I’ve had a lot of people ask me about my 2017 muzzleloader tag on the Paunsaugunt. As excited as they are to hear the story about how I got my buck, it seems like everyone who has a lot of preference points wants to know if it is worth drawing the “Pauns.” With 17 points, I was asking the same question when I attended the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo during the spring. All of the guides and outfitters on the unit seemed to be saying the same thing, "The Paunsaugunt is as good as it has ever been!"
One of my concerns about burning my points on the Paunsaugunt was that I’m primarily a rifle hunter. I’d heard that the rifle hunt can be a bit of a zoo with about 100 tags and almost everyone packed into the lower third of the unit. I was uneasy about the likelihood of having a high-quality experience. Also, I was nervous about the way the deer migrate during the rifle season. It is hard not to be intrigued by the idea that a monster could walk out at any time of day, but I also didn’t feel confident that I’d be able to figure out the migration. I liked the idea of hunting more patternable, pre-scouted deer.
In the end, I decided 2017 was the year to cash in all the points I’d so patiently accumulated. I felt like the deer herds in Utah were on an upswing. The winters had been favorable for several years in a row, and we were in the midst of a good water year. I decided I’d regret not drawing the tag in case a lot of hunters who were putting in for the Henry Mountains started switching to the Paunsaugunt.
With all that in mind, I decided to pick up a new weapon and pull a muzzleloader tag. I liked that the muzzleloader season would have less pressure and there are fewer than half the tags compared to the rifle season. I felt confident that I could be effective with a modern muzzleloader. I also had the impression that I’d be able to experience some of the migration but also still get to hunt pre-scouted deer.
I also decided to hire a guide. My rationale was that the unit is so vast, the tag is so hard to draw, and the migratory nature of the deer herd was so foreign to me that a guide who really knew the unit would be a benefit. I called Travis Roundy from Deerbedead Outfiitters. He told me he was already booked with another hunter but that his brother, Jonny, who is a top-notch guide and a blast to hunt with, was available. We arranged that if he finished with his other hunter he’d dedicate the remainder of the hunt to helping me if I hadn’t tagged out. I decided the idea of having two guides with the reputation the Roundy brothers hold was an offer I couldn’t pass up.
The quality of this hunt was off the charts. We literally saw so many bucks. I passed on three different bucks in the 190 class, saw a 205"+ buck briefly, and saw several in the 170-180 class. I saw several bucks with cheaters, including three to four with a lot of cheaters. I also saw three different cactus bucks. We hunted pre-scouted deer, and we hunted the migration. Jonny and Travis had a rolodex of bucks they’d been keeping track of for multiple years. It was fun to have them pull up photos as we found the deer again.
In the end, I shot my big, old cheater buck on the eighth day of the season after pursuing it for three days. The buck was one that Travis and Jonny had never seen before. He was feeding in a juniper grind with about 25 other bucks and had a sixth sense about him. He would mosey into the safety of the trees almost as soon as we could find him. We made four different stalks on three different days before I was able to put my tag on him.
When it came time for photos, we had a crazy situation. We'd taken a few pictures and decided to reposition the deer. We grabbed the buck by its antlers and started to haul it for a different angle. As we were doing this, Travis commented, "Wouldn't it be crazy if the antlers popped off right now?" About five seconds later, the antler he was holding did just that. It didn't break; the horn shed right off the pedicle. It was interesting to hear the sound as it happened, it was sort of like when something glued that has only had time to partially dry comes apart. When it happened, Travis’ face went white as a ghost. He promised that in all his years of hunting and taxidermy he'd never seen anything like it. It was such a fluke situation, and even though we were all in shock, it didn’t ruin the moment. I'd hauled deer by their antlers for miles and never experienced anything like it. I had my hand on one of the horns, and it just as easily could have been my side that shed. In the end, there wasn’t much else to do but just roll with it. We even got a few pictures of the horn laying in the dirt and got to experience what was probably the first shed of the season. It was certainly the freshest shed any of us had ever held.
My hunt on the Paunsaugunt was truly an amazing experience. My only regret is that this tag is so difficult to get. I doubt I’ll ever have another chance to hunt it.
Utah Deer Hunting
Login