Dillon Hoyt

For the past three years I have been going to school at Utah State University, working and raising my family. I am graduating in May with a bachelors degree in Wildlife Science and a minor in Biology. I am currently searching for permanent full-time employment in natural resource law enforcement. I have absolutely no idea where I will be living or where I will be working by the time the hunts roll around this fall. I decided to be optimistic and apply for my hunts anyways. I applied for the following hunts in my home state of Utah.

Willard Peak mountain goat (female only) with 8 bonus points.

Monroe early season bull elk with 10 bonus points.

Panguitch Lake general season archery deer as my first choice. I also applied for Zion, Ogden, Cache and Box Elder archery deer.

With 8 bonus points for mountain goats I have a good chance of drawing the nanny permit on Willard Peak. I should draw a general season archery deer permit somewhere in the state. Because I usually see elk while hunting deer I always purchasing a general season archery elk permit each year over-the-counter.

I will do my best to keep this HAC thread shorter than I have during the past two years. I keep a more in depth entry of my hunting adventures on my website.

Thanks for following my HAC.

Dillon Hoyt
www.dillonhoyt.com

Update of my season

This spring I have been focusing on finishing up school and finding employment. I am graduating from USU on May 5th, and three days later I am interviewing for a job in Wyoming.

UDWR is going to increase the number of nanny permits on Willard Peak in 2012, and I am 98% sure I will get one of them. Hopefully, I also draw an archery tag for Utah general season deer.

The winter weather was very mild and most of the fawns should have made it through. There should be lots of yearling bucks running around this fall. Judging from the April weather we have been experiencing I would not be surprised if the deer are heavily congregated around water this August. Last year there was water everywhere on the units I hunted, and I had a difficult time locating mature bucks during the archery season.

I will definitely get a Utah general season archery elk permit if I am not in police academy or working outside of Utah. Last year the elk schooled me, but this year I want payback.

This early spring weather has given me the opportunity to shoot my bow several times already, and I am starting to get geared up for the fall hunts. I love going up Logan Canyon with my wife and daughter to shoot our bows.

http://www.monstermuleys.info/photos/user_photos/3916mm_bow_1.jpg

Dillon Hoyt
www.dillonhoyt.com

Utah Draw Results

I got an email today from my credit card company informing me that I had been charged $408. I opened my account and sure enough I drew my Willard Peak mountain goat (nanny) permit. I also drew a general season archery buck deer permit.

I am excited that I drew the mountain goat permit, but I may not be able to hunt it if I am in police academy. If I can't hunt it this fall I will surrender it to the UDWR and get most of my money and all of my bonus points refunded.

Over the past few weeks I have been busy with my college graduation, interviewing for jobs, and working for state parks. For graduation I got a video camera from my wife and mother-in-law. Now I can film my seasons. I plan on sharing the content on my website by embedding YouTube videos. Feel free to check out my website and watch my videos throughout the summer.

Still waiting

I am still waiting to hear back from the jobs I have interviewed for in the past few months. I should hear back from two in the next two weeks.

My family drew four archery tags on three different general units in Utah. My sister-in-law drew a general rifle tag after three years of applying. It may sound bad that we drew in three different units, but it works because of where we all live and work in the state. I am the only person in my family who drew anything other than a general season deer permit.

Now that the snow is melted off Willard Peak I need to get up there and learn what I can about mountain goats. I don't want to mess up and shoot a billy.



Dillon Hoyt
www.dillonhoyt.com

Rain

I went to southern Utah this weekend for a family reunion and to scout for my upcoming archery deer hunt that starts in about a month. It rained almost the entire time we were down there. I did get to scout one evening when it was not raining. We saw several does, one little buck, and several pronghorn antelope.

My bow is all tuned up with new strings and it is shooting great. I am really looking forward to this years archery hunt.

Dillon Hoyt
www.dillonhoyt.com

Panguitch Lake archery

Below is a YouTube link to a video I put together of the bucks that I saw during my archery hunt in southern Utah. I saw over 70 bucks from Thursday through Wednesday morning. I saw 21 of those bucks on opening day.


Dillon
www.dillonhoyt.com

My 2012 buck

September 4, 2012

We decided to come to southern Utah and visit my parents a few days before my job interview in southern Nevada. I brought my archery equipment with me and on Tuesday night my wife and daughter accompanied me on my hunt. I was not looking for a monster buck, but I did want to shoot a buck with at least three points on one side. We saw lots of deer and with about thirty minutes of shooting light left we saw a buck that met my goal. I tried to shoot him, but he managed to stay just out of my archery range. A few minutes later we saw a really fat two point. I tried to shoot him, but he ducked my arrow. We started heading home and I saw another buck on a hill about 50 yards off the road. He was with some other deer and when they ran up the hill he followed. He made one mistake, he stopped broadside at 50 yards just long enough for me to shoot him from 50 yards away. My arrow went through one from shoulder and pierced his heart. He ran about 15 yards before expiring.

I know he is not a very big buck. However, the fact that my family was with me made it a special event. This trip was my last chance to hunt archery this year due to job interviews.

Thank you Heather and MM for coming along for the ride.




Dillon Hoyt
www.dillonhoyt.com

Bright future

I decided to surrender my mountain goat permit at the end of August. I was unemployed and the bill from the dentist set me back a good chunk of change. I was recently offered a great job. I took it and now I am moving my family to Nevada. I have never hunted in Nevada; however, I am now excited to learn some new country and switch my residency.

It is going to cost me a small fortune to come back to Utah to hunt my mountain goat and elk in the years to come.

Dillon
www.dillonhoyt.com

I went with my brother to hunt the opening weekend of the spike elk hunt on the Wasatch unit. We saw lots of elk, and heard six bulls bugling on opening day. None of the elk were spikes.

The next weekend our older brother joined us and we saw elk in every canyon we ventured into. No spikes.

During the opening weekend of the rifle hunt we went home to southern Utah to help some family find deer to fill their permits. My sister-in-law shot a nice three point and my brothers thirteen year old nephew shot a two point. The video of the kill shot is accessible by clicking on the link below.


Dillon Hoyt
www.dillonhoyt.com