BR's 2016 Dream Year HAC

BrowningRage

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Well, since I finally received a "Successful" in my letter from the DWR, I've decided that it is my turn to post a HAC. I have thoroughly enjoyed these threads posted by others in years passed, and I hope I am able to share what a Dream Year might look like for me.

Regarding that "Successful"... Some of you have already seen my post that I received just one tag, for just one state. But that tag will allow me to hunt the archery, muzzleloader and rifle hunts in the Book Cliffs this year. If ever I had a chance at making a year a dream hunting season, this is it so far for me. I look forward to sharing my preparation and scouting trips, followed by photos and video of experiences during the hunts, all culminating in the harvest of my biggest buck to date.

My plan is to do some scouting trips to areas that I already know hold deer, as well as a new area or two. I don't plan to hunt for the majority of the archery hunt because I just plain prefer a gray coat and hard horns. I will hunt 4 days during the Labor Day weekend in Sept, with my bow, followed by another 4 days of the muzzy hunt Oct. 3-6, and then finally, if needed, the entire rifle hunt. If I had my druthers, I'd hunt everyday that I have mentioned, have some blown stalks, see some good bucks, and then on day 8 of the rifle hunt, kill the biggest buck of the season while he's chasing does... That's the dream.

So, check in every so often. I hope to share a little bit of myself and my adventure this season. I hope it is worth your while.

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
It is highly likely that I will end up sharing some photos or videos taken out at Antelope Island during this HAC. I live very close to the Island and my family and I enjoy trips out there rather frequently. Below are a few photos taken back in January with my three kids in tow...

This is an actual photo (not a video screenshot) of a Magpie in flight with one of three coyotes that were all over a deer carcass...
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There are plenty of trophy species to be found on The Island...
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A few young bucks were found in January, but the big boys were scarce on this trip...
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And of course, our own resident Bison...
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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
My family and I always love to get out in the winter and find some bucks in the snow... Here's a couple from Northern Utah that are worth posting up...

Mid-Morning Snack:
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Enjoying the sunshine...
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And there were quite a few of these guys around...
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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
I realize that shed hunting has been a thing for quite some time. Last year, my dad and uncle and I took off at about 3am on May 1st for WY to try our hand at it for the first time. We had all found sheds in the past by chance while hunting, but this was the first ever trip specifically designated for walking around in the desert for a day to try and pick up animal bones... That trip was a lot of fun. My dad found three little sheds in the first 30 minutes, and then he didn't find anymore for the remainder of the day. I found three sheds, two of which were nice looking 3 and 4 points. But my uncle came away with five or six sheds, with three of them being decent 4-points.

This year we decided to do it all over again. My cousin also came with us this year. We spent the night in a hotel and the next morning, we were out in the 100MPH winds :) lookin for treasure.

Prior to getting out of the vehicle my uncle mentioned that we might want to keep track of who found The First, The Biggest, and The Most. As a start to my Dream Season, I ended up winning all three. In total, we gathered 25 sheds. 9 were 4-point or better, with another 4 nice 3-point sheds. I found a little 3-point in about two minutes (The First), found a total of 11 by myself (The Most), and found a 78" non-typical (The Biggest).

This was my first nice shed of the morning, and I got a pretty sweet photo of it ATL. Look at all the deer tracks around it... And what a pretty morning..!
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This shed was in a thick area that I searched for another 30-40 minutes hoping for the other side. You'll see later it's a great shed. Not much on mass, but he stretched the tape at 74"...
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I found this one going back through an area we had already walked once. My dad and cousin were still close enough that when I saw it I just stopped and said, "Hey, this thing has 3 cheaters on it." He's got 8 total inches of extras on a 70" frame.
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This shed was hung up in this bush exactly how you see it. My cousin and I had just turned to head a different direction when I saw a white fork from about 50 yards away. When I got to it and took some photos, I realized it was the match to a shed my uncle had found early in the morning, about a mile away... This one is 72"
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You can see the results of our 7 or 8 hours in the desert:
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This is the matched up set my uncle and I found. Since he found the first side, I gave him mine and we're thinkin it'll make it onto the wall in one form or another.
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And of course my kids love that I brought home some treasure:
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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Here's a short video of a quick trip out to Antelope Island with the kids last weekend. Saw one big buck and a few of his buddies. I bought a new camera several months ago because of the 50x Optical Zoom, but I'm thinking there's either something wrong with it or it's just not a good video camera. I'm not too keen on the quality of the video... See for yourself:


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
I realize that some time has passed, and I apologize. I wanted to get some photos of my bow, muzzy, and rifle setups posted, but just haven't had the time to do so.

Tomorrow I'm heading out for my first scouting trip to the Books. I'm so excited..!! I hope to get some good video and photos to share with you all.

Took a trip to Las Vegas to see my sister and her newborn baby last week. We went out to Boulder City and I got some photos of some Desert Bighorn hanging out in a park. Have a look:

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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Quick trip out to The Island last night with the kids. That fire definitely took a large chunk of the island out. Still had a great time. Got some photos and some video. Here's a little of what we saw...

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We saw quite a few other bucks, but nothing giant. I got mostly video of them though rather than photos. Still, The buck pictured above and maybe one other one would be studs for me to see/take in the Book Cliffs this year. I can't even imagine harvesting such a buck...

I'll check back next week after my trip out to the Book Cliffs. Have a good one.

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Well, made a quick trip out to the Books. Left Friday, midday, spent the evening looking around, slept in the car and had a great time Saturday morning looking around, then we cam home. It was a whirlwind, and a lot of driving, but it was well worth it.

Saw more than 100 deer, 40 or so bucks, 5 of which were nice, one of which would have me tickling the trigger on my gun. Have a look:

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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Here's re-cap video of my whirlwind trip to the Book Cliffs. I ended up with some pretty decent footage of almost all the bucks I cared about getting on film. Only one or two got away with no usable footage. meh

Enjoy:


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Some video of two trips out to Antelope Island this August... Some truly giant bucks:


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Well, just sittin at work this morning, wishin it was noon already... Headin out to the Book Cliffs today for a Labor Day trip with my wife, kids, and parents. For those of you with young kids, I'm not sure there is anything that gets them more exciting than telling them we are going camping...

I'm hoping to do some pretty thorough scouting/hunting during the morning hours. If I find a 180" class buck, I would likely go after him, but I'm treating this trip as more of a scouting trip for the Muzzy hunt at the end of the month. I just hope I can control myself when I see a good buck and I have a bow in my hand... LOL

I'm guessing the evenings will be spent with my kiddos in the truck just doing some driving and spotting from the roads. My daughter said, "I sure hope I spot my first bear..." I told her I never saw a bear while camping until I was 30 years old. (Not counting Yellowstone).

I hope I'm posting up some fun photos and videos next week. I hope even more that I'm posting kill pics with a big, big buck and my kids sittin around it. Hey, we can all dream, can't we..??

"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Labor Day weekend has come and gone. Took the family out to the Book Cliffs on a late archery hunt/scouting trip for the upcoming Muzzy hunt. We had a good time. High winds were not fun, but kept it cooler. Had some squalls blow through that really shocked my kids. They thought the deer were "taking a shower".

Here's a short video of the trip. Enjoy:


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Went out to the Island on Saturday evening with the kids... Turned out to be the best night I've ever had out there. We saw 12 bucks that were over 180"... I got some pretty good photos of a few of them. I even had the kids out of the truck to sneak closer to a couple of them with me... My 4-year-old would have walked right up to 'em if I wasn't there. The kid is fearless and adventurous...

Here's some of the better photos I got.

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Someone else affectionately named this old boy "Beauty"
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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Work has kept me from being out in the Books for these first few days of the Muzzy hunt, but my mind has been on deer non-stop..!!

YouTube videos get me through the day and seem to tie me over for now. Can't wait to get out there Saturday and start chasing bucks..!!

In the meantime, below you will find a video of my dad's Book Cliffs Rifle hunt from a few years ago. It was the first video I ever filmed and edited with the purpose of putting it on YouTube. Have a watch, I hope it gets some of you through another break at work...


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Here's my video recap of the Book Cliffs Muzzy Deer hunt. It was a very fun, hard 5 days of hunting. The deer were spread all over kingdom-come. I saw quite a few 18-20" four-points going out in trucks on Saturday and Sunday. I saw one legitimate trophy buck coming out as well... I think most guys that planned on hunting Wed-Sat ended up disappointed, but I know some others that hunted hard and came away with nice deer as well...

Here's my recap:


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Here's a preview of what's to come... Story and video on the way...

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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Well, the Multi-Season Tag, Dream Hunt is over... It is definitely bitter-sweet. On the one hand, I killed the biggest buck I've ever killed, but on the other, my long-awaited hunt on a LE unit in Utah is now over. I hope you enjoy the video below...

Also, this will not be my last video/post of my HAC this year... I've got a few more things to share that I know everyone will love to see.


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
For anyone wanting to get out to Antelope Island before the hunts... Here'a a little taste of what you will likely see from the road alone... Video footage to follow, soon...

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"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
Some of the best footage I've ever filmed on Antelope Island. There were sure a LOT of big bucks running around for everyone to see this year... It is the true "Fantasy Island".


"Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!" 2 Ne. 28: 24
 
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