It seems like every year when the limited tag draw results come out for one of the nine of the states I apply for, I’m fishing. May 11, 2019, Bluefin tuna decided to show up in Monterey Bay, so I thought I would try my luck with my buddy, Tony Martarano. About halfway through the day, I received a text from another one of my close friends and taxidermist, Tyler Anderson.
“Did you check Utah?” Tyler asked.
I replied, “No, I only applied for the limited stuff. No chance.”
As we tacked towards the barn and better cell reception was prevalent, I figured I might as well check my credit card. I thought I was seeing things when I saw the $468 charge. I had drawn the only non-resident tag for a late muzzy hunt on a general unit. I immediately started studying maps for hours on end, using onXmaps and Gazetteers, and calling Huntin’ Fool to get a list of previous tag holders. I researched any website I could to acquire information on the unit that is extremely desolate, has low deer numbers but all the makings to grow a giant, especially with dates going in November, and the wettest year that portion of Utah had seen in 30 years.
Fast forward to August 3rd when my dad, Don Puccinelli, and I decided to make a two and a half-day scouting trip from California. We knew it would be tough covering over 1,400 miles in just a couple days, but it was necessary to put boots on the ground in the unit. We learned three things on that trip. There was water everywhere we went, so utilizing any sort of trail camera would be pointless, feed was exceeding five feet tall on every hillside, and there was little deer sign. Basically, the very small population of deer that is in the unit would be spread out.
October 26th finally rolled around after I thought it never would, and it was time to head east with my pops. We made camp on the 27th with the welcoming sight of my friends, Mark Vannucci and Tyler Anderson. They were both wrapping up their own out-of-state hunts and planned to help for the duration of mine. We had a couple scouting days before the season opened on Wednesday, the 30th, which we planned to utilize to the fullest. Only one word describes how those days went – tough! We saw very little deer and no bucks at all.
Opening day saw lows around -10 and highs around 20. Everything was frozen, and I could tell my pops had something going on but wasn’t saying anything.
On Friday morning, at around 3 a.m., Mark woke me up and told me to go check on my pops. Dad informed me he was having some minor chest pains and didn’t feel right, so we jumped in my truck and drove 90 miles to the ER. The tests came back Fast forward to August 3rd when my dad, Don Puccinelli, and I decided to make a two and a half-day scouting trip from California. We knew it would be tough covering over 1,400 miles in just a couple days, but it was necessary to put boots on the ground in the unit. We learned three things on that trip. There was water everywhere we went, so utilizing any sort of trail camera would be pointless, feed was exceeding five feet tall on every hillside, and there was little deer sign. Basically, the very small population of deer that is in the unit would be spread out.
October 26th finally rolled around after I thought it never would, and it was time to head east with my pops. We made camp on the 27th with the welcoming sight of my friends, Mark Vannucci and Tyler Anderson. They were both wrapping up their own out-of-state hunts and planned to help for the duration of mine. We had a couple scouting days before the season opened on Wednesday, the 30th, which we planned to utilize to the fullest. Only one word describes how those days went – tough! We saw very little deer and no bucks at all.
Opening day saw lows around -10 and highs around 20. Everything was frozen, and I could tell my pops had something going on but wasn’t saying anything.
On Friday morning, at around 3 a.m., Mark woke me up and told me to go check on my pops. Dad informed me he was having some minor chest pains and didn’t feel right, so we jumped in my truck and drove 90 miles to the ER. The tests came back before disappearing into the carpet and showed no signs that the presence of another buck was near, but we knew something had happened. We backed out of there and went to have lunch at camp, planning to go right back up there for the evening.
We crept into the area slowly during primetime to once again find the does almost instantly. The difference this time was that there was an additional big, dark body with what looked like an oak tree growing out of his head in the back of the group. I somehow put a cap in the muzzy and got set up to shot. I had replayed this in my mind thousands of times since May. The deer were getting nervous as they were much closer than they typically were and starting to bail. Tyler was quick on his feet and let out a cow call. The buck stopped, and my brother said, “Take him!” Before he finished, I had already touched off and center punched the old monarch with my 300- grain ballistic extreme at less than 100 yards. He went 60 yards and fell over. We hovered over the buck in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Then someone made the comment, “Gotta love November 5th!”
He is my best buck to date, scoring 181" as a non-typical with roughly 7" broken off and carried almost 38" of mass measurements. I would like the thank my loving wife, Danielle Puccinelli, for her unwavering support, love, and encouragement for all of my hunts. If I’m not thinking about mulies, I’m talking about it year-round, and she has always stood by my side to whatever lengths I go on these hunts. Don Puccinelli, Tony Puccinelli, Dwayne Kahler, Tyler Anderson, and Mark “Sugo” Vannucci, I could not have done this without your help. You guys were the engine that kept this hunt running.
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