the same size area.

You don't need to worry about mossback or bto. You need to worry about the public hunters. Don't forget dude its a once in a lifetime tag. Those people know that and they put every single person they know into action to help them find an elk. I would have to say that the average utah resident takes about 15 people for every tag in the field. Heck I saw one camp in the dutton with about 100 people to help with one tag. You won't see very many orange vests but you will see people in just about every drainage. They are the ones scouting for their friends. all they end up doing is scaring all the elk and the hunt turns to a fiasco quick!

Don't believe what you hear about mossback. They send at most one spotter and one guide per hunter. BTO is the same. In addition those guys don't scare the elk, they merely observe them and only scare the ones near the bull they want to kill. So the guides are cool and your worst enemy I believe are the public hunters who are so desperate to fill their once in a lifetime tag with the best bull possible. You really cant hate those guys for doing it because after all it is a once in a lifetime tag.

Just plan for the worst and if you don't see another soul in sight then you had a great time. That way you won't be dissapointed anyway it turns out.

Just my two cents.

 

[steepandeep]

I've hunted elk a fair bit in the Uintas and along the Wasatch front, so I've got very used to dealing with insane amounts of heavy pressure. I plan on there being pressure on the hunt, I'm thinking that any hunt with very limited tags like the San Juan has got to have less pressure then the few public land OTC elk hunts we have in the state, at least I'm sure hoping so. The San Juan Unit is huge, and there are some very remote areas so my plan is to get off the beaten path as far and as much as I can, and hopefully get into some bulls that havent seen a lot of pressure. I'm also used too and prefere to hunting solo but for elk hunting, it sure is nice having someone there at times. Most likely it will be my dad and I and maybe a cousin of mine that will spend the first few days with me. That's one big reason why I put in for the muzzy hunt instead of the archery hunt so, If I ended up hunting solo my chances of getting in range of a big bull would be a little better.

 

[Blanding_Boy]

LAST EDITED ON May-21-11 AT 08:10PM (MST)[p]Well put Stinky, I'm glad to see some guys have got it figured. I have always said for every person that draws on average there are 8 guys helping him out (not that there is anything wrong with that, just gets a little frustrating sometimes). While I wish we could do that, financially, it just doesn't make sense.

Paul, you've got a great tag in your hands, let me know if you want to talk about the hunt, I'm always good for a general conversation about the unit. Also Paul, remember that half or more of the unit is in a general season muzzleloader deer unit so there will be a fair amount of pressure from deer hunters as well. Best of luck.


Todd Black
435-770-9302
Visit our YouTube page
http://www.youtube.com/user/bulls4bto?feature=mhum

 

[Gator]

NOT CROWDED LOL if their is only a few bulls over 350 every swinging ##### and his friends will know about them and will be hunting them.
They should put a gate at the bottom and charge by the head. LOL

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".

 

[carbonnation]

Steepn

I actually did not feel like there was a lot of pressure down there from other hunters. I'm not saying that we did not have other people around spotting from a lot of the some vantage points that we were, but I did not have any problems. We covered a lot of country by road and by foot and we never ran into anyone while we were on foot.......so keep that in mind.

We had one bull spooked by a shot from a deer hunter. The hunter was 1\2 a mile away when he shot, but the bull we were moving on did not waste any time hitting the timber. We also started a stalk on a bull early one morning and it became obviouse that there were other hunters moving on the bull as well. They were in a better position than we were, so we back off and chased elk in another drainage. Turned out to be one of the more memorable outings of the hunt.

To sum it up, there will be a lot of people out spotting, but when you start chasing elk there are only 13 other hunters, so the crowds thin quickly once you step off from the two track. There are also a lot of bulls on the San Juan and when the rut is going, there is no place on earth like it. You will have a fantastic hunt. Spend your summer shooting that smoke pole so when you get your chance, you make the most of it. You will not have trouble finding bulls.

As far as size of the bulls goes, I was not down there last year,( but should be one of the general deer hunters on the blues this year). We saw 4 bulls that we judged to be better than the bull I took. two of those were spotted before the hunt opened when the weather was more cooperative. Point is there were not legit 350 class bulls around ever tree, but they were there and there were bigger bulls as well, we just could not get on them. I set my goal for 350 and I let one go on day one, but couldn't let another go on day 5. You will find that your ability to pass on bulls dwindles with every passing day. So make your first priority to enjoy the moment and everything else will work out.
Keep in touch, if we are going to be chasing deer, we will be happy to keep an eye peeled for ya. Heck, we can just blend into the private army you are gonna bring. (personally I think friends and family are what make the hunt so bring 'em all)

 

[steepandeep]

Carbonation

What you say sounds encouraging, about the pressure. It seems like any time you go the extra mile in getting further away from roads and deeper into the backcountry it usually pays off. Ive got a couple questions for you, I'll send you a P.M. if you don't mind?

 

[carbonnation]

I'm happy to share my very limited knowledge with anyone......because is doesn't take very long.

 

[mgbowman]

I have one of the expo archery tags so I will be down there before your hunt starts. Hopefully I have a big one down , but regardless I will be more than happy to share what I see while I am hunting.

 

[c3]

Congrats on a super tag!

Here's a sample of the bulls I saw down there on my hunt last year.

Relative to the end of the archery and the begining of the rifle hunt the mountain will be a barren wasteland during the muzzy hunt

Enjoy !!!

Pete

 

[steepandeep]

C3, thanks for posting your video. All I can say is watching that video is going to make it that much tougher for me to sleep at night, just kiddin. That was some awesome footage of some really nice bulls thanks again for sharing it! I have never been so excited about a hunt before, I've got some time yet...so until then I'll keep watching BTO's elk huntin dvd's, shooting my muzzy, spending hours looking at maps and dreaming of big San Juan bulls!!


Keep posting pics of those San Juan Bulls, I'm loving it!