Just returned from my first hunting trip to Utah and was fortunate to locate and kill a solid, wide buck with some good character. First, I would like to thank some people who helped me out on the trip. I was unable to scout the unit prior to hunting because I live in Montana so relied upon advice from those that were willing to share it. Westdesertdandy was kind enough to help out a stranger and I appreciated that a lot. Also, we met a local guide the day before the season and though he didn't give up any secrets he was willing to point us in the right direction which was a great help. Also, my brother came along and it was great to share the time and experience with him.
We arrived in Utah on Thursday, set up camp and started glassing. Amazed at the number of deer that started popping up all over the canyons and in the sage and oak brush. The only problem was they were all does. Also got our first experience with community hunting. Haha. Lot of people running around on ATV's and sharing the glassing spots. Wasn't a big deal and all of the guys were really nice but definitely different than hunting in MT where you never really see other hunters.
From that point, we set about figuring out where the bucks were. As I said we got some advice from a local guide and if anyone is ever looking for a guide/outfitter in that area or the Wasatch, PM me and I will send you his contact info. Any way, we had found a few good bucks low and focused on that on opening day. We hunted hard all day but really had no success finding good deer. We ended up covering a lot of ground but decided to refocus where we had started and where all the does were.
Sunday morning we started seeing bucks and though we hadn't seen anything big we decided to hike up from the bottom to see what we could turn up. We headed to an areas that didn't have ATV trails through it and where we figured we could get away from other hunters to some extent. Once we were about half way up the mountain we started seeing bucks and that continued throughout the hike. Most of them were smaller and we saw a lot of bucks with small fronts and 3x4's. On our way down the mountain right before dark my brother spotted my buck and we could tell right away that he had a good frame. Considering what we had been seeing it just took a few seconds to decide to take the shot.
We were pleasantly surprised to see that he taped out with a 27.5" outside width as we had figured he was closer to 26". Not a great scoring deer but I didn't care as it was a fun hunt and it was the best buck I saw. I am sure that the unit holds some big bucks just by the number of does and small bucks that we saw but I suspect that they are hard to find during rifle unless they are patterned before the season. If anyone is looking for help on the unit, send me a pm and I will tell you what I can.
My brother with buck.
Beautiful deer country!
We arrived in Utah on Thursday, set up camp and started glassing. Amazed at the number of deer that started popping up all over the canyons and in the sage and oak brush. The only problem was they were all does. Also got our first experience with community hunting. Haha. Lot of people running around on ATV's and sharing the glassing spots. Wasn't a big deal and all of the guys were really nice but definitely different than hunting in MT where you never really see other hunters.
From that point, we set about figuring out where the bucks were. As I said we got some advice from a local guide and if anyone is ever looking for a guide/outfitter in that area or the Wasatch, PM me and I will send you his contact info. Any way, we had found a few good bucks low and focused on that on opening day. We hunted hard all day but really had no success finding good deer. We ended up covering a lot of ground but decided to refocus where we had started and where all the does were.
Sunday morning we started seeing bucks and though we hadn't seen anything big we decided to hike up from the bottom to see what we could turn up. We headed to an areas that didn't have ATV trails through it and where we figured we could get away from other hunters to some extent. Once we were about half way up the mountain we started seeing bucks and that continued throughout the hike. Most of them were smaller and we saw a lot of bucks with small fronts and 3x4's. On our way down the mountain right before dark my brother spotted my buck and we could tell right away that he had a good frame. Considering what we had been seeing it just took a few seconds to decide to take the shot.
We were pleasantly surprised to see that he taped out with a 27.5" outside width as we had figured he was closer to 26". Not a great scoring deer but I didn't care as it was a fun hunt and it was the best buck I saw. I am sure that the unit holds some big bucks just by the number of does and small bucks that we saw but I suspect that they are hard to find during rifle unless they are patterned before the season. If anyone is looking for help on the unit, send me a pm and I will tell you what I can.
My brother with buck.
Beautiful deer country!
