Book Cliffs, I'm a comming

Where are you starting your scouting trip from? On the utah side it can be a long trip either way.

Should be a great experience for you. Your scouting will be helpful in terms of learning the country and getting a feel for things, but don't plan too much around what you see in terms of deer this time of year. The Bookcliffs herd is migratory and the weather plays a big part in where the deer are once the rifle hunt starts. Be prepared to be flexible and go where the deer are, not where they were. I've hunted this unit with friends twice and each year was completely different.

As far as expectations...you should see a lot of 130 - 150 class deer while you are there. Lots and lots of 18" - 22" 3x4's and 4x4's. If you hope to do better than that, then you will need to be patient and willing to go home empty handed. If you come across and 170"+ buck you will want to think long and hard about taking him unless you know of something better in the area. Those type of deer exist on the unit, but you will need to look over a lot of deer to find them.

Good luck and enjoy the hunt. It is one of the most enjoyable hunts I've ever been on.

I live in Salt Lake, but have no problem from which end I enter the unit; North or south, it doesn't matter. Do you know where most of the hunting pressure will be on the rifle hunt? North or South? Someone told me that there are alot of washboard roads, depending which roads that you come in on.....
If it rains are there any roads that might have flash flood concerns?

Thanks for your responses guys. Much appreciated!
L4AB1

Welcome to the forum! ::wel

PM sent.

Thanks Sawsman,

Two days and counting. I will definately post some pics from the trip.

Good luck scouting...looking forward to hearing about your trip. Book Cliffs is one of my favorite places in the state.

Here's a pick of 3 Bucks from our Scouting trip. Can you see the hidden Buck? It's not too hard I know. Would you have seen him if I hadn't mentioned 3.

No biggie, just a bit of fun.

We traveled by truck or four wheelers, over 200 miles of dirt roads from one end of the unit to the other. We still didn't cover it all. Huge unit.... We saw Elk, Deer, Antelope, and Bear.

Sorry that the picture is not the best, but the conditions (Light Direction) and the distance (200 yards) were a challenge.

I'll post more pics when I have a bit more time.
(L4AB1)

p.s. The 3rd buck is right above the bright yellow brush. You can see the top of his back and his rack sticking above the yellow brush. You might have to look close.... :thumb

[ attachment=0]3 Bucks.JPG[/attachment]

Dahlmer gave good advice, the deer are migratory. The weather this week is most likely going to start bumping them to middle ground.

Lookin 4 a Big 1

Don't think I would have seen 3 without your help. Best of luck.

Nice. Glad you got out there and seen some animals, and with antlers too!

Lookin 4 a big 1,

I'm curious to hear what your thoughts on the Book Cliffs are. Above or below expectations? PM me and let me know what areas your looking at and I'll try to be as helpful as possible. I'm green with envy that I don't have your tag.

I tried to help out a muzzle loader hunter when he tried to take this buck. I video taped his attempt. Unfortunately he missed the shot, but was happy to have the chance. I was glad to be part of his experience.
(L4AB1) :thumb

Cool lets see the video.

Can upload it here...

www.huntersclips.com

Looks like a pretty good buck.

Anyone know where to get a deer butchered in Vernal, or Roosevelt?
L4AB1

Look up Musichs' meats i Roosevelt, I had an elk done there a couple years ago, good job and reasonable prices.

I'll look em up.
Thanks Jeff.
L4AB1

Anyone know a meat processor in Green River, who can cut up a deer and is reasonable.
Trying to keep all of my options open.
L4AB1

We're done. All four of us tagged out, although I shot mine on the last weekend and never did harvest the animal that I'd Hoped for. It was a fun unit to hunt but the genetics on the unit are in much need of help. After years of being a 4pt or better unit, all of the 4pt bucks were eliminated from the herd and never passed on the genetics. The 2X3 and 3X4 bucks dominated the rut. There genes over the years have been too entrenched in the herd in my opinion to recover. Even now, everyone who seemed to see a 18 - 22" 4pt were shooting them. Still the genetics of 2X3 and 3X4 bucks dominate the rut. In my opinion if you want a 25" + 4pt or better this is not the unit for you. However if you want to see a ton of bucks and take a 22" buck, it is a blast. I had 1 bonus point and was very happy with the experience. I told my group that if I could not find the buck that I was looking for , I would shoot the biggest 2pt I could find. There are some great 2pts and 2X3's on the unit and I have never harvested one. I did exactly that, and I enjoyed the fact that he was still in the velvet. I did see one buck over 30 inches. he did not let me get closer that 900 yds. Still that was the hilight of my hunt. I saw 3 quality bucks, none of which I was able to harvest. Not too great when you consider I saw well over 450 bucks durring the 10 days that we spent on the unit durring the hunt. Again, I did end up taking a big 2X3 buck still in the velvet and based on the points that we had when we drew, It was a fun hunt.

My advice if you are looking for a quality buck.... If you can draw the unit with 5 bonus points or less, the hunt would be well worth it. If you have more than 5, try for a better quality unit. Everyone who gave me advice on this site, was dead on in their evaluation of the unit. That along with our scouting trips prepared me concerning what to expect on our hunt. We had a good time. :thumb

sweet I like all of em

Looks like you guys had a good time. Crazy, a buck in velvet in October.

Congrats on your success. I wish you could have harvested the buck you were looking for. Glad you enjoyed yourself and got some quality time in the outdoors.

Looks like a lot of great memories were had! 250 bucks that's 20 plus a day! I would love to be on a hunt like that! congratulations on your success :thumb

Actually it was 500 bucks which is 50 per day. The problem is that it gets abit frustrating seeing 40 -50 2X3 and 3X4 bucks with crab claws one after another. All being 16 - 22 inches wide. 22 being more the exception.
Had a great time though, only investing one bonus point.
Thanks to everyone for both sharing information and sharing in the experience as it transpired.

L4AB1

let me tell you congrats on your hunt.

I also want people to know the books is a good place to hunt big bucks. You don't want the rifle hunt or muzzy hunt though. You want the archery hunt! the bucks are all on top. they are stupid and there are some real hogs. You should see some of the photos friends of mine have taken and the bucks they have taken with their bows on that unit. I was out their with friends on this years rifle hunt and they went three for three all 4 points. The largest would gross around 170 and the rest were 150 class bucks.

you will see lots of bucks however the reason you will see so many bucks with crabby claws and mismatched points is the bookcliff deer don't really have the age on them.. Most deer shot are around 2 years old. If you kill a good one it is probably only 3 years old. That is just how it is. However the unit is so big you can find bucks that slip through the cracks and are allowed to live an extra year or two.
I would love to hunt that unit with only 1-4 points

Again guys congrats on your bucks!

Looks and sounds like a great time. :thumb

Congrats to all of you it looks like a great time! :thumb

looks like you all had a good time.1 point to draw sweet :thumb

In part you are right swbuckmaster. Let me expand on that a bit if I may. For years the Book Cliffs was a 4pt or better unit. All of the hunters were going to the unit and harvesting 4pts. After years of taking the 4pts. out of the unit before the rut, the 2X3 and 3X4 bucks were left to bread the does. The inferior genes soon began to dominate the unit. Then they closed the unit in hope of raising the quality of animals on the unit. When they reopened the unit most hunters were again passing up the 2X3 and 3X4 bucks, shooting 4X4 bucks or better. Again the quality bucks were harvested before they had a chance to rut and pass on their genes. It's not so much a matter of age but more a matter of genetics. All most of those deer are ever going to be are a medium sized 2X3 or 3X4 bucks, no matter what their age. Not their fault, they just don't have the genetics to be monster muleys. Yes there are some real good bucks on the unit, and a good number of them are harvested. The total number of bucks harvested each year hardly put a dent in the overall population. I think that the DWR is managing the herd the best they can under the circumstances. 42 bucks per 100 does aint to shabby after all. It would be nice if they opened the unit only to spikes, 2pts. and 3pts. for a couple of years and weeded out the inferior genes. Then transplant about 50 bucks off the Henries to breed the genetics back into the herd. No chance of that though. Can you get a real nice buck on the Books? Yes But seeing 3 quality bucks in 500 is what it is. A good time if you remember to keep things in perspective.

Thanks again guys.... :thumb L4AB1

Ncie work. Looks like fun.