2008 Pausaugunt Muzzleloader Buck

[hawkeye]

Several people, including Brett, have asked how my hunt went so I thought I should provide a full report. As many of you, I had a Paunsaugunt rifle tag in 2006. The rifle hunt on this unit is a fun but difficult hunt because the deer typically migrate during the middle of the hunt. Therefore, it is nearly impossible to scout a particular buck because he likely will not be in the same location when the hunt opens. 2006 was no exception. I started my hunt up on top of the plateau but quickly realized that I needed to move down to the middle of the unit. On the morning of the fifth day, I shot my buck. He is only 24 inches wide but had good mass and massive eye guards.
My 2006 Paunsaugunt Buck





Fast forward to 2008. In February of this year, I decided to attend the Hunting Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah. I am generally opposed all conservation and convention tags, but after realizing that these tags are here for the time being, I decided I might as well apply for several deer and elk tags. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I had drawn a muzzleloader tag for the Paunsaugunt unit. I was absolutely pumped to have a second chance on this unit.

During the summer, I made two trips to Southern Utah to familiarize myself with the southern half of the unit. During these trips, I met some wonderful people who were very helpful and willing to share information. My hunt was scheduled to open on October 27, 2008.

I headed to Southern Utah two days prior to the opening day to do some last minute scouting. During those two days, I saw lots of deer and plenty of small bucks but nothing I wanted to shoot early in the hunt. My brother-in-law joined me for the first three days of the hunt. We hunted hard but we were not seeing the caliber of bucks that we were expecting to see. The biggest problem we were having was temperatures in the low 80's. With the heat, I am not sure if the bigger bucks were hung up in higher country or if they were just buried in the junipers waiting for it to cool down for the rut. On Wednesday afternoon, my brother-in-law had to return to work for a few days, and I had to return home for a funeral.

I headed back to Kanab on Thursday afternoon to hunt by myself until my brother-in-law returned that weekend. Thursday evening and Friday morning were more of the same–small bucks and does. On Friday afternoon, I headed back into an area where I had been seeing lots of deer. While on my way to my glassing location, I spotted a group of deer with one decent buck. He was about 150 yards away and was headed into the trees. He looked to have decent forks and I guessed him to be 27 to 28" wide so I grabbed my rifle and took the shot. When the smoke cleared, my buck was down.

As I approached my deer, I realized that he was a nice buck but not the caliber of deer that I was hoping for. He is a solid 4x4 that is 26" wide with eye guards and a couple of small points near his bases. Unfortunately, I was by myself and without my camera when I shot him and daylight was fading quickly. I tagged and gutted my deer and then loaded him up and headed to camp. By the time I got back to camp it was dark. Rather than staying the night and heading home in the morning, I made the decision to pack up camp and head home that evening. As a result, I did not take a single picture of my deer in the field.

My 2008 Paunsaugunt Buck



In hindsight, I only have two regrets. First, I wish that I would have been more patient and held out until the end of the hunt. A cold front blew in that weekend and I heard that things began to pick up and some better bucks were taken. Second, I wish that I would have taken some pictures of my deer in the field. I will never again find myself hunting alone without a camera.

In conclusion, I had a wonderful time hunting the Paunsaugunt. I met some great people and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. There are certainly some good deer left on the unit but this hunt was tougher than I expected. Although I am happy with my deer, I would have liked to have done better with this premium tag. I want to thank Lanny, Ryan, Jason and Tony for helping make my hunt a success.

Hawkeye

[AZ_BOWHNTR]

Nice bucks, congrats!

[AGCHAWK]

WOW! Looks like a couple great lookin' Muleys. CONGRATS

[johnyutah5]

Great story! Thanks for sharing. One thing on wishing you would have waited, it's always easy to say that after the fact. If it hadn't snowed the following weekend and you had waited you might be saying how you wish you would have shot that 26" when you had the chance. Personally I think you got a great buck, with a good number of years in front of you to get another one.

Sure I am not saying anything you don't already know.

[sneekeepete]

Congrats on 2 great bucks and thanks for sharing!

[JBird]

Nice buck, not very many came off the Guant better than that this year.

[*ShedPredator*]

yeah that's true i didn't see anything that looked much better than yours did i do believe i saw you as well with that buck up there crossing a cattle guard in a green rhino if it was you i'm not sure but you look familiar as well as the buck. congrats on the kill

[hawkeye]

ShedPredator-

Was that you sitting in your SUV that day? If so, then we did bump into each other. I was hoping to run into Jason Stewart that day. I sure met some good people in Kanab.

Hawkeye

[BOHNTR]

Way to go Hawkeye.....nice buck.

[*ShedPredator*]

Yeah we met there at that sand trap and i was comming down off of the hill from the south and yeah Jason/JBird is one of my good friends and i'm not sure where he was that day, were usually together out there looking for the deer and what not but i guess not that time.