# does anyone hunt the oquirrh-stansbury for deer??



## Guest (Oct 29, 2010)

i dont want anyone to give away the location of their secret spot, but does anyone spend time in those mountains hunting deer? the dwr says the deer herds are really struggling out there and the buck to doe ratio is way off... im just not buying what they have to say. ive spent my fair share of time out there in the last 5 years and have never seen a shortage of deer, especially bucks. they arent huge bucks, but a buck is a buck. i havent explored the whole unit, but ive seen some of it and have ALWAYS found deer. im just wondering if i have found a few good spots that most are not willing to hike to or if its like that for most of the unit? the country out there looks like awesome muledeer habitat, with endless winter range. there should be deer there. honestly im wondering if they have plans to turn it into a LE and they are just using the low buck numbers as an excuse to shut it down to grow the "mature deer' herds before they open it back up as a draw unit.

just wondering if anyone has experienced the same thing or the exact opposite. in general, is it really hurting with the deer population?


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## bullsnot (Aug 10, 2010)

I live on the southwest end of the unit. In my neck of the woods the deer dissapear in the summer. They live on private ground. In the winter I'm dodging them driving in and out of town. The bucks come into this area and there are plenty of them. To be fair I don't see the whole unit so they may concentrate here and may not represent the whole unit.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

If you go up any of the main canyons in the Stansburys. Like North & South Willow, Davenport and Hickman you can see hundreds of does with only 2 or 3 young bucks with them. Last year in the first two weeks in November, I saw about 40 does in the hayfields around my house in Grantsville with not even one buck showing up to breed. This gives the appearance of a low buck to doe ratio.


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## duckhunter1096 (Sep 25, 2007)

I've hunted it for the past 21 years...with the exception of one year when I had to resort to buying a Northern tag after the draw. In those 20 years I did hunt it...I tagged out in all but 4 years. This year, I missed an absolute hog 4 point, probably 26" wide. Public land....it was a long shot, and the wind was swirling BIG in the canyon...450 yard shot. Shouldn't have taken it...But I couldn't resist.


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## Guest (Oct 29, 2010)

duckhunter1096 said:


> I've hunted it for the past 21 years...with the exception of one year when I had to resort to buying a Northern tag after the draw. In those 20 years I did hunt it...I tagged out in all but 4 years. This year, I missed an absolute hog 4 point, probably 26" wide. Public land....it was a long shot, and the wind was swirling BIG in the canyon...450 yard shot. Shouldn't have taken it...But I couldn't resist.


 i dont blame you! CANT WIN IF YOU DONT PLAY!!  have you seen a major decrease in bucks over the last 5 years?


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## mack1950 (Sep 11, 2007)

the one diffrence i did not this year was that most of the deer were staying high what with the wet spring and winter and while i wont give out the locations the boys on the archery hunts were chasing some down right hog
s of bucks the same on the muzzy hunts lots of deer but really scattered it wasnt till just before the rifle hunts
that we noticed alot of deer hitting the hayfields and while there were some bucks most were still high all in all
i think the 5 day hunt had a posative effect on the overall condition of the herd and im sure the 3 day is going to
be positive since what with the weather most of the bucks we had located are still out and about if fact last night we located 11 in one general area that made it through


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## MarkM (Sep 7, 2007)

I have spent a lot of time on this unit in the last 11 years after moving to Tooele 11 years ago. I have spent alot of time on a pretty popular area that gets a ton of hunting pressure. I have always seen bucks and had chances at big deer. There are a lot of does and the smaller bucks do take a beating during the rifle hunt, expesially when the rifle hunt was nine days. I really think the shorter weapon seasons the last two years is helping. I saw more bucks and bigger bucks this year than I have seen in the last 3-4 years. More important with the three day rifle hunt a lot of bucks got away. I watched two 2 points and a spike as it got dark last Monday on the last day. Yesterday I drove the area and saw three two points and a nice 3x4 and 4x4 (where where they when i had a rifle in my hands last weekend!!). In past years after the rifle hunt you would be hard pressed to see a buck unill the rut kickes in.

I really hate to see the Oquirrh-Stansbury and the other "Recovery Areas" go to limited entry. A lot of people in the Tooele and Salt Lake areas hunt this unit and to take it away from the General hunting season sucks. I would rather see them continue with the shorter hunting seasons as I really think they are working. I fear that if it goes limited entry it will never go back. I would hate to be able to hunt in my own "back yard" once every 5 years or at worst once or twice in my lifetime like it is with elk.

Mark


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

I agree that there are a lot of good and great bucks on this unit just the same as any other unit. My comment before was about the preception the biologist are getting. We shot three great LE type bucks on the unit this year but it has taken me five years to find this good honey hole of ours. We saw about 20 bucks and 30 does on opening day. I vote to keep it a reduced season for a few more years.


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## Guest (Oct 29, 2010)

ridgetop said:


> I agree that there are a lot of good and great bucks on this unit just the same as any other unit. My comment before was about the preception the biologist are getting. We shot three great LE type bucks on the unit this year but it has taken me five years to find this good honey hole of ours. We saw about 20 bucks and 30 does on opening day. I vote to keep it a reduced season for a few more years.


agree 100%! keep the hunts shorter. maybe cut it to just a 2 day rifle hunt, 3 day muzzleloader, 9 day archery.... my family has been hunting there forever, and has taken some outstanding deer and has never had a year that they would say "sucked". everyone who has ever wanted to tag a buck and was willing to put forth a little effort, could do it on any given day during the hunt. ive spent alot of time hunting deer in my life, and the biggest buck i have ever seen on the hoof was in that unit. opening of the rifle this year me and my brother saw 150+ deer, with just about half of those being bucks before 1 p.m.


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## MarkM (Sep 7, 2007)

I like the way it has been the last couple years, a 16 day bow hunt, a five day ML hunt, and a 3 or a 5 day rifle hunt. I would much rather see this as a solution to the low buck to doe ratio in the "Recovery" units than limiting the amount of hunters. I also would be very curious to kow how, when, and where they calculate the buck to doe ratio on this unit. I firmly beleive based on what I have seen, what I have heard from other hunters, and comments made here that is is higher than then 10/100 being quoted.

Mark


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## 3X4 (Feb 1, 2010)

Sounds like I should hunt out there, I never have but it sounds like a great place, with a lot of bucks. Why in the hell would you tell the world, that you see lots of bucks out there.


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## cowmilker (Dec 17, 2008)

I have hunted this area for the last 12 years or so (with exception of the few years I didn't draw for the region). I might have to agree that the Stansbury mountain range is low(er) on Buck numbers while the west Oquirrh is not (not AS low). They had some good fires out on the Stansbury range 2, and 3 years ago that might have hurt the herds a bit. Thus some of the guys (Tooele Valley locals like me) that normally hunted out west, moved to the east foothills. Maybe they are just trying to keep the kill rate down on the east side until the herd recovers on the west. :?:


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## Guest (Oct 30, 2010)

3X4 said:


> Sounds like I should hunt out there, I never have but it sounds like a great place, with a lot of bucks. Why in the hell would you tell the world, that you see lots of bucks out there.


haha good luck! haha its not an easy place to hunt, especially if you dont know the area. i never said i saw bucks standing on every hillside, i was just wondering if i had a honey hole or if the whole place was like it. sounds like everywhere else in the state. a few good spots but mostly does with a few bucks here and there.


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## 3X4 (Feb 1, 2010)

I was just going off the buck to doe ratio, almost 1-1 isn't to bad.


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## jonnyutah (Mar 7, 2010)

I hunted it last year during the archery hunt their was no shortage of bucks where i was at i got a dandy 29in 4 point passed on alot of smaller bucks


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