chalk creek east canyon morgan south rich help!

hey you guys new here! been reading the forums and figured id ask for any tips or tricks i can! got the chalk creek east canyon morgan south rich muzzy tag this year for deer! tried the hunt years ago no success i understand most is private not looking for a monster buck just want a decent buck and some meat! hard to get out and scout being a single dad might run up and do some glassing but besides that cant do any extensive scouting trips i apricate all and any help!!!

Welcome to Monster Mulies

I've never hunted up there but I drew that same tag. From the little info I have gathered it's pretty steep and nasty up there. And not alot of big bucks. I'm gunna plan on just trying to glass as much as I can and cover as much ground as possible. I'm not after a monster just meat mainly.

I'm gunna spend first few days on the south east section of public. And move more north in unit if that's no good.

If you don’t have access to private good luck?
There are a couple of state pieces but that’s about it

Wapitiwilly said:

If you don’t have access to private good luck?
There are a couple of state pieces but that’s about it

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Although it is mostly private, there's still plenty of public to be had but plan on company in most of those areas.

Ridge is spot on. I’m going to generalize the unit as 80% private land a 20% public land with 80% of the tag holders on the 20% public land and the other 20% of the tag holders on the 80% of the private land. It can be hard to find a place to park your truck in some areas. This is definitely the DWR’s cash cow and they issue a ton of tags with very little area for public land hunters to enjoy the hunt. I have said this before but this unit should have the tags separated in the draw to have private land only tags and public land only tags similar to what Colorado does in units with a lot of private land. The high buck to doe ratio the DWR lists for the unit is a reflection of the private land and not even close to the reflection of the buck to doe ratio available on the public land. It can still be a fun hunt if you spend a few years learning the unit and have realistic expectations of the hunt and quality available. It is difficult to find a 3 1/2 year old buck on this unit on public land. You will have company no matter what you do to try to get away from it unless you are on private land. I will be helping out a few family members again this year in this unit and we will have fun and as always make the best of it. The unit does provide an opportunity for hunter to be out in the field hence the high tag quotes and good draw odds but the results of that are low harvest rates and low hunter satisfaction rates compared to other general unit. Good luck and reports back are always nice.

Twopointdn hit the nail on the head. This is the epitome of an opportunity hunt on the public land. It's still fun though. I have had 9 tags here over the last 12 years. I wouldn't be overly worried about it but I would also keep stuff secure if you camp anywhere near a road, I have had things end up missing while I was out in the field on this hunt. I have been up there a bunch this year and I would shoot the first buck you see if you want to go home with one. I bet less than 1% of the tag holders on this hunt shoot a buck older than 3 years old in the areas I hunt.

I've hunted this section for a number of years and had some success. There are a few places to go. For middle of the week hunts with few people, there is a public access point Morgan Canyon going to East Canyon. It's called RedRock Canyon (I think). It's steep and thick, but there are good deer in there. I've pulled out some two points and have seen larger deer in there (even during the gun hunt), however on the opener and first few days there are a lot of people here. Get up early and hike in find a spot on a ridge and wait. People will push deer to you. But, it's a climb to get up top. Climb to the tops and glass down into the valleys. You can also hike up the road, or if you have an electric bike you can get up further. There are a few watering holes, find them and you will see deer. Bonus- we've been grouse hunting up there to with good success in the river bottom and Huns up on the ridges.
Monte Cristo - I had good success hunting around the Dry Bread Pond area. The key here is move away from the roads and you will see deer. Moving further up the road, Dairy ridge was been hit and miss. Last two years I was up there, we saw few deer. They had been moving through putting in new fence lines with a large tractor, so that may have been a factor. There are a lot of people over here, but again, hike around get off the road, you'll see more deer. There is good success hunting the watering holes and toughs that are scattered about. I've had people tell me that hunting was good on Dairy that bumps up against Deseret as well I haven't been back that far. Bonus- we always see elk in this area and also good for grouse. Lightening Ridge seemed to have more people on it, we I don't hunt that area much.
Blue Bell Springs. This area is good too. Lots of grouse, and some deer. We hiked out to the spring and kicked up a few deer. Saw a few small bucks here.
Causey Area- There is some public hunting here, I haven't been, but reports I got, was it is hard hunting and hiking.

This is a general help, for places to look at, but get a map and if possible do some scouting. The drive to Dairy Ridge is very pleasant and the road is not to brutal.

Hope this helps.

tylerp said:

hey you guys new here! been reading the forums and figured id ask for any tips or tricks i can! got the chalk creek east canyon morgan south rich muzzy tag this year for deer! tried the hunt years ago no success i understand most is private not looking for a monster buck just want a decent buck and some meat! hard to get out and scout being a single dad might run up and do some glassing but besides that cant do any extensive scouting trips i apricate all and any help!!!

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It's my first year hunting and I picked up this tag as well. Been up to the East Canyon WMA and saw a bunch of Does but no bucks. Saw some bed down areas as well but those were close to the main trail and the parking lot so come opening day for the muzzy hunt it'll be a zoo and they'll be long gone. From what I can tell, the more you're willing to hike and get away from the trails and roads, the better off you'll be. I'm looking to get my first buck and really just looking to help fill the freezer. Has anyone had luck around whiskey creek off mirror lake hwy which is the border of the unit? Or around Mount Marsell? It seems like the Uintas would have a better chance at a decent deer than the WMA's

JavlaGrisar said:

It's my first year hunting and I picked up this tag as well. Been up to the East Canyon WMA and saw a bunch of Does but no bucks. Saw some bed down areas as well but those were close to the main trail and the parking lot so come opening day for the muzzy hunt it'll be a zoo and they'll be long gone. From what I can tell, the more you're willing to hike and get away from the trails and roads, the better off you'll be. I'm looking to get my first buck and really just looking to help fill the freezer. Has anyone had luck around whiskey creek off mirror lake hwy which is the border of the unit? Or around Mount Marsell? It seems like the Uintas would have a better chance at a decent deer than the WMA's

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I haven't hunted Marsell, but the whitney area gets a lot of hunting pressure. There are deer there though. Really there are bucks on all of the public parcels in this unit. It's just tough to find a nice one. Two points shouldn't be real tough to make happen.

I've hunted this area a number of times. On the parcel I have access to I haven't seen a buck there in three years. I finally gave up on this area and started putting in for a different area, drew Wasatch East muzzleloader this year. I'm hoping I at least see a buck there.