# Ensign Ranch CWMU



## msummer88 (Aug 20, 2013)

My old man and I did a cow elk hunt on it two years ago and loved the area. I'm putting in for a bull tag now and I think I have enough points to draw out. We both got our cows, but the following weekend that my dad hunted he was able to see a lot of nice big bulls.

Has anyone hunted on this CWMU? What have you liked about it? Not liked?


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## Kevinitis (Jul 18, 2013)

Well I was waiting to see if anyone would post on this. I drew a cow elk tag for the CWMU last year. They gave us two days and assigned the days for us to hunt. The operator was pretty accommodating for us and provided as much help finding animals as he could. There were a bunch of us that showed up on our assigned morning and they let us into the property. Everyone drove in there and started splitting off. All the elk were in one large group and I was not one of the people who found them early in the day. That pushed the elk out farther off and to places where they could not be seen easily. Mid morning I talked to the operator and he gave me some useful info as to where I should try to look. I started hiking off the road in places to see if I could find elk. I saw a ton of big Mule deer when I did that, and a few nice bulls. Nearly all the bulls I saw had long tines but most of them lacked much mass. I saw probably 10 bulls. So biggest I saw probably would score 340-350-ish. If he had mass he would have been 380+. Most bulls 330 or less. I think it's a better deer unit than elk.


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## msummer88 (Aug 20, 2013)

Sounds like our exact hunt we did. Although the operator never showed up in the morning and we had about 8 guys wondering where we could go hunt. Eventually we just all went our own ways. My dad was able to see some huge bucks on that property and said he saw a lot of really nice bulls from what he could tell. 

Thanks for the reply. I'm trying to figure out if this is where I want to draw out for my bull tag.


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## Kevinitis (Jul 18, 2013)

I ended up hiking in and killing a cow a long way off the road. I wished I had been one of the ones to find em near the road so that my hunt was easier, but thats how it goes sometimes. I had fun though. It would not be my first choice if I had enough points to draw on elk. I think for the points, it's not as good of a unit as you could draw with the same number of points on other units. For deer, it's probably worth every bit of the points it would take.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I hunted Mountain Lions on the north side of I80 on the Ensign Ranch in 2007.

Nice country, fair for elk, a few deer.


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## berrysblaster (Nov 27, 2013)

No offense Kevinitis, but you guys draw a cow tag hunt 1!!!! day and see 10+ bulls several from the sound of it were 300+ with one being 340 class and you say that he could find a better hunt with his points?

I'd love to find a unit in this state where a guy can go in blind and in 1 day see that kind of elk, I sure don't know of one.....

Personally with that kind of report i'd be putting in there no questions asked!


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## catmando (Sep 10, 2007)

Alot of those Elk are Somewhere to the East when you could Hunt Bulls.


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## riptheirlips (Jun 30, 2008)

catmando said:


> Alot of those Elk are Somewhere to the East when you could Hunt Bulls.


Lot of the bulls don't move into this area until there is a couple good snow storms. East would be deseret ???


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## msummer88 (Aug 20, 2013)

Yeah when we hunted it we had a decent amount of snow on the ground. Animals were everywhere. I found the outfitter group that's on that property and they've shot a lot of big bucks and bulls on from what I can see on their Facebook page. 

I'm going to stick with it.


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## Kevinitis (Jul 18, 2013)

berrysblaster said:


> No offense Kevinitis, but you guys draw a cow tag hunt 1!!!! day and see 10+ bulls several from the sound of it were 300+ with one being 340 class and you say that he could find a better hunt with his points?
> 
> I'd love to find a unit in this state where a guy can go in blind and in 1 day see that kind of elk, I sure don't know of one.....
> 
> Personally with that kind of report i'd be putting in there no questions asked!


Fair enough, but you should at least take my experience within context. First I was hunting cows during a cow hunt in mid December so the bulls were standing out in the open without concern for their lives and in locations that make them easier to see. For comparison, I was helping a buddy hunt cows this weekend on Currant Creek unit. We drove down highway 208 Saturday morning at first light and saw approximately 25 bulls right by the highway, 3/4 of which I would shoot before I would shoot all but one of the bulls on Ensign. We saw another probably 20 bulls (to far to guess their size) in small groups scattered around the foot hills of Tabby, all within the first hour of light. We had never hunted that unit before this year so we were going in blind as well so to speak. It took me all day and lots of hiking off the road to see the 10 or so bulls I saw on Ensign.

Second, some of the bulls on ensign may not be on the ranch during the fall. They come down from WY and the Uintas, and some come from Henefer-echo WMA or even Chalk Creek. Then unless you are the dude paying the guide big tips, and paying big bucks for the tag, you're probably not going to be the one to shoot the 340-350 bulls on the unit unless you get extreamly lucky.

The way I figure it looking at the draw odds for ensign, it will take 12-13 points to max on that unit. On the other hand, there are several units on public lands that take as many points, that in my opinion are just as good, if not better than what I saw out there. On those units you don't have land owners telling you when and where, and how long you can hunt, and you won't have to pay the guide big bucks to find a good bull on those units.


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## msummer88 (Aug 20, 2013)

I feel like you'd be pretty lucky to shoot a 350 bull period! Plus when it comes to the wintering range that could be said about any area. They do a lot of their guided elk hunts early season and they are done on the ranch. 

8 points was the max for last year.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

The 2013 public bonus elk elk tag went to some one with 14 points
on ensign...............Probbly take 14 points to pull it next year (2014)..


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## msummer88 (Aug 20, 2013)

Dah I was looking at 2012  10 points was the high, 8 was the low


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## UWannaNo (Dec 18, 2014)

I have a cow tag for Ensign Ranch this year. I'm concerned about the small amount of snow we've had. My hunt days are Dec. 26/27. Anyone been up there this early winter? Any elk down onto the ranch yet? 

I'm going to try and do this hunt without a guide, since it's just a cow elk. Is it easy enough to drive a truck around to different parts of the ranch, since we can't take ATV's?

Do they allow for a ranger or other side-by-side?


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## Dahlmer (Sep 12, 2007)

Kevinitis said:


> Nearly all the bulls I saw had long tines but most of them lacked much mass. I saw probably 10 bulls. So biggest I saw probably would score 340-350-ish. If he had mass he would have been 380+. Most bulls 330 or less. I think it's a better deer unit than elk.


I debated whether I should respond to this, but I'm going to anyway. There are only 8 mass measurements on a bull, the idea that a 350 class bull could add 40 or more inches of mass is unrealistic. Your talking about adding 5 inches of mass to each measurement which would be nearly double what would be considered average.

A willowy 350 inch bull is going to average 6 1/2 - 7" on his measurements. Something like H1 = 7 ", H2 = 6 6/8", H3 = 6 4/8" and H4 = 6 " for a total of 52 1/2" (26 2/8" x 2). An average big bull (350+) should have about 30 inches of mass per side for a total score somewhere around 60". An exceptionally heavy bull might get 70 inches. The reality is mass really only equates to +/- 8-10 of the average...again assuming we are talking about big mature bulls.

The same can be applied to width as well. A big bull will average 40-44" in width. A really wide bull will stretch over 50 and narrow bull will be mid to low 30's. Again, maybe 8-10". If you want a high scoring bull look for a bull with long beams and long tines...if he is heavy and wide as well you are looking for a true monster.


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## UWannaNo (Dec 18, 2014)

I finished my hunting up here...I honestly would put in for this unit again. It's a great winter range and the cows are plentiful. The big bulls are everywhere too, in the winter. The ranch hand was fantastic and really tried to help people find elk. The snow can be deep and there is a fair amount of ridges and timber to hike through. You might catch one by the road and then you might be like me and hike in the snow. You will get your elk if you are not afraid to hike.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Thanks for putting up a report on your hunt UWannaNo. I was curious how you did with literally the only substantial snow we've gotten in the valley this season during the week between Christmas and New Years.


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## wbcougster (Mar 12, 2010)

The previous posters are correct, the bulls seen on the ranch during the cow hunt are transplants from Two Bear CWMU when the snow flies...during the Bull Hunt, you will be hard pressed to find much if anything over 300. Now if you were hunting deer, that would be a different story.


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