With a full hunting/vacation schedule already planned for 2023, I went into the Utah application period swinging for the fences. Much to my surprise when the draw results came out, I was totally shocked with the “SUCCESSFUL” notice that I had drawn the Paunsaugunt muzzleloader buck deer hunt. Although I had 19 points going in, that was not even close to being enough to force the draw and I had drawn the one and only non-resident random tag. Realizing the rare opportunity I had and being limited on time, I felt the only option that made sense was to keep the tag and hire an outfitter. I spent the next day and a half speaking with outfitters and felt best with Travis Roundy of Deerbedead Outfitters.
There were many hours spent on the range getting the muzzleloader dialed in for this hunt. When August rolled around, my buddy, Aaron, and I were able to make a trip into the unit for a three-day scouting trip. Aaron would also join me for the hunt. Even though I had an outfitter, I wanted to at least know my way around to experience this opportunity the best I could. We drove the roads, looked over a lot of country, and even found some very good bucks. We stopped by Travis Roundy’s taxidermy shop to meet and speak with him, and it certainly left me feeling I had the right guy for the job.
It was now late September, and we were headed to Southern Utah. We arrived a couple days before the hunt. Travis wanted me to have a chance to set up camp, shoot the muzzleloader, and look over some deer before opening day. This had been an exceptionally wet year, and we had high expectations of hunting large antlered deer. Travis knew of a couple big bucks that he had scouted during the summer, and I obviously wanted to go after the biggest one he knew of. I was warned it would not be easy and we would not see many deer where this buck lived, but if I was OK with that, it was definitely the one to focus on. That sounded like it was right up my alley, and I was all in.
It was now opening morning, and we had already glassed up our target buck in the first hour of the hunt. He had large, bright red antlers and appeared to have just shed his velvet during the night. He was a long ways out, and we only got to look at him for a few seconds as he made his way through the thick oaks and over the ridge. We would not see that buck again for several days. Travis, his son, McClain, Aaron, and I spent day after day glassing for that buck. Those were some very long, tough days trying to relocate that deer. One particularly tough day, we didn’t even see a single deer. Having laid eyes on the giant that first day was enough to keep all of us focused on relocating him.
The morning of day five, we had relocated the buck and found he had moved about a mile from the last place we had seen him and was now living on a part of the mountain that was not visible from any of the vantage points we were using. I was finally putting my first stalk on this buck. At 550 yards, we watched him go over a small ridge. We felt we knew where he would bed and waited him out for the rest of the day. When he finally showed himself, it was too dark for a shot.
We continued to hunt hard for that buck through the final morning of the hunt without luck. We did find him a couple more times but were not able to get in close enough. At 1,200 yards, we watched him for our last time go into the thick trees. The final half day of the hunt, we got very aggressive moving from vantage point to vantage point, trying to turn up something big. As we entered the final hour of this very coveted hunt, we finally caught a lucky break and found a large 4-point buck feeding through the oaks. We were able to get in for the shot, and with only 40 minutes left in the season, this hunt finally had the perfect ending. This deep forked 4x4 was still in full velvet, which was unusually late. This was a buck McClain recognized from summer scouting but hadn’t seen in over 30 days. Although we did not end up with the target buck, it was still very satisfying hunting a giant the whole season and still coming out with a solid trophy buck.
It always seems to hold true that no matter how good of a tag you have, it always ends up being a hunt. Don’t ever expect it’s going to be easy just because it’s a great tag. This hunt had some very mentally tough days, but I was lucky to have the team I had and we never let it get to us. I really owe it to Travis, McClain, and my buddy, Aaron, for working hard all the way to the very end. These guys wanted a big buck just as bad as I did, and their work ethics are top notch. I’d also like to mention the friendships made and the fun we had that made this an unforgettable experience. The buck green scored 195 2/8" gross and will make a beautiful mount with velvet intact.
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