Sounds like a lot of people are more interested in legal drama than hunting stories. I have no legal drama for you, but for those that prefer the hunting stories I can give you that.
My Dad was the hunter for the wide Utah buck. He was real picky and hadn’t found a buck he really wanted all the way up to just before his hunt. The guide glassed this buck up a day and half before the hunt. The guide got some pics of the buck from really far away and it was clear he was a monster, the guide said he had to be 40 inches wide but we wouldn’t dare guess wider. It sounds insane to even speak a number more than 40.
The guide had a trail camera pic of this buck from 4 years before and he was around a 240, and he had seen him in person last year and he was less than 200. Given the bucks history he could have been on the decline but clearly the amount of rain had a big impact on his antler growth as his area had a solid rain year.
Us and some friends just excited to see something this big on the hoof, drove to the location (no I won’t tell you where) the morning after he was first spotted and we were able to bed him down that evening before the hunt started the next day. But by the next morning he had disappeared. It took us a couple of days to refind him as he barely stood up from his bed during the day. The guide finally found his track and kicked him up. He didn’t go super far as it was a hot day and we were able to watch him bed. My Dad then got in position. After 4 hours laying in the sun my dad had some severe sun burns so he didn’t waste anytime putting the buck down when he finally offered a shot.
I was on a higher point watching the buck's position when he shot it so I didn’t get there until after my dad and the first thing he said was "guess how wide?" I could see his smile so I guessed 42 and he said nope, 45. Anyway, he ended up being just under 45 wide and mid 270s in velvet. Has some really cool trash down low that is parallel to the ground and hard to see but bumps him up a good amount. Definitely, a cool experience.
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