Utah was wet this year! Rained the whole hunt but had the deer moving. Or at least i want to believe it was the rain and not the parade of orange. I hunted 3 different units in 3 days and have never seen so many people. It was very discouraging but i knew most people road hunt, and that i had an advantage.
My 8 year old son and I bundled up for a wet and cold ride up the mountain on the quad. We opted to pass up the 6 small bucks we had patterned in the sage hills down low and try for a bigger buck up higher. We rode for 45 minutes in the dark, heading for a ridge I've seen some dandys on last year. The amount of vehicle traffic was unbelievable. At times the main canyon road looked like a freeway at night. We knew shortcuts and even though the trails were slick and muddy, we made it without incident. First light brought nothing. We walked ridges and glassed bowls to no avail despite the constant may lay of gunfire in the background. Sounded like a firework show up there. It was 9:00 am before we saw a deer. A small 2x3, but we passed. Then we went higher up the mountain seeing deer everywhere on the ride up. No shooters though. We found a nice set of canyons to watch and began glassing. Lots of deer, most of them on the run.... Through the binos, it was funny to see so much orange. Every trail and road had orange dots moving around. Every turnout and meadow looked like a pumpkin patch. We saw quite a few hunters dragging bucks towards the road, but none were decent bucks.
I asked my boy if he wanted to go for a hike and he said sure. We had to take my shotgun, pack frame, and valuable supplies out of the quad compartments for fear of theft. Took the key and headed down the hill. A hundred yards down the hill, we found a patch of cedars thick enough that the ground was dry underneath, so we stashed everything but my rifle and shooting sticks there. After all, I didn't expect to see anything tag worthy in this circus, and it was day 1.
Well after a mile, we havent crossed on quad trail or road, and haven't seen any other hunters. It was promising but only does and small bucks were popping up out of the canyons. Each ridge we came to we would whistle or growl into and the deer would stand up and look around. At about mile 2, give or take, we were sweating and even though drenched from rain, we were both pretty hot. The last canyon I wanted to try was in sight. We got to the edge, I began glassing. 10 minutes later, and no deer spotted, I growled loudly. To my surprise,out of a patch of scrub oaks 400 yards away, three bucks jumped up and took off on a dead run. It seemed like only a second passed before I was sitting with my gun on the sticks. Right when I saw the bucks I knew all three were shooters and about the same size. They had 100 yards behind them already and were running out of open hillside fast, so I held 3 feet in front of the first bucks nose and squeezed. I shoot a browning a-bolt in 7mm mag and sight my rifle in 4" high at 100. At 500 yards, all I have to do is hold on the backbone, adjust for windage and bingo! Well, at the first shot, the Lead buck stopped and ran in two tight circles. The other bucks picked up the pace and went up the hill. then my buck started running down into the canyon toward the trees. I held two feet in front this time and he piled up, flipping over and rolling down the hill. He hit a cedar tree, and stood back up..I was excited at this point and held on his backbone but I jerked the trigger this time. The buck instantly dropped. I looked at the other two bucks which were just clearing the ridge and saw that they were all about the same size. About a minute later, 3 shots rang out and I figured they must have tried to cross a road somewhere. My son was so happy, he gave me a high five, but his hands were so cold it hurt him.
Now we had to walk all the way back to the stash site and get my pack frame and knives. We were hot by then and I took my jacket and sweater off. Leaned my rifle against a tree and covered it with my jacket. I took out a trash bag and put our sweaters, beanies, gloves, food and un-necessary items in it. We switched to Orange hats and headed for the buck. The drizzle felt good as we walked and I was glad I didn't have to pack the buck out in the sun and heat. Little did I know, that after we got to the buck, took pictures, and got him caped, the weather had other plans. It started to pour rain, fog rolled in the temp dropped and then it hailed. My poor boy was huddled under a small cedar while I tried to work fast. After ten minutes, I had him quartered and bagged. My son was soaked and shivering badly. I stuffed the front quarters, back straps, tenderloins, heart, and neck roasts in the pack. I rolled the cape around the head and carried it in my arms. We took off towards our jackets.
I'm so proud of my son. Even though he was freezing by the time we made it to our jackets, he put his on and put on a beanie and was all for helping me with the second load. After the two trips from the kill site, and 4 trips back up to the quad, I had everything tied down and we were headed to the truck. We looked like the Beverly hillbillies with everything strapped to the quad, but made it out ok. Man were those trails slick and nasty on the way out.
Met some other guys from Cali who couldnt go any farther in their white dodge truck. I pointed them in the direction where I'd passed up a buck earlier 1/2 a mile away. Hope they were successful too. All in all I took 3 family members and friends out and we went 4 for 4. In two days. My brother shot the smallest forky I've ever seen and I'm mounting the antlers on a jackalope for him. I tried to get him to pass but he wanted meat and to spend time helping his wife get a bigger buck than last year. We got her on a big 4x4 in the rain, but she missed at 250 yards and he didn't hang out for a second shot. She got a decent fork horn on the day before we had to leave.
My 8 year old son and I bundled up for a wet and cold ride up the mountain on the quad. We opted to pass up the 6 small bucks we had patterned in the sage hills down low and try for a bigger buck up higher. We rode for 45 minutes in the dark, heading for a ridge I've seen some dandys on last year. The amount of vehicle traffic was unbelievable. At times the main canyon road looked like a freeway at night. We knew shortcuts and even though the trails were slick and muddy, we made it without incident. First light brought nothing. We walked ridges and glassed bowls to no avail despite the constant may lay of gunfire in the background. Sounded like a firework show up there. It was 9:00 am before we saw a deer. A small 2x3, but we passed. Then we went higher up the mountain seeing deer everywhere on the ride up. No shooters though. We found a nice set of canyons to watch and began glassing. Lots of deer, most of them on the run.... Through the binos, it was funny to see so much orange. Every trail and road had orange dots moving around. Every turnout and meadow looked like a pumpkin patch. We saw quite a few hunters dragging bucks towards the road, but none were decent bucks.
I asked my boy if he wanted to go for a hike and he said sure. We had to take my shotgun, pack frame, and valuable supplies out of the quad compartments for fear of theft. Took the key and headed down the hill. A hundred yards down the hill, we found a patch of cedars thick enough that the ground was dry underneath, so we stashed everything but my rifle and shooting sticks there. After all, I didn't expect to see anything tag worthy in this circus, and it was day 1.
Well after a mile, we havent crossed on quad trail or road, and haven't seen any other hunters. It was promising but only does and small bucks were popping up out of the canyons. Each ridge we came to we would whistle or growl into and the deer would stand up and look around. At about mile 2, give or take, we were sweating and even though drenched from rain, we were both pretty hot. The last canyon I wanted to try was in sight. We got to the edge, I began glassing. 10 minutes later, and no deer spotted, I growled loudly. To my surprise,out of a patch of scrub oaks 400 yards away, three bucks jumped up and took off on a dead run. It seemed like only a second passed before I was sitting with my gun on the sticks. Right when I saw the bucks I knew all three were shooters and about the same size. They had 100 yards behind them already and were running out of open hillside fast, so I held 3 feet in front of the first bucks nose and squeezed. I shoot a browning a-bolt in 7mm mag and sight my rifle in 4" high at 100. At 500 yards, all I have to do is hold on the backbone, adjust for windage and bingo! Well, at the first shot, the Lead buck stopped and ran in two tight circles. The other bucks picked up the pace and went up the hill. then my buck started running down into the canyon toward the trees. I held two feet in front this time and he piled up, flipping over and rolling down the hill. He hit a cedar tree, and stood back up..I was excited at this point and held on his backbone but I jerked the trigger this time. The buck instantly dropped. I looked at the other two bucks which were just clearing the ridge and saw that they were all about the same size. About a minute later, 3 shots rang out and I figured they must have tried to cross a road somewhere. My son was so happy, he gave me a high five, but his hands were so cold it hurt him.
Now we had to walk all the way back to the stash site and get my pack frame and knives. We were hot by then and I took my jacket and sweater off. Leaned my rifle against a tree and covered it with my jacket. I took out a trash bag and put our sweaters, beanies, gloves, food and un-necessary items in it. We switched to Orange hats and headed for the buck. The drizzle felt good as we walked and I was glad I didn't have to pack the buck out in the sun and heat. Little did I know, that after we got to the buck, took pictures, and got him caped, the weather had other plans. It started to pour rain, fog rolled in the temp dropped and then it hailed. My poor boy was huddled under a small cedar while I tried to work fast. After ten minutes, I had him quartered and bagged. My son was soaked and shivering badly. I stuffed the front quarters, back straps, tenderloins, heart, and neck roasts in the pack. I rolled the cape around the head and carried it in my arms. We took off towards our jackets.
I'm so proud of my son. Even though he was freezing by the time we made it to our jackets, he put his on and put on a beanie and was all for helping me with the second load. After the two trips from the kill site, and 4 trips back up to the quad, I had everything tied down and we were headed to the truck. We looked like the Beverly hillbillies with everything strapped to the quad, but made it out ok. Man were those trails slick and nasty on the way out.
Met some other guys from Cali who couldnt go any farther in their white dodge truck. I pointed them in the direction where I'd passed up a buck earlier 1/2 a mile away. Hope they were successful too. All in all I took 3 family members and friends out and we went 4 for 4. In two days. My brother shot the smallest forky I've ever seen and I'm mounting the antlers on a jackalope for him. I tried to get him to pass but he wanted meat and to spend time helping his wife get a bigger buck than last year. We got her on a big 4x4 in the rain, but she missed at 250 yards and he didn't hang out for a second shot. She got a decent fork horn on the day before we had to leave.
