Utah mule deer hunt? Where to go? General or limited draw?

[Sjackson]

First off Ill ask, do i loose all preference points if i draw a general season deer tag or are they two seperate entities? Im not asking anyone to blow up there own zone or anyone elses, but im just wondering about general areas and terrain and opportunities in Utah. Is the qualitly of the limited draw tags worth holding on to, or are general tags the way to go? Thanks so much for your time, any and all responses are appreciated.

 

[Big Fin]

General deer are on a preference point system, completely seperate from the limited entry deer bonus point system.

Answer - Yes, if you draw general deer, you will lose your preference points. Drawing general deer does not affected your limited entry deer bonus points.

 

[Sjackson]

Hey thanks so much for clarifying that Big Finn.

 

[elkslayer100]

i was looking at the new management hunt in henrys but dont want to burn all my points, im sure there are some 3x4's that would look great on the wall. You might try that.

 

[OriginalOscar]

First off Ill ask, do i loose all preference points if i draw a general season deer tag or are they two seperate entities? Im not asking anyone to blow up there own zone or anyone elses, but im just wondering about general areas and terrain and opportunities in Utah. Is the qualitly of the limited draw tags worth holding on to, or are general tags the way to go? Thanks so much for your time, any and all responses are appreciated.

You can have a good hunt on the general units. This link shows odds for drawing last year. https://wildlife.utah.gov/hunting/biggame/pdf/2016/16_general_deer.pdf

One consideration this year will be winter kill. Chatter indicates lots of winter kill in northern Utah which the last few years have been good areas.

Feel free to drop me a message and I'm happy to share thoughts on various units I'm familiar with.

 

[BuzzH]

I just want to know what good 18 NR deer points are in Utah?

 

[Carnage2011]

I just want to know what good 18 NR deer points are in Utah?

Basically worthless. But you could draw Henry's or Pauns management??

 

[Dinkshooter]

I just want to know what good 18 NR deer points are in Utah?

Ask SFW

 

[BuzzH]

Ask SFW

Good one...

Guess I'll add another point to the pile again this year.:W:

I mean there has to be one deer area worth waiting 18-25 years to draw in Utah.

Maybe I'll wait until I can pay for that Utah deer tag with a social security check...

 

[elkantlers]

I just want to know what good 18 NR deer points are in Utah?

If I was a NR and had that many points I would be applying for the Pauns MZL tag. 3 people with 19 applied in 2016 and 1 received a tag. 2 more years and they will be cleared out. no one applied with 18 points. Of course, people switch around all the time so these numbers may be worthless this year but you already know that.

 

[OriginalOscar]

I just want to know what good 18 NR deer points are in Utah?

Again the Utah hatred.

 

[grandejuan]

As far as a paunsaugunt tag goes, I drew an October NR rifle tag some years ago. I spent every weekend in Sept scouting and found a 6×7 and a really big 7×8. I knew the canyon they lived in and when they moved in the AM and PM. I did not go near the area for most of the week before but set up camp on the Thursday before the Oct 8th opener. I was out at O'dark 30 on Saturday in my main hide. I saw nothing that morning and only oldish tracks. I went back to my camp and was visited by a game warden who checked my tag and remarked "You drew a NR tag!" He was very insistent that "All the deer leave the top on or about the 5th of Oct every year". " After all its a migratory herd". I said, "I can see the Kaibab (AZ) from here and I know the deer there don't migrate till the acorns and mushrooms freeze out at the end of the month. Its only about 50 miles as the crow flies from here". The warden gets a bit sheepish and said, " They just always leave on or about the 5th every Oct". After spending another 2 days without even seeing a doe it became obvious what the warden was saying. I think the game and fish flies the area and spooks the deer out, probably drops cherry bombs on them to get them to go down to the next level of the plateau. If you're not familiar, the paunsaugunt has a lot off steps or benches. The top is Forest Service, the lowest is BLM, the middle is, private. The ranchers sell land owner tags for big bucks (10,000.00) or more. I asked one if I could pay a trespass fee since I already had a tag. His reply was "$10,000.00." I went down to the BLM area and saw lots of deer including some nice 4×4s but after working so hard and knowing what kind of really big deer are around, I'd work in close and pull the trigger on an empty chamber and watch the deer jump from surprise. Maybe the smokepole season is before the game and fish chivy the deer down to their brothers ranches. Fore warned is fore armed. GJ

 

[elkantlers]

Really? You think the DWR are dropping cherry bombs to get the deer to migrate off the top of the Pauns.

 

[grandejuan]

They did something to get them out. They moved south and west to the private land around Alton. When I got down in the white cliffs and vermillions the deer were back. Lots of groups of 15-20 with forkies and three points. I stalked several 4 points at the base of the vermillions all the way to the AZ line (GPS) and that was where the better 4 points were. The reason I mention cherry bombs/salutes was how insistent the game warden was about the date. "On or about the 5th of Oct." He was very insistent several times. He was surprised about being a non resident (Flagstaff AZ). I've hunted So Utah from Page to the Paria and up to Tropic and canaan mtn and the deer don't move down unless something moves them (Mostly cold and snow). What else would do it? The pausaugunt is not that wide, Bryce is on the east and the Sevier va!!ey on the west. To the south is the white and vermillon cliffs. FWIW.GJ

 

[hank4elk]

I used to hunt the South General around the Escalante,Enterprize,Pine Mtn areas....20 yrs ago on 3 points.
Still have dreams of 30" 3x3's & some real giants.
I quit when it was 9 or 10 to hunt The Books Cliffs or Henries & I had 6.
And they do move down after the 1st storm in Oct. , even a smaller storm. Got that advice & stand in a pick-up & glass the flats from a local rancher. He was getting $1500 to hunt his place with alfalfa.

 

[grandejuan]

hank4elk, My point was that there had not been any weather since the end of the monsoon. Nothing to push them down, especially on the 5th of Oct. GJ

 

[hank4elk]

I got there right after and a snow on high elevations is all it took he said.Heavy hail will do.He was looking for cattle & I told him where I had seen some .I had only been seeing a few does and some elk too.A whole group of friends had all filled tags the week before on the MZ hunt and left as a big storm hit.

I found the same true in the Sierras. Smart deer head down on 1st big storm . Or die getting caught.

Like I said my last time there was in 07' and I only saw 2 decent bucks my whole hunt.I did see lots of orange atv's tho,in the wilderness. Said that was it.

 

[TheDudeAbides]

They did something to get them out. They moved south and west to the private land around Alton. When I got down in the white cliffs and vermillions the deer were back. Lots of groups of 15-20 with forkies and three points. I stalked several 4 points at the base of the vermillions all the way to the AZ line (GPS) and that was where the better 4 points were. The reason I mention cherry bombs/salutes was how insistent the game warden was about the date. "On or about the 5th of Oct." He was very insistent several times. He was surprised about being a non resident (Flagstaff AZ). I've hunted So Utah from Page to the Paria and up to Tropic and canaan mtn and the deer don't move down unless something moves them (Mostly cold and snow). What else would do it? The pausaugunt is not that wide, Bryce is on the east and the Sevier va!!ey on the west. To the south is the white and vermillon cliffs. FWIW.GJ

Might have to do with the spike elk and general elk hunt.

Not many people hunt the pauns with a spike tag, but they are in the neighboring units mucking about.

 

[elkantlers]

Interesting read on Pauns mule deer migration.
They say that the timing of the migration for individual deer is based on distance from winter range and elevation. This makes sense that the deer highest on the mountain and furthest from the winter range would move first.

http://www.azgfd.gov/w_c/documents/...NSAUGUNTMULEDEERHERDBETWEENUTAHANDARIZONA.pdf

 

[TheDudeAbides]

I like the Utah General Tag. I've hunted Kamas, Rich, Panguitch, Pine Valley, and the SW desert.

Each unit has different challenges. The key is to find areas that hold deer without anything that looks like a road next to it.

If there is anything that looks like a road a ATV will find it.

Of all the areas I have hunted, I like Panguitch the most. Fat rainbows in the reservoir for the mid day doldrums and there is no shortage of deer. A hunt with a lot of deer, a lot of territory, and very little private ground.