Next Choice

[SansSouci]

Drawing a muley tag in the Henrys might be as hard as pulling a Zion desert bighorn tag. I've heard that Paunsaugunt ain't what she used to be. So if I get a Henrys rejection letter again this year, where should I look for a 30 incher? Book Cliffs? San Juan?

Out general season area has some HUGE bucks, but they generally don't cooperate.

Maybe I'm gonna have to put in for Wyoming.

 

[Gr8bawana]

A desert Bighorn or a 30 inch buck?
I guess there's nothing like aiming for the moon.

 

[JimP]

Antelope Island or the Kennecott CWMU.

The Book Cliffs has them the they are few and far between. I screwed up a couple of years ago out there on a muzzle loader hunt with a 30"+ buck and his buddy who wasn't 30" wide but he was 30" tall. So they are out there but there a a lot of 160-180 bucks in the Books.

Finding a 30" is more luck than anything else in a lot of units in Utah. They are there but hard to find. Even in the fabled Henry Mountains and Paunsaugunt units they are not behind every tree as some think.

 

[SansSouci]

Hi Jim,

I've seen some massive bucks in our general season unit. But I've not seen hide nor hair of one since unit drawing was instituted. When tags were over-the-counter, a lot of hunters dogged big deer into the open. I've missed more than one.

I agree: even in the best of the best areas, 30" wide muleys aren't a sure bet. Most hunters go their entire lives without seeing one, let alone getting a shot at one. And I agree that luck has a lot to do with getting a shot at a 30" buck. Elbow grease helps. Preseason scouting can narrow odds. Preseason scouting involves a lot of hard work. In our general season unit, I know where big bucks bed. But there are two huge problems: those big boys get big live long lives by their high IQ scores. I've tried to put a mid-morning sneak on Mr. Antlers. He was bedded down in thick stuff. It was impossible to move without snapping twigs or crunching corn flakes (Aspen leaves). That big dude stayed put until I was about 10 yards away. When he decided it was flying time, all I saw were huge antlers skedaddling thought thick growth. Then there's Mother Nature: where big boys are today doesn't mean they'll be around come opening day sunup, especially with hunters pushing them to other hideouts.

My elk guide, who's second-to-none, has told me he could put me on to a 170 class buck with the possibility of a bigger one. If I'm rejected again this year, I'm about 90% sure I'll take him up on his offer.

I'm gonna go with a shot at Wyoming this season. Wyoming has HUGE mulies. I've seen bucks in Wyoming that could compete with the best areas of our country. But the allure of the Henrys has me praying for the best.

 

[JimP]

The Henry Mountains is indeed a magical place when it comes to mule deer. I hunted them before they closed it down for 4 or 5 years and it was 4pt or better. Even then the sight of a true 30" buck was a rare one. A friend hunted there for a long time and he took home more than his share of 30"+ bucks but his wife's family lived in Hanksville and knew those mountains like the back of their hands and taught him all that they knew of the area along with how to find the big bucks.

The Deloris Triangle is another spot where you can find those kind of bucks. But the area that they live is a very long hike from any access point unless you have a boat to get across the Colorado River. The BLM created a Wilderness area in Colorado that cut off the only road into the area and then gave a rancher permission to build a privet road into his hay fields from Colorado. From what I understand that rancher will not let anyone drive that road for access into that spot.

 

[SansSouci]

Hi Jim,

There is one unit in CA where it's remotely possible to see a 30" muley. But I absolutely refuse to to buy a hunting license in this gun-hating, hunting-hating state. As soon as my kids are outta college, I'm outta here. Beginning next year, in CA all hunting will be with lead-free ammo. Long story short, I can foresee CA proscribing any use, even range shooting, of lead ammo. Then it will become illegal to possess lead ammo in CA, which will cause any lead ammo to either become worthless or we'll have to surrender it, which is this state's true intent.

Colorado has massive bucks. But getting into a trophy unit will require a lot of bonus points. I don't have that many seasons left. I screwed up by concentrating on Utah's famed huge bucks. I should've applied to other big buck states like CO, NV, and AZ. I had naively assumed I'd eventually get into a once-in-a-lifetime big muley unit in Utah.

My dream of a 30 incher hanging on my wall will probably remain a dream. But I'm gonna try. Quitters never git er dun. I don't care about a book buck. All I want is a 30" 4x4.

 

[JimP]

A unit that I forgot about in Utah is the Elk Ridge one down in the south east corner next to Bears Ears National Monument. It would come close to equally what the Henry Mountains have.

Just as a FYI in all my years hunting both Utah and Colorado I think that I can honestly say that I have seen fewer than 20-30 bucks that went over that magical 30".

Here is one that was shot near my home in Colorado last fall. He has a 32" spread

And this one that lived a mile away from my home and could possibly be the buck in the above picture. I got this picture of him a couple of days before the fourth season in Colorado. The only problem was that he was on private property.

Both bucks if there were two of them were in unit 44. It only takes 22+ points for a non resident to draw the late season tag but can be hunted in both second and third season with a lot fewer points.