# Deseret



## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

My wife drew a Deseret cow elk tag I was wondering what to expect on the hunt any info would be great. 8)8)8) 
*http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...9MC8vwIFYhgLvCEgA&sig2=AdhBeIZmWA3aZNtJyYSKGw*


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

I drew the same tag. I hunted there in '99. Not a technical hunt by any means. But you should be able to fill the freezer, which is why I hunt antlerless.


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## FULLHOUSE (Oct 1, 2007)

Congrats to your wife. She will get her cow if not they will offer her to come back. She will have a shooting test at Lee Kay. There she will chose her hunt dates. She will meet up at their office the morning of the hunt and meet the guide they assign her. The guides are good guys drive their own personal vehicles and work hard to make sure she will get her elk. Make sure she is comfortable with her gun and is a good shot if she wounds an elk and they can't find it her hunt is over. Also I took a tip along with us when my daughter and I drew. The guide we had really worked hard for us to make sure we both got our cows.


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## sagebrush (Sep 8, 2007)

the rules have changed some out there, now you pay the guides to use their truck or you can you use your own. the fee now is like $150 and they will help you get it out or $75 they will take you out then you haul it back to the truck. or use your own truck and pay nothing. I'm pretty sure this is how it is set up now, I believe it changed a year ago. to many people not tipping the guides for the use of their trucks and help.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Philosophically it's a little off that they require you to use a guide and then charge fees. I think it violates the underlying principle of the CWMU program. 

Having said that, I know a number of the guides up there and they are all great dudes. The scenery is awesome and you will see A LOT of elk. 

I didn't know they still did the qualifying shoot. I thought they did away with that when they required the guide?


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## mack1950 (Sep 11, 2007)

its been a couple of years since our crew got cow permits on D L L the way I understand it is that all hunts are know being run by oufitters who have leases on the ranch. I have heard there have been changes made but my suggestion is contact the hunt managers listed on the proclamation as to what is know being offered. unless you know alot about the property and the elk movement there I would suggest you get a guide its a big ranch and typically the cow calf herds are in big herds and can be a pain to locate.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

sagebrush said:


> the rules have changed some out there, now you pay the guides to use their truck or you can you use your own. the fee now is like $150 and they will help you get it out or $75 they will take you out then you haul it back to the truck. or use your own truck and pay nothing. I'm pretty sure this is how it is set up now, I believe it changed a year ago. to many people not tipping the guides for the use of their trucks and help.


Unbelievable! Only in Utah would someone even think of not tipping someone who they know is not hardly earning any income to help you, maybe they thought their tithing money was going to the cause being that the property is church related. I can see both sides in how they require the guide and therefore one may have reason to disagree, but it is all disclosed ahead of time and very well explained to contact the manager ahead of time. I personally could not look a person in the eye who has done so much to help me and I then stiff them as my big thanks for working their butts off on my behalf. 
That all being said, my FIL did this hunt two years ago and overall indicated that it was not a particularly positive experience in just feeling like a canned hunt, not much different than a bison on AI. Those were just his words as I have not ever been over there nor desired to. 
Good luck on your hunt!


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

Thanks everyone for the info if anyone has been up there the last year of two I would like to hear your experience.8)


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## sagebrush (Sep 8, 2007)

I was there two years ago before the new rules changes came about. you can expect to get your elk if you do your part. just be prepared to take a quick shot, most of the elk will be nervous and on the move. most shot are 100 to 300 yards. it took me all day the finally find one to shoot, some people are more fortunate to get one early in the day. like I said before the elk are nervous and when they see the vehicle they know what that means they have been pushed around allot after the first two weeks of the hunt.


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## Raptorman (Aug 18, 2009)

My wife drew the same thing. I was there in 2010 for myself, my dad, and brother. So I haven't been since the change, but before the change I had a great time. We tipped our guide very well and had a very positive experience. We will have to see what route we chose to take now that you have to pay to use their trucks and stuff. But I excited for it. This will be my wife's first big game hunt, so we'll see how it goes.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I drew the tag last year - 2012. As was mentioned, she'll need to go to Lee Kay and qualify, which constitutes hitting an 8 1/2 x 11 paper at 100 yards, 3 times. It is then that you'll sign up for your day to hunt. Women or kids that draw can bring someone along on the hunt.

For the guiding fee, you have a couple of options:
Option 1 - Guided hunt. Cost last year was $150. We met the guides at the Lost Creek Dam, and then followed them in our trucks to a parking area just inside the DLL gate above the reservoir. Then we got in the truck with the guide - two hunters with each guide. We drove around looking for elk. When we found them, we shot them. The guide got the elk, gutted it, and loaded it his truck, and then drove us back to our trucks, and loaded the elk into our trucks, and then we followed them back out.

Option 2 - "Hosted Hunt." There is no fee. Same thing, in that we met the guides at the Lost Creek Dam. Instead of parking your truck and getting in with the guide, you follow him in your truck. After you shoot the elk, you go get it, gut it, and load it yourself. The follow the guide out.

Haul out option - if you choose the "hosted hunt," you have the option to add an "elk haul" service. If after you get your elk down, you decided you don't want to haul it, they will go up in their little Polaris Ranger (or whatever it is) and pick up your elk and haul it to your truck for you. Fee for that is $75, but you don't pay it unless you decide you don't want to haul the elk. 

If you don't get one, you can schedule to come back at no additional fee.

The guides are good guys, and really WANT you to get an elk. They will chase all over tarnation to find you an elk. I recommend tipping your guide, regardless of whether you do a guided hunt, or hosted hunt. And regardless of whether you get your elk or not. But that is just me. 

You'll see a lot of elk - and lots of bulls. We got within 25 yards of several groups of bulls, but found it difficult to get within 300 yards of the cows, as Sagebrush mentioned. We saw lots of deer and moose last year as well. Its a good time. It isn't what many here would do, or would consider hunting, but take it for what it is and enjoy it.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Huge29 said:


> Unbelievable! Only in Utah would someone even think of not tipping someone who they know is not hardly earning any income to help you, maybe they thought their tithing money was going to the cause being that the property is church related.


DLL completely sold all the hunting rights and now makes nothing from the hunting operation. All hunting rights are now owned by Wild Country Outfitters. As the guide explained to me on the cow hunt last year, the way they operate the hunting is kind of like a country club. They have XX number of membership shares. Each share gets so many tags to use as they will. Some shares were purchased by individuals, others by corporations. Seems like he said that Under Armor owns like half of the hunting shares now. To get a share, they put so much money up front, and then pay annual fees to maintain that hunting share. So pretty much, if you don't own a hunting share, or work for a company that does, you don't hunt at DLL, unless of course you are lucky enough to draw one of the public tags, which is 10% of their bull tags, and like 80% of their cow tags.

But aside from owning the land, the Church, or DLL, is not in any way involved with the hunting operation any more. The guides also said that if the winter is hard enough that supplemental feeding is required for the elk, they are responsible for it - not DLL. So what that does is makes so the outfitters really REALLY REALLY!!!!! want you to get your elk so numbers do not get to the point that they have to feed them.


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

Thanks for all of the info.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

had a tag last year. exercised the option of having a guide, ride in his truck, 150 bucks so i dont have to beat mine. we had one other hunter with us who was doing the drive my own truck deal, i had one down by 9, he had one down by 11. this was late season, first week of december. they were skittish and hard to find. the other guides were like 2 for 8 or so. it just a fill the freezer hunt, dont expect much more. drive, find, shoot, gut, load and go home.


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