# West Desert Deep Creek Archery Elk



## nwsteelheader

Hey ya'all,
I drew the Deep Creek Mountains Archery Bull Elk tag this year. Success has been much lower in the past couple years for Archery in this unit and I hope to buck the trend!

I have a couple of areas that I plan to focus on, I will only be able to hunt for one full week of the season, so I plan to hunt the last week through Friday night - unless of course my season ends early.

Anyway, I am an experienced bow hunter but most of my bow hunting has been in other states where the archery season extends later into September/the rut. I am hoping that we get some rutting action in the last week.

I would be grateful for any advice on the area from those who have hunted the Deep Creek Mtns before. I have a good idea about certain areas to focus on, but would appreciate any advice. I'm particularly concerned about:

access to a meat locker- if i should be so lucky to get a bull - i want to get it in a cooler asap.
Trail/roads in Deep Creek. I have an F350 crew (not great on small trails), so i'm thinking i will be using quads to get up some of the roads to areas where I can get off and start hunting. I still need to call the govt and get the latest on their travel restrictions in the area.
What i can expect for other hunters- There are very limited number of Elk tags, but there are also deer archery tags...
Scouting ideas.
etc...
Thanks in advance - pm's welcome!

Shawn
nwsteelheader>>O


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## nwsteelheader

sorry about the duplicate post. i got a DB error when i hit submit the first time...


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## Lonetree

Talk to the locals in Callao, about a meet locker. They are some very nice folks, if not a little behind the times.  A good friends uncle, that lives out there, did not get a telephone until the mid eighties.

A lot of the mountain range is a Wilderness study area, so it is closed to motor vehicles. Most of the best elk I have seen were in the boundaries of the Wilderness study area. But some very nice elk are taken outside of it as well. Its well worth the walk, and you will shed a lot of hunters, not too far into the boundary. 

As for scouting, some well placed trail cameras, and some boot leather. I have seen some amazing bulls in the Deepcreeks, good luck!


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## nwsteelheader

Lonetree,
Thanks for the info. I will have to figure out the WSA boundary areas. 

I like to hunt behind gates with no rigs. Hopefully I can find where the elk are and get in there with them. 

Any ideas for good access points walk in from?

Shawn. 
Nwsteelheader


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## bowhunt3r4l1f3

Nwsteelheader, it takes some work getting in to. The one road on the east goes up into Tom's Basin and the other comes around from the south side. Basically the entire west side is Indian land. There are some springs along the south and east sides that hold elk. You can drive to the top of Tom's Basin but aren't able to drive into it. I'm sure you know already, the area is very rugged and takes sometime to learn where holds elk. As for scouting...I can take care of that for you ;-)


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## nwsteelheader

bowhunt3r4l1f3,

How do you find time to scout - aren't you busy scouting out your own bulls for the season?

So thanks for the info. I am thinking with the heat that those elk will appreciate access to the springs. Is there much water in Tom's basin area? or is it fairly dry?

Thanks,
shawn


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## bowhunt3r4l1f3

nwsteelheader said:


> bowhunt3r4l1f3,
> 
> How do you find time to scout - aren't you busy scouting out your own bulls for the season?
> 
> So thanks for the info. I am thinking with the heat that those elk will appreciate access to the springs. Is there much water in Tom's basin area? or is it fairly dry?
> 
> Thanks,
> shawn


There is water in Tom's. It can very but generally you should be able to find plenty of water in there for the elk. I only gots me a dedicated hunter tag this year, even though elk are my passion, I'm hoping to find some extra time to scout for myself.


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## Pumpgunner

Pack some extra gas out there, sometimes you can get gas from the little store in Callao and sometimes you can't. Good luck!


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## nwsteelheader

I run diesel. hopefully there are enough farmers around that the have diesel at the station - not just gas. but thanks for the heads up.


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## ut1031

The basin in question is Scotts Basin, and yes there is a spring in the bottom. There are also some other springs seeps once you head North out of the basin. As stated earlier, you have to walk in and if you get one up there, be prepared for a serious effort! Where you have to park your quad, if you head almost straight west you will climb up to a spring loaded basin, easily seen on google earth. Also, the whole west side in NOT indian land. If you drive down the road that runs through Ibapah, ou will eventually cross into indian land. On the West side, look at the mouth of Rocky as there is also water(spring) in there.


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## nwsteelheader

UT1031- I appreciate the specifics... 

I like hiking into areas to hunt and don't mind some hard work/hiking. My biggest concern is really about getting the meat out before it spoils. I am afraid that there may be 80 degree weather and that tends to spoil elk meat fairly quickly. 

Do game carts work well in the area? Are there enough wide trails/closed roads/skid roads to allow someone to use a cart? Or is this all hiking trails and requires backpack or mules. (I unfortunately do not have access to mules for this trip.)

Thanks,
nwsteelheader


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## blackdog

I second that the entire west side is NOT Indian land, not even close. Unlike what Mr. Scoutingservices says.


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## bowhunt3r4l1f3

blackdog said:


> I second that the entire west side is NOT Indian land, not even close. Unlike what Mr. Scoutingservices says.


Ha! Well I think a lot more used to be. I'd heard it from more than one person before. Either way, it's not in his legal area to hunt and that's the only thing that really matters. So unless you know where all the elk are blackdog?...Than I maybe I'll be impressed. I did just read the Indians traded off some large pieces of land there for something.

Here's the entire state broken up into BLM/Forest Service/Private/National Forest/Traibal etc.

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/media...98.File.dat/LandStatus_E-Size_052610 copy.pdf

As you can see a large part, almost have the deep creek range of the South West IS tribal...


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## blackdog

The west side isn't in his legal area to hunt????? OK whatever.

I know where some of the elk are. Here's a tip for ya Steelhead, A fair number of elk during late summer(archery season) feed in the hay fields on the WEST side. There's been some really nice bulls taken both on private and public as the elk move back to the Cedars in the WSA to bed for the day. So if you play your cards right you might not even have to hunt in the WSA and you might be able to ride your ATV right up to your dead bull.


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## blackdog

And BTW, Wendover isn't all that far away. I don't know anything about meatlockers there but whatever they have there isn't that far. Rumor has it they have diesel there too.;-)


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## goofy elk

blackdog said:


> The west side isn't in his legal area to hunt????? OK whatever.
> 
> Here ya go boys, The hunt bounderys.
> And yes , I'd stay off the indian res part, on the S west side...
> 
> http://wildlife.utah.gov/maps/public/details_boundary.php?boundary_id=241


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## nwsteelheader

blackdog said:


> And BTW, Wendover isn't all that far away. I don't know anything about meatlockers there but whatever they have there isn't that far. Rumor has it they have diesel there too.;-)


I have the 2009 Ford F350 with the 6.4l engine and it has a terrible range. By the time I drive to Wendover and back, i will need to turn around and go back for more fuel-O,-. Maybe an exaggeration, but I've had that problem on other remote hunts.

nwsteelheader


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## nwsteelheader

goofy elk said:


> blackdog said:
> 
> 
> 
> The west side isn't in his legal area to hunt????? OK whatever.
> 
> Here ya go boys, The hunt bounderys.
> And yes , I'd stay off the indian res part, on the S west side...
> 
> http://wildlife.utah.gov/maps/public/details_boundary.php?boundary_id=241
> 
> 
> 
> The boundaries are pretty clear. the big question is access and elk...I believe that there are points of entry on the west side and elk, but staying off the res is a requirment...
> nwsteelheader
Click to expand...


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## for fun

Most of the south west side is Indian land. The hayfields on the west side have elk all summer. If ya go up toms creek head to the meadows. One of the biggest wallows you will ever see. 50 some bulls used it all last summer. As far as meat lockers who knows. Its around 70 miles from the hayfields on the west to Wendover and close to 65 miles going south to Border from Callao. Border sits on the highway 40 utah nevada border. Both have Diesel. Fourwheelers to go up toms creek. I don't take my truck up there. When ya hit the gate up at the top of toms creek looking into the basin follow the old road on foot for about a mile and 1/2 to meadows and wallow sits at the end close to the summit. can't miss it. West side will hold the elk and the elk move from private to public to indian reservation all the time. Go up arts on the west fourwheelers hike up and follow ridge to rocky elk will be there. Lots of little springs in the basin. and water on both sides. Granite hold elk as well. have fun.


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## for fun

On the west side reservation boarder is almost even with Juab/tooele county line. all of the North west side is private or state. The dell is the west side of basin and it can be access through the reservation land. Use a good map and it will show you Rocky canyon, the dell and rest of the west and cold springs. The Res is well marked with fence and signs. Its not hard to determine what is what. on the west.


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## nwsteelheader

For Fun - 
Thanks for the information. I'm glad to hear the reservation is well marked - That takes a lot of the stress out of being in the area and worrying about straying onto reservation lands.

Also - Here is the link for the Map to the Deep Creeks Wilderness Study Area. It overlays the majority of the upper parts of the Mounains. There are only a few open roads in the WSA - My game plan will be to get in on 4 wheelers on the open roads, and then hunt on foot for the majority of the hunt...

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/media...a.Par.89300.File.dat/Deep_Creeks_Area_Map.pdf

nwsteelheader


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## american_jackal

I know this thread is old. I was just curious if anyone had any other information on this unit, or success stories.


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## bowhunt3r4l1f3

He killed a good bull based on the info I provided.


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## Bowdacious

bowhunt3r4l1f3 said:


> He killed a good bull based on the info I provided.


Any pictures? This is an area I really want to look into for 2018


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