Utah Short 5ths?

[jims]

I just returned from my buddies Southern Utah LE elk hunt and noticed that about 85% of the bulls we saw had short to very short 5ths. I was wondering if anyone else noticed this same thing this year? I can't remember this being a problem last season. I wonder if it was due to weather conditions or if the bulls just aren't as mature (or both). Many of the bulls seemed to have pretty good to great fronts. Hopefully this isn't a sign of the future that bulls are starting to decline in age/quality from the increase in tags?

 

[BUGLEMAN]

I noticed the same thing in Southern Utah this year during the LE Rifle and Muzzle Hunt. My brother went down in the latter part of June and the the heat was unbearable and the grass and water was drying up. I just wonder if the hot summer made it a little hard for those fifths to reach there potential.

 

[wildarrow]

Same thing on a lot of bulls on the Monroe.....I archery hunted it last year, and didn't notice it. This year was definitly different. We saw some great bulls 1st through 4ths this year, but the 5ths were really lacking. It was a big topic in our camp as well when we would compare video at the end of our scouting days.

 

[UtArcher]

I drew a LE archery tag for the wasatch and my bull was great except for its 5ths. I saw and heard of a few more that way too. the other thing I noticed were alot of bulls with good to great 3rds (including mine) which doesnt usually happen in Ut. either.