Unit 54 Co

elkin44 · Oct 29, 2007

What happened to the deer in unit 54? We hunted for 6 days and did not see a buck over 24". We hunted the same area as 2 years ago and we were seeing (10-12) 24" bucks per day in 2005. Did anyone else notice this or may be we just had bad luck or maybe the deer just were not in the same places as years before. Did anyone else notice this?

elkin44

westernhunter1 · Oct 29, 2007

Well i hunted the second season in this unit this year and saw several good bucks. i dont know if it just all of the wierd weather we had or what but i ended up scoring on a 30 incher the 4th day. i sure didnt see the monsters i was lookin for though

MuskegMan · Oct 29, 2007

I just got home (Alaska) from Gunnison yesterday.

I was doing Unit 67 2nd. Tag soup with a side order of humble pie for me. Didn't see anything worth shooting in 6.5 days of hunting.

Ran into 5 Utahns from St. George. They went 5 for 5 on bucks in Unit 54. Said they were seeing 10-15 4 pointers every day. Much better than I was seeing in 67. They weren't much into worrying about score or width.

Here is a picture of the "average" buck they took. I didn't see anything close to this in 67. They showed me a pic (cell phone) of all 5 side-by-side. I would have shot any of them, but this was my first mule deer hunt ever.

Some sheds they were taking home:

<<MM>>

COSA · Oct 29, 2007

LAST EDITED ON Oct-29-07 AT 04:26PM (MST)[p]Tag soup for me as well after 6 days of tough hunting unit 54. Passed on a narrow 175" buck the first day. Tried to still hunt the timber the last two days, but manuevering around the crunchy snow areas was challenging. Jumped a huge buck in the timber, but not even close to getting a shot. Very frustarating seeing huge tracks in the timber, but no way to go in there and get them. My Dad took a smallish 4 point on the 2nd to last day. Didn't see any bucks hanging over 180.

MuskegMan · Oct 29, 2007

Yeah, that big winter storm warning they had for Sat night / Sun (20-21) was supposed to dump 8-16" of freshy. I was bummed that is was only 1-2" throughout the area it seemed.

I still hunted the quakies and fir. This is a method I am quite familiar with having hunted Sitka blacktails for about 30 years. I could get within 25-35 yds of deer and then they'd bolt, but I never jumped any big bucks. It seemed like that is where the deer holed up during the day.

Those Utahns I spoke of said they didn't shoot a deer before 10 am and were seeing bucks out in the open during the middle of the day. Not the case for me whatsoever. By all accounts, those who I talked to that were successful said you needed to get at least a couple of draws away from the nearest vehicular access - that was my observation also.

I saw many elk and pronghorns within gun range, so I was pretty happy even tho I didn't bag a buck. Still have 2 months to hunt blacktail here in Alaska and the rut starts in about a week. I'm pretty sure I'll get to make some gutpiles. Only BIG and STRONG deer made it thru the last record-breaking snow winter.

Best 'o luck to those in 3rd and 4th season

<<MM>>

COSA · Oct 29, 2007

LAST EDITED ON Oct-29-07 AT 09:15PM (MST)[p]No kidding about the "Severe Blowing Snow Warning" for Sunday. The western side towards Soap Creek may have had 2-3 inches, while Eastern areas around Gunnison had a dusting.

Although it was tough this year, I'll be back in a couple of years.

HuntElk4Fun · Oct 29, 2007

Tag soup for me in 67 - 2nd season as well. I hunted a solid 5 days, plus scouting and never saw a buck I wanted to shoot. I did see plenty of bucks (20+ some days - 10-12 on average), but nothing worth mentioning. Tried to put the hurting on a 180 class buck the last day, but he got into private before I could. That was the biggest buck I saw. Very weird down there, talked to several people who saw similiar results in 66 and 54/55. Crazy year in the basin! 3rd/4th season tag holders should have their pick of some monsters this year. They sure didn't show up on the 2nd season!