LAST EDITED ON Feb-16-10 AT 11:14PM (MST)[p]Personally, I think it is great. The Book Cliffs burns through more bonus points in one year than all the other limited entry units in the state. I would tell anyone that if they wouldn't be happy shooting a 22-24" 4 point they probably ought to put in somewhere else. I am glad we don't manage the whole state like the Henry Mtns. Sure it would be awesome to see what kind of bucks we could produce if we managed the Book Cliffs like the Henrys, but it would be a big loss to sportsmen too. I think it is good to have a unit like the Book Cliffs that is in between what you find on a general season unit and what you might find on one of the premium units. I wish we had a few more just like it. It is a great hunt for the young, the less experienced, women, older and disabled hunters. If you are a hard core trophy hunter there are better units, but the Book Cliffs is a fun hunt.
When they decided to close the unit the RAC and lots of the public in Northeastern Utah were torn. There used to be thousands of people that hunted it on the general season hunt every year, and they hated to give it up. The buck to doe ratio was so low that something had to be done, and they closed it. But, the RAC voted to manage the Book Cliffs more towards the opportunity rather than trophy quality. After being closed for 3 years and then reopening with a really limited number of permits, there were some monster bucks running around out there. Over the last few years hunters have been pretty effective at taking the top end off every year, and the truly big bucks are harder and harder to find.
However, I think the scarcity of top end bucks out there is in large part a function of how deer in the Book Cliffs behave. Other units in the state get tons of hunting pressure like the Book Cliffs did before the closure, but the buck to doe ratios never drop as low in those units as they did in the Book Cliffs. Those Book Cliffs deer are just too vulnerable and dumb during the rifle season, and they get creamed every year. When it was general season that is why almost all the bucks were gone. And, I think that same thing still happens now, but instead of killing all the bucks hunters just kill all the top end bucks.
When a buck has potential to be a monster he is usually pretty decent as a 3.5 yr old or sometimes even as a 2.5 yr old. I think all the biggest bucks out there get shot as 3.5 yr olds during the rifle hunt. The bucks that live to old age are big management type bucks, the kind of bucks that folks who draw a permit don't want to shoot. If we cut way back on permits I am sure we would start seeing more of a top end, but the buck to doe ration would be crazy high, and there would be even more management type bucks running around out there than there are now.
I think a management hunt out there would be great. Take a chunk of the existing permits and turn them to management tags. That way you can manage to a productive buck to doe ratio, improve trophy quality for those interested in it, and harvest some bucks that wouldn't be killed otherwise while giving opportunity and still burning through some bonus points.
It will be interesting to see how deer management in the state changes in the next couple years and how it might affect a unit like the Book Cliffs.
Dax
P.S. Wow that was a long post, it is late and I am starting to wax poetic, I better get to bed.
P.P.S. There are still a few nice ones out there. I would like to see what this guy might look like next year.