Unit 081 Rifle Deer

Hawkeye

Hawkeye

Long Time Member
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Well boys, I got lucky despite long odds and drew a Unit 081 any weapon deer tag (12/11-1/1). To say I am excited to finally draw a Nevada tag is an understatement. I’ve never hunted deer in December. What a way to celebrate Christmas!

I know the hunt is weather and migration dependent but I look forward to making some scouting trips to learn roads and access points. I would welcome any input, tips or suggestions from folks who have hunted Unit 081 in the past. Feel free to post, pm or email me. Thank you in advance!

Hawkeye
[email protected]
 
I helped hunters on the 081 Hunt the last two years.
I also hunted it on my on my own tag about 10 years ago.
I think I know the unit pretty well. I don’t mind giving you some help especially since you use the unit numbers correctly . “081”
I’ll PM you my cell phone number and you can call me if you like.
 
Thanks Buckhorn! I look forward to speaking with you and I would be happy to help you wherever I can. Hopefully, I’ll hear from some other hunters who have experience with Unit 081.

Hawkeye
 
Alwayshunting, that would be great. I will shoot you a pm. I’m really excited for this hunt and appreciate your help.

Hawkeye
 
My dad, brother, and I also drew 081 as a party super excited! Only hunted it once before as a teenager and remember loving it! The dates were in November back then though we’re curious how different it will be now. Best of luck been a loooong time for us gonna have to relearn the area again. Here’s one of the bucks we took ten years ago...
E1EC2C09-FAB3-4027-81CD-AAE22A358CBD.jpeg
 
That’s a really nice buck. Better than average for nowadays on that hunt.
A lot of things have changed in the last 10 years. There were a lot more resident deer back then before all the fires. Now since the seasons are much later it is mostly a migration hunt.
And with the later Hunt it’s a lot colder and you have to be prepared for that with your equipment. Especially if you’ll be camping out. If you want to get a motel in Montello you should book it now there are only about 10 rooms there and they will fill immediately.
 
Also drew 081 it was a long shot for me but fit my schedule the best this year. Im excited to be out hunting in December and see more of Nevada.
 
Thanks to those of who responded to my post or sent a PM or email. I am really looking forward to this hunt and hope to make the most of it. If any of the rest of you have any tips or suggestions for hunting Unit 081 late rifle, shoot me a pm. I really appreciate the help!

Hawkeye

P.S. - I already made my first mistake! :LOL: 2 days after drawing the tag, I called the hotel in Montello to book a room and found out that they filled up the first day. I got my name on the waiting list but I will need to find alternative arrangements (camping trailer, wall tent, hotel in Wendover, etc.) for at least the first few days of the hunt. I will be cold out there!
 
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Hawkeye said:
Thanks to those of who responded to my post or sent a PM or email. I am really looking forward to this hunt and hope to make the most of it. If any of the rest of you have any tips or suggestions for hunting Unit 081 late rifle, shoot me a pm. I really appreciate the help!

Hawkeye

P.S. - I already made my first mistake! :LOL: 2 days after drawing the tag, I called the hotel in Montello to book a room and found out that they filled up the first day. I got my name on the waiting list but I will need to find alternative arrangements (camping trailer, wall tent, hotel in Wendover, etc.) for at least the first few days of the hunt. I will be cold out there!
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I have hunted the late hunt in Nevada last year and I can tell you it is cold. Everything on our trailer froze up including the crap pot. We went to town and bought all of the insulation we could find and insulated our water lines all the way, the bottoms of the water tanks. We fought it the whole time we were there.
Nights were maybe 10 degrees and it could have been colder.
Bring good cold weather gear I broke out my Wools from hunting in Canada and used them, I wasn't sorry they are heavy but sitting first thing in the morning waiting for daylight was an experience to say the least.

good luck hope you get a big one...
 
You drew a GREAT TAG!

Do it right, or you'll regret it.

Embrace those on here that have offered help. A wall tent with wood stove is way better than a motel room, plus you can be closer to the action. Plus, if you don't own one, the cost will be similar but you,ll have the wall tent for years.

Get there 4-5 days early and hunt the entire season. Make it what it is, an opportunity of a lifetime.

And pull the trigger on a buck you love, regardless of score.

Good luck!!!
 
kalielkskayer-

That is some great advice. Have you hunted the unit before? I’m sending you a pm. Thanks for posting.

Jason
 
Thanks to those of you who have sent me pm's and emails. I just got my maps in the mail and I will be getting back to you for further discussions. If anybody else has hunted Unit 081 or has information regarding the unit, please shoot me a pm. I really appreciate all of the help from this forum and I will make sure to share my adventure with you via photos and a full report. I can't wait for December 11th!

Jason
 
It is roughly 4 1/2 months until my late rifle hunt starts in Unit 081 and I can't wait! Thank you to those of you who have shared information and offered to help. I will be sure to pay it forward and report back with photos and a report on my hunt. If anybody else has hunted Unit 081 in the past or is familiar with the unit, please let me know. I would be happy to help you with information on units in Utah. I hope to make the most of this one-in-a-lifetime tag for a nonresident. Thank you!

Hawkeye
Jason Hawkins
 
Used to hunt 081 a lot back in the 80s, 90s and 2000s before the magazine and consultant culture made it so hard to draw. Finally drew it again last year, with a muzzleloader tag and rifle tag in the family. Spent 10-12 total days up there and was pretty disappointed.

I hope you do well but I think this tag is way overrated for how hard it is to draw. I ate tag soup.
 
Fullcurl, I am sorry to hear about your experience last year. I am looking forward to this hunt but I have also had a healthy reality check from some of the folks I have spoken with who hunted it in recent years. Do you have any suggestions for me based upon your experience last year? Is there anything you would do differently if you had the tag this year? Feel free to email or pm me. Thanks.

Hawkeye
 
I drew the same tag. We went up scouting last week and didn't see any bucks but a couple does. I know its early yet and still have plenty of time to get out there and scout. Unfortunately I have a deer tag in Wyoming to hunt with my dad in November so I don't get to spend that time here looking. Im still very excited for the opportunity to hunt this area, regardless of the weather.
 
How have the archery and muzzleloader hunters done in 081 this year? I would love to hear from anyone who just finished their hunt. I just returned from a two day scouting trip and I can’t wait for December 11th to get here. Feel free to pm or email me.

Hawkeye
 
Hawkeye said:
Thanks to those of who responded to my post or sent a PM or email. I am really looking forward to this hunt and hope to make the most of it. If any of the rest of you have any tips or suggestions for hunting Unit 081 late rifle, shoot me a pm. I really appreciate the help!

Hawkeye

P.S. - I already made my first mistake! :LOL: 2 days after drawing the tag, I called the hotel in Montello to book a room and found out that they filled up the first day. I got my name on the waiting list but I will need to find alternative arrangements (camping trailer, wall tent, hotel in Wendover, etc.) for at least the first few days of the hunt. I will be cold out there!
Click to expand...
Jackpot would be way closer than Windover. We stayed there for a cow hunt one year.
 
Ke
Hawkeye said:
How have the archery and muzzleloader hunters done in 081 this year? I would love to hear from anyone who just finished their hunt. I just returned from a two day scouting trip and I can’t wait for December 11th to get here. Feel free to pm or email me.

Hawkeye
Click to expand...
Keep us updated, this is the tag I’ve been trying to draw, have 12pts NR so one year in the next decade I might draw. Best of luck, hope you kill a giant.
 
Are you you all ready to get after it Jason? Did you see anything real exciting on the scouting trip?
 
Hawkeye said:
Well boys, I got lucky despite long odds and drew a Unit 081 any weapon deer tag (12/11-1/1). To say I am excited to finally draw a Nevada tag is an understatement. I’ve never hunted deer in December. What a way to celebrate Christmas!

I know the hunt is weather and migration dependent but I look forward to making some scouting trips to learn roads and access points. I would welcome any input, tips or suggestions from folks who have hunted Unit 081 in the past. Feel free to post, pm or email me. Thank you in advance!

Hawkeye
[email protected]
Click to expand...
Sending you a PM.
 
I’ve seen a few decent ones killed up there from outfitters on muzzleloader season on NV Facebook hunt pages definitely some that I won’t be passing up on if I find them come December 11!
 
Best of luck to you and your family! Maybe we’ll bump into each other out there. I’m driving a gray F-150.

Hawkeye
 
Well, I thought I would provide an update on my hunt. I arrived a day early and then hunted the first 4 days of the hunt. Overall, the hunting was okay but somewhat disappointing. We saw on average 40-50 deer a day and 8-12 bucks a day. I saw a 175-180 buck get shot opening morning. Other than that, I did not see another buck that even tempted me. I saw several hunters take smaller 4x4s and 3x4s. I ended up returning home a couple of a couple days earlier than originally planned because my family contracted COVID.

After taking care of my family for the last week, I am preparing to head back on this weekend. Due to work and family obligations, I will likely only be able to hunt this coming Saturday and Sunday. Any suggestions on where to focus given these later dates? We covered most of the unit on our prior trip but found most of the deer in the middle of the unit near Bald Mountain. Any ideas of where to find concentrations of deer later in the hunt? In speaking with some other hunters, I thought there might be a chance for things to improve or at least change by waiting for a couple of weeks after the opener. Feel free to post, email or pm me. And thank you to everyone that has already offered to help. I really want to make the most of this tag but so far things have been somewhat disappointing.

Hawkeye
 
There’s supposed to be a couple of storms coming in Saturday through Monday.
If you could get there and hunt just after the storms clear you may get lucky.
 
buckhorn said:
There’s supposed to be a couple of storms coming in Saturday through Monday.
If you could get there and hunt just after the storms clear you may get lucky.
Click to expand...
Or better yet just before the storms hit. Those desert deer move a lot before the storms hit at least that was what we had for the last couple of years
 
Congratulations on your group’s success on three nice bucks! Thanks for sharing great photos!

Horniac
 
Congratulations that’s a good year I would say, like the three bucks against the tent pic.
 
Tctaylor9 said:
Hoping everyone else found success here’s our 3 bucks not monsters but we’re more than happy with how we did 4x5 was like 170 other two are like 160s, let’s see everyone else’s 081 success!

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That's a pretty good representation of what that hunts provides in terms of opportunity. Congratulations.
 
Tctaylor9 said:
Hoping everyone else found success here’s our 3 bucks not monsters but we’re more than happy with how we did 4x5 was like 170 other two are like 160s, let’s see everyone else’s 081 success!

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I’d say you guys did great!
3 for 3 on nice bucks.
Good times and classic mule deer hunting there.
Were you there for the entire season?
Congratulations and thanks for sharing!
 
It is time to post a recap of my hunt. As you know, I hunted the first 4 days of the season and was generally disappointed with the results. We saw an average of 15-20 bucks a day but nothing very big. I returned home on day 4 after learning that my wife and kids had contracted COVID.

After spending some time taking care of my family and catching up on work, I returned to the unit late on Christmas day with plans to hunt Saturday and Sunday. Those would be my last 2 days to hunt since I had work meetings scheduled for the rest of the week.

We found deer concentrated in the same general area as the opener except there were less hunters around. On Sunday morning, we headed out to some fresh snow and clear skies. We saw over a 100 deer by mid-day and 30+ bucks. I ended up taking this buck as it was my last day to hunt. He does not score well but it was a tall and heavy, and I realized that this was the top end of what I was seeing in the unit. Overall, I was not able to turn up any bucks of the caliber that I was hoping for when I drew this tag. However, I had the opportunity to hunt for 6 days, look at over 100 bucks, see some beautiful new country and spend time with friends and family. Therefore, it was a success! Thank you to all of you who helped and provided information.

Hawkeye

NV Deer 1.png


NV Deer 3.png


NV Deer 4.png


NV Deer 2.png
 
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I neglected to thank my friends and family for helping with my hunt, especially my BIL Robiland and his son Fisher. It was awesome to have them there when I shot this buck!

Hawkeye
 
Congratulations Hawkeye on your very nice buck! It always makes for a fun hunt when you can look over and pass on bucks knowing you will most likely be able to fill your tag on a mature buck on the last day.

Thanks for sharing your story and photos and I hope your wife and kids have made a complete recovery since contracting the virus...

Horniac
 
Hawkeye said:
I neglected to thank my friends and family for helping with my hunt, especially my BIL Robiland and his son Fisher. It was awesome to have them there when I shot this buck!

Hawkeye
Click to expand...
Congratulations to you guys on a successful hunt.
Hope you had a good time and didn’t stress out too much.
Hope all is well with you and your family.
Happy new year.
 

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