Which unit? Archery Elk

[dillon]

First off I am curious why I am not seeing very many bulls from the archery hunt...was it that awful? I am especially curious if anyone got a big bull on the Southwest Desert hunt.

Secondly I have several bonus points that I want to spend next fall on an archery elk tag here is Utah. Mostly because after next fall I will more than likely be out of state for at least 2 years if not more during graduate school.

Which order would you put these units in and why? I live in Logan. I will mostly be hunting the entire first week and then weekends after school starts in September 2011. I think San Juan is the only tag I may have trouble obtaining.

San Juan
Monroe
Fillmore Pahvant
Southwest Desert
Wasatch
Bookcliffs(Roadless)
Boulder

Feel free so show your bulls from these archery hunts.

Dillon

 

[huntinfanatic]

So far 2 bulls have been posted on here from this years archery hunt on the SW Desert.

 

[rotorhead]

How many points do you have? I talked to a few guys who had the pahvant tag this year, and they were in elk everyday, but it's not the unit it used to be. There has been a few bulls posted that were taken off southwest desert. I have been told it's a tough hunt, your hunting sage brush and cedar trees. My good friend hunted the BC roadless last year and had a blast. It's tough to decide what unit to hunt. I am in your same boat!

 

[Dikndirt]

If you are living in Logan you may want to look at the cache units, especially south cache You can hunt every night of the season.Logan is a long ways from Indian Peaks.

 

[alp75]

Wasatch might be a good idea. Not too far from home. Lots of good areas to hunt and a lot of decent to great bulls!

 

[UTmonsterslayer]

I haven't heard of any huge archery bulls from the SW Desert. Two in the 350 range have been posted on here. My good friend's little brother shot a 310 bull. From what I've heard, the hunt was tough.
From what I've seen in the LE elk units that I've been to, th SW Desert is the hardest to hunt. Thick, thick cedars don't allow you to glass them up, and unless the rut is on, it's very tough to find the big bulls in that country.
You may want to check your odds again, unless you definition of 'several bonus points' is 8-9. Even archery tags on those units are hard to draw.
This year, if you had 8 points, your odds of drawing the Pahvant archery tag were less than 8 percent. If I were you, I'd hang on to those points and put in as a non-res.
Good luck to you, whatever hunt you choose.

 

[dgwoody]

You have a good unit right under your nose. The south cache has good bulls in it and you'd be able to hunt it and scout it a lot more. A buddy of mine killed a 340 bull with his bow this year on the south cache. I saw it happen with my own eyes, it was awesome.

 

[dillon]

I am not opposed to putting in for Cache South, I know there are a ton of elk up there. But with 9 points I could have drawn an archery tag on the Cache South years ago. I have a decent chance of getting a muzz elk tag on there unless they move it up into the rut like they want to do this next year. Monroe and Pahvant are my top picks for archery.

Dillon

 

[Broomer]

Hold on to your points. No reason to spend all your time early in the hunt. Don't know what the dates will be but I hate hunting elk in 98 degree heat and they aren't going to be talking. Plus you'd be hard pressed to draw a tag on any unit with 7 points that hold those top end bulls. Personally I love the Wasatch and you could have a good shot at drawing that. However, early you will compete with a TON of people. If you are just wanting to get out and chase a lot of elk and have a fun hunt without taking it so seriously like dyeing because you blew your points and don't kill anything, then I'd try a unit close to home so you can go as much as possible. Are you attending USU? if not where and I'd pick a unit close to school and hunt as much in September as you can. If you are after a mature bull say a big 6 point in that 320 range and just can't wait until after graduate school than I'd put in for either the Diamond Mtn, Book Cliffs South, Cache, Wasatch, Manti. If you want a good shot at that bigger 350 class bull than wait and go way south San Juan, Pavant, Beaver. just my two cents.

 

[greysriver]

9 points its going to be a tough putt to draw any of the above hunts. But in a couple years (11 points) Archery, I would be putting in for the Monroe. My only reason is we are 3 for 3 on the archery hunt on the monroe, all bulls over 350. (350,360,367). Awesome hunt, with awesome water holes, tons of elk, and good solid shooter bulls. However i think the san juan and pahvant hold bigger bulls, they are a lot tougher hunts as well.

 

[Elkhunter96]

I did the archery book cliffs bitter creek archery hunt this year. It was fun, but hard as well. The bulls did not start bugling really good until the last week of the hunt. I took a nice bull, but I know of a few hunters that didnt. My buddy had a similar experience on the Wasatch, he tagged out with a beauty, but his brother didnt.

For me, the archery hunts go like this:

San Juan
Pahvant
Beaver
Book Cliffs Roadless
Monroe
Book Cliffs Bitter Creek
Wasatch
etc.