Couldn't remember my damn login, been a while since I posted. Brian probably deleted it from inactivity Lol.
First of all, every unit in Utah is isn't what it used to be. All have less deer and Utah isn't the only State with this problem. Second, over the last 20 years, deer hunting has changed from a family activity to fill the freezer to must pound the mountain and smoke the biggest buck so I can post pics on MM and impress total strangers. So if mature bucks are the focus of a majority of hunters, naturally you will see fewer mature bucks than forkies. You still have hunters of all types and many still shoot small bucks, but the whole culture of mule deer hunters has changed over the past couple decades. Add in all the other reasons already stated (predators, freeway, poor management, etc.) and is it a surprise it's different than 1985? We can't draw comparisons to the distant past with deer and deer hunting anymore, things have change and it will never be like it was. We can compare it to last year or a few years ago, and as some stated, it is better this year than last.
I have been hunting Boulder since 1992, and mostly archery hunting it since 2000. I can say with confidence this was one if the better years I have had. Saw a ton of small bucks, above expected mature bucks, and a couple of bruisers, one being a 200"+ typical. But it varied little from the last 10 years as far as bucks seen; sure it wasn't the 1980's from stories the old timers tell, but seeing 50+ different bucks with 15 or so being nice 3's and bigger on one small section is good in my book for public land. I spend a lot of time in Wasatch West and it is the same story there as I am sure it is for most other areas in the State.
As for mature bucks on the front, there is only one major difference from other areas, archery only, and tagging a big buck in the front with a bow is not an easy task. If you opened it up to a couple thousand rifle tags, it would have the same mature buck issue as every other unit in the State. Nothing against gun hunters, I like to rifle hunt, I just hate the general season hunt in Utah. But it is much easier to harvest mature bucks with rifle than a bow.
So I guess my point is, the sky isn't falling on the Pavahnt, or any other unit. Give this 30 unit plan a few more years, pray for mild winters, and get out and kill some predators and hopefully things continue to improve for our deer herds. And if some of the hunters want to pound forkies to put meat in the freezer, more power to them, it spreads harvest across all age classes and leaves more mature bucks for breeding and me to hunt. Hell, with the price of beef the way it is, I may be putting a small buck in the dirt. Can't eat antlers and the younguns are tasty.