advice needed utah 17A

brighamr · Oct 15, 2013

Hello,

This will be my first time hunting in Utah but not my first deer hunt. I'm looking for some current advice if anyone is familiar with this area?

My plan is to setup toward the end of diamond fork road. There's a creek up there and some fairly large meadows bordered by scrub oak. I scouted earlier in the summer and found plenty of trails but I'm unsure what elevation Mule deer are at right now? The weathers been pretty unpredictable. Also, with the pressure of opening day, would it be a good idea to hike in a couple of miles and let others push the deer toward me?

My hunting experience has been in Montana and there isn't nearly as many people there. Any advice on the hobble creek / diamond fork area of Utah would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Antleraddict · Oct 16, 2013

Dont be mad if you see more hunters than deer

nocturalenenemy · Oct 16, 2013

I hunted that area 2 out of the last 3 years. Didn't see a lot of deer. Did see a few nice deer in camps along the road between Springville crossing and the road to HC. West of the road in the meadows might be a decent place to find deer, but just expect a lot of hunters.

deadI · Oct 16, 2013

Be prepared to see a lot of pumpkins.

DeadI/Jared

brighamr · Oct 16, 2013

I appreciate your responses. Considering how large the area is (17A), are there any spots that might have less pressure? Say west of Strawberry or maybe north of thistle? (I know that's close to the boundary, just don't want to go where there's gonna be 10,000 people).

nocturalenenemy · Oct 16, 2013

If you get more than a mile from the nearest road, you'll see a lot less people. Except Timp. I haven't hunted 17A since the switch to 30 units. With only 4000 rifle tags, you might not see the same pressure I saw two years ago. Again, except Timp. If it were me, I'd probably start north west of the top of Sheep Creek.

JS128 · Oct 16, 2013

Get away from the roads. You'll see a lot of orange anywhere you go on this unit. They give out a lot of rifle tags for a unit that isn't as big as people think it is. The top third of the unit is Archery only on the front. This takes away a lot of ground, putting more rifle hunters in a smaller area. At the end of the day, boots in the brush beats rubber on the gravel.
Good luck to ya and hopefully you have some success photos to share next week.

brighamr · Oct 16, 2013

Good advice here. My brother and I plan to hike quite a ways. I'll definitely post pics if successful. If anyone can think of anywhere else on 17A for less rifle hunters, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks again!

brighamr · Oct 19, 2013

Wow were you all right! We woke up at 3 am, hiked 2 miles away from the nearest road and waited 100 yards away from an active trail that led to a creek. After 15 minutes of waiting, 2 hunters walked right in front of us following the game trail! My brother and I ended up hiking about 8 miles today around the end of right fork and the middle of left fork and got skunked.

I haven't seen that may hunters in one area ever. And to boot, only three or four bucks were taken today that we know of and none of them were larger than 4x4.

Note to others - we did see 45 antlerless deer between 6:30 and 7pm at the VERY BOTTOM of the canyon, no bucks though. We didn't see a single living thing at the middle or top of the hills.

I want to go out again but I'm afraid left and right fork of hobble creek were overhunted and will continue to be pressured. If anyone can give me any ideas of other places to try, I am all ears and I certainly don't mind travelling or hiking. I'd even give a landowner some money if they have private lands my brother and I culd use.

I appreciate your responses.

brighamr · Oct 19, 2013

>If you get more than a
>mile from the nearest road,
>you'll see a lot less
>people. Except Timp. I haven't
>hunted 17A since the switch
>to 30 units. With only
>4000 rifle tags, you might
>not see the same pressure
>I saw two years ago.
>Again, except Timp. If it
>were me, I'd probably start
>north west of the top
>of Sheep Creek.

Forgive my ignorance but I can't find sheep creek on google maps, would you mind giving me an idea where it's located?

AspenAdventures · Oct 20, 2013

You didn't hike far enough.

The deer were at 10,000 ft where we were at.

You need a backpack. You need clothing for weather that will dip to 15 degrees at night. You need a rifle that will shoot 300 yards accurately. You need a spotting scope that will go up to at least 45 power. You need some great binos that are 10x40. You need some waterproof pants. You need some Gators to keep the snow out of your boots that have 600 grams of thinsulate and some awesome wool socks.

Go to the top of Hobble Creek. Turn left. OR Go to Loafer on the back. OR Go to the top of Mineral Basin....OR....Go to the top of the peak to the west of Heber....OR.... You get my point. Find a peak and...GO TO THE TOP. Go to the top of the mountain and hike till you lungs burst. If you make it....and you have your spotting scope...and you have your binos....and a blow torch in your pack so you can start a fire....then you will see deer.

Be safe....there are a lot of young bucks in this unit but you will not find a 30 inch buck. I bet there are only one or two shot our of 4000 hunters. There are only 15 bucks per 100 does. If you are seeing a lot of does.....you are too low. Get up high and hunt like you never have before. If you can still walk at the end of the day...you didn't go far enough. This unit is crowded with a small population of deer and an extremely low buck to doe ratio of 15:100.

Without some pre season scouting your chances are very low you will see anything worth telling mom about.

There are only about 3 per 100 that will be 4 point or better. I would wish you good luck but if you do what I told you....you wont need any.

However....even at the top of the mountain...there will be a lot of guys. So....good luck!

"The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato

Trail · Oct 20, 2013

Hunt all day and throughout the week most people hunt the weekends. Glass first and last light from the highest peak you can find and do pushes through the thick stuff during the day has worked for us.I agree with hunting higher don't waste time in Diamond fork or near highway 6. If you are at the end of the road in D.F. take a right, it takes you into Rays Valley then into Sheep Creek. There's a lot of popular trails called the waters that head east lots of people and game. Another area to look at is along Strawberry Ridge several roads and trails take you there. Don't have to high of expectations for this hunt there just isn't very many big bucks. But if you hunt hard and cover enough ground with your boots and optics you'll find one. Good luck and keep us posted on how you do.

bowhunt · Oct 20, 2013

We had a great time in this same area!
Did we shoot a buck, NO.
Did we see bucks, Yes.
We had hoped to see a couple big dudes we had on trail cameras, but it did not happen, so no big deal. It was fun.

You think there is a lot of hunters now? You should have hunted this area 10 years ago. WOW. Way less hunters now.

Get HIGH, and you will find a buck to shoot.

brighamr · Oct 20, 2013

Wow, this is advice I could have used LOL. I figured the bucks would be close to the does, down aound 4500'. I'm planning on following advice and hiking to the top of Strawberry Ridge. Will keep you guys posted.

deerslayer88 · Oct 20, 2013

On this unit, glass, glass, and glass some more. I hunted the muzzleloader, and had a shot at a monster 3 point buck, thanks to my wife for spotting him. Did we see bucks, yes everyday, high and low, some were with the does some were loners. did we see monster bucks everyday no we seen one on the last evening and I missed him, had a second shot and missed again. That is hunting, but I passed on all those spikes and two points I counted 6 spikes in different areas, and 2 two points, 1 small 3 point and the monster 3 point. I thought about shooting the smaller bucks but I figured they were better left alone. Many of them were within 200 yards of a road. Granted with all the 4x4 trails by strawberry and diamond fork its a high probability that there will be a buck/deer close to some road. I did not do any pre season scouting, but I also have hunted/fished this unit in one form or another my whole life as I live in Provo. The point I am getting at is with a good spotter or binos (I love my 20x70) you can find the deer, elk, or moose. The trick is to not drive the roads all day, I am not saying don't drive the roads, but mix it up. I have killed bucks I have seen off the road, I have also killed bucks from hiking. It really depends on a magnitude of factors on what I choose to do on my hunts, some times its the mear fact its freezing outside and I can see for miles with my optics, so I stay in my truck to keep warm until finding game. PM me and I will gladly point you in the right direction for finding deer, I won't give you my honey holes on the grounds I don't have any, I have killed a buck 5 of the last 6 years, and only two have come from the same general area and I have hunted only 3 units the old ceneral unit all but the last year of 5 units (hunted norther), and last year hunted the la sals, other then that all of my deer were hunted somewhere on the current unit 17.