Late Season Muzzleloader

kdinkel · May 13, 2020

I have posted this on UWN as well, but can use all the advice I can get! I lucked out and drew the late season muzzleloader hunt on 9 mile in Utah (I was sure I had enough points for the bonus pool when it had 30 tags, but they cut it back to 8 tags so I was nervous). I know it isn't a trophy unit, but it will be a fun hunt. The question I have is where the deer are now vs where they will be Oct 28th - Nov 5th. I hunt muzzleloader ( and archery with my daughter) so I am usually looking for bachelor herds. From what I can find out, it is pre rut, but will the bucks be with the does by then? Will they have come down in elevation? Any advice is appreciated. Any experiences from other who have hunted late season muzzy on any unit would be great as well!

Cg08 · May 13, 2020

They should be starting to move down. Just depends where the does are and where you are hunting.

fishnut · May 20, 2020

The buck in my avatar was killed in Utah on a late season muzzy hunt a couple years ago. Mine was a little later in the year (11-1 to 11-9) I think. We were seeing bucks with does but it just got better late in the hunt. I killed him on the 8th of November if my memory is correct. I had seen this buck for a couple years and new where and when he showed up so it wasn't a thing of chance, it was kind of several years of scouting. I did pass up a deer that we thought was 180"ish typical that almost got the hammer and I would have been very happy with him. My advise is to have realistic expectations and just enjoy the experience but you do have a right to be excited about the hunt.

kdinkel · May 21, 2020

Thanks for the feedback! I am just excited to try something new. I don't need a trophy, just the best way to hunt this season. Thanks to both of you for the advice. Great buck fishnut!

kdinkel · Nov 4, 2020

So to update on this hunt, (to keep from committing the sin of asking for help but not following up) it went really well. I had some pms on this site and on utah wildlife and am grateful. I started at about 9000 ft and snow and didn't find much. As I was taking a short cut between canyons at a lower elevation I found where the does were (hundreds). I spent days watching and Tuesday evening took this one. It was the second biggest I saw. The other was a monster, but I only saw it once and couldn't get in range.