bowhuntmontana
Well-known member
I was a bit nervous to even go on a rifle deer hunt in Utah during the general season. I moved here about three years ago and killed a young buck with my bow the first year and sat out the second year with a dedicated hunter tag. My tag is for one of the heaviest hunted places in the state, and I wasn’t interested in facing the orange army. But I wanted to get out. I have been swamped working on remodeling a home we bought back in March (should have listened to Randy and feigned incompetency with all things handyman). I was able to get out and scout once this summer, got out for a single morning with muzzleloader, and that has been it. A good friend I hunt and scout with had spent a lot of time in an area that is fairly remote and a lot of work to hike into. I went in there with him over Labor Day and liked the looks of it. We formed a plan for the opener to hike back into there and see what we might turn up. We knew there would be deer there, but we weren’t sure what kind of pressure they would be getting.
We hit the trail early and made it the five miles back into the head of the basin we wanted to be in. We had a particular large draw in mind where we wanted to be on a ridgeline to glass just after first light. We were blessed with a few inches of snow from a swift cold front from the night before. We ended up passing all of the other guys on the trail in front of us within a mile of the trailhead, and outside of a single set of boot tracks we cut coming out, it didn’t look like any of them made it more than three miles back in.
We hit the desired ridgeline, and as we moved up it, we could see more of the draw. We stopped at the first point we had visibility and picked up a group of eight deer across the draw. Spotter confirmed they were all does, but a great sign. We moved up the ridge another 100 yards and could see the head of our draw. I put up the glass and spotted three bucks about 900 yards away. I wasn’t about to be picky and they were all good enough. We hatched a plan. Well, apparently as we hatched the plan, the bucks hatched their own. The bounded around the basin, tucking into a side bowl, and out of sight, but now 200 yards closer. Change of plan, we decided to go directly after them.
We bombed to the bottom of the draw and crossed to the other side, moving up to where we could see into the bowl. I got to where I could see and spotted the bucks, working into some small stunted aspens, 450 yards away. Too far. I moved up the hill and checked again. 350 yards, but not a clear shot. I moved up again to a rock outcrop. As I was getting into position, we heard the first shots of the morning, at least a mile away. The deer seemed to get nervous at this and three of them began to move up the pocket toward the ridgeline. The lead one was one of our bucks, the other two were does.
I hustled to get into position and got down behind my rifle. I had to fight off some oak brush that was trying to pull the trigger for me while also poking me in the eye. I settled in and shot just over the buck’s back. He turned downhill a few steps and stopped. I took my time and dropped him on the second shot. I watched the spot for a while and never saw him get up. My buddy joined me and we hiked to the top of the ridge and fought through a small jungle of young aspens to get to the deer. He was down.
He ended up being a decent four point. As I said, I wasn’t going to be picky, but I was grateful to be so fortunate. We worked the buck and quartered him out. Then the type 2 fun began and we packed him out. All told, it was a 13 mile round trip, and I don’t think we could have asked for a better day. I was encouraged that I could get away from most people and get into an area with a reasonable chance of success. I’ll be back again.
If anyone with a bit more savvy than me wants to rotate those two pics, I'd be obliged.
We hit the trail early and made it the five miles back into the head of the basin we wanted to be in. We had a particular large draw in mind where we wanted to be on a ridgeline to glass just after first light. We were blessed with a few inches of snow from a swift cold front from the night before. We ended up passing all of the other guys on the trail in front of us within a mile of the trailhead, and outside of a single set of boot tracks we cut coming out, it didn’t look like any of them made it more than three miles back in.
We hit the desired ridgeline, and as we moved up it, we could see more of the draw. We stopped at the first point we had visibility and picked up a group of eight deer across the draw. Spotter confirmed they were all does, but a great sign. We moved up the ridge another 100 yards and could see the head of our draw. I put up the glass and spotted three bucks about 900 yards away. I wasn’t about to be picky and they were all good enough. We hatched a plan. Well, apparently as we hatched the plan, the bucks hatched their own. The bounded around the basin, tucking into a side bowl, and out of sight, but now 200 yards closer. Change of plan, we decided to go directly after them.
We bombed to the bottom of the draw and crossed to the other side, moving up to where we could see into the bowl. I got to where I could see and spotted the bucks, working into some small stunted aspens, 450 yards away. Too far. I moved up the hill and checked again. 350 yards, but not a clear shot. I moved up again to a rock outcrop. As I was getting into position, we heard the first shots of the morning, at least a mile away. The deer seemed to get nervous at this and three of them began to move up the pocket toward the ridgeline. The lead one was one of our bucks, the other two were does.
I hustled to get into position and got down behind my rifle. I had to fight off some oak brush that was trying to pull the trigger for me while also poking me in the eye. I settled in and shot just over the buck’s back. He turned downhill a few steps and stopped. I took my time and dropped him on the second shot. I watched the spot for a while and never saw him get up. My buddy joined me and we hiked to the top of the ridge and fought through a small jungle of young aspens to get to the deer. He was down.
He ended up being a decent four point. As I said, I wasn’t going to be picky, but I was grateful to be so fortunate. We worked the buck and quartered him out. Then the type 2 fun began and we packed him out. All told, it was a 13 mile round trip, and I don’t think we could have asked for a better day. I was encouraged that I could get away from most people and get into an area with a reasonable chance of success. I’ll be back again.
If anyone with a bit more savvy than me wants to rotate those two pics, I'd be obliged.
