PathFinder
WKR
I started hunting this unit last year and it opened my eyes to the quality deer hunting that still exists on general units in Utah if yhisou get a long ways from other people! I scouted it twice last year and harvested a buck on the muzzleloader hunt. I saw 11 bucks that morning and was sold on this area.
This year I decided I was going to dedicate my time and focus on the archery hunt. I put in and drew an archery tag and started scouting in July. Although I'd hunted it the year before I didn't know the area really well and I learned a lot over the summer. I found more big bucks than I'd ever seen on any general unit in Utah in all my life. The week before the season started I hauled my "backpack hunting gear" up that consisted of a 1/2" thick foam pad that was only 40" long, a 40$ 40 degree walmart sleeping bag and a 12$ walmart camo tarp. It sure wasn't like staying in the cabin I used to hunt out of!
On opening weekend, there were two other hunters. I saw tons of great bucks but the wind nailed me three times on opening day alone. I had a good chance on the buck I ended up killing on the second day, but he got out on me. Later that morning I made an awesome stalk on a decent four and a mainframe 3 with three cheaters. I popped up over the edge of the terrace on the 4x4 but couldn't get a good read through the grass with my cheap rangefinder. I guessed 40 and just grazed the top of his back; opportunity #1 blown!
I headed back to work for the week and then headed back to hunt Friday afternoon. When I got to the trailhead there were two trucks, one from Missouri and one from Kansas! They were on their way out as I was headed in, and they had killed a great 170 class 4x4. They were super cool guys but I was bummed that the bucks had been getting hunted by four other guys all week. To make matters worse, a bear had gotten into my camp stash and the mountain was gearing up to teach my why my 60$ camp was not adequate! As I got to where I wanted to move my camp to right at dark, the fog rolled in and it started to pour. I hurriedly setup my makeshift tarp shelter and crawled into my sleeping bag (which was more like a windbreaker) for the most miserable night of my life. I woke in the morning to 1/2" of snow on the ground! Despite the crappy weather I was grateful to get up and moving. On the trail up to my glassing point I looked down to see a good buck looking right at me. I wranged him and thought "Dang, God must feel bad for me after last night, this is too easy!" And alas, it was. My string hit the oversized rain gear I'd borrrowed from my dad and the arrow went high. I glassed for the rest of the morning but only saw small bucks. After heading to the other slope of the mountain for a nap in the sun to dry out from the night before, I heard a buck busting out of the ledges below me. I watched the tall, heavy 4x4 move to the next basin and then headed up to relocate him. He went into a basin I hadn't ever glassed before, and although I was able to spot him again he was in a nearly impossible spot for a stalk. After waiting on him for several hours, a group of 11 bucks appeared out of nowhere! There were a couple stud bucks in the group including a tall 4x4 that would score very well. This group of bucks split; one group bedded in the open in the basin and one bedded 40 yards below the first buck in the pines. I finally decided my only viable option was to slip down the ledgy backbone above the first buck to get a ~70 yard shot at him in his bed. Foolishly I skylined myself to the bucks bedded in the open and they alerted the other deer. I got to 75 yards but didn't get a shot on the buck.
The next morning on my way back to camp, I ran right into the group of bucks I encountered one week previous. The big narrow 3x3 was broadside right off the rail. I ranged him, 47 yards, and let one fly. I couldn't believe it when the arrow went just under him! That *&$@ Simmons piece of crap had ranged the bush in front of the deer, as I later found. The other deer in the group still didn't know what was up. I moved up another ten yards to see the buck I'd later harvest standing above me, and he had me pegged. With no time to range him, I held for 55 and shot under him. After that mistake I was really kicking myself! It seemed I couldn't get a single opportunity without making some colossal stupid mistake to screw it up.
That week school started but that meant more hunting! I had no class on Thursday and one on Friday so naturally I headed up the mountain Thursday morning for a 4 day hunt. I took my new Badlands Mirage tent and Cinder sleeping bag and recovered the rest of my gear from another bear raid. I had also switched from feathers to Helios lighted vanes during the week as the wet weather had taken a toll on my feather-fletched arrows. With two new packs of Hypodermic broadheads, I was recharged and ready to hunt again!
Those four days were the toughest of the hunt. I was ready to quit several times. The wind screwed up two ambushes and three stalks, and despite getting withing 23 yards of a big 3x3, I was unable to get a shot. At this point it felt like I couldn't do anything right, and I was ready to be done. I thought the hunt only went to the following Friday, but I looked at my tag and realized it went to the following week. I resolved to put my big boy pants on, skip class on Friday again
and do another 4 day hunt.
During that week I picked up a Kuiu Ultra 6000 pack as my beloved Eberlestock X2 wasn't big enough to haul a deer and my whole camp off in one load. I'll write up a review on the pack soon. I shot my bow every day and got psyched back up to hunt hard again.
This week, I had the mountain all to myself, but the bucks had begun switching to fall habits and were hard to find. However, the old standby group of bucks I'd had so many encounters with were still in the same spot. The first evening, I found them feeding in a spot where I knew I could get on them. It was 45 minutes from my glassing point to the final approach, and the bucks had moved closer by the time I got there. The 3x3 was at 122 yards feeding, the 4x4 was at 65 bedded down (I could only see his antlers) and a 2x3 and 2x2 were at 40 yards. The small bucks ended up busting me and the 4x4 never gave me even a second when he bugged out. The bucks didn't go far and I planned to find them again in the morning.
First thing that morning, I found the 4x4 with two 2x2s. He was moving fast as he was feeding and I knew I would miss getting on him if I dropped off for a stalk so I decided to bed him down. He ended up bedding in thick pines with a group of does and small bucks. That stalk ended with the other deer busting me while the 4 got out on me without a shot opportunity.
I headed back to camp, had lunch, and made some modifications to my new pack. I decided to hike down the long ridgeline to a burn for that evening hunt. I knew the 4x4 and the other bucks were bedded on that ridge somewhere, and I planned to hunt them on my way. Just 600 yards from my camp, I could smell deer. Just a few steps later a 2x2 and the 4x4 busted down off into the pines. However, I knew the bigger buck hadn't seen me so I slipped my pack off and snuck down into the pines to see if he'd stopped. I didn't see anything, but decided to take a different trail back to my pack on the ridgeline to get a different view down into the pines. I took ten steps and saw him standing broadside below me. I ranged him at 55 yards, drew my bow, and let my second arrow at this buck fly. I knew from the instant I drew that I had him. The arrow flew perfectly and I heard that beautiful THWACK! The buck jumped straight up and I saw the entry hole from the Rage open up. The shot was a little low and back but I felt pretty good about it. After calling my dad and texting my buddy, I retrieved my pack and headed down to pick up the blood trail. There was great blood at the shot site and for the first 80 yards. After finding part of my shaft broken off with the broadhead and a great puddle of blood, the trail vanished. I circled down another 70 yards and could smell the deer below me, courtesy of the afternoon thermals. I headed that direction and found a bit of blood on a bush. I found his tracks in the dirt and followed them another 40 yards to where he piled up.
This is my first archery muley, and my 5th Utah buck. I taped him out at 144 6/8. I couldn't have been more excited, after such a tough hunt I took my first straight 4x4 and one of my best deer of my life with my bow. The addiction is worse than ever now!
This year I decided I was going to dedicate my time and focus on the archery hunt. I put in and drew an archery tag and started scouting in July. Although I'd hunted it the year before I didn't know the area really well and I learned a lot over the summer. I found more big bucks than I'd ever seen on any general unit in Utah in all my life. The week before the season started I hauled my "backpack hunting gear" up that consisted of a 1/2" thick foam pad that was only 40" long, a 40$ 40 degree walmart sleeping bag and a 12$ walmart camo tarp. It sure wasn't like staying in the cabin I used to hunt out of!
On opening weekend, there were two other hunters. I saw tons of great bucks but the wind nailed me three times on opening day alone. I had a good chance on the buck I ended up killing on the second day, but he got out on me. Later that morning I made an awesome stalk on a decent four and a mainframe 3 with three cheaters. I popped up over the edge of the terrace on the 4x4 but couldn't get a good read through the grass with my cheap rangefinder. I guessed 40 and just grazed the top of his back; opportunity #1 blown!
I headed back to work for the week and then headed back to hunt Friday afternoon. When I got to the trailhead there were two trucks, one from Missouri and one from Kansas! They were on their way out as I was headed in, and they had killed a great 170 class 4x4. They were super cool guys but I was bummed that the bucks had been getting hunted by four other guys all week. To make matters worse, a bear had gotten into my camp stash and the mountain was gearing up to teach my why my 60$ camp was not adequate! As I got to where I wanted to move my camp to right at dark, the fog rolled in and it started to pour. I hurriedly setup my makeshift tarp shelter and crawled into my sleeping bag (which was more like a windbreaker) for the most miserable night of my life. I woke in the morning to 1/2" of snow on the ground! Despite the crappy weather I was grateful to get up and moving. On the trail up to my glassing point I looked down to see a good buck looking right at me. I wranged him and thought "Dang, God must feel bad for me after last night, this is too easy!" And alas, it was. My string hit the oversized rain gear I'd borrrowed from my dad and the arrow went high. I glassed for the rest of the morning but only saw small bucks. After heading to the other slope of the mountain for a nap in the sun to dry out from the night before, I heard a buck busting out of the ledges below me. I watched the tall, heavy 4x4 move to the next basin and then headed up to relocate him. He went into a basin I hadn't ever glassed before, and although I was able to spot him again he was in a nearly impossible spot for a stalk. After waiting on him for several hours, a group of 11 bucks appeared out of nowhere! There were a couple stud bucks in the group including a tall 4x4 that would score very well. This group of bucks split; one group bedded in the open in the basin and one bedded 40 yards below the first buck in the pines. I finally decided my only viable option was to slip down the ledgy backbone above the first buck to get a ~70 yard shot at him in his bed. Foolishly I skylined myself to the bucks bedded in the open and they alerted the other deer. I got to 75 yards but didn't get a shot on the buck.
The next morning on my way back to camp, I ran right into the group of bucks I encountered one week previous. The big narrow 3x3 was broadside right off the rail. I ranged him, 47 yards, and let one fly. I couldn't believe it when the arrow went just under him! That *&$@ Simmons piece of crap had ranged the bush in front of the deer, as I later found. The other deer in the group still didn't know what was up. I moved up another ten yards to see the buck I'd later harvest standing above me, and he had me pegged. With no time to range him, I held for 55 and shot under him. After that mistake I was really kicking myself! It seemed I couldn't get a single opportunity without making some colossal stupid mistake to screw it up.
That week school started but that meant more hunting! I had no class on Thursday and one on Friday so naturally I headed up the mountain Thursday morning for a 4 day hunt. I took my new Badlands Mirage tent and Cinder sleeping bag and recovered the rest of my gear from another bear raid. I had also switched from feathers to Helios lighted vanes during the week as the wet weather had taken a toll on my feather-fletched arrows. With two new packs of Hypodermic broadheads, I was recharged and ready to hunt again!
Those four days were the toughest of the hunt. I was ready to quit several times. The wind screwed up two ambushes and three stalks, and despite getting withing 23 yards of a big 3x3, I was unable to get a shot. At this point it felt like I couldn't do anything right, and I was ready to be done. I thought the hunt only went to the following Friday, but I looked at my tag and realized it went to the following week. I resolved to put my big boy pants on, skip class on Friday again
and do another 4 day hunt.During that week I picked up a Kuiu Ultra 6000 pack as my beloved Eberlestock X2 wasn't big enough to haul a deer and my whole camp off in one load. I'll write up a review on the pack soon. I shot my bow every day and got psyched back up to hunt hard again.
This week, I had the mountain all to myself, but the bucks had begun switching to fall habits and were hard to find. However, the old standby group of bucks I'd had so many encounters with were still in the same spot. The first evening, I found them feeding in a spot where I knew I could get on them. It was 45 minutes from my glassing point to the final approach, and the bucks had moved closer by the time I got there. The 3x3 was at 122 yards feeding, the 4x4 was at 65 bedded down (I could only see his antlers) and a 2x3 and 2x2 were at 40 yards. The small bucks ended up busting me and the 4x4 never gave me even a second when he bugged out. The bucks didn't go far and I planned to find them again in the morning.
First thing that morning, I found the 4x4 with two 2x2s. He was moving fast as he was feeding and I knew I would miss getting on him if I dropped off for a stalk so I decided to bed him down. He ended up bedding in thick pines with a group of does and small bucks. That stalk ended with the other deer busting me while the 4 got out on me without a shot opportunity.
I headed back to camp, had lunch, and made some modifications to my new pack. I decided to hike down the long ridgeline to a burn for that evening hunt. I knew the 4x4 and the other bucks were bedded on that ridge somewhere, and I planned to hunt them on my way. Just 600 yards from my camp, I could smell deer. Just a few steps later a 2x2 and the 4x4 busted down off into the pines. However, I knew the bigger buck hadn't seen me so I slipped my pack off and snuck down into the pines to see if he'd stopped. I didn't see anything, but decided to take a different trail back to my pack on the ridgeline to get a different view down into the pines. I took ten steps and saw him standing broadside below me. I ranged him at 55 yards, drew my bow, and let my second arrow at this buck fly. I knew from the instant I drew that I had him. The arrow flew perfectly and I heard that beautiful THWACK! The buck jumped straight up and I saw the entry hole from the Rage open up. The shot was a little low and back but I felt pretty good about it. After calling my dad and texting my buddy, I retrieved my pack and headed down to pick up the blood trail. There was great blood at the shot site and for the first 80 yards. After finding part of my shaft broken off with the broadhead and a great puddle of blood, the trail vanished. I circled down another 70 yards and could smell the deer below me, courtesy of the afternoon thermals. I headed that direction and found a bit of blood on a bush. I found his tracks in the dirt and followed them another 40 yards to where he piled up.
This is my first archery muley, and my 5th Utah buck. I taped him out at 144 6/8. I couldn't have been more excited, after such a tough hunt I took my first straight 4x4 and one of my best deer of my life with my bow. The addiction is worse than ever now!
