# Heaston East Bull Elk Tag



## mcc9 (May 20, 2008)

I drew a bull elk tag for Heaston East this year and am wondering if anyone has been up there and what to expect. I know it is pretty rough terrain and have heard rumors of big bulls up there, 400+ class from what I hear. Does anyone know what the typical size of the bulls up there and what to expect from that CWMU? Your info is very much appreciated. Thanks.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

Here's 2009s harvest data,,,,only averaged 2.2 year old bulls, very lowest in the state.

481 Heaston East 18 CWMU 15 permits, 15 hunters afield 14 succesful 2.2 avg age bull


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

mcc9 said:


> I drew a bull elk tag for Heaston East this year and am wondering if anyone has been up there and what to expect. I know it is pretty rough terrain and have heard rumors of big bulls up there, 400+ class from what I hear. Does anyone know what the typical size of the bulls up there and what to expect from that CWMU? Your info is very much appreciated. Thanks.


I think someone was kidding around with you. I'm guessing the average bull is 320" at best.


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## chet (Sep 7, 2007)

If you see one with 6 points on both sides, you'd better let the air out of him


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## mack1950 (Sep 11, 2007)

around a 320 to 330 bulls is the norm there are a few bigger but thats about what your gonna be looking at


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

Back in the 80's before SFW took over the elk farming in this state that was the tag to have. A 330 bull was as big as you could kill anywhere and the Heaston cornered the market. Now, a 330 bull is a huge bull up there with most being in the 250-300 range. Like was said before, if you see a nice one with six on both sides, you'd better kill it. And yes, it is steep nasty and rugged hunting. Have an extraction plan in place or you'll lose the meat. Good luck.


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## ramrod (Apr 15, 2008)

the larger bulls are saved for Carl Malone and any one who wants to spend lots of money to hunt up there. 

just a heads up the operator Terry Thatcher is a very arogant a#@ hole.
I drew the cow elk hunt up there about 12 years ago I called him several times to check on the hunt he told me the elk have not moved down to hunt yet and not to worrie he would call me and I would kill a cow. I told him I drove out there and seen 30 cows off the road ,he told me it was people like me that where the problem, not sure what he ment by that but after that conversation I didnt dare call and talk to him any more. well Terry never called ma and my tag was wasted.

not trying to disapoint you just thought everyone should know about my experiance with this unit. I am sure you will kill your bull and I have seen nice bulls in the area.


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## wapiti67 (Oct 2, 2007)

What simplton told you there were 400 class bulls anywhere near this area...they were inbred for too many years to have anything close to 400. If you want to have a chance at a decent bull, you need to be hunting just the other side of the ridgetop of Bates.. like people have said...decent for that area is 290-320.


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## elkfromabove (Apr 20, 2008)

I can't tell you about the size of the elk up there, but read my posts on "Antlerless deer hunts for 11 year olds" for the procedure/process. Thatcher isn't all that friendly, but you may get one of his "helpers".


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## Old Fudd (Nov 24, 2007)

My understanding is this. NO STOPPIN! NO STANDING! NO TAKING A LEAK OR A DUMP!NO BREATHING! Yet alone HUNTING! without the blessing or talking to Terry....


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## mack1950 (Sep 11, 2007)

if there are any upper class bulls (350) they are more than likely on the kennecott side the late hunts have desimated the herds on the west side to the point i would think long and hard before]
submitting any substantial point s on it, as last year i believe the bigger bulls will be taken during the archery hunt after that its going to be interesting as the average age bull on the rifle hunts was a 4 to 5 year old bull in 2009.


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## mcc9 (May 20, 2008)

Thanks for all the info. I have heard some bad things about Terry so hopefully that won't go too bad. I talked to him about two weeks after I drew the tag and he seemed ok. We will see as hunting time approaches if that changes or not. As for bull sizes, hopefully we will be able to find some nice ones. The research I did before I put in showed an average of 6 year old bulls taken over the past 3 years and the CWMU satisfaction rating for the unit is 4.9 for public hunters, which is one of the best in the state. I have a co-worker that has hunted the Oquirrih mountain range for over 30 years and says there are huge bulls up there. Grated he hasn't hunted the Kennocot land because it is private, but he was very excited when I told him I drew out there. He usually hunts for deer south west of the unit up above the Settlement Canyon Resivior and has seen enormous bulls up there. Hopefully we will see some nice ones on the Kennocott side in a few months. I tried to drive up Butterfield Canyon on Friday to see what I can see and it was barricaded so we couldn't go up, but we did see 6 bucks and a couple looked like they are going to be nice. I'm not going for deer, but that was fun to see.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

mcc9, I hope you have a great hunt and don't even let score be a factor on this hunt. Judging an elk can be very subjective. Depending what you have to compare it with. If it looks really big to you then shoot away and don't have second thoughts about it. One thing you could do, is later this summer go look at some of those bulls at the top of Settlement or Ophir Canyons and decide what you would settle for on your hunt.


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## elk22hunter (Sep 7, 2007)

I wouldn't let Terry Thatcher scare you. He and I have been friends for many years when he owned United Sportsman and I belonged to Western Outdoorsman and he still always treated me well and would walk clear accross a room to say Hi and talk to me. He does this for a living and obviously, he is going to take care of his clients first. 
This unit has some good bulls in the low 320's. Like Tex said, "Back in the day before SFW created a Monster Bull Elk state that we all love".................(maybe that was mis quoted) the Heaston and the Book Cliffs were about the ONLY places to kill a 6x6. If you got a 320 that was a PIG! Rudy Drobnick (DWR antler growth and genetics expert) told me that "Utah will NOT put a bull in the record books" and that the only two places that even had a potential of killing 6 points were way too inbred and they didn't have the genes to produce "Big" bulls. I don't think the gene pool has changed on the Heaston. It is still a great hunt and should be loads of fun chasing 6 points. That is fun any day. The problem is that Utah is now producing so many Monster bulls that it lets the wind out of the Heastons sails but I wouldn't even think twice about that and just be happy with a bull that most people will never harvest in thier lifetimes. 6 points are still fun!


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

ramrod said:


> Terry Thatcher is a very arogant a#@ hole.


he worse then that. That dud was lucky my dad never seen him in public he a peace of ****.


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## hockey (Nov 7, 2007)

dkhntrdstn said:


> ramrod said:
> 
> 
> > Terry Thatcher is a very arogant a#@ hole.
> ...


Spoken like a true Utah *******


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

hockey said:


> dkhntrdstn said:
> 
> 
> > ramrod said:
> ...


Im *******. :mrgreen:


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

PM sent.


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