# ANY SUCCESS?



## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

Haven't been hearing many success stories so I'll share ours. Well we started the muzzleloader hunt on wednesday like everyone else. I woke up at a quarter after 5, got my boys loaded up in the SUV (mom had to work along with all our babysitters), and swung up to pick up the old man. We got him picked up at about 6. Headed on the mountain. We spent the morning with the spotting scopes and bino's. Just trying to find some bucks to go after the following days. We only ended up seeing about 15-20 does. Horrible for the area we were in. We used to see 100-150 on any given morning with a spotting scope. That was pretty discouraging. We decided to go back and give it another day of hiking and spotting. Again 15-20 does no bucks even with all the ground covered on foot. Saw plenty of elk and elk sign. Even saw what appeared to be a poacher kill but was too old too really tell. So we abandoned that area. We decided to go check out an area my dad hunted as a kid always killing nice deer. We headed up again in the afternoon to a different area. We cruised up to the top of a really pretty area got up into the rock and pines. We ended up seeing 20-25 does and 1 spike. I decided to drive away from him before I got too overly tempted to shoot him. I'm hunting for meat but would rather not shoot a spike. I headed back up friday morning to another area that I have traditionally found big bucks, clear up in the granite. I was really discouraged after hiking in a long ways and not seeing a single deer. We ended up going again in the evening on the horses to an area normally holding a lot of deer. Not normally really big bucks. We saw exactly 0 deer. Saw a pup coyote I attempted to remove from the area. A little too far for the old smoke pole. Saturday morning was my brother in laws first and only day too hunt due to a hectic work schedule. We headed back up to my dad's old stomping grounds. We started the morning seeing a beautiful 6 point bull (wished I'd have drawn a muzzle loader tag instead of archery tag). We started seeing deer 12-does in one meadow. We were getting excited starting off with that. We continued seeing more does and more does. We started a hike up through shell rock and pines. I looked up the hill and saw some deer. BUCK... I was happy to see him. I looked at him through the binos. A 2 point with 2 does. He looked tasty. So we got after him. I made a shot at 100 yards. Watched himspin and stumble down hill. I then realized I had left my reloads down the hill(about 200 yards) I hollered at my brother in law and told him to head over towards me to make sure we could finnish him if he needed it. We found him walking up hill like nothing had happened. He walked into some pines and sat and stared at us. Confirmed it was the same buck. He walked out to the left. We got a little ahead of him and watched him come out across the hill. My brother in law pulled up on him. Looked at him, you sure thats the same buck, yes shoot it. Bang, a cloud of smoke and a deer doing dang near a back flip. High 5's were exchanged. We laughed our butts off and hiked up to it. A monster (small) 2 point. We continued to laugh our butts off. We exchanged more high 5's then drug him down to the road. As I headed to get the wheeler I heard a shot and watched a spike (maybe 3 inch spikes) and 2 does go running up the hill. We got the buck cleaned and packed up and off we went. Spent the afternoon getting him cut up and reminiscing about the hunt. It was an absolute riot we had a lot of fun. it was my brother in laws first buck with a muzzle loader. Good times. So what I'm curious about is anyone seeing a lot of deer. I'm not seeing anywhere near what I used to see. Is the herd really that bad off? I have seen a lot of coyotes. 6 in one canyon within a couple minutes of eachother. There are a lot of elk in these areas now as well, used to not be many at all. What you guys thinking?


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Worst hunt IMO in 20 years. Mainly due to conditions, Leaves, weather etc. I saw VERY few deer but I also attibute that to the conditions. Saw the least amount of Deer I've ever seen during a hunt, and least amount of bucks. Finally stumbled into one I dropped the hammer on but its rough. I've talked to several other hunters and they mostly all state the same thing.

Got 2 brothers in law hunting the boulder Mts. They've been down there since the opener and todate, they've counted 8 does... no bucks. Pretty discouraging!


-DallanC


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## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

It has been one hot mother. I attribute that to some of it, but in years past I've seen them on the bow hunt so that shouldn't be making as big a difference. The areas I've been hunting we've seen deer and bucks in for years. All three seasons even. I plan on hitting the coyotes really heavy this winter with as many as I've seen. I figure thats the only thing I can really contribute, can't shoot the elk, can't change the weather, cant restrict other hunters, so killing predators it shall be. I can't believe how many coyotes I've seen!


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## Coach (Apr 23, 2009)

Went with some relatives on the hunt this year for the first time. All they kept saying is "we've been coming here for 20 years and never seen this few bucks". I thought they were full of it but from what others have said maybe they were right.


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## 2litl2l8 (Jan 16, 2008)

I have only seen young 2 points, finally took the 3'rd one that I saw. Something about boats and helicopters.


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## kmax (Oct 8, 2007)

Seen a few deer 2 bucks, a dozen or so Doe, but the ones we are seeing look awesome well fead and ready for winter, the Fawns look rather strapping as well. No pun intended......


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## mbryson (Sep 28, 2010)

My younger bro snagged one. We didn't see a LOT of animals, but saw some. He got a respectable 4 point.









I was about 1 mile away from his shot with my boys. We kicked a few doe up in the pines and had some learning experiences.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

What a dandy!

My brother in law hunting the Boulder called this morning. Him and his brother hunted 5 days down there, neither got a shot. Said elk were everywhere but they couldnt find any bucks. These are guys that grew up hunting that mountain with their dad and still own property there.


-DallanC


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

It has been a strange year this year. I haven't found bucks in the usual areas.


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## mack1950 (Sep 11, 2007)

as of last night when the oquirh/standsbury unit shut down we say a number of does a few smaller bucks but only one mature animal there tracks are on there trails but with the heat a full moon at the start and than hunting
preasure there wasnt much happening total harvest 5 hunters 3 bucks 2 of which were yearlings and 1 three year
old 2 by 4.


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## stevedc (Jun 23, 2008)

I have seen a lot of deer this hunt only one buck. In wich of the sircomstance we decided to take and fe was sure small but will taste good nice and tender. so all in all we saw in three days hunting 200 does and fawn 1 buck wich is dead and in my freezer yum yum no more tag soup for me this year thank heavens.


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## Sako (Oct 30, 2007)

I did my first muzzleloader hunt this year, and got lucky and took this nice 4x4. Just over 24" wide. Saw him at about 1000 yards bedded and snuck in on him and made a 25 yard shot as he jumped up out of his bed. It was fun!


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## USMARINEhuntinfool (Sep 15, 2007)

Thats outstanding!! Beautiful buck


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## Sako (Oct 30, 2007)

Thanks!


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

Great buck!! what unit if ya don't mind me asking?


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## Sako (Oct 30, 2007)

Northern unit, public land, general tag


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## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

I had a mixed bag this season. I'm almost embarassed to share but here goes.

The deer seemed scarce in our area. The mornings and evenings glassing yielded next to zero results. Only a few does and yearling bucks were spotted. Most of our action occured in the middle of the day when it was hot. After glassing in the morning we would start walking canyons hoping to kick deer out of their bed. This was actually very effective. In 4 days of hunting we kicked up 3 mature bucks. On the first day I kicked up a nice 22 inch 3 point at 110 yards. I shot but missed. On the 3rd day we were farting around eating lunch and talking loudly at around noon. A nice 4 point promptly stepped out of the trees at 75 yards to see where we were and took off. Caught us completely off guard. Day 4 I walked down a small canyon with lots of quakies. I jumped several deer that looked out of it from being asleep. I finally kicked up a pretty decent 4 point at 62 yards, shot and missed. Come to find out I had mixed up the wifes gun for mine. Hers is zeroed at 50 yards and mine is zeroed at 100 yards. I shot high on both and came home empty handed. I think the conditions contributed to the lack of deer sightings via the long glass.


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## Bears Butt (Sep 12, 2007)

Way too hot to be hunting! But we did anyway. Had a very large camp of hunters this year, 30 guns in camp. Everyone went their separate ways during the day and came back with various stories. I did not have a tag as I lucked out with an LE tag for the Crawfords, but the guys that did saw lots of deer. I personally saw close to 100 does and fawns but only one small buck, in the 5 days afield.

Some groups saw as many as 6 bucks in one day and all but one were small bucks. The biggest being a 3X4 topping the ridge at 90 mph and 1,000 yards away (Hold a bit high and try the shot).

In the end, 7 tags were filled. About right at 23% harvest ratio.


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## royta (Sep 26, 2007)

I'm an electrician and started work with a new company on Sep 1st. We were working on a project which required (7) 12 hour nights (6PM - 6AM) per week. I accepted the fact that I wouldn't be hunting deer this year. To my surprise, they let us off early Wednesday morning and gave us that night off. I drove home like a crazy person, put all my gear together, and went to my usual spot on Monte for a quick morning hunt. Mind you, I was normally going to bed at 7AM every day. I had decided to shoot the first buck I saw, regardless of antler size.

I saw four does on the way to the end of the strip, and saw one buck at about 80 yards in the trees on the way back through the strip. I couldn't tell how big the antlers were, as I could only see the bases moving as he turned his head. I was already laying down glassing him, so I layed my rifle across a log, took the shot, and missed. He took off like a scalded cat. Great, my third year in a row of muzzleloader, and third year in a row of missing. It was late for me at 10 or 11, so I went home. I figured I was done for the year.

That evening, I took my 10 year old boy to some private ground and saw a yearling two point and a doe eating buck brush at about 125 yards. They were obviously young and dumb, as it was too early for them to be out in the open. My son and I dropped to our bellies and crawled up hill from sage brush to sage brush. I got to a comfortable distance, took a shot, and nothing. No running, no nothing. I reloaded, and he walked to my left. I shot well over his back. I reloaded, held under, and put the hurts to him. He didn't go down and since it was a "casual evening hunt", I didn't bring spare powder or balls, and I was out of speed loaders. My boy and I waited until dark and walked out of there. The next morning, my 8 and 10 year old boys went back, jumped the buck, and finished it.

I have mixed feelings about the hunt, as I feel I probably shouldn't have taken the third shot since I didn't know where my rifle was actually hitting. Instead I held low. Probably not the best lesson to teach a 10 year old, and hopefully, for me, a future hunter. My boys were certainly thrilled though, and I was able to finally get a deer with the Thompson Center Renegade .54 cal with a patched round ball.

Today I'll be at Wahsatch Shooters dialing the rifle in with a TC Maxi-Ball for the muzzleloader Spike Bull hunt.


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