I kinda of agree. I don't think things are "that" bad. Yes, they can be improved upon for sure, but I don't want to be the one who doesn't get a tag. Nor do I want to see my son be the one who gets left out.
I will admit, I haven't hunted a huge amount in general season areas in Utah in the past few years, however, I spent 3 days out this year in the central region muzzleloading. On opening morning, I could have shot at a dandy 24-25 inch 4x4 at 120 yards. Then, on Saturday, my son and I got to make a play on a 26ish 3x4. He didn't get a shot, but it was fun. Got within 80 yards, just couldn't get a shot. Things just didn't seem all that bad. Certainly I wouldn't say they were bad enough to hack away a bunch of opportunity (tags).
I would rather see 10-15% of roads in every unit closed between Aug. 15th and Nov. 15th, plus keep the rifle hunts at 5 or 7 days. Give that a try for a few years and see if things improve. I really think the shorter season will help quality. And road closures would help quality and improve the health of sportsmen who could use a walk.
We've heard all the talk about how bad things are, but sometimes it's hard to swallow when you hear about Jason Carter killing a 220 buck on public ground in a general season area last year and then went back and killed a 250 this year. Geez, how many 180 bucks are there for every 220 buck?....200+???
Now I know I've heard all the talk about his connections and this and that, but I also have a friend who hunts southeastern Utah whose been finding whoppers on public land the last couple years.
I wonder sometimes how many people might just be hoping that the day will come where it'll be easy for them to kill a wallhanger....?????
Units like the Henry Mountains have ruined many peoples sense of reality. The Henry Mountains aren't the real world!!! Highly limited units and easy to kill trophy bucks have skewed the way people view hunting. I think some people just simply want to trim the "hunting" part out and turn it into more "killing". Kinda like those who support 100% managed units. They support that because they want to end the "hunt" part and make it a quick "kill" game.
Of course I like to get a buck every once in a while, but actually going hunting is what's most important to me.
Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com