huntinfanatic

My portal account just confirmed, 6a Dec coues. I can't wait!

I got lucky and drew a 6a late hunt. Just got to wait and see if I got the only NR muley tag or a coues tag. I did mule deer first choice, coues 2nd.

That lion was recently released from a bobcat trap on the Pine Valley unit in southern Utah. By Utah law if a mountain lion is caught in your trap you must release it immediately or contact F&G to assist in the release if you are uncomfortable releasing it on your own.

Thanks for the kind words. It was a fun fall with lots of memories made. I'll especially cherish the hunt with my dad and wife being that it might be my dads last muley as he's contemplating not putting in for the general hunts anymore.

Great pics! If I get bored at home I go for a drive to see those sheep. I can usually find that band of sheep within 40 minutes of leaving my house.

First time posting pics on CW, so hope it works. We had another action packed season and thought I'd share. My friends Chris, Floyd, Jody, Troy and I are enrolled in the Dedicated hunter Program which allows you to hunt all 3 seasons(archery,muzzy,rifle) for 3 consecutive years. In exchange for that awesome opportunity you agree to only harvest 2 bucks and complete 32 service hours during your 3 year enrollment. This season was year 2 of 3 for us. We started scouting hard in July and had some really nice bucks located for the archery hunt. Long story short the giant bucks disappeared on us and towards the end Chris decided he wanted to get a buck with his bow really bad. We'd seen this buck many times and thought we'd be able to get him. This buck bedded in the same group of aspens on a daily basis so Chris setup on the edge of the trees while Floyd and I glassed from above. Just like clockwork the buck with his 3 smaller friends made their way towards the aspens about an hour after sunup. A well placed shot had Chris' first big game animal with a bow down within seconds of being hit. Up next was the muzzleloader season. Opening day was a Wednesday and everyone in our group decided to wait until Friday to head out. I couldn't wait and went by myself. As I was still hunting my way through some aspens I caught a glimpse of antler about 80 yards in front of me. I glassed for a few minutes trying to figure out how big he was but all I could make out through the brush was that he had big back forks. Suddenly the wind switched and hit me in the back. I instantly dropped my binos and grabbed the muzzy as he busted out of the trees. A split second side view of his rack going through the trees was all I needed to see and BOOM!! Buck down! Next was the rifle hunt. My dad and my wife both drew rifle tags for the same unit. My wife had a goal of 4x4 or better and my dad(age 79) just wanted a buck older than a yearling. Opening weekend was a bust with the record amount of rain so we returned the following Thursday. While watching a ridge that the deer migrate down every year I spotted these 2 bucks trailing together. Exactly what they both wanted! We waited for them to get within range and my dad dropped his buck in it's tracks with a well placed shot from his open sight lever action 30-06. The 4 point ran about 50 yards and stopped to look back at his partner and my wife buckled him. With only two days left in the season Troy and I headed to our favorite honey hole to see what we could turn up. After about 2 hours of glassing I spotted a nice buck about a mile away raking a small cedar tree. One look through the spotter and Troy was ready to go. The only problem was if he was going to get a shot it was going to be really close due to how thick the trees were. Long story short an hour later I shaking watching through the spotter as it looked liked he was close enough to jump on the thing! He had got turned around and thought he needed to go another 200 yards and didn't realize he was walking right at him with his gun still slung over his shoulder! I thought game over when all of a sudden the buck exploded out from behind a cedar 50 ft. from Troy. To my dismay as I watched the buck sprinting away he front flipped and a few seconds later I heard the gunshot. Troy gave him the ol' texas heart shot as he jumped over some sage brush! What a rush for both of us, Troy said it scared the crap out of him when the buck exploded out of his bed and almost dropped his rifle, he hurried and found the buck running straight away in his scope but could only see the back of his head and rack. Suddenly the buck jumped to go over some sage and he touched off the trigger rolling him. What a hunt! It's Troy's biggest buck to date and we're almost positive it's the buck that Troy shot at and missed 2 years ago. Redemption!

DIY archery coues is a huge accomplishment. Congrats!

Unit 10 muzzy elk, BP antelope. Really hoping to pull my first AZ elk tag.

Looks like you guys had a great year. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

If you are wanting to see elk and trophy quality isn't at the top of your priority list colorado would be my choice. They have the highest elk population in the U.S. and have tons of public land to roam. Another option is my home state of Utah. Choose a limited entry unit to put in for in the draw and while you wait the necessary years to draw you can spend a couple years learning the unit during the general season archery hunt in which your allowed to shoot either a spike or cow.

win264, PM sent.

How did your hunt go?

Great looking buck! Congrats.

Lots of character on that mature buck. Congrats!

Congrats on your first archery buck!