Every year since Utah went to a draw for general deer tags, I have applied for the same Southern Utah unit my family has always hunted. Before the draws when tags were over-the-counter, we would get together for an annual family hunt and enjoy being together as much as actually hunting. My dad, brothers, and Squire cousins are regulars. For several years, we have been applying for the muzzleloader hunt due to the slightly better draw odds. Enough of us draw every year to make it a great party.
To mix things up a bit this year, some of us put in for and drew the rifle tag. I know the unit can hold some big deer, and I was excited to chase them with a rifle. My niece, Holly, son, Paden, and my cousin, Tom Squire’s, wife and daughter drew the tag with me. My brother, Roger, lives in the middle of the unit, so his house is usually base camp. His wife cooks wonderful dinners that are a perfect way to end each day of the hunt.
This year, the pandemic changed some of our plans to get together, but on opening morning, we had a plan and executed it near some hayfields where a large group of deer fed at night and then traveled to the adjacent low hills to bed. We all set up separate ambush points before light to catch the deer after they left the fields. The problem was that everyone else in the country with a tag had the same idea. At first light, shots began to ring out and we were in the middle of a war zone. A few small bucks were running around, and there were some instances of bullets whizzing dangerously close to a few of us, making the opening morning chaos less fun. The fun part of the morning was that my son, Jack (10 years old), and my daughter, Makady (8 years old), were spotting deer by themselves for the first time.
The rest of the day consisted of a few hikes and a lot of glassing. A few elk and fewer deer were spotted, keeping things interesting. Overall, nobody in the family harvested a deer opening day. I had to work the next week but had Friday and Saturday off and returned with Paden. We got a tip from another brother, Sherman, who had been hunting spike elk and spotted a heavy buck high on the mountain near the tree line. Friday morning found us hiking to the top of the mountain before light. From an 11,000-foot vantage point, we glassed up a few bucks, several mountain goats, and a bear. The cold wind nearly blew us off the peak, and we returned empty handed.
Friday evening, Paden and I were glassing in a hidden spot far from roads. I spotted a few does, and with 30 minutes of light left, I spotted a buck! He looked to be 18-20" wide, but it was the biggest I had seen the whole hunt. I briefly debated in my head and then took off down the mountain to close some distance. I misjudged how far the buck was and came to a point over a cliff with the buck still 1,000 yards away. I promptly sat in a cactus and then set up the spotting scope again and found he had three buddies with him. Two of them looked great with large frames in the 26-28" wide range and 20" in height. I watched them as light faded, and I marked their location.
Saturday morning before light, Roger, Paden, and I were hiking up the valley from the bottom with a favorable wind, heading to where I had seen the bucks. Right away, we found a herd of deer with three small bucks. Roger was convinced that these were some of the ones I had described, but I knew what I had seen the evening before was much bigger. We passed the small bucks and then jumped a 2-point and a doe.
That was the last thing we wanted, and they bounded away, scaring up other deer. We slowly crested the next rise, and I spotted two bucks. Right away, I knew that these were two of the big bucks I had seen before. They were on full red alert due to the small buck and doe leaving the area with gusto.
I was using my Remington 700 SPS Stainless chambered in 30-06. I had the action bedded, the barrel floated, and worked up a custom load with a 165 grain Nosler AccuBond bullet. The gun shoots great, and I was able to place a round through the vitals. Unfortunately, Paden was unable to see the bucks until they started running. My buck’s companion left to another zip code, and we could not turn him up again.
Hunting for me is fun enough to do on my own, and I do it alone frequently. However, hunting with friends and family is much more enjoyable. I love it when we get together, tell and retell stories from all points of view, and gently argue the fine points and moments of glory, failure, luck, blunders, and skill that hunting trips invariably include. Thanks again to Roger and his family for their hospitality and food and to the Squire cousins for their wisdom, humor, and company.
Login