10-20-2008, 12:16 PM
Once again I started the year out mapping out all the public areas in Northern Utah, Studying land ownership maps, topo maps, WMA maps, BLM maps, talking to biologists, and WIA coordinators. I found a few areas that held good bucks and a few that I THOUGHT would have little pressure during the General season. Turned out I was wrong again, This region sucks!
I hiked in about 2 miles on Saturday to a spot where I had previously seen some nice bucks from August to present. I had never seen anyone in this spot before and had hunted it for Archery and Muzzy. I was pretty surprized when it got light to count over 50 hunters in one canyon, including a very pregnant woman that high tailed it 2 miles up hill with a rifle over her back (That's dedicated). I had no choice but to wait it out and see if anybody would kick anything up. Everybody else had the same idea and nobody moved for 2 hours. We spotted 4 does running for thier lives in the distance and nothing else all day. With no other choice, we left the mountain.
I'm considering joining Muskyhunter for the "field bucks" next year because this is absolutely ridiculous! On top of that, my freind hit up another good spot on some BLM property and was told by "the Owner" that the BLM traded that property to him and he gave up a piece of his POS sage brush flat property in return.
This region has gone to crap!!! If you get a Ogden land ownership map you can clearly see that 90% of the land is private. There is limited to no land for public hunters to hunt up here anymore and they just keep getting rid of the 10% we have left. I can't afford the gas to go more than 30-40 miles from home, so what does the average hunter like me do???
This state needs a serious makeover!
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I hiked in about 2 miles on Saturday to a spot where I had previously seen some nice bucks from August to present. I had never seen anyone in this spot before and had hunted it for Archery and Muzzy. I was pretty surprized when it got light to count over 50 hunters in one canyon, including a very pregnant woman that high tailed it 2 miles up hill with a rifle over her back (That's dedicated). I had no choice but to wait it out and see if anybody would kick anything up. Everybody else had the same idea and nobody moved for 2 hours. We spotted 4 does running for thier lives in the distance and nothing else all day. With no other choice, we left the mountain.
I'm considering joining Muskyhunter for the "field bucks" next year because this is absolutely ridiculous! On top of that, my freind hit up another good spot on some BLM property and was told by "the Owner" that the BLM traded that property to him and he gave up a piece of his POS sage brush flat property in return.
This region has gone to crap!!! If you get a Ogden land ownership map you can clearly see that 90% of the land is private. There is limited to no land for public hunters to hunt up here anymore and they just keep getting rid of the 10% we have left. I can't afford the gas to go more than 30-40 miles from home, so what does the average hunter like me do???
This state needs a serious makeover!
[signature]