Founder's 2019 Hunt Adventures

Founder

Founder Since 1999
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My 2019 hunting adventures began in January with a little winter scouting. Found some dandy bucks that got me excited for antler hunting and for this upcoming season.

At this point, I've got a Utah archery deer tag and that's it. However, I have high hopes of drawing a Wyoming deer tag as well. I applied with a new buddy from the site here and I'm hoping that our combined luck and points do the job. I'll also be looking for an option for Colorado deer, but we'll just have to see if that works out.
In addition to whatever hunts I have, I'll also be helping my son, wife and dad on their hunts.

I definitely have a lot of summer scouting to do this year, and I expect to put in more than 25 days looking for big bucks. As always, I'm excited to throw on a pack and get after it. Hopefully I'll have lots of big buck photos from a few different places to share in the thread here, along with some hunting action later on in the year.

Here are a few winter range bucks that I'd love to lay eyes on this summer.

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Brian Latturner
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Strikeout for me in Wyoming! No tag this year. All I've got is Utah.

Brian Latturner
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I've been shooting my bow a lot and things are coming along nicely. I'll tell you, I'm ready to do some Utah and Wyoming backpacking. No Wyoming tag for me, but I'll still be searching, photographing and looking over bucks up there. The plan right now is 18 days in WY and as much as I can in Utah. I've got bucks I need to checkout!
If I find the monster this year in Wyoming, THEN I'll be super bummed that I didn't get a tag. The option to apply with a max point holder was available, but I thought 5.5 would do it, so I applied with a buddy from the site here who?d been asking for a few years.
Live and learn...............oh well, I'll survive the no tag life. Ha ha
I'm crossing my fingers for a CO tag, but that's currently a wait and see. I might be looking for one of you guys with a great tag to tag along with just so I can get my fix.

This buck here made it to the winter range, so hopefully he made it back to the summer range. I'm really curious to see what he is this year. If he's a stud, someone will be after him.

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Brian Latturner
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So far this year I've put in just one day of scouting in Utah and a day and half in Wyoming. Found a few good bucks in Utah, but none stood out as being real big. Most of the country I'll be looking at is still covered in snow.
Did a Wyoming trip recently and you can see in the video below what I found. A neat buck that has a tripod fork, cheater and he's fairly heavy. The weather was tough!!! The wind was roaring, it rained, hailed, lightning, thunder and it was cold.


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Another 3 days in the high country with the backpack loaded heavy and my legs aching. Found some good bucks though. And some big bulls. Watch the video!


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Brian Latturner
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It's always a lot of work to pack into the areas I go into, and the heat, then rain and thunder and lightning and bugs can make it challenging, but I still keep going back. I enjoy my time on the hill.
Found some good bucks on my last outing. The best 3 include a wide buck (over 30), a heavy old dude, and a neat buck with extras.
What's super cool as you'll see in a follow-up post, I found this bucks antler in May, then found him on this scouting trip!!!! What are the odds of that? Thousands of square miles of summer and winter range, and I find the antler and then the buck in the summer. 40 miles apart.
Enjoy the video......


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Brian Latturner
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What are the odds of finding the antler in May and the buck in July on the summer range 40 miles apart????

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Brian Latturner
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A little more time in the mountains felt good, at least for part of the trip. Some of it was too hot, some too rainy, some of it consisted of too long of walks, but it's still fun to see the country and a few bucks.
This most recent trip was slow. I found one great buck, but really didn't see as many bucks in all as I would have expected. Not sure why, but they just weren't as active.


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Brian Latturner
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So I finally got back in to look at the buck I posted video of earlier that had the cheater on one side and a tripod front fork. I figured he'd be a good one, and he is. He's put on a few inches and added some cheaters. I originally thought he'd break 190, but after really looking at the video and adding some numbers, I'm thinking 180-185. His back forks just aren't very good and he hasn't a lot of width. Don't get me wrong, he's still awesome and a for sure taker, I just got excited when I first laid eyes on him, but then the video forces me to return to reality.


Brian Latturner
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I've been putting in some time archery hunting in Utah. Found a few bucks, but haven't yet found one I'd be willing to shoot at this point.

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Had a little luck yesterday, not on a big buck, but I did score an early rifle tag in Colorado off the reissue list. I'm excited!! Planning to scout a few days next week and then go hunting. Hopefully I can turn something up.

Also been archery hunting here in Utah. Been seeing Bucks, but nothing real impressive yet.

Brian Latturner
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So last week I spent some time in Colorado backpacking and looking for bucks. In my 4 days, I looked at about 30 bucks, one of which is the one I'll be hunting for. You can see him in the video below. I'm thinking he's 26-27 wide and with the extra, mid-180's type buck. He could surprise and be a hair better. But regardless of score, he's a big buck and it's hard to walk away from him to keep looking during the hunt. No time was left to scout anymore. He excited me when I saw him, and that's what I was looking for....something that excited me.

Utah is on hold.


Brian Latturner
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I found the buck yesterday morning and decided to pass. I just wasn?t impressed. I don't know why I was last week and when I see video from last week, but yesterday I just wasn?t. Had to even double check my video to make sure it was him, and it was. Maybe in part I didn't want to end the hunt on day 3. I had actually been hoping I wouldn't find him until a few days into the hunt so I could look around for a better one. And it did play out that way, but I still couldn't do it. I'm happy knowing I could?ve taken him or a couple others that were about 180. The one I passed on I think is 185ish and 26 wide.
So, I bailed from that spot and packing into another spot tomorrow.

If I find nothing in the other area, maybe I'll go back in and see if he's waiting for me to return. Ha ha

Here?s a couple pics of him as he stood in the bottom of that basin waiting for me to send one.

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Brian Latturner
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Here are the two 180ish bucks I probably could?ve taken.

The first one is a neat buck. Huge body! If he'd been just a little better on mass and tine length, or width or something.

The bottom one had great front forks, but just ok backs. He looked good each time I saw him, but just not big enough. Great looking buck though.

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Brian Latturner
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I'm back home now and I scored on a big buck. I packed into the other area and spent a couple of days, but wasn't at all impressed. So, I had to decide to either pack out and go into a totally new spot or go back and pursue the 4x5. I opted to get back after the 4x5.

The 4x5 was for sure a great buck. Not a beast, but still a darn good trophy and I figured if I could find him on one of the last two days of the hunt, I'd be plenty happy to take him.

On Friday night after packing out of the other area, I loaded a pack with all my day gear plus a lightweight air pad and my lightweight quilt. The plan was to sleep under a rock on the 12,500 foot ridge on Saturday night if need be. The goal was to be light enough that if I did take the buck, I could pack him and all my gear out in one trip.

On Saturday morning, a big 4x4 I had seen earlier in the hunt showed himself. He looked good and had me quite tempted, but then he disappeared into the trees and so I hustled up the ridge to look into another basin for the 4x5. Surprise!!! There he was, feeding with 4 or 5 other bucks right out in the sun. I wouldn't have expected that, but there he was. I quickly began moving along the ridge to get within a comfortable range. I ended up laying down and prepping for a shot at about 400 yards straight down the mountain. (I later found that I probably could have gotten closer, and should have.)

My first shot missed. Yep, I missed him. Luckily for me, the bucks all just stood there trying to figure out where the shot came from. With my 2nd shot, I hit him and I believe knocked him down, but he got back up and just stood there sick. I could see a bullet hole in his side. The 3rd shot also hit and he dropped and all the other bucks got out of there. He laid there for about a minute, then began dragging himself down the hill and another shot finished him.

It felt great to have scored on a dandy buck and a buck I found scouting and worked my butt off with lots of hiking and packing. It was a fantastic hunt, mostly because I love the backpacking and the hard work and that thin air and the solitude I had for much of the hunt. Good times!!!!

He ended up being 27 inches wide and scores 185-5/8.

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Brian Latturner
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Wanted to share my adventure in video for those who like to watch.


Brian Latturner
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Had a fun time hunting with my son here in Utah. Anden scored again this year on a 4-point. His 3rd in 3 years of hunting in Utah.
I've got to say, he can sure out shoot me! Ha ha He?s drills um with that .243.
He?s darn excited. Great times.

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