My Utah DIY Public Land Buck

[AZcoues_addict]

I had a great deer hunt, it was a tough physical area to hunt, but I worked hard hiking back in to out-of-the-way areas and all around those mountains trying to locate a good buck. This was a DIY public land hunt.

 

The first morning I hicked back into a remote area with my gear on my back and plans of staying 2 or 3 nights out alone. I made it to one of the highest locations and made a spike camp, where I would spot from in the mornings and hike out from there in the afternoons to hunt the surrounding canyons. The first day I saw numerous groups of deer, mostly does, some small bucks, and numerous heards of elk including many 320-370 class bulls. It was one of the most spectacular elk encounters I've ever had, as I saw more mature heard bulls than ever in my life and probably 7 heards of 10-30 elk at one time. It was truly ridiculous and yes I've been in the premium units in Arizona for elk. I have to say that this particular area of this unit had a higher elk density that anyhwere in Arizona I've ever seen. Many of the heards had 2 or 3 mature bulls in them. The first night as I sat by the fire cooking my dehydrated meal for dinner and slept under the stars, I could hear bulls bugling down the canyon every 5 minutes or less, all night long. It was awesome.

 

The second morning I awoke 15 minutes before seeing light, and got out the spotting scope. Elk were everywhere and in all I had found 4 differnt groups of doe, one small buck, and a 3 point. After another hour or so I finally found a nice buck through the spotting scope at over 3/4 mile away right in the thick trees where I expected one to be.

 

 

I made a stalk to the thick burnt ridge pictured, where I had to cross a huge creek (the largest in the area) so it was straight down and back up again over a ridge to the closest shooting lane.

 

 

The shot was 452 yards across the canyon into an old burn since there was no way to get a closer shot without possibly spooking the buck up from his bed. The first shot was a hit but not the best, the second shot missed him on the run down to the left of the top of the ridge, and the third shot was throught the heart at nearly 400 yards as he was heading to the bottom of the thick trees. No other big bucks sighted, so I couldn't pass this guy up when I watched him bed, and I'm extremely happy with him! He's fairly symmetrical, 23 inch wide 4x4, decent fork depth, with only 1 small eyeguard, but a beautiful buck!

 

 

 

 

I packed the buck out on my back, by piggy-backing the 2 large loads back to the truck. I arrived at base camp at 11:00 at night exhausted. The next morning I had to hike all the way back to my spike camp and pack out my sleeping bag, pad, food, and cooking materials.

 

Hope you enjoyed the pics!

[War7664]

452 yards!?!?! Holy Smokes!!! GREAT BUCK! Congrats!

[jackshoe]

Great story and pics! A really nice buck and kudos to you for being in shape to do this kind of hunt.

[mattobertin]

Nice buck!

[Red Rabbit]

Congrats on a nice buck on your backpack hunt. You probably had the whole area to yourself. Was this a general hunt, or limited entry?

 

Doug~RR

[willhunt4coues]

SWEET Great shot.

[TAM]

Sounds like an exciting hunt. Congratulations!

[coues7]

Truly awesome. thanks for sharing

[AZcoues_addict]

General hunt for deer, but LE for elk which explains all the elk rutting activity even this late. I'm hoping to draw a LE hunt sometime though! I've been applying out of state the last few years since I can't seem to hunt often enough. Thanks for the comments, I'm pretty happy with him.

[Coues Sniper]

Great buck and story. You earned that one

[DesertDweller]

Congrats on the fine buck! You earned that one! Your story confirms my theory that you loose 90% of the competation for each mile you put between you and the closest road or ATV trail! Way to go!!! D.D.

[BRYCE CANYON]

Nice buck! I always enjoy hearing about a backpack hunting trip.

 

I am in the same boat waiting for a LE Utah tag.

[DUG]

Way to go! That is a nice buck and great story, too.

[Coues Archer]

Wow!!! that is a beast. Great job.

[cramerhunts]

Congrats on a beautiful buck! Great pics and story..thanks for sharing it with us.

 

Phil