*Rifle buck deer hunt runs until Oct. 30*
Warm, sunny weather didn’t stop hunters from taking an impressive number of buck mule deer over the opening weekend of Utah’s general rifle buck deer hunt.
And many of the bucks were big, mature deer.
“I’ve been with the agency for 21 years,” says Randall Thacker, assistant wildlife manager in the Division of Wildlife Resources Northeastern Region, “and I’ve never seen anything like this. The number of big, mature deer hunters are taking is phenomenal.”
*Northeastern Utah*
Thacker was among several DWR biologists working at a deer check station off U.S. Highway 40 near Strawberry Reservoir. Most of the hunters who stop at the station are Wasatch Front residents who are on their way home after hunting in northeastern Utah.
Normally, the number of yearling deer (young deer that are 1½ years old) far outweigh the number of mature deer checked at the station. Not this year, though.
On Oct. 22, the opening day of the hunt, 33 deer came through the check station. Ninety percent of the deer were taken on general season hunting units in northeastern Utah. And only three of the deer were yearlings. The remaining 30 were 2½ years of age or older. The deer included many 4-point bucks with 20- to 22-inch antler spreads. The deer that topped them all, though—a 4-point buck with an astounding 33-inch antler spread—was taken on a general season unit by a female hunter in her 20s. “It was an amazing animal,” says DWR Northeastern Region Wildlife Manager Dax Mangus.
By the time the check station closed on the evening of Oct. 23, a total of 130 deer had been checked. And most of the deer were mature bucks. “It was great seeing people out enjoying the resource,” Mangus says, “it was great seeing people find success. It was awesome.”
Mangus says there was something for everyone over the weekend: hunters who were mostly interested in filling their freezer with meat could take a small buck while those who wanted to take a larger deer could hold out for a bigger buck.
The hunt runs until Oct. 30. It you haven’t taken a buck yet, Mangus encourages you to get afield before the season ends. “It’s starting to rain a bit,” Mangus said on Oct. 24. “Stormy conditions could get the deer moving and make hunting even better.”
In addition to northeastern Utah, hunters found success in other parts of the state too. Here’s an opening-weekend summary from DWR wildlife and conservation outreach managers across Utah:
*North-central Utah*
What DWR Central Region Wildlife Manager Riley Peck saw was similar to what Mangus and Thacker saw: deer numbers were up slightly at the check station he worked in Spanish Fork Canyon. What really stood out, though, was the number of mature deer. “The biggest difference was the number of 2½-year-old deer we saw,” Peck says. “The number of mature bucks was definitely up this year.”
DWR biologists staff three check stations in the region. By the end of the day on Oct. 23, a total of 346 deer had been checked.
*East-central and Southeastern Utah*
Most of the deer that come through the two check stations in the Southeastern Region each year come through on the Monday following the opener. But deer brought through on Saturday and Sunday still provide a good early picture of how opening weekend went.
In the northern part of the region, Guy Wallace, wildlife manager in the DWR’s Southeastern Region, says 34 deer were brought through the check station in Wellington. That’s up significantly from the 23 deer brought through the station in 2015.
In the southern part of the region, 37 deer came through the check station at LaSal Junction. That’s down one deer from the 38 brought through in 2015.
Wallace says most of the deer checked at the Wellington station were yearlings. At the LaSal Junction station, a high percentage of the deer were 2½ years of age or older. He says the deer checked were healthy and in good physical condition.
“Overall,” Wallace says, “hunters seemed relatively pleased with the hunt. Many of them reported seeing more deer than they’ve seen in the past.”