Central mountains Manti… it drew at 10 last year for a non res and I put in with 8 so I’m assuming I drew the one random.Which unit?
I think it depends on your goals. It's limited permits with limited pressure that's what you should expect. With some weather it'll have plenty of deer to see. My opinion is it's early for the rut but it's probably the best use of 8 points under the current deer management plan. Populations have been trending down across the state with no out look at rebounding in the near future.Do you guys think the hunts are worth the points? I drew the one random non res tag for this unit but I still have 8 LE points that I’ll loose if I keep it and all I’ve been hearing is the deer herds are hurting pretty bad lately. I believe there’s only like 30 total tags for the hunt so pressure shouldn’t be an issue at all would you keep the tag and go hunt?
Makes sense ill probably just go explore the area and look for potential places to set up my wall tent. Does a guy need to stay mobile with camp and cover lots of country or can you set up a good base amp and pretty much hunt from there? I’ve got a quad and a SxS I’m assuming they will be really useful because it sounds like there’s lots of roads through the country?Scouting would be useful if you want to learn the unit. Generally speaking, don’t expect to see deer in the same areas in September that you’ll be hunting them in November.
Thanks for the input I’ve experienced the “family reunion” pressure of Utah once a few years back when I drew the pine valley muzzy tag but did find that 95% of the people don’t leave the road so I was able to find success just getting off the trails a mile or two and ended up killing a respectable buck for the unit. Is that pretty much the same for the manti? Or does it not even matter because there are so few tags? The unit looks massive but I’m sure only portions of it hold deer? The very southern end of the unit looks good and the north western country also looks like it will hold deer, is the desert country worth hunting or is it pretty void of animals for the most part?Pre rut bucks will hang together and offer you choices within the same stalk. (sort of). I am more successful with less does/cows around. To be honest, it is unlikely the State will produce too many more great bucks from the old days. The Gov got the taste of blood, I mean money, and will continue to exploit the hunting industry. Keep the tag, and enjoy the smoke stick. You will enjoy a lot less hunter pressure. Utah is notorious for the General season as a family reunion type event with quads, RZR's, campers every where, 20 man drives. It's a State wide party. You'll love the decrease of humans out there on your tag.
If the mountain gets some weather will most the deer drop down in elevation into the pinion/safe country or will the bucks hold up in a foot of snow until the rut really kicks in?The manti is a huge unit. You’ll want to stay fairly mobile, but setting up a base camp should be fine. There will be no shortage of places to setup camp. I would focus on areas mid mountain or lower in elevation. Find groups of does and hopefully the bucks will be in the same general areas.