Read all the posts, here is what I know, my house is 4 miles from the antelope island causeway, and most sundays evenings my 6 year old and I are out on the island looking at deer.
1.Yelum is technically correct, they can run 17 miles(even farther as the lake becomes a mud flat), however, it is not surrounded by fresh water, and there is only so much of it on the island, so that argument is a little incorrect.
2.Hiring a guide is like having a caddy. You can hike the areas that contain the deer in about 6 hours(done with a 6 yr old). The reason Yelum, or any of the locals know so much is because it is easy. These are not wild weary deer, they are watched year round, the island is used a lot by hikers, horsemen, etc, and they are very used to people.
3.Yelum is correct, there are 3 other deer out there, two of which I am confident the public hunter will choose out of.
4.The terrrain that Denny is pictured in IS antelope island. The only exception being the ledges on the south where the sheep are, and the deer are not. This buck rutting at the ranch can be driven to on a PAVED road. From a parking lot you can see miles, it is not deep dark timber, not rim rock, not tall sage.
5.The DWR gets the fee from the tag(le price), the island keeps the rest. As a side note, the island turned a profit last year WITHOUT THE TAG REVENUE, so SFW and their tag DID NOT SAVE THE ISLAND.
6.Yes, his genetics are great, but there are over a hundred bucks out there that with age will be every bit as good or better. This is what happens on a game preserve, the bucks need only survive as fawns, after which their only predator is a coyote. I have watched several nights as coyotes walk a big circle around these big bucks. A lone coyote doesn't stand a chance with them, and they know it.
7.I am not that into antelope, HOWEVER, the most impressive animal on the entire island, IMO, is a speed goat. We saw him a bunch this summer, so did a lot of other "guides", and I would bet there will be pressure on the state to "save the island" by letting someone buy a speed goat tag.
8.You don't have to believe a word I say. Take the Freeport/Syracuse exit off of I-15, head west. Your on Antelope Drive. Follow this road west until you come to a small pay house, pay your $9, continue west until you reach the island. Follow the road to the south, along what was once a lake shore(now a fragmities field). Stop where you see other trucks parked with guys with spotting scopes and binos, and open your eyes. After 30 minutes(which includes stopping at all the turnoffs to look) you will see all the deer that Me, Yelum, Denny, and Doyle have seen, which means that you too are one of the worlds greatest hunters, or this hunt is just as sad as we all say it is. Either way, that $9 you and I and thousands of others paid, "saved the island", this tag was given out soley because THE DON, and SFW, did what they do best, grease politicians, and whore out the DWR.
"Your just jealous because _____, so you can't know anything!!"