2011 Utah Predictions

P

Prism

Guest
How do you think 2011 is going to go down for monster Utah bulls?

I'm the first to admit I've been a little doom and gloom about Utah's trophy quality and potential (especially after the last 3 seasons).

BUT, I'm hearing about and seeing some GREAT bulls this year all over the state. I'm not sure what's going on, but I think 2011 could be a great year for an elk tag.
 
I like your optimism.

When its all said and done I think there are going to be some big bulls taken.
 
I hope the dutton holds a big'n this year.. :)

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Later, Brandon
 
Prism... good to see a post from you. I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. If Suave will leave me one of those 350 bulls on Pahvant I would be happy. (Pahvant 2011 Smokepole)
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-01-11 AT 05:21PM (MST)[p]I have the Premium tag on the San Juan and will be hunting with the BTO Team . I have a good feeling something BIG is gonna bite the dust .... I will keep you posted !!!!

FYI - Dont believe it when they say all the Big Bulls in Utah are dead....


Good Luck to all of you
Bullmania
 
Gonna be some Nice Bulls this year!

Not a f'n thing to do with current management though!

Seen many Bulls last year that needed another year!

Been good feed most everywhere this year to grow em!

Very few are gonna break the 400" mark though!



For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!:D

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
I think it is going to be a great year. The elk had a decent spring/summer last year and a good winter/spring/summer this year.

Everyone doom-and-glooming last year did not take into account the prior winter, which was very tough. Those bulls used their energy to live, not to grow big antlers. Management had little to do with it as Mother Nature decided the antlers' fate. It gets old with how many people take a "one year" snap-shot and base the units' shape on that one year.

I think Brow will kill a 370+, first shot. No need to spend more cash than needed on bullets.

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www.sagebasin.com
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One shot....man your giving him that much credit. Im thinking in the ball park of 3 with a few cuss words thrown in there..
 
haha! Thanks Mike! I need good luck. Jason, If its 3, then all three are kill shots :) You just get your pack ready for those back quarters :)

buck1.gif


Later, Brandon
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-01-11 AT 07:00PM (MST)[p]Remember when BrownNosers Scope was off 11 clicks?:D

Might be off 17 clicks come Elk Season!:D

For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!:D

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
Pretty sure from what I know the bull on the wrong end of the 30-06 will be in serious trouble. My prediction is first shot would have done it and a second to anchor him.
 
It is harder to shoot over an elk than a deer. hahaha I gotta treat the guy well, seeing as he caught my "at-large" herd a couple months ago.

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www.sagebasin.com
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I think that it is going to be a great year....especially on some of the central utah units ( fish-lake, boulders, monroe, etc.) where guys had such a tough time last year. I think a lot of good bulls survived that hunt because of tough conditions and will be in the mix this year.
 
The San Juan is looking pretty dang good. I think old CATMAN and a few others will have some pretty big smiles in their photo albums after this fall.

[URLwww.sjoutfitting.com][/URL]
YouTube
 
What about "Spider Jr." Bullmania, u might have made a bad decision this year.....just sayin....hint hint. Maybe he'll make it and u can switch back next year.
 
I agree with Carbonation.... Some of the tough units last year will be producing some smokers this year!
I know the Fishlake had some great bulls last year and very few were taken. And the same with the Monroe...
Lots of guys are seeing some good bulls...
Good luck to all!
 
Priz,
If forage has anything to do with antler growth, and they say it does (it make sense that it would), central Utah should generate some extra size this year but how will we know? Not records are kept and we only see a small percentage of the kills. What's more we have no record of the "inches" from last year or any of the previous years, so it all get left up to opinion and individual's experience.

The perception going in is: great forage, therefore great antlers. So my guess is, we'll come out believing there were more inches this year when all's send and done. In reality, we'll never really know. A pity. Yes?

DC
 
My prediction...lots of the same old excuses. Too hot, full moon, no bugles, etc. Oh and the elk, utah, and campfire full of "I made a perfect double lung shot. We tracked him for 15 miles. Anyone see anything please let me know"
Bess: "I've been sayin for 35 years now if the Dwr don't get those stick flippers under control we ain't even gonna have pisscutters to shoot!"
Archery hunters: "rifle hunters wound more game th an all hunters combined!"
Rifle hunters: "I found 13 dead bulls with 2-3 arrows stickin out of eachbull!"
Then some dude posts a pic of a bull that is clearly a 330" bull and calls it a 397". Fights break out until F-dude or eldo postal nudy pic.
Did I miss anything?
Disclaimer: read with sarcasm as to not get your panties in a wad!

Traditional >>>------->
 
Ya!

The Stick Flippers Blame the Rifle Hunters!

The Rifle hunters Blame the Stick Flippers!

The Muzz Hunters are claiming they are gettin Screwed without a Kiss!

The Late Rifle Hunters did well for a couple years but now claim they are only finding Busted Up "LeftOvers"!

Always remember the TARDville Multiplication Factor on sizing up a score:Total GROSS Score X 2.5!

I say there will be lots of Nice Bulls taken this year,but possibly too many!

With Current Management on LE Units you're gonna see even more change,change You ain't gonna like in the near Future!



For GAWDS Sakes Guys,We Got Kids on this Site,Some of them are 65 years Old!:D

I don't care if they're big or small!
If they throw lead I like em all!
:p
 
They're finishing STRONG. Seeing some great back ends on most bulls which is awesome to see. I hate weak back ends :)

Haven't seen any rubbed yet, but it's coming up fast.
 
I've gotta admit I've lost track of the bigger bulls in the last two weeks I was watching earlier in the year. Forage is incredible, and I exect general antler growth will match it. HOWEVER, there still isn't a monster bull behind every tree. Water (too much) will make hunting hard in archery season. Grass is so long in many areas that even bedded bulls disappear. This doesn't mean the bulls aren't there, but I don't expect the archery hunt to be easy.
Bill
 
Bill, I found the ones you lost. LOL

We finally found a couple whoppers (by my standards) on the Wasatch. After a 10.5 mile forced march, on Sat, we saw 36 elk. 7 bulls, 2 of them were big enough and 29 cows/calves.

I have a good new friend who also showed me a few bulls and he re-found them at 200 yds. One is a real keeper. We'll hammer him if we can get an eyeball on him during the hunt. Thanks Kenny!

They do look great this year. Lots of good bulls and excellent numbers. Throw in the rut and the archery hunts and the bull's locations will all change however.

I've been out 8 days so far and we're finding bulls almost everywhere. 12-15 more scouting days and the rifle hunt will be upon us!

Good luck to all the archery bros. It'll be a bit tough with all the water and cover this year.

Zeke
 
Hey Blaster,

I'm a local and a bit slow. Spell it out s l o w l y for me. What are you trying to tell us? Sounds interesting though.

Zeke
 
Well basically, in one year when success goes down and the overall age class goes up, the division will conclude that their current management isn't enough and will issue more tags as a result.....

I submit this just because i think that this year due to the weather the hunts will be harder. So success will go down. The guys who know whats up will kill a bull, and I think this year they will kill bigger bulls thus age goes up.......

the harvest studies will say that we didn't kill enough elk and they keep getting older so we need to kill more!

littlebeaver.jpg
 
Maybe it was just me, but I saw plenty of good bulls last year and was not dissapointed one bit on what I finally took home. I found bulls that bugled and had opportunities at a BC class bull. What more could a hunter ask...

That being said, I doubt that we will see as many big bulls come off as we did in the 05-07 years. It will be similar to last year with maybe a few units being a little better IMHO. I still think the top units (San Juan and Pahvant) are not what they used to be since the late hunts and spike hunts were added.

I will have a better idea after the archery deer hunt how the Pahvant herd is looking...
 
Berry,

Why do you feel success rates will be lower this year?

I know several guys that ate tags last year just trying to break the 330 mark, doesn't look like that'll be a problem this year.
 
Specifically on the bow hunt prism, i think the amount of water and growth out there will really limit a bowhunters abilities.....especially your average joe feller.....the guys who know the unit and how to hunt it well will probably kill bigger bulls this year than last.

The rifle has the potential to swing both ways if it stays really wet like it has I don't think that the rut will be quite as concentrated more water and feed means elk are more spread out, if it dries up, it'll be like hunting on cornflakes but it will also force animals to congregate.

The muzz i think will be the best hunt to have this year, no moon, less hunters and IMHO a more active rut.

Overall I really feel like success rates will fall this year but the age objective will raise with bigger bulls being killed.......

littlebeaver.jpg
 
The muzzy hunt possibly being the best hunt this year...I would love to see that come true, Come on San Juan! J/k, In all reality anyone who has a good elk tag in their pocket this fall, and is getting out there doing some preseason scouting and doing some good homework, should be in for a great hunt no matter what season it is! Out of all the scouting I have done so far this year for both deer and elk, the animals are looking very healthy, as well as having great antler growth. Time will tell what kind of year it's going to be as soon as the hunts start and we start seeing animals hit the ground.
 
Gotcha.

I am amazed at the amount of water and vegetation in the mountains this year. It's unreal. It's probably going to be spring green clear up to frost.

Hard to say how the rut will shake out. I think it's over rated every year though :)

Who knows, maybe with the animals going into the fall in such great shape they'll rut harder than usual. I've also heard rumor we're going to have a cooler/wetter fall than average.

Guess we'll know soon enough!
 
I think this year we will see several bulls over 310. A bunch over 330 and a dozen over 360. The few that were going to be 380 or higher this past year that survived the hunt and winter could be ridiculously big!!!
 

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