Have a question for anyone that has hunted muzzy antelope, or been out in antelope country after the rifle season.
Since Utah has the muzzy hunt after the rifle hunt, are the bucks very skittish? And did you feel there there are still enough big bucks around after the rifle season?
Thanks
Bill
Hello
@LIK2HNT , sorry for the late reply I've been out of service for a bit...
As for your questions, here is what I witnessed for this year's muzzy hunt...
Bucks weren't overly skittish, at least where I was hunting...
As for preseason scouting, it was tough to turn up anything really decent and with age... I spent 6 total weekends scouting this summer... I was really trying to turn up something special, for it had been exactly 30 years since I had drawn this tag...
Before the rifle hunt started, I had one really good one I wanted and two others for back up...
Well after the rifle hunt those 3 were gone and the majority of the younger generation was also gone... Rifle hunters definitely took a toll on the buck antelope population...
In 6 days, I seen a total of 7 bucks, two of which were mature but not what I would call trophies, and I killed of those two...
Overall, I had a great time scouting and hunting the unit... I do believe the muzzleloader hunt should be before the rifle hunt, and I expressed that in my survey... We all know how far that will go....
Anyhow, I hope that answers your questions...
