[brendo]

In light of the recent discussion over splitting the Manti unit I would be interested in learning what part of the unit you hunt. So do you hunt north or sr31, south of sr31 or the san rafael. Im more interested in the general deer season areas since that is what they are considering.

 

[utahgolf]

is this so you know where to focus your efforts during the hunt? if so, I hunt all 3 and they are equally as good

 

[brendo]

is this so you know where to focus your efforts during the hunt? if so, I hunt all 3 and they are equally as good

haha nope I have my spots and I have put in plenty of hours and time to find them. they are all in the northern part of the unit. I was just asking out of curiosity. I am very interested to see how many people hunt the san rafael though.

 

[KineKilla]

I have been hunting on the southern end for 3 years now. Made the switch from hunting private ground in the Ogden area.

I plan on continuing to hunt this same area for the foreseeable future.

 

[WillowCreekMan]

I have hunted the southern end of the Manti since the early 70's. I have seen all kinds of changes to this unit. I have never understood why the San rafael is included now. I can say that the overall numbers of deer and buck to doe ratio has been steadily improving since the lean years of about 10 years ago.

 

[derekp1999]

My first experience with hunting the Manti was last year for elk. We spent most of our time in the central part of the unit and I can tell you now that I would not waste my time with a deer tag in that area.

 

[mikevanwilder]

I hunt all 3 areas. I see no reason to separate the San Rafael from the Manti, the deer population is so low it wouldn't make since to have it as a unit by itself. Don't get me wrong there are deer there and big ones at that but not enough.
I don't want a split at all and don't understand why the want to. I have areas both on the north end and south end.
Apparently the 30 some odd units is not enough.:roll::roll:

 

[polarbear]

haha nope I have my spots and I have put in plenty of hours and time to find them. they are all in the northern part of the unit. I was just asking out of curiosity. I am very interested to see how many people hunt the san rafael though.

Most people that hunt the San Rafael are local guys hunting the agricultural land around town. To really hunt the desert, you've got to have A LOT of local knowledge, determination, some stupidity, and a lot of boot leather... but you can kill a gnarly old bruiser if you're lucky. Pretty much, you've got to just cut tracks and run them down. I muzzy hunted it in 2013. Had a couple chances but couldn't get close enough. After I got sufficiently worn out, I finally went up on the mountain and ended my hunt in 30 minutes. I wish I would have stuck with it and killed one on the SR though.... just to say I did.

 

[polarbear]

I hunt all 3 areas. I see no reason to separate the San Rafael from the Manti, the deer population is so low it wouldn't make since to have it as a unit by itself. Don't get me wrong there are deer there and big ones at that but not enough.
I don't want a split at all and don't understand why the want to. I have areas both on the north end and south end.
Apparently the 30 some odd units is not enough.:roll::roll:

I'm with you Mike. Genetically, it's the same deer herd and not enough to matter. The vast majority of deer are within a couple miles of HWY 10 on private property. If they split it off, how many tags would they issue? 100? 200? It would just be another Chalk Creek where everything with deer on it is private, so everybody piles up on the public and kills the handful of bucks that are out there. Meanwhile, local landowners can't draw a tag for their own hay field. My vote is keep it the way it is.

 

[Kwalk3]

My first experience with hunting the Manti was last year for elk. We spent most of our time in the central part of the unit and I can tell you now that I would not waste my time with a deer tag in that area.

Your loss.......our gain. I love hunting deer on the Manti.

 

[derekp1999]

Your loss.......our gain. I love hunting deer on the Manti.

Good for you... I love hunting deer somewhere else.

 

[400BULL]

How about adding an option for both north and south. I regularly hunt areas from Joes Vally Res to Highway 6.

 

[Kwalk3]

Good for you... I love hunting deer somewhere else.

Wasn't trying to come off so snarky. My bad. I just haven't seen anything that would make me say that I wouldn't "waste my time hunting deer in that area." There is some great opportunity for deer on the unit, including some really big bucks. I'm sure the area you hunt is great as well.

 

[mikevanwilder]

Most people that hunt the San Rafael are local guys hunting the agricultural land around town. To really hunt the desert, you've got to have A LOT of local knowledge, determination, some stupidity, and a lot of boot leather... but you can kill a gnarly old bruiser if you're lucky. Pretty much, you've got to just cut tracks and run them down. I muzzy hunted it in 2013. Had a couple chances but couldn't get close enough. After I got sufficiently worn out, I finally went up on the mountain and ended my hunt in 30 minutes. I wish I would have stuck with it and killed one on the SR though.... just to say I did.

Hunting the San Rafael for deer is a chore. Like you said you have to cut a track and then you follow that track for miles. My wife's family hunts it every year, muzzy and rifle and they know how to do it better then anyone. They will kill maybe one deer between the 8 of the tag holders a year. And that one deer will be the only deer they will see.
Cedar mtn has some good bucks on it but for the life of me I can't find them when I'm hunting them. Only when the rut is going on.
Still the Manti holds some nice bucks but it's such an easy access unit you really have to get out and hike to find them.

 

[Critter]

I agree that the San Rafael can be a bugger to hunt and a few of the old hunters that I know that hunt it usually only bag 1 deer every couple of years but that one deer is a good one. I have hunted it a few times and have found that the key is knowing where the water is on Cedar Mountain. There are a few springs on that hill that you have to do some good hiking to find.

Or you can hunt the river bottoms and get lucky.