My 2016 Utah Mule Deer Hunt Story

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

Back from one of the toughest, most discouraging, exciting, rugged, and unforgiving hunts I've ever been on....here's the details!

-The Drive-

I left Ohio almost a full week before season started. I'd done a ton of planning, scouting and made numerous phone calls to some locals and gotten some good info in return. My plan was to arrive 2 days before the opener and scout. I had almost made it 200 miles into the trip when a load roar caught my attention.....

Needless to say, I floored it! I watched as debris flew through the air off in the distance and what used to be a barn was destroyed. I safely outran the twister and watched it cross the road behind me. Heard it caused some minor damage in town a little after I got through the area. Besides that, the drive was uneventful. I stopped once in the Rockies to camp for a night and begin the acclimation process. After a substantial hike, I met a Ranger who let me know in no uncertain terms that camping had been suspended due to a lawsuit- something about a kid who crashed his sled? I slept in my car at a rest area instead.

On Thursday (8/18) I arrived in Moab, Utah. I had half a day to kill so I took a little time to see something I've always wanted to- Arches National Park. It was well worth the $25 and half a day!


After a few hours in Moab, I bought some ice, loaded my cooler and headed to camp a few hours away. I arrived in Salina, Utah at the northern end of the Pahvant Mountains. It was a beautiful and slightly intimidating scene. Dark mountains waited my arrival. Honestly, from a distance they looked nearly impossible. I continued on my path and was relieved to see a gravel road leading to the mountains from some BLM land. My ascent of the mountain was noting short of spectacular. I paused probably 20 times to hop out, snap some pictures, and enjoy the view. A red dirt road led all the way to the top, only interrupted by some tough rock patches begging to pop my tires.

It was clear the area hadn't seen rain in a few days and was going to be easily traversed. The lack of tire tracks in the roadway was quite encouraging!
I arrived at my predetermined camp, let my wife know I survived the drive, and started to plan my hike into camp. As I parked and stepped out of my car, I immediately saw a doe pop up from the trail I had planned to take. The area was vast and had a great view of half a dozen glass-able mountainsides, so I decided to pitch camp fairly close to the road.

 

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

After setting camp, I decided to drive around and see what my area looked like. Cows dotted every terraced hillside. Almost immediately I found some amazing canyons to glass, and I couldn't stop myself from setting up my new Vanguard Endeavor HD65 spotter.

I glassed off and on most of the evening, not seeing any deer right off. It was about 95 degrees though, so I wasn't worried. I ran into a rancher running cattle who told me they saw a bear near my camp a couple nights ago and to make sure I was bear safe. No problem. I've hunted bears and around bears plenty. I'd have no issue cooking away from my tent and keeping food separate....still, its always a little unnerving to hear or see bears! I headed back top camp, cooked a delicious dinner of venison and fried potatoes. Then, I hit the hay!

About 3am I awoke. Cold and uncomfortable from a branch under my tent I missed when setting camp. The temps had dropped to the low 40's and the wind was stupid! Then...from the corner of my eye, I caught the black silhouette outside my tent. Immediately thinking bear, I grabbed my pistol and waited. the shadowy beast lurked within a bout 2 feet of my tent door. "Mooooooooooo....." the bear somehow turned into a cow and meandered off. I decided to get up and build a little deadwood fence around camp after that!

I spent the next 2 mornings glassing up bucks and finding a good ambush. I found a 3 point that I really liked and decided to set up on him. He wasn't super wide or crazy tall, but he had decent brows and was very close to camp. My plan was to pattern him and save him for a last resort. I switched to the backside of the mountain occasionally to check on my local doe herd. The does would hang close to camp, but usually on the opposite side of the peak from the bucks I watched. I hooked up my Phone Skope to my spotter and snapped plenty of pictures of all the deer.

The night before the opener, the mountain exploded with ATV's, trucks, horses, and hunters. It became eerily similar to antelope hunting in Wyoming where a train of hunters would appear from nowhere. As hunters set up on every peak, I decided I'd stick close to my claimed territory of camp and hunt the 3 point the next morning. I glassed from the road that evening and found 'my' buck feeding in the sage with a couple dinks. No sooner did I spot him, did a pair of hunters see me....not the deer...me. The "hunters", and I'll use that term loosely plenty in this thread, lined their ATV's up with my spotting scope, located the deer and drove their ATV's right past my camp to spot the deer from upwind....yes, upwind. After a few minutes, the deer blew out and that was that. From my prior aerial scouting, I knew where the deer would go and exactly where to set up the next morning. Here's a glimpse of some other bucks I saw that night, before tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum showed up.

 

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

I slept well that night for about 6 minutes. Then I was interrupted by an intoxicated man who crashed his ATV into a tree below my camp. Luckily, someone showed up to claim him and took him away. They left the ATV for the night. Opening morning found my sitting in a sage flat on top of the mountain glassing for the 3 point and his posse. It took very little time to see racks popping up along the horizon. It took eve less time to hear the roar of the 2 "hunters" ATV's coming. They again stopped, saw me, and glassed. With the bucks flat out 400 yards into the sage, I figured they'd move along. I waved for the men to see me and leave. Well, they saw me, circled their ATV's to an adjacent road...and proceeded to attempt a stalk on the bucks in the wide open sage. They almost got to 300 yards away before the bucks all busted out, foiling their stalk and my ambush. The bucks crashed down several cattle terraces and stopped 200 yards below me. I made a quick and stealthy move to set up on them and quickly found myself 74 yards and downwind of the 3 point. Sensing the bucks were calming down, I decided to wait for them to hit their morning beds and then stalk. No sooner did I settle in did my 2 ATV buddies come roaring back down the road, drive past my camp and make their drop into the aspens where the bucks currently were...again, blowing the deer out. Frustrated, I packed my Badlands Summit back up and moseyed on out. In a slight bit of comic relief, I realized that the "Hunters" did not see the bucks bust out again and had set up just a hundred yards below me waiting for the bucks to come into view. Knowing the bucks were half a mile away by know made me chuckle. The pair spent several hours there that morning waiting....never seeing a deer. Here is the last picture I have of the 3 point...the last I ever saw of him.

Hunting was slow for the rest of the day, mainly due to the constant roar of engines and hunters. This was a really odd unit. In prior western hunts, the roads run the bottoms and you hunt up. Here, the road runs from peak to peak to peak and you hunt down. This makes for much more pressure and it makes the deer drop down....way down. The mountains dropped very steeply from sage tops, to aspen groves, to pine bottoms. Elk sign was abundant and many time I saw some giant 350"+ bulls. Hiking to the bottom was very difficult. It was steep, slippery, and going down meant I had to come back up. On day 2, I headed into a deep bottom and quickly found a buck and doe bedded. I used the wind and made a perfect stalk on the deer. At 20 yards, the buck stood. It took me a minute, but I decided I would pass him up and wait for a better buck....I snapped this picture of Forkasaurous just before he fed off into the distance with his female counterpart.

I instantly regretted passing him. But, I also knew that there were many 150-180" bucks on this mountain. As the day went by, I passed 7 more bucks...forky's, little 3 points, and spikes. It was great to see so many deer. But it was really a lot of work to be passing up deer.

Monday, the hunters thinned out and I decided I'd get to try some easier stalks. I glassed a canyon aptly named "Paradise" and quickly located 3 bedded bucks. I adjusted to the wind and planned my stalk. Geared up in the new Badlands Approach camo, I was excited to see the results I'd get from the stalk. I dropped into some snow white aspens and began. 100, 90, 80 yards....some nice velvet tips rose from the grass. I glassed a decent little 3x4 and adjusted my path. Another big forky (pictured above) and a little 3 point laid quietly, eyes closes, with their chins on the ground. My stalk was great. The 3x4, which at this point I decided was a shooter, was behind an aspen. I hunkered down thinking I would have a 60 yards shot when he got up to feed off for the evening. After an hour or so, I moved another 10 yards to try to stay ahead of the wind. Apparently it was too late. I looked where the buck should've been and he had vanished. No sound, no sight, nothing. He was just gone. He dropped off a 60 foot ledge that I'm not sure a goat could traverse and slinked away. The 2 point and 3 point stayed bedded for 2 more hours before allowing me to sneak off. both were easily shoot-able at 40 yards, but again, I could do better. I decided to sleep in my car that night, since I was about 20 miles from camp. that way, I could get up early and glass this side of the mountain range.

Day broke with me behind my spotter. For an hour I glassed and watched the forky and 3 point feed with a dozen does. no sign of the 3x4. I pulled off my scope to rest my eyes and saw the 3x4, 80 yards away, working to me. He turned broadside at 51 yards....I didn't have time to range, so I guessed 50 and set my Spot Hogg Fast Eddie XL to 50yds. He had ZERO clue I was there. I drew back and talked myself into thinking "No, he's 60 yards. Maybe 65..." Settling the pin at the top of his back, I released....and watched the arrow embed into a tree directly behind him...dead on where my pin was aimed. I dropped my head in disgust and grabbed my range finder....51 yards on the nose. That was a bummer! I took a deep breath and settled back on my scope. The 3x4 had bounded quite a ways off and I figured I'd let him bed before trying again. As I looked through my scope, I found another 3x4 in the canyon bottom...this guy was just a little too small for me though.

I glassed for several hours and watched a hunter stalk the big 3x4 and place an arrow perfectly in him. Congrats to that guy...he hauled butt to get down and get that buck! I went back to camp and strategized for the next day. Wednesday, I got up, camo'd up and dropped into a basin. I knew there would be bucks in here based on the lack of accessibility and difficulty oft he hike. I waited until mid morning and went into Badlands Ninja Mode ;-)

 

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

The hike was SUPER tough...but proved to be well worth it!
I quickly located deer in that bottom. A group of 6 bucks and 2 does were feeding slyly through the sage, well off the view from any roadway of nearby peak. It was a perfect, quiet setup. There were 3 nice shooters in the group- a 25" wide 4x4 with stellar fronts and medium forks, a 24" 3 point with brows, and a 20" 4x4 with brows. I would've shot at any of them, but the biggest 4x4 was the most appealing. I snuck to 64 yards of the feeding deer. I ranged them a dozen times. The big 4x4 was all alone in the front and begging for an arrow. Once last range at 64yds. I set my pin, drew back and settled on his chest. I was about to release when a doe stepped behind him. While it was a clear shot, I debated the ethics and chose not to shoot for fear of a pass through. I let down and waited. 62 yards. I drew again. This time the buck faced me head on....again, a poor ethical shot...so I let down after holding as long as I could. The buck whirled around and stood. 65 yards. I drew, settled my pin and a dink 3 point stood directly in front of the 4x4. The other 2 shooters ran off. I begrudgingly let down and watched the 4x4 walk away. He stopped at 80, but I wasn't comfortable shooting that far. I watched him feed off to 200 yards and tried another approach. I again snuck to 60 yards...but at an extremely steep angle. He was calm, so I did some math and decided where to aim. Several hours had passed and the sun was setting. It was COLD and very windy. Luckily, the wind broke giving my time to draw. I settled my pin, took a breath, and the 3 point once more blocked my shot by standing overlapped with my bucks chest. I had a shot, but it was dicey. I chose not to take it. I let down and continued watching the bucks....never having another shot opportunity at them. I was so disappointed... but hey, that's hunting. Dejected, I hiked back to camp in the pitch black and planned for the next day. (My reaction being drawn 4 times on a 160" velvet muley)

Thursday would be my last full day hunting. My only untried plan was to sit on a water hole I found on a map about 2 miles from the road. I planned on 2.5 hours to get there. After a morning of glassing up no shooters and passing 6 more dinks, I began my hike. It was steep and very hot by noonish. I finally got to where I no longer saw ATV tracks, footprints, or any sign of human life....things were looking up. My legs ached from all the hiking and climbing the past 7 days...I was exhausted. From about 300 yards, I could see the rim of this water hole. It appeared to be some sort of cattle pond that was positioned over a big aspen and pine grove....absolutely perfect! I slowly approached the water hole, scouring every possible hiding place for a buck. I saw nothing. Then....as I got to the water hole...my heart dropped. It was completely bone dust dry. The cracked mud was covered in month old tracks that had hardened into red cement-like depressions in the ground that only served to mock me reminding me of the deer that were once here. My spirits were crushed but I couldn't help but laugh at the situation-

I hiked back to my truck and glassed from the road with remaining couple hours of light. After almost 6 hours wasted hiking to this dried up water hole...I was bushed! I saw some more dink bucks and does and passed a pair of small forky's. I slept great that night at least! The final morning, I packed camp before daybreak and said a little prayer of thanks and asked for a little support- ".......Lord, send me any buck. I'll shoot whatever you put in front of me. I don't wanna eat this tag, please." I loaded up and began driving. I stopped at one of my daily glassing points and saw the familiar horizontal grey line of a deer's back in the sage. this one was only 25 yards. I pulled my binos up, he lifted his head proudly showing off the almost 3" of spikes he had. It was about a 40 pound fawn spike. Needless to say, I didn't fill my end of the deal with the Lord eve after he sent me a buck....moral of that story...God has sense of humor- ya better pray more specific than I did! I had a chance at a little 2 point after that but only half heartedly put effort into the stalk. I was satisfied with my experience and came tog rips with having an unfilled tag. I stopped on a high peak around 10600 ft, dropped to my knees and shared a moment with the mountains and the creator. My final obstacle was one of several flats I encountered along the way....just part of the hunt!

Success for me is filling a tag. This hunt was my first failure in a non-resident hunt in over a dozen tags from NC Bear to Wyoming antelope to KY deer and many more. Although I wasn't successful in filling my tag, The knowledge gained, the experience lived, and time spent outdoors is always worth the trip....You win for now Utah- until next time.

 

[GOSHENGRUNTER]

SPECIAL THANKS TO THIEST!!!!!! He helped me out a ton with info, maps, and crazy knowledge of the area. I had a great time brother! Can't thank ya enough!

 

[ElkTrout]

Great story and experience! Thanks for sharing! Sorry you didn't connect but it sounds very rewarding!


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[ivorytip]

fun trip man!

 

[300bee]

Good reading, thanks for the story! You had a great experience!

 

[JimP]

Great story, too bad you didn't bag a buck.

I personally believe that the Pahvant hunt is way over rated. I know of quite a few hunters that spend their points to draw this unit for both deer and elk and come away very disappointed. It got a lot of publicity years ago for the monster bucks that hunters took off of the hill but even then there were only a couple every season that you could really call a Booner.

For me there are a lot of other units that can be drawn with a normal archery tag that has bucks just as big or bigger than what you will find in this unit, and you don't have to have a couple dozen points to draw these units. One of my nephews just last year took a great 195" buck during the general season off of a general season unit. And that wasn't the first one that he has taken there.

Personally for me the only unit in Utah to save points for and pray that you draw a buck deer tag is the Henry Mountains being first and a distant second would be the Book Cliffs. The Books tag can be had fairly easy but the big bucks there are smart and don't hang around the roads very long and they love the deep canyons that most hunters will not go into. Then the next unit would be the Vernon, I rate it about the same as the Books and with work a great buck can be had. My only problem with the Vernon is that it is infested with rattle snakes and if you are there when it is still hot they will be out.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Awesome story.

First, I hate it when cows scare the crap outta me.

Second, way to keep positive with the dummy's that we all seem to run not every year. Better to have a laugh then get mad.

Third, good job at changing locations when things are going bad. It really helps to make that change sometimes.

Forth, you should be proud you kept to good ethics and not taking risky shots. This story could have ended with a lost buck.

Fifth, congrats to you on a awesome hunt! Keeping the faith can always pick up your spirits and a little jab in the side from the big guy upstairs lets you know he's listening.

 

[sneakypete]

Great adventure you had, thanks for telling your story!

 

[firebeck]

Great read! Thanks for sharing!


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[Aussie_hunter_jd]

That's why they call it hunting mate! All part of the fun

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[Team Kabob]

Great write up!



TK

 

[Caseyu]

People would measure success in many different ways. In my book you won on this one! You went to a brand new area a long ways from home using what research was available, you got on some great bucks, had some opportunities, over came a ton of obstacles, got to be as close to nature as you can get and made it back home safe. Winner Winner!
Thanks for sharing the story, it was a great read.

 

[Catahoula12]

Interesting story, very detailed. Hope you enjoyed the first hand as I and others enjoyed reading..

 

[ShaneW]

Awesome story man!

Sounds like a great hunt. You have me all excited for season now.

 

[Wyoming Hart]

Thanks for sharing. You had an extremely successful trip if you ask me. Lots of lessons learned, I'm sure.

 

[rjroberts15]

Thank you for sharing your hunt. It sounds like it was fun. I love stalking deer.

 

[480/277]

Good read
Thanks for sharing!