# Deseret Gift Buck



## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I just returned from an amazing hunting experience. 

My brother-in-law called in late August to ask what my hunting plans were this Fall. He had purchased a Deseret deer voucher and elk voucher. With work and other commitments, he realized he wasn't going to have time for back-to-back hunts so he gave the deer voucher (which is worth a TON of money) to me. Then he did some rescheduling with the outfitter so we were able to hunt together this week. 

I've never been to Deseret before. It is an amazing place. I would argue that is one of the top elk spots in the state. We had 14 elk hunters in camp this week. All of them connected with bulls and 12 of them scored over 330", with the largest at 384". The habitat is incredible and they are doing a lot of work to make it even better. 

It is also a great mule deer spot. I saw dozens of bucks every day, many were in the 140-170" range. A couple of bucks were even bigger than that. I finally sealed the deal on Friday afternoon on this buck. He is my first archery kill. The hunting was very challenging with a bow, and the weather made it even harder, so I am very proud of this trophy. 

I want to thank my brother-in-law, Robert, for his generosity. I also want to thank my guide, Kenny, who I became good friends with. Finally, I want to thank Packout for his scoring competitions, which allowed me to have some money towards the taxidermy work. :smile:


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## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

What a great looking buckie! Congrats on a fine animal, well done! No doubt the weather made it tough with a bow. I would be proud too!


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## DeadI (Sep 12, 2007)

Great looking buck. Looks pretty heavy. Did your brother in law get a bull?


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## flyfisher20 (Aug 5, 2011)

I'm good friends with Kenny and the owner of the outfitter. Looks like they've done it again. Congrats


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Very nice, congrats!


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## dmaestas (Jun 29, 2013)

Awesome buck man congrats!


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Fantastic buck!

And yes, One of the best managed wildlife areas anywere. 
Certainly the best in Utah, world wide top wild game managment level....


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

That has to be the heaviest 3X3 I've ever seen! Congrats on a fine animal!


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## Blanding_Boy (Nov 21, 2007)

Very well done. Glad you had a good time.

Todd


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## Doc (Sep 11, 2007)

Well done, Very well done indeed!


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

Thats an awesome buck man congrats!


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Congrats on a sweet archery buck! Kenny is about as good of a dude as there is out there. 

Your bro-in-law hooked you up!


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## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

Congrats on the beautiful buck!:mrgreen:


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

AWESOME! Thanks for sharing with us!


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## cosmo71 (Aug 12, 2009)

Nice job AF CYN. I can't wait to see it hanging over your fireplace.


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

love how heavy he is, almost has part moose in his genes. great buck!


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Awesome buck, congratulations.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

Nice three point. I love big three's. Good shot placement too by the way...


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## tshuntin (Jul 13, 2008)

Congrats! Kenny and Tom have been good friends of mine for around 12-15 years and great guys who helped give my dad and I an experience of a lifetime five years ago up there.


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

Congrats AF! I'm happy for you. What an experience. You are a natural born killer.


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## basinbowhunter (Jan 19, 2009)

Congrats. Very unique buck! And taken with archery gear! Envious!


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Nice buck!
A question though. Did you have to use a bow or could you have used a rifle.


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

I'm pretty sure they would have let me use a rifle, but I was committed to the bow. I know some of the elk hunters tried with a bow for a few days and then switched to rifle. 

I actually had to wear orange the whole time I was there since there were rifle hunts going on. I was worried about it, but it turns out deer really can't see orange.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Cool
Did you have to shoot a managment buck or could you shoot a regular one

Only reason I'm asking is it seems you could have taken the easy road to a much larger deer with a once in my life tag but you chose different. 

Nothing wrong with that. Just making conversation. Its still a cool deer either way!


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

You can shoot any deer that they estimate to be 5.5 years old or older. That is actually the one part of the hunt I found frustrating. It was weird to glass up deer and study their bodies/faces instead of their antlers. Kenny and I sometimes disagreed on how old a buck looked. :smile: This buck was aged at 4.5, but we both thought he was older. He had a big body, and heavy antlers. 

I could've shot a bigger buck with a rifle, but there was nothing spectacular that I really regret not having an opportunity on. I would rather have this 150ish deer with a bow than to shoot a 170ish maybe 180 buck with a rifle. Anything bigger than that I would've wanted a gun, but I didn't see anything bigger than that.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

Interesting. I almost put my points in on that hunt last year. I had 12 archery points then. It just had too many hoops to jump through i felt and I couldn't bring my kids or friends. In the end I'm glad I still have my points. 
Now if I was gifted the tag like you were I'm all in. 
Sounds like it was fun any way.


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## wisconsinvette (May 18, 2013)

*Nice*

Great buck. I am new to Utah. Can someone explain what this hunt was to me? Is this a CMU or whatever? Do you have to have a guide?


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## AF CYN (Mar 19, 2009)

Deseret is a private ranch and CWMU. You can draw a tag for free in the public drawing or purchase a hunt. This particular CWMU provides a guide & lodging for both public and private hunters for deer, elk, and moose. Welcome to Utah.


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