2011 Vernon Archery Buck

backinthegame

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This hunt obviously started when I read "SUCCESSFUL" on my confirmation e-mail this spring, which was very nice. As we all know living here in Utah the chances to hunt limited entry units are very few and far between! Happy to get the tag.

Living only an hour and a half away, I was able to spend a fair of time scouting the unit over the summer; a total of 12 days from late June until the hunt opened August 20th. Scouting was fun...the wet spring had the West "desert" looking more like Hawaii with all the green vegetation! We saw plenty of deer and plenty of bucks during July and early August.

I had the entire first nine days of the season to hunt, which was definitely nice. Being able to spend an extended period of time out there at once during the hunt was a benefit for sure. We spent the week hunting hard, and I had plenty of stalk opportunities on bucks, even with being at least somewhat selective in regards to what type of buck I'd like to try and kill. I was inside bow-range plenty, but for one reason or another things weren't all coming together. Bowhunting.

On the morning of the eighth day a buddy of mine had come to camp to help out and he and I were able to spot a good buck up and feeding. After watching him take his bed, I was able to crawl into position above the bedded buck. The rock outcropping I was on left me 60 yards above him, and with the angle the shot would "be" 52 yards. It didn't take too awful long for the buck to stand to stretch and I was able to take the shot. The buck headed to the bottom of the canyon and was obviously hurting, so we backed out and came back to find him dead as can be in his bed a few hours later.

Big thanks to Austin, who helped me spot, sneak on, and pack this guy...and also thanks to everyone else who helped out in whatever way. I even got some bits of info from a few MM members during my scouting time, so thanks guys for that.

Lots of what is said about the Vernon is that the unit "isn't great" and that good deer are hard to come by. The Vernon definitely isn't the Henry's that's for sure...but if a guy is willing to put in some time and effort there ARE good bucks to be hunted. During my 20 days on the unit this year I saw plenty of great bucks, stalked bucks substantially better than the one I ended up tagging, and overall was plenty impressed with the Vernon unit.

I'm happy with this deer, he's my best ever with a bow. Good buck. My older brother (utahheadgear on MM) also filled his Vernon tag, but I'll wait for him to tell his own story. His deer is bigger!! :)

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And lastly one of the bucks we weren't able to tag...just in case people were still doubting that the Vernon holds any truly good bucks...:)

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Nice buck - Thanks for saving the last one for my rifle tag... And I am getting antsy to go...
 
Good luck to your group and hope they score some large ones. How are the numbers/size of deer looking this year? Our scouting will start up in a few weeks?

Thanks for posting these stories and pic. These two bucks have made my day at work, stopped working when I saw them and started dreaming.
 
That's right Kody, he's still not safe!!

Ridge...deer numbers are good. This is the only year I've spent time on the unit so in fairness I don't have much for comparison but we saw plenty of bucks. Not sure the numbers of bucks are like what most guys seem to see on the Book Cliffs, but still plenty of deer.

I've heard the deer move out of most of the areas we hunted by the time rifle comes in, but I'm not sure about that. You're going to have a blast out there, good luck come October!!
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-29-11 AT 08:54PM (MST)[p]Pretty shape, tine length, and in the most trees on the whole unit. Sweet photos. I think your bro owes you a nice lunch.

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Great bucks and stories for both you and your brother. Thanks for sharing the picts.
 

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