Am I hunting the wrong unit? Am I hunting the wrong way or both?

[10E]

Hey everyone,
New to the forum. I have had the chance to hunt a given unit in my home state for 6 years now . I have had two dedicated tags in the unit and I hunted all three seasons/ weapon types. (With two separate tags in a different unit to fill in the gaps) I have scouted all of these hunting years every summer adding new areas of the unit to my list every year and checking off old places.

This year I shot the best scoring buck (gross 165”) I have scouted/ spotted/ known about and had an opportunity to kill with a powder burner (muzzleloader in this case) in those 6 years. I ate the rest.

This year especially I have kept scouting even up to this weekend trying to locate a bigger buck. I have had no luck on my unit finding a deer that I could say was bigger than him.

Is this part of the process? Of killing a big buck or getting more proficient at it? Would you keep pounding this unit or try one with a little more difficult odds or lower tag numbers? Do big bucks come in waves? Should I stick it out?

I will add that in my two off years I located a giant buck 200+” in the other unit along with a better scoring buck than I killed this year.

Lots of questions and I apologize. I just want to give you as much info as I can.
Any help or insights would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Westhunt]

As a fellow Utah hunter, I will tell you that every unit will have 180-200+ inch bucks. Now, some units will have more of these than others, or they're just more huntable. I think you need to find a balance between opportunity and quality units. This might mean you have to sit a year or two out every now and then.

I also don't know how you're hunting so that could be an issue, but it sounds like you've killed several nice deer already so I don't think that's the issue. You may want to find a unit more conducive to your style of hunting.

If you've spent some time scouting the winter range and haven't found what you're looking for, then you may want to check out a new unit.

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[lundellhunting7]

Killing a 165 buck on a GS unit you’re doing it right. I wouldn’t change a thing.

There are big bucks on every unit…. Finding them are the hardest part. Scout, scout, scout IMO….

But I would almost never pass a 165 buck on a GS unit unless it’s my first year of dedicated hunter. (Which it was for me this year so I passed quite a few 150-60 bucks). This next year I would shoot a 150 all day.

 

[10E]

Killing a 165 buck on a GS unit you’re doing it right. I wouldn’t change a thing.

There are big bucks on every unit…. Finding them are the hardest part. Scout, scout, scout IMO….

But I would almost never pass a 165 buck on a GS unit unless it’s my first year of dedicated hunter. (Which it was for me this year so I passed quite a few 150-60 bucks). This next year I would shoot a 150 all day.

As a fellow Utah hunter, I will tell you that every unit will have 180-200+ inch bucks. Now, some units will have more of these than others, or they're just more huntable. I think you need to find a balance between opportunity and quality units. This might mean you have to sit a year or two out every now and then.

I also don't know how you're hunting so that could be an issue, but it sounds like you've killed several nice deer already so I don't think that's the issue. You may want to find a unit more conducive to your style of hunting.

If you've spent some time scouting the winter range and haven't found what you're looking for, then you may want to check out a new unit.

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thank you for the input. It’s been messing with my brain lately scouting those other units and seemingly finding bigger deer easier. I don’t want to get the grass is greener syndrome but I also want to take an honest look at where I am hunting. I helped my younger brother scout a unit for a rifle tag and we scouted/turned up and successfully killed a nice buck in the 164” range on that hunt. That unit had lower tag numbers and lower draw odds.

 

[10E]

As a fellow Utah hunter, I will tell you that every unit will have 180-200+ inch bucks. Now, some units will have more of these than others, or they're just more huntable. I think you need to find a balance between opportunity and quality units. This might mean you have to sit a year or two out every now and then.

I also don't know how you're hunting so that could be an issue, but it sounds like you've killed several nice deer already so I don't think that's the issue. You may want to find a unit more conducive to your style of hunting.

If you've spent some time scouting the winter range and haven't found what you're looking for, then you may want to check out a new unit.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

Yes I feel like I may need to find that balance as far as unit and opportunity. I have hunted buck deer in Utah for the last 8-9 consecutive years. So i have definitely geared my strategy towards opportunities. As far as the how of my hunting goes I’ve got just about every book, app, listened to any podcast with mule deer used in it and hunted nearly every day of the hunt even if I can only go after work I have tried to apply all the techniques and tactics a used in that information.

 

[Westhunt]

Yes I feel like I may need to find that balance as far as unit and opportunity. I have hunted buck deer in Utah for the last 8-9 consecutive years. So i have definitely geared my strategy towards opportunities. As far as the how of my hunting goes I’ve got just about every book, app, listened to any podcast with mule deer used in it and hunted nearly every day of the hunt even if I can only go after work I have tried to apply all the techniques and tactics a used in that information.

Don't over look the advantage of intimately knowing a unit. Each unit is going to have little spots where big bucks frequent. I've seen guys bounce from unit to unit chasing the latest "hot" unit. But there are guys that have hunted a unit for years and know it like the back of their hands. They know what little hole in the wall canyon holds the deer. They know when and how they move. Anyone can hike and glass, but there is a huge advantage of just knowing right where to be.

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[Schoolhousegrizz]

165 is a pretty dang good buck on a general season unit. Nice job

 

[10E]

165 is a pretty dang good buck on a general season unit. Nice job

Thanks!

 

[willfrye027]

Sounds like you killed the best buck you could find and put in a ton of effort. That is a huge accomplishment.

If your goal is to kill something bigger…do you know of bigger bucks that got killed in the unit? Do you see them on the winter range?

Maybe there’s just not many or any bigger deer on offer in that unit.

 

[10E]

Sounds like you killed the best buck you could find and put in a ton of effort. That is a huge accomplishment.

If your goal is to kill something bigger…do you know of bigger bucks that got killed in the unit? Do you see them on the winter range?

Maybe there’s just not many or any bigger deer on offer in that unit.

I looked at quite a few rutting bucks in my unit and did not see a bigger deer. That being said I spent a day in a different unit and found bigger bucks on average than I had seen in the weeks of scouting my current unit. That’s what’s messing with my head

I have one or two prospects for my last year of dedicated next year. Both would score around the same place as my current best buck. They could have been harvested as I have not been able to find either one.

I should add that My goal is to shoot a bigger buck than my best buck with the ultimate goal of killing a 200” deer on a general unit and public land (that’s a tall order so the plan is to work up to that)

 

[lhbackcountry]

I think social media has hyped killing scoring deer and we have lost what quality deer really mean. trophies are so individual, type of weapon, antlered etc that we compare everything to someone else.. have i had chances at some monsters ? Yes. Have i missed those or never even gotten a shot? Yes. Have i also shot a spike and been even happier not eating tag soup yes.

sorry for the long jant but the point is if you are happy stalking and trying to be aggressive and still hunt with a recurve / find yourself thrilled w shooting a doe or small buck then that’s the mark. If you prefer to sit and wait it out with the time to hunt for weeks and hold off til you find a giant then even better! Kudos to all that just fill a tag. I am closing in on another season of tag soup as I have chased a few w the rusty trad gear. Just how it goes

 

[lhbackcountry]

Also sorry for hijacking your post! Sounds like you have had more success than most and congrats !

 

[willfrye027]

I looked at quite a few rutting bucks in my unit and did not see a bigger deer. That being said I spent a day in a different unit and found bigger bucks on average than I had seen in the weeks of scouting my current unit. That’s what’s messing with my head

I have one or two prospects for my last year of dedicated next year. Both would score around the same place as my current best buck. They could have been harvested as I have not been able to find either one.

I should add that My goal is to shoot a bigger buck than my best buck with the ultimate goal of killing a 200” deer on a general unit and public land (that’s a tall order so the plan is to work up to that)

I’d move units personally...but never killed a 200” so grain of salt. maybe keep tabs on the unit you’ve learned in case the conditions align and it starts to turn out some bigger deer.

 

[MallardSX2]

Start hunting closer to private property would be my advise. Most of the guys I know who kill a lot of giant mule deer are hunting private land boundaries.

Generally speaking ( not always) better quality deer are found on private.

 

[mtnrunner260]

What does your typical day look like?
Did you run cams and bait when you could and see bigger bucks?
There are 200 inch deer that come off the easiest to draw units in UT. The majority are off private but some public as well.
The majority of the ones I know of have been scouted previously. Some of the podcast episodes here say the same.
It seems you have invested a lot into this effort. If you haven't seen what you are looking for, my suggestion is change how you are doing it or look elsewhere.

 

[10E]

What does your typical day look like?
Did you run cams and bait when you could and see bigger bucks?
There are 200 inch deer that come off the easiest to draw units in UT. The majority are off private but some public as well.
The majority of the ones I know of have been scouted previously. Some of the podcast episodes here say the same.
It seems you have invested a lot into this effort. If you haven't seen what you are looking for, my suggestion is change how you are doing it or look elsewhere.

Im hunting in Utah So I have cameras out until July 30th. The biggest buck I’ve ever had on camera was on a remote water source and was prior to the trail camera season restrictions. Some cameras are placed where I suspect a big buck could make an out of the way living and slip through the cracks others in places I have seen the best bucks. Some on remote water sources and others on well used trails with buck tracks/deer sign on them.

As far as scouting I am up on the glassing point before light. Lower country areas I seem to be able to keep tabs on bucks from as early as mid June (i have video of the buck I killed this year from July 17th) In the middle of the day I may take a nap or go drop some cameras, occasionally I’ll just go out and hike and try to find new country, tracks etc. I try to hit a few new places every year including some back pack in areas. In the evenings I’m back on a glassing point tell dark.

Hunting wise I’ve tried a lot of different tactics. I’ve had some success with the sitting on the hill every hour of the day glassing and wait for my target buck to show himself approach. That is some horribly monotonous work. But I have had that work in at least seeing a target buck.

I usually do one of the following tactics at least once every hunt.

1. not going into an area and glassing it from 1 mile plus when possible. Been burned a few times thinking the bucks home range was a little smaller than it actually was. Or running into them in a place I’ve never glassed them up.

2. still hunting through heavier cover that I suspect one of those bucks I’ve scouted may live.

3. I’ve also tried ambush hunting areas where I have seen a lot of sign or glassed bucks in the fall.

4. I have scouted areas near private property and have seen some decent bucks but they seem to have it pretty well ironed out where they are safe. My few chances at those bucks are mostly in the archery hunt, but most are in a large enough piece of property that I can’t really hunt them.

I have devoted a ton of time to these goals. Thats why I’m questioning the limited success on killing or even finding in this current unit a big deer to hunt.

Thank you for the advice!

 

[wildwilderness]

# 1 advice is change your goal!

If that’s not possible you need to cast a wider net. Finding a 200” buck is hard even on private or limited units. A needle in a haystack.

Finding a 200” on public GS is a needle in multiple haystacks so you need to locate multiple 180” plus bucks in hidey holes that will live and hope that they grow into a 200” the next year you draw a tag in that unit. A tall order but some people get lucky.

it is getting harder with more people looking for the big bucks and instant sharing and high $$$ rewards offered.

This past winter doesn’t help with winter kill and one of the more historic good producing GS areas like the Wasatch extended archery taking a beating.

Good luck, but I would say a realistic goal at a 200” free range buck would be anywhere in North America, on any land with any outfit and a budget over $15,000. Only exception would to have lightning strike and draw a premier tag Henrie’s, AZ Strip etc.

 

[10E]

# 1 advice is change your goal!

If that’s not possible you need to cast a wider net. Finding a 200” buck is hard even on private or limited units. A needle in a haystack.

Finding a 200” on public GS is a needle in multiple haystacks so you need to locate multiple 180” plus bucks in hidey holes that will live and hope that they grow into a 200” the next year you draw a tag in that unit. A tall order but some people get lucky.

it is getting harder with more people looking for the big bucks and instant sharing and high $$$ rewards offered.

This past winter doesn’t help with winter kill and one of the more historic good producing GS areas like the Wasatch extended archery taking a beating.

Good luck, but I would say a realistic goal at a 200” free range buck would be anywhere in North America, on any land with any outfit and a budget over $15,000. Only exception would to have lightning strike and draw a premier tag Henrie’s, AZ Strip etc.

I guess you are right it is as much a dream as a goal. I know they are rare , and that the dream could take more lifetimes than I have to achieve. If the buck is bigger than anything I’ve ever shot than I’m going to shoot him once I’ve shot a buck that big I’m going to hold out for something bigger. This will take a lot of years and I may not achieve it.

All that being said I have found one before and that’s what keeps the hope alive and makes me question if the unit I’m hunting may not carry as many of the caliber of buck that I’m looking for. It may very well have been a fluke and it would never happen again on that unit. That’s why I’m here now I guess making this thread. He was harvested and taped by a taxidermist at well over 200” so I can confirm the score.

I was at the taxidermist a few months ago and saw a giant 205” buck killed on a general unit in Utah by a cowboy riding out a track on his horse in the low country. It was hard to believe I was looking at mule deer antlers and not some freak ice age genetic giant that somehow made it to the current day.

 

[wildwilderness]

Just remember if you kill a 180 it won’t grow into a 200” the next year!


But I do understand not passing on a buck that would be your personal best. That is a realistic goal