It was still dark on opening morning of the 2017 general rifle deer hunt in Utah. As I sat there with my sons in the quiet of the predawn morning before the mayhem began, as is custom on the Utah general rifle hunt, I was excited for what this day would bring. We had hunted hard during the archery and muzzy hunts and had come away empty. As the sun began to rise, the energy and excitement grew to epic proportions. Little Joe was hunting for the first time, and he was bound and determined to get a buck. As we began to glass, we were able to locate a buck we had now had a three-year history with called “Dark30.” He was coming out of a draw and would be coming to an opening at about 200 yards, a shot Little Joe was very comfortable making. As he readied for the shot, I woke up from my dream. It was opening morning of the Utah general deer hunt, but we were not in Utah and we were not hunting. As I came to from my sleepless night, I remembered we were in Las Vegas and we had a family wedding we had to be to today, on opening day!
My wife’s niece had planned her wedding on the worst possible day, and we had made the decision as a family to support her on her big day. The boys and I weren’t happy about it, but we were there with a smile on our faces (somewhat). The weekend seemed to drag on, and what made it worse was that even when we got home I would have to work Monday and we wouldn’t be able to hunt until after work Monday evening.
Time seemed to creep by on Monday while at work, but finally it was time to roll. I got home as fast as I could and got changed as the boys finished loading up the optics and guns and then we were out the door. We got to the trailhead and started our hike. We had three tags to fill and now less than a week to do it. My #1 goal was to get Little Joe on a buck and be able to fill his tag. He had worked so hard during the archery and muzzy hunts and had missed a shot on both. My #2 goal was to help Jacob fill his tag and get a better buck than he had the year before.
Joe and I worked our way to a great vantage point, and Jacob and Jace were just around the corner looking at a different canyon. It didn’t take long to find some deer way down in the bottom of this canyon, and on closer inspection, we found that they were two little bucks. Joey said he was going to fill his tag with whatever he could; he just wanted to get his first buck. We made a game plan and picked out a spot that would put us within about 250 yards. We quickly made our way down to our spot and tried to relocate the bucks. We searched and searched but couldn’t find them anywhere. It was getting dark quick, and we were in a real deep hole. We decided to hunt our way out of the canyon but to do it quickly. As we made it back to the trailhead, Jacob and Jace were there waiting. Jacob said that he had got on a buck, but with the low light and not being able to see it really well, he decided to let it walk. We had found a good spot and knew we would be right back there the next evening.
Again, the day drug on and then like a flash we were off again. We hit the trailhead with about four hours of light to hunt. We hiked out and made it to our predesigned glassing location. I had just taken off my backpack and pulled up my binos to look around when Joey whispered, “Dad, I found a buck.”
We made a really quick game plan and moved in. The buck was feeding his way up through a patch of burn quakies. We got into position with Joe and me down the ridge from Jacob about 100 yards. The plan was that if Joe couldn’t get the shot or missed, Jacob would bat cleanup. Little Joe knelt down and steadied himself and got ready for the shot. At this point, I was hoping he could remain calm this time. During the archery and muzzy hunts as he got his shot opportunities, he was so excited he rushed them and missed. This time, I was praying it would be different. The buck moved into position, and Joey touched off a round. He missed high! This time, as if like a seasoned professional hunter, he stood up calmly and moved uphill five feet and got a new line of sight through the quakies and knelt back down. Calm as a cucumber, he waited until the buck came into the shooting lane and let his rifle bark again. The buck dropped in its tracks and did not twitch again. It was over and Little Joe had filled his TAG! This was when the little boy and excitement broke out as he and I both yelled and screamed. We could even hear Joe’s big brother, Jacob, from up the ridge yelling. What an unbelievable experience. His reaction was priceless. He had worked so hard from before the archery hunt had started until now. He had sacrificed opening weekend to support his cousin at her wedding and now the reward had just hit the ground. We made our way over to the buck, and the joy and excitement were so much fun as a father to watch.
He had done it. Joe had completed his and my #1 goal. We took some pictures and then started the hard work of getting his buck taken care of. His hard work was not done yet as we quartered the buck and loaded it on our backs for the pack out. Little Joe was a trooper, and he took the backstraps, tenderloins, neck meat, and head on his pack, while Jacob and I each took a front and hind leg. We had a slow hike out in the dark with a lot of weight on Little Joe’s back, but he made it every step of the way on his own.
The next day, we were back out on the mountain to see if we could fill my #2 goal and Jacob's tag. We split up, and Joe and I walked up one side of the ridge and Jacob and Jace walked up the other side so we could look into two canyons. It wasn’t long before Jacob radioed and said he had spotted a bedded buck and there was another one with it that he hadn’t got a good look at. We made our way over to Jacob and Jace and sat down and put some glass on the bucks. The one we could see was a good 3x3, but it was not what Jacob was looking for. There was still the other buck that was with it that was in some really thick stuff and wouldn’t come out. We could get glimpses of him but never a good look. It was getting dark, so we made a plan that Jake and Jace would stay right there and Joe and I would move up the draw to see if we could bump the buck just enough to make him move down the canyon to an area where Jacob could get a good look at him.
As Joey and I made our way up the canyon quickly, I remember thinking, This is never going to work. As I finished that thought, we heard a "Boom!" I thought there was no way that had just worked. The plan had worked to perfection. The buck tried to slip out the bottom of the canyon as we were working up the canyon, and Jacob got a good look at it and decided it was what he was looking for. One shot and it was over. We had just filled Jacob’s tag and my #2 goal. We had two great bucks in two days. We made our way over to the buck and had our celebration because at this point Joey and I had not seen the buck yet. It was a great buck and had definitely passed the size of Jacob's buck last year. He was super excited and was nothing but smiles. We again took some pictures, took care of the buck, and made our way off the mountain with buck #2.
The rest of the hunt was pretty low key. We only had my tag to fill, and with two deer now in the freezer, I was very selective. I ended up passing on a really nice buck as light faded on closing evening, but I didn’t really care. We had all accomplished our goals for the year and were all really happy. It was at this point that I realized again that with sacrifice comes rewards.
We also have a video of this hunt on our Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/50JiU-_HitM
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