Utah Archery Deer & Elk

SnkyHuntr

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So I have been a long time follower and figured I would give this thread a try this year. My Dad, Grandfather, and Myself were lucky enough to draw San Juan Archery Deer Tags. My brother also drew a general season Archery Deer tag. To say the wait is FINALLY over would be an understatement. I will probably pick up an OTC Archery Elk tag as well just in case. We will be making several trips to the unit to scout and learn the area.

Good Luck to those who have tags this year.

Hope you enjoy as I document my 2015 adventures.

Thanks

Brad
 
Seems like everytime we have something good happen to us, bad luck rears it's ugly head and brings us back to reality. My grandfather had a heart attack last week and ended up having quadruple bypass surgery. Doctors say he can't pull a bow for 6-8 months. At this time he is deciding what he should do.

Option 1: Turn his tag back in and regain his bonus points (15).
Option 2: Use a medical hardship and apply for a crossbow exemption.
Option 3: Ask DNR for other possible solutions.

At this point we are pretty bummed about his hunt but glad he is okay and healing.

Will post more when we have a solution figured out.
 
Finally made it down to do some scouting. It has been a very busy summer. My job requires me to travel quite a bit and I haven't been able to focus on my hunt as much as I would have liked. My dad and I did make it down for a few days to check out the area and see some animals. Pics to come.
 
This was a quick trip for 2 days but we saw a lot of country and got an idea of where we want to focus our efforts and time. Saw lots of Deer and Elk. A few were decent and could be possible shooters when the hunt rolls around. Here are a few that show the genetics of the unit.

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So after having quadruple bypass surgery on May 28th, my grandpa held out hope that he might be able to be healed enough to go on his hunt. Unfortunately that has not been the case. he is healing well but the doctor told him "NO HUNTING" this year. So after looking through his options and speaking with the DNR, he will be turning his tag back in. HE will gain back all of his Points and receive a point for this year. He should be the max point holder again for the unit next year with 16 points.
 
Well we made it down on Saturday for a quick trip. it rained most of the day on us but we had a good time. It was a little hairy driving out though.

My truck is very reliable and has gotten me out of some sticky situations.

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Super Tall 4x4. Definitely a last day shooter.

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Cool looking spike. I would shoot him if given the chance.

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We made it down to the unit for the opening week. Man was it a great week. We saw 15-20 bucks each time we left camp. Opening morning started out slow. We saw a few basket 4x4's and some does. Nothing worth launching an arrow at. We don't hunt on Sunday so we just relaxed around camp. It was a looooong day to say the least. Monday morning we headed back out to a spot we had seen a few nice bucks on Friday evening. We drove up around a loop and saw a giant buck but could get a shot on him. We went over to another area and we spotted a few bucks feeding on the hill. I could see the big boy but my dad couldn't. He could only see the small 2x2 and big 2x3 that were with him. I told him to look to the left of the big 2x3. He looked and he said "I would be happy with a buck like that". so we got off the ATV's and I watched as dad closed the distance to 40 yds. He shot and the arrow hit a bit low. We gave the buck an hour hoping he would bed down. We came back and went down to were we had marked the blood and started trailing him. After 4 hours and 1.5 miles of tracking (according to the GPS) we lost the blood and tracks.
 
Dad was pretty bummed about not finding the buck. We made a plan for the evening hunt to go check some water holes in the area thinking the buck would head to water. We headed to the first water and there was a fresh Elk gut pile next to the trail. We headed to try and find the next water hole that was showing on the map. We headed up a new trail and wasn't seeing anything. We came around a corner and saw a small forky and a HUGE 30 inch 2x2. We headed down the trail another 1/4 mile and I hear my dad whistle at me. I turned around and he motioned for me to come back to him. I started to back up my ATV and he says "Grab your Bow!" I grabbed my bow and went back the 15 yds to where he was sitting on the trail. He said there is a nice buck up the hill. I looked and could see the back end sticking out from behind a pine tree. I could tell he was a buck but couldn't see how big he was. I held up my binos and could see he had nice forks on his right side with a kicker but couldn't see hi other side. My dad asked if I wanted to take him and I told him I needed to see the other side. I walked about 10 yds down the trail and held up my binos. Just then the buck turned and gave me a full frontal view. WOW!! I looked back at my dad and said "yeah, I want him!!" I ranged him and he was 45 yds. I waited for him to turn broadside and then drew back. I settled the pin and slowly squeezed the trigger on my release. My trusty Bowteck RPM 360 sent the Carbon Express Maxima Red arrow tipped with a G5 100 grain T3 screaming towards it's mark.
 
Nothing can describe that sweet sound of an arrow impacting the vital zone. The buck kicked up and turned and trotted off. Dad said he could see blood coming out his side. dad came over to me and that is when reality hit and I started shaking from the adrenaline rush. I knew I had hit him good. We walked over to where he was standing and I found my arrow drenched in bright red blood. It was a complete pass through. we followed the blood up the hill about 25 yds and dad says "There's your buck". I looked up and could see antlers sticking up in the air. I knocked another arrow just in case but it wasn't needed. The buck died in mid jump trying to clear a deadfall.
 
That is when all the work began. We injected the velvet with chemical and caped and quartered him out. While we were working on the velvet a truck drove by and I whistled for them to stop. Dad ran down and told them we had a nice buck down and asked if they would be willing to help us get it back to camp using their truck. They were hunting for deer as well (his wife had a tag). They said they were going to go hunt a little longer and would come back. His name was Brian Booth and his wife was Lisa. They showed back up just as we were quartering him up. Brian helped us get him finished up and loaded on the ATV's. We were able to make everything fit so we didn't need his truck. it was almost 9:30pm by this time so they said congrats and headed on their way.
 
We got back to camp about 10:30pm and showed my little brother. he said he knew we would get one. I got things ready to drive him down to the Taxidermist the next morning. I dropped him off and the Taxidermist said he was a crusher buck. He taped out just over 30 inches wide. He is a 4x4 with matching kickers on each side.
 
Pics of my buck coming soon....


Back to dad's buck.

We searched Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning to see if his buck would turn up and NOTHING!

We gave up hope and chalked it up to the risks you take with archery hunting. We hunted Wednesday evening behind camp and found a few decent bucks.

Thursday morning we went down the trail behind camp. As we were driving down the trail I looked off to the right saw Mr. Wide bedded right off the trail under a pine. I told dad to grab his bow and ranged him. He was 38.5 yds. No problem right? Wrong! Dad shaved some hair off his back and he was gone. Dang! He was the buck I got photos of back in July. He is probably 36-38" wide. He wouldn't score really well but is an awesome buck with tons of character. He is a 3x3 with kickers and a drop tine.
 
We went back to camp and I was going to take my younger brother over to his unit for General Archery Deer. As we were getting ready to leave a truck pulled into camp and it was the DNR. They asked if we had wounded any deer. They had a buck in the back of the truck and I went over and looked at it. The minute I saw it I yelled to my dad that he needed to come over and get his deer. We confirmed where it had been shot, shot placement, etc... They said it had died 50yds off the road but on the opposite side of the road where dad had hit it. A bear hunter had found it (a bear had found the deer and eaten most of it). The DNR officer cut his head off though and the antlers had been untouched and weer still in immaculate condition. Dad was able to tag the buck and just like that, our hunts were over.
 
Dad's buck taped out at 27 inches wide. The Taxidermist estimates he will score in the 180-185 inch range. He is a deep forked 4x4 with a small 1/2 inch kicker coming off of his G2.
 
here are the pics of both bucks. We are super happy and had a blast spending time in beautiful country and great people. We met some new friends along the way as well and made some great memories.

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