Z's 2010 Utah Bowhunt

LAST EDITED ON Aug-13-10 AT 10:52AM (MST) by Founder (admin)[p][p align=right]Thread Views Counter....[/p]

Well ladies and gentleman boys and girls of all ages, I've been a busy sob this year with my scouting efforts so I apologize for the delay of my 2010 Hunt Adventure thread. I have a Utah archery muley tag in my pocket and am after BIG!! My hunt starts in 10 days and I'll be hunting my family?s cabin property here in Northern Utah/Chalk Creek area.

I don't want ya'll to think I'm a cocky hunter who thinks I know everything about big bucks because that's definitely not the case...but the past couple seasons I've learned a great deal about bigger class bucks by passing them up, patterning and repatterning, and letting them get bigger in hopes of slaying a true monster muley. I've had a great deal of luck in my bowhunting career but most of my velvet collection consists of dink 3 points I've stuck opening morning after opening morning after opening morning...now I want a true wall hanger...something with a ton of wow factor to him!! But we'll see what happens :-)

Last season I hunted a specific buck I dubbed "The Admiral" for twenty something days straight without a single shot...my first year of tag soup ever. I believed then he was over the magical 200" mark as a straight typical with no eye guards...this year I've spent countless days and hours behind glass since April and have located him only a few times. The first sighting was end of May and he had baseball bats sticking straight out the side of his head with giant fist-like clumps on the ends. The last sighting was last week when I watched him stand up to feed into the darkness within 10 minutes. I had been watching a group of bucks he was bedded with all day long and he honestly took my breath away when he stood up...I want him dead bad!!

This season I originally set my goal at 200" or bust with him still in mind but have recently lowered my goal to 180" or better. I have good reason why I've lowered my goal but feel really good about my options still. My biggest reason is I consider myself a killer and I'm not eating tag soup ever again in my life period!! I know exactly how hard it is to hunt this one specific buck and know the chances at a kill shot on him with a bow are not great by any means so I have several other nice typicals in mind.

I'll show you what I'm currently calling my back up buck...if I get a shot opportunity of this dude opening weekend I don't think he'll be a back up buck anymore lol I'm thinking he'll be more like a dead buck!! My Alphamax and I are pretty damn blood thirsty right about now :-)
[IMG]http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos/861981010_002.jpg
http://www.monsterhuntclips.com/video/947/My-2010-back-up-buck
The next video is of a buck that's been in the same canyon for a few weeks now and is comparable in size to about a half dozen other bucks in the area?they should look start turning into great bucks in a year or two. http://www.monsterhuntclips.com/video/952/Another-option

There's no question that I've put in the time scouting but another thing I do quite regularly is shoot my bow. I have an Alphamax32 fully loaded and we're ready to kill kill kill!! I have no clue how many arrows I've launched into foam 3D targets this spring/summer but imagine it's in the thousands. I'm shooting with a 1 pin Sure-Loc Sportsmans Special sight and it's dead on so I'm really anxious for the next week and a half to pass by so I can draw back on my buck!!

Stay tuned and I'll do my best to keep ya'll up to date on how it all plays out this time around...

~Z~[/img]

8-26-2010 update...

Opening morning my son Tyson and I had a 160's 4x4 at 72 yards...the four point was feeding with 7 other smaller bucks and 3 does...when I told Tyson it wasn't big enough he put both hands on his forehead and sighed "oh great not this again" lol...we saw 12 bucks opening morning, none of which were big enough to go after.

Day 2 was really slow and I'll leave it at that...

Day 3...started out much like Day 2 but mid day I was out walking and stumbled onto a tall and heavy 3x3 with eye guards bedded at 41 yards. I called a buddy of mine, who has a cabin near mine, to come shoot it. It would be his best buck with a bow. After a perfect stalk to 32 yards he stuck the buck but not vitally...spent most the day tracking very little blood. I saw the same buck the next morning feeding within a hundred yards of where he shot it the day before and he didn't look very hurt so thinking it'll live no prob. Looked like it was hit high in the left shoulder.

Day 4...That morning I once again was presented with a shot opportunity on the 160's 4 point but once again elected to let him walk. The reason I don't want to kill this buck, yet, is not only because I have higher goals, but because he has super forks and tine lengths but is lacking good width...I think if he can avoid hunters the next year or two he could really turn into a great buck. I saw several bucks this day but still no shooters.

Day 5...I didn't see any bucks during the morning but was able to find a few young bucks bedded throughout the day. That evening I was sitting close to the trail the 160's 4 point was using almost every day. As I was roasting under the sun the same buck along with a decent 3x4 and 3x3 walked by me at less than 20 yards. After they fed over the hill I was praying a bigger buck might follow, but no such luck. At 7:30pm I glassed up two big bucks a half a mile or so away. I could tell through my Zen Rays that they were definitely the best bucks I had seen since my hunt had started so I made a mad dash back to the cabin where my spotter was. I glassed the bucks up with the spotter and confirmed it was my back up buck along side The Admiral...and they were nowhere near where they'd spent the summer...it was now 8:10pm and getting dark in a hurry!! I ran as fast as I could across a couple draws to get on the same mountain face they were feeding across. I was able to close the distance to about 300 yards before I could no longer see them and lost the day to darkness. SAME ##### AS LAST YEAR!! This buck will not show himself until there's no time to go after him and he's never in the same spot when I find him...frustrating but I've been having the time of my life the past week!! All the hours spent behind glass the past five days made the last hour and a half last night well worth it!!

I'm back in town for a couple days to help my brother with work because he's in Vegas but I can't wait to get back up there and git back after it!! I'm still feeling confident I'll close the deal on a great buck but am once again having my doubts as to killing The Admiral because I'm going to need a cubic shitload of luck on my side to do so...WISH ME LUCK!! PRAY FOR ME!! CROSS YOUR FINGERS!! IF YOU KNOW OF ANY WAY TO SEND LUCK MY WAY PLEASE HELP A BROTHER OUT!!

Hunting big bucks with my bow is the most frustrating but most fun thing I've ever done in my life!! Best of luck to everyone else out there with a tag too btw!! I'll report back sometime next week or weekend...

~Z~

8-28-2010 update...

I'm 45 minutes away from getting off work and back up on the mountain hunting. Before I left I wanted to let you guys know the buddy of mine who hit and lost that 3 point last week killed a 4 point yesterday afternoon. The buck was laying in the exact same bed as the 3 point was. He told me he made basically the exact same stalk on the bedded buck and this time put the broadhead through the vitals. I've been bow hunting with him since I was a teenager and couldn't be happier for him. I'll be scoring his buck sometime today and with his permission will post pics and the score when I get back in town. Good job Cody and congrats on your biggest buck to date buddy!!

~Z~

9-2-2010 update...

I got back in town late last night after several days of glassing sun up til sun down...big bucks do that to me ;-)

Alright so about a week before the opener I didn't tell you guys that I was surprised to see a few hundred head of sheep show up on the mountain the big bucks had been living on all year summer. I was in denial hoping the deer would stick around... Within a few days the big bucks were nowhere to be found and shortly after I couldn't find any deer on the mountain. Well I figured that the sheep had pushed them out of there and that they were most likely further up the mountain in a place I call the big hole...because that's exactly what it is, A BIG HOLE!! It's a huge canyon filled with thick oak brush top to bottom and side to side. I have been searching all over the place for the big bucks and Monday night I finally caught a break finding 3 shooters together. Tuesday morning I went back to glass the same sidehill I had seen them on the night before and between first light and 11:30 or noon I had spotted 16 different bucks on this sidehill!! None of the 16 were bucks I wanted to shoot, ranging from a 24" spikex2 to a 28" crabby 4x4. Most the bucks were decent but they all had something crabby or short or weird...and just not big. My plan was to put any of the 3 shooters to bed and go after them mid day but I didn't see them. I continued glassing away hour after hour after hour until I finally spotted 2 of the shooters within 50 yards of where they had been the night before...at last light of course!!

Yesterday morning (wednesday) at 4:30 after zero sleep I got all camo'd up and hiked onto the sidehill and sat in 35 degrees til the sun came up. This is by far the most steep sidehill I have ever hunted on btw!! Last time I was on a sidehill this steep I snapped my knee in half sideways and had to crawl off the mountain so I was being VERY CAREFUL with my steps!! Anyways once the sun came up I realized I needed to be 100 or so yards further north so I quietly began sneaking across. I found deer sign everywhere!! I know there's at least 19 bucks on it and the trails show it...crap and tracks everywhere!! Mid day found me sitting in the only place I could see more than 20 yards and I caught sight of antler tips in the middle of the thick oak brush below me and to the south...I looked over what I could see for a few minutes and decided it had to be one of the better bucks so I made my way below his position because the wind was blowing downhill. I began creeping up towards him and knew I had to be getting close...and all the sudden I can see a deer at 22 yards!! All I could see was vitals back so I made my way around to hopefully get a better view and see how good he was. I get to another spot and instantly recognize him as the back up buck but can only see the top half of his face and rack...so I go back to where I had originally spotted him and he had moved out of sight. #### ME RUNNING!! I had a 22 yard shot at vitals on him and didn't know it was him...I coulda cried!!

I sat there for a while trying to figure out what to do but once the wind stopped blowing downhill I backed out not wanting my scent to swirl around across the face. I really don't want to push him or the other shooters out of there!! I have til the 17th to hunt so I'm in no rush yet...yesterday was definitely a close call and the most excitement I've felt during the hunt so far so is it fair to say I think I'm getting closer to closing the deal on my trophy?? ;-) I sure hope so...

~Z~

It's Wednesday at 2 in the morning. At 6:30 last night I had a solid 170's 4x4 with 1eye guard, a 28" spikeX2 with a 5" eye guard on his spike side, and a dink yearling walk out below me at 58 yards. I got really excited about the 4 point and had him ranged and my sight tape set within seconds. The bucks were below me and were feeding very slowly so I decided to look him over really good before drawing back. Long story short I opted to let him walk because his width isn't what I'm after. It's been a couple days since I've seen a for sure shooter but I'm still huntin my guts out...I just can't sleep not knowing how the rest of the hunt will play out. I'm already second guessing myself on passing last nights buck =/ Anyways I'm sitting in the cabin right now watching muleycrazy videos trying to refocus myself on giant bucks lol!! Hunting big bucks with a bow sucks but is a blast at the same time...kinda like playing poker with a bunch of real money with lots of ups and downs mentally and emotionally!! I'm just happy I'm hunting alone so I can continue to be picky cuz a lot of my friends and family are trying to talk me into settling on a decent or any buck for that matter lol. There's your middle of the night update and for me it's back to muleycrazy til it's time to hike through the dark again ~Z~

Back in town for two nights of work then back to up hunting til the 17th when the regular season ends. I've been kicking myself in the ass all day for passing up that buck...I think I shoulda just slammed him and ended it. I really don't know what I was thinking...

I've got about a week left to hunt. which is a ton of hours, but I'm starting to think about killing a couple other deer I've been seeing in the area that are just cool bucks to me. One is that spikeX2, he is a weird freaky buck and I'm seriously considering killing him!! It seems like everytime I look at him he's got a different width but he has some huge ears compared to the rest of the bucks I've been looking at. I'm sure he's an old buck from his body size, weird antlers, and just looks really old in the face. I think he'd be a cool buck to kill though and I've seen him almost every day the past week or so. Another buck I'm thinking about killing is this 3x4 (3 point with a split main beam)...he'd be the icing on the cake for my 3 point collection lol

This buck is coming in for a drink during day light quite often. Not many 3 points get that big of a frame where I'm hunting...I'm pretty sure he's one of the biggest 3x's I've ever seen up there.

I'm so torn on what to do...I WANT HUGE HUGE HUGE so bad it's not even funny!! But I can't seem to find HUGE HUGE HUGE lately...and when I do it's because I'm sitting where I think they are and happen to glass them up on a different ridge when they stand up to feed just before dark. Then I hike my ass off that super steep sidehill and back to the cabin in the dark cussing out these super smart deer the whole way back lol. Spot and stalk isn't even an option because they're bedded before it gets light and the oak brush is too thick to see through. I'm just picking the ridge and draw that I've seen them on most often, glassing all day trying to get lucky and catch one moving or bedded, and setting up to ambush each night.

All I know is between now and the 17th something is going to die!! The velvet is being rubbed as I type this and I'm absolutely nuts about velvet!! As soon as I start seeing the majority of the bucks without velvet, my give-a-damn will officially be broke as always lol. I might get lucky and finally get a crack at The Admiral or I might shoot a much lesser cool looking buck or if my son is with me I might just slay one of the dinks with crappy genetics coming into my water...or I might pass up another great buck because he's only 25" wide lol?? This is just like playing poker...don't know what I'm going to do until that time comes!!

PS...I HATE SHEEP!! x(

~Z~