Book Cliff Deer

crimedog

Active Member
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486
It seems like every year I read posts about people hunting the Book Cliff's, or wanting to put in for them expecting to shoot a 180 plus deer. What they do not realize is that the Books are not a "Trophy" Unit. Are there deer that size in the Books? Yes and there are some taken every year but the Books are not managed the same way as the Pauns and Henries. The are Managed to give people a chance at a mature 160-170 deer for the most part. They give you a chance to see alot of deer and alot of bucks every day of your hunt.

What is to bad is that it is almost as hard to draw this tag as it is to draw the Henries or the Pauns when it shouldn't be.
 
When it comes to hunting big deer, demand exceeds supply. People assume (often wrongly) that the size of bucks on a unit is directly related to the number of points that it takes to draw a tag. It takes a couple points less to draw the Books than it does the Pauns. In 2007 average age of harvested bucks on the Pauns 4.5 yrs, on the Book Cliffs 4.3 yrs. Book Cliffs has a high buck to doe ratio, lots of mature bucks, and just plain lots of deer, but I would say that the majority of the bucks taken are 20-24" wide and score 140-160.
 
Book Cliffs
>has a high buck to
>doe ratio, lots of mature
>bucks, and just plain lots
>of deer, but I would
>say that the majority of
>the bucks taken are 20-24"
>wide and score 140-160.

And this year is no exception. Deer everywhere again. Tons of deer and bucks galore. Not a whole lot of really huge monsters though.
 
I disagree

I was on the Bookcliffs twice this year, four days on the archery elk and two days on the rifle elk. I saw four bucks that were easily over 30 inches wide and over 190. I met one hunter that had taken a 190 buck on his last day there. I did see a lot of 140-160 bucks but as I got further away from the roads I saw bigger deer. In my opinion it depends on how far off the road you are willing to hike to see bigger deer.
 
I have been in Books on the archery deer hunt and from my experience, there are so many deer(bucks) around the roads that it would be tough to get away from the roads. I agree that the bigger bucks probably aren't hanging out so close to the roads, but it also seemed to me that there was a road or at least an atv trail on nearly every ridge and down every canyon. Granted we didn't cover a huge portion of the unit, but it seemed everything we glassed up, we could get much closer to via road or atv trail. I should have a pretty good chance of drawing the Muzzy tag next year, is it true that the Muzzy hunt is the toughest of the three?? I have heard that the deer are on the move and its hard to find the bigger bucks.
 
arch3614elk,

There are big bucks in the Book Cliffs, I agree with you there. There are a few guys that shoot 190+ bucks in any given year. But, out of the 500 people that hunt the Book Cliffs every year, I would bet you $100 that the majority of those bucks are less than or equal to 24" wide and score under 160.

Also, there are areas to get away from the roads where the deer are during the archery and muzz hunts, but during the rifle hunt it is really hard to get more than a couple miles from a road or ATV trail.

Muzz is probably the hardest hunt, but you can still scout and pattern deer to a degree. Archery is the easiest to scout and pattern. It is almost impossible to scout or pattern deer for the rifle hunt, but you can shoot 300 plus yards and the deer are down low. Every season has its pros and cons. If you had lots of time to scout I would go with a archery or muzz tag, if you are just going to show up and hunt, I would go rifle. If are dead set on a 30"er or a 190+ buck I would hunt another unit.

Just my take on things.
 
I have hunted, guided, or trapped the bookcliffs every year for over 33 years. I hunted with my dad out there 10 years before that. I also know fellow trappers and hunters who have been out there even longer. Since about 1988, I have never seen four bucks in one hunting season "that were easily over 30 inches wide," nor have my fellow hunting and trapping compadres seen such either. Hats off to arch3614elk...you must be a pretty darn good hunter and you sure caught my attention.

I was out there getting wood a few weeks ago. I counted 137 bucks one morning and saw one buck in a favorite area of mine that "may" be close to a 180 class buck. I have been in places where roads don't exist and areas that are so rough nobody would ever find you in 100 years if you got in trouble. I have seen bears, mountain lions, bobcats, yotees, and even rattlesnakes down on bittercreek during the summer...but never more than four bucks in one season "that were easily over 30 inches wide."

The genes are just not there folks and most "mature" bucks get clobbered by all of the road hunters the first few days of the season. If you want a 180 class buck or a 30 incher, you might want to try somewhere else, unless you can beat arch3614elk in an arm wrestle and make him tell you where those four big boys are at that he saw. If you want a 155 class buck and a fun hunt with family and friends, by all means, try your luck with the draw.
 
IMHO when you look at a buck that has its horns close to the same size as its ear width you are looking at a 20-22 inch buck on the bookcliffs, the deer just seen to be smaller in size then what I am used to seeing.

So maybe the deer that were spotted were really 27 inches wide instead of 30" These are still great deer IMHO unless you get rapped up in the inch game.

I think there are a lot of people that think they want to kill a 180 buck or better but when it actually comes down to it they probably cant tell the difference in a 180 buck and a 160 buck on the hoof. Not pointing fingers at anyone.

It is possible that someone will see a 30" buck on the bookcliffs hunt. I have seen them. I have also seen bucks that will go 190". Every year someone kills a buck that goes 190 on the bookcliffs but the chances of doing it are against you.

If you want to kill a 30" buck or a buck that will go 190?s the henneries is the place in Utah with the best odds to do it but it might not be worth the wait if you are down in the point pool.

If I didn't have as many points as I have I would defiantly hunt the bookcliffs. It is awesome. Especially the archery hunt!
 

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