goldhunter
Active Member
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- 434
Can the Utah guys explain why some LE units have a spike only archery hunt and some units do not? Generaly speaking, how much presure do the spike hunters put in these areas?
Utah archery spike hunt
- Thread starter goldhunter
- Start date
The Beaver unit used to be an open bull unit and they changed it to limited entry with general season spike hunting. I don't know if thats the case with all spike units. Beaver gets alot of pressure but alot of the hunters are hunting deer. I can't help much on the other spike units.
S
spikeBull
Guest
I've hunted the Wasatch Unit, specifically around the Strawberry area, on the weekends it gets hammered. And finding a spike is getting harder. This year I saw only one spike!
Mike
Mike
littlebighorn
Long Time Member
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- 5,316
I'm not sure, but I think most of the LE units that still have spike hunts started out as spike only units, until they got enough large bulls to start harvesting them as a limited entry unit.
They continued to allow hunters a chance at spike bulls during the later general elk hunt, but allowed mature bull harvest during the rut.
Unfortunately, it has become a big problem for LE archery hunters because spike archery hunters can also hunt in the same place and time as the archers who have big bull permits.
I work with a guy who had an LE big bull tag on the Central Manti Unit that had to battle with spike hunters. He said every time he got in on a big bull, some spike hunter would mess up the stalk by trying to sneak into the same herd. He eventually came home empty handed. He could have shot smaller bulls, but he expected that he would have a better chance at the big bulls.
As an archer, I would be very cautious about putting in for a big bull tag in a unit that also allows spike hunting because of the competition.
They continued to allow hunters a chance at spike bulls during the later general elk hunt, but allowed mature bull harvest during the rut.
Unfortunately, it has become a big problem for LE archery hunters because spike archery hunters can also hunt in the same place and time as the archers who have big bull permits.
I work with a guy who had an LE big bull tag on the Central Manti Unit that had to battle with spike hunters. He said every time he got in on a big bull, some spike hunter would mess up the stalk by trying to sneak into the same herd. He eventually came home empty handed. He could have shot smaller bulls, but he expected that he would have a better chance at the big bulls.
As an archer, I would be very cautious about putting in for a big bull tag in a unit that also allows spike hunting because of the competition.
Silentstalker
Long Time Member
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- 3,135
Ditto to what little big horn said. The pressure is unreal on these spike units. Even late into the season. The potential for a big bull is there, but with the crappy season dates and pressure it is a very tough hunt.
