Utah rut? (Recap)

[Jd259]

When is the rut in central Utah? I drew a LE muzzy tag that’s nov 2-10 should I expect to see bucks rutting pretty good during the hunt or does it get started a little later in mid November?
Thanks

 

[jjjones7]

Kind of depends on the weather, lately we’ve been having extremely warm dry falls and from what I’ve seen it kicks it back a little. I’d expect the bigger bucks will be starting. You may not hit the peak of it, but bigger bucks should definitely be getting interested

 

[Hunt30]

I’ve tagged along on a couple of these hunts the last few years. The amount of rutting activity you will see during the day will be dependent on weather and even then it can vary significantly from day to day. These can be really fun hunts, but in my experience, this hunt is about 1-2 weeks before the rut peaks.

 

[Jd259]

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?

 

[Hunt30]

Which unit?

 

[Jd259]

Which unit?

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.

 

[jjjones7]

I’ll bet you hit it with max. They’ve only been running these a couple years and most of the applicants are guys lower to mid range point holders who do the math and realize to get a premium tag it’s going to take the better part of 2 decades….or more depending on point creep. I’ll bet the points it takes for late muzzleloader actually goes down if not now within the next couple years. It’s just clearing a backlog of frustrated LE applicants right now.
I’d keep it personally unless you want to wait another 15-20 years. Do your homework and hunt hard see what you can do. Hard to kill big bucks if you don’t have a tag in your pocket.

 

[Hunt30]

I would definitely keep that tag, especially with 8 nonresident points. It’s not a trophy hunt, but there are definitely some great bucks on the manti and while you won’t see the quantity of bucks on these hunts that you would typically see on a lower tier limited entry hunt, I believe your chances of killing a really good buck are actually better. And those lower tier limited hunts are taking 20+ nonresident points to draw.

 

[realunlucky]

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?

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.

If you turn it back you'll get your points back but forfeit the tag fees and fail to gain another point for this year.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

 

[Jd259]

I appreciate it guys I know I’m in absolute no mans land when it comes to true le tags… as for expectations for the hunt their actually not super high I’m probably going to bring my 5 yo son with me so if we get to look over alot of deer and I can get him excited about it that’s a win in my book and if we can put a decent 160+ on the ground that would just be icing on the cake I’m going to have a region G deer tag to hunt this September so hopefully I can make the best of that then this hunt would just be a fun hunt with my boy hopefully lighting that fire inside of him that we all have.

 

[Hunt30]

I think 160-170 is definitely doable with that tag.

 

[2five7]

You'll have guys hunting muzzy spike elk at the same time, so don't be afraid to stop and ask if they've seen any good bucks, one of them just might help you!

 

[Jd259]

A lot of good points brought up I’ll probably end up keeping it. I’m hunting wyoming mid September and will probably try and scout the last week of September am I wasting my time with that? Will the deer be in completely different places from late September until the hunt in early November?

 

[Hunt30]

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.

 

[Jd259]

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.

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?

 

[mfllood3800]

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.

 

[Jd259]

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.

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?

 

[Hunt30]

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.

 

[Hunt30]

Also, the entire mountain holds good populations of deer. The desert areas can hold some monster deer, but the drought has been hard on them and they are struggling right now. I would prefer to hunt the nw corner for that hunt instead of southern end.

 

[Jd259]

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.

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?