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All you young Archery Hunters,Been Archery Hunting in Utah for 51 Years..But one tag in 3 years for General Archery is a JOKE..Utah DWR, You want to increase the Buck to Doe ratio? Cutting back on Archery Tags and taking away State Wide Archery is not the way to go..Muzzy Hunts,, Rifle Hunts Special Antlerless Tags.. Ask me whos killin what? Back in the day Either Sex Tags were removed..We Accepted that.Next was choose ur weapon..We accepted that.. Now pick the unit to hunt.. limited Archery General Tags.. Removing State wide Archery..Whats Next. I encourage all young Archery Hunters,, Write to you DWR let them know enough is enough. OR the time you get my age hunting will by out of the question.
Been hunting Utah six years. This will be my second as a resident. I cannot get over how backwards this state is! Rifle elk hunting....during the freaking RUT! Expo and raffle tags! C'mon already. It doesn't end.
My good hunting buddy and I didn't even draw the same general archery tag! Second time this has happened. Very frustrating. I like hunting solo but good hunting buddies are few and far between so it stings to lose that.
I often get discouraged to the point of giving up. The odds against a favorable future seem overwhelming. But then I figure it this way - you have to be a cock-eyed optimist to be a bowhunter in the first place. I mean, anytime I go out, odds are against getting a shot. That's never stopped me. Same attitude needs to apply here.
Yessir the odds of getting a shot R against us. So with all the restrictions on a Utah Bowhunter. other than season length. What kind of impact, as far as kill percentage will impact the Buck to Doe ratio? Rifle Tags, Muzzy Tags..R hammering the Buck to Doe ratios. also anterless tags.one tag every 4 years for general Archery Deer.is like putting a stake through an old mans heart who is 69 years old and may not have to many hunts left,
Buck... I am only 9 years behind you, so I too remember the day. I became a serious bow hunter when I turned 21 back in 75. I feel for you not having drawn for the last few years. I have not had that trouble... been lucky I suppose... or I am just wise enough to look over the draw results and apply for hunt areas that aren't high pressure, such as Current Creek. It has always been money driven when it comes to herd management in this state. SFW is all about money and they have a huge say on what is done. They are only interested in their own agenda and not all sportsmen as they claim. I don't have an answer for you. Hunting for me has become an excuse to have an outing, so killing an animal each season is no big deal. In fact, I am always hesitant to kill something opening weekend as it will take away my hunting opportunities for the remainder of the season and ruins my "me time". Someone once told me that if I was so determined to kill an animal each year, I should take up gun hunting. Back when I hunted regularly with a rife, I killed an animal every year. I have gone as long as 5 years without taking a shot with my bow more than once. Currently it has been 3 or 4 years since I last shot at an animal with an arrow. Hopefully that will change this year, but if not, next year I will go again. Should I not draw a deer tag, I will purchase an over the counter Archery Elk tag and hunt elk. Either way, I will hunt. With the overlap of the Archery Elk and Archer Deer, the ability to hunt something remains open. I would suggest you look at the Elk Hunt. I have found in my limited years of hunting, elk and deer do not hang out in the same areas. So to be successful at either one, I have to target a species and then hunt it only.
I am a non resident and understand your frustration. To have your rifle hunt during the peak of the rut is stupid as the success rate is probably 95% when they could have the hunt 2 weeks later and raise triple the revenue with triple the tags with the same total kill. Then they could sell twice as many bow tags with a less than 95% kill rate. Time to talk to your politicians.
Bucksnort, lifes too short to borrow sorrow as one of my favorite bluegrass songs goes. Go buy a leftover archery tag for oak creek or cache and get out there in a new area. There's deer everywhere in this state and regardless of what tag you draw you can have fun.
I spent the whole year on the front last year. Shot a 18 1/2" tall forky and had many close calls with some big bull elk. Here's the video of my season. If there aren't enough critters in this one to get you excited to hunt, you're dead anyway :)
https://vimeo.com/83098895
100 days from pete carney on Vimeo.
Get back on that horse and remember what it's all about.
Cheers, Pete
Pete, that is a kick arse video! Going to go heat up my lunch and finish watching it. Thanks for sharing!
Pete. I hear what your saying about left over tags. Up North is a Joke. There is so much Private land you would have a tough time. You can't even get off the road anywhere around Morgan and take a pee with out getting run out, even if the property isn't properly marked.As for hunting the front. may be wrong, but don't you need to draw an Archery General season tag in order to hunt the Wasatch?I've hunted the Boulder area for years and years. Haven't harvested in 6 years. only one tag in three years is a Joke. One of the largest units in Utah..Hate the thoughts of chances at my age never getting another.Not trying to be a cry baby,,How bout the State gets rid of the DH system.,Take the tags. and sell them without having to draw to any persons over the age of 65.. 51 years of Archery Hunting in Utah ya think would make a person A DH...
I am not a big DH fan, but I did try it once. It is not for me. I think there is some good that comes from it. I would rather see the youth hunts aboloshed. Did you see the number of left over youth archery tags... 3,000 total state wide. Every unit in the state has left over archery youth tags. They do have a special over 65 tag in the Henry's. A friend of mine drew it a couple of years ago.
You definitely have to have a general season archery deer tag and have taken the archery ethics course to hunt the front on the extended from Sept. 13th - Nov. 30th. You have to have a WASATCH WEST (17a) south of I80 and a CHALK CREEK/EAST CANYON/MORGAN-SOUTH RICH (4/5/6) north of I80 to hunt the front from Aug 16th - Sept 12th.
Morgan is in the 4/5/6 unit and there are over 500 muzzy deer tags still available for that one and there are tons of public areas to hunt deer on the muzzy up there without being anywhere near private land.
Here's the list of tags available July 15th.
http://wildlife.utah.gov/remaining-permits.html
Bucksnort I get it. I've been applying for 29 years now and have only drawn one LE Archery Elk tag in all those years. I'm not saying I like it, but I drew a general season Oak Creek deer tag this year as a 5th choice, just so I could be sure to hunt the front with my son.
If hunting is getting you down, you could always try combat fishing on the lower provo. There are some big fish in there though :)
lower provo from pete carney on Vimeo.
I'm just trying to not become grumpy and I know it ain't easy :)
Cheers, Pete
Hear ya Pete. Been fishing the upper Provo since 1956, Now they call it the middle fork The fish you caught were Great fish, Just doesn't look like any part of the lower provo I've ever seen..As for public land in an around Morgan. North Side is all Locked up, South Side pretty much the same. Parts of the river runs through Morgan that a land owner will string you up if your fishin>
Damn nice camera work there Pete!!
You are certainly gifted.
Bucksnort----for sure get ya a leftover bw buck tag and go have some fun on the mountain!!
I might get the Bow Elder leftover this year for a change of area.
Good luck, Robb
I used to come and hunt Utah for the archery opportunity on a mule deer. From what I am reading it is no longer over the counter. Sad. Great state to hunt and visit. It has happened all over the west. Do your state officials realize what they are doing to the tourist dollars that come into the state? I literally spent around $2000 each time I came there. Always enjoyed myself and didn't care about the money because it was a vacation for me. I wish you guys the best. I hope you get organized and and get things turned around. I would love to come back, deer harvested or no deer harvested. They are turning it into a rich mans activity.
Hey Pete. Tell Thomas to get back to work and finish my print job :)
Rifle hunt is ending---
Time to get serious about the WF bow buck hunt---
I am jumping from multiple states hunting but will spend some time up my favorite canyon and off Mill Creek--
Enjoy it my friends as there are some dandy WF bucks still up there.
Good luck, Robb
