[KEA208]

Greetings All,

We are new to Utah by 5 years and are working to learn the ins and outs of hunting in the territory. We are from PA and used to hunting white tail deer as the big game pick. We have hunted the Stansbury's and Oquirrh's with minimal luck at seeing anything but orange.

This year we drew the Wasatch - West.

From what I have been told and read the front (Route 15 side Salt Lake county) is archery only, so we will need to hunt the east side of the Wasatch or head further south.

I am pretty certain for big ol' bucks its going to be altitude and water and I am guessing for the younger or average deer its water and get off the beaten path.

I have read as many posts as I can but most are pretty dated (2011-2013) and am hoping for some help in pointing us in the correct direction. I am sure no one would want to nor do I expect the info to a sweet spot on top or a honey hole on the bottom, but would anyone be willing to tell us 'where not' to go - to stay away from the masses?

I have a brand new titanium knee which is working awesome - but I am not yet at the point to carry a load up steep terrain to gain altitude :sad:

Any insight would be greatly appreciated

KA

 

[35whelen]

im no expert and have only hunted in utah about a 10 no contiguous years
wasatch west is tough to get away from crowds but it can be done. best advice is to get off the road. it's harder to cover ground on foot but i have had descent luck filling my tags just by getting off the roads. majority of hunters will be zooming up n down the roads. if you can find a good spot the opening morning rush will push the deer alot, and you can use it to your advantage. crowds will thin alot after opening weekend too. get where you want to be before first light opening morning. somewhere with a good vantage. it took me a handful of seasons to figure out places i liked and places with less pressure. i still dont have enough experience to give any great advice but i hope that helps. im sure youll get more helpful advice. the wasatch in the fall are a great place to be though.
i switched to muzzleloader to avoid crowds.
my parents used to live in Shady Grove, PA. i always wanted to go bear hunting there.

 

[35whelen]

welcome to utah and the forum

 

[Dunkem]

welcome!!

 

[brendo]

Water is not as Important as you are making it out to be especially on that unit. Yes, they need water but they get most of it from the dew on the feed they eat. They will usually have a water source that they might hit every couple of days or so but you most likely wont catch them there during shooting hours. I would concentrate your efforts on good vantage points. You can cover lots of ground with your eyes and make a plan based on where you are seeing the deer. For the type of terrain you are limited to with your knee you are going to be hard pressed to find areas without people they give out a lot of tags for the wasatch west. but there are a lot of deer on the unit I helped my brother and his friend on a hunt last year they stayed with his friends family up sheep creek and holy crap there was a ton of people opening weekend. We found a spot a few miles north and a mile or so hike in and hardly saw anyone and got 2 bucks in 2 days. Although there was a ton of people, there was also a lot of people that had success. one of my co workers family hunts the area and they had 7 tags and filled all 7 road hunting. they were all small bucks so if you just want success and some relatively easy terrain it might be worth checking out.

 

[RoosterKiller]

I would try the southeast part of the unit. The Hobble creek area holds lots of deer and the area in general is accessible. You need to get out and scout to find exactley where you need to be on opening day.
Good Luck

 

[mjensen1313]

My son and I hunt above Cascade Springs, near Mill Canyon Spring.

Yes, there are tons of people on opening day, lots of road hunters.

As stated earlier, if you can get off the roads you will be good. Also, if you can wait until everyone drives back down the mountain, last year about 85% of hunters left Saturday night.

We'll be getting up there early on Friday to get a base-camp set, then we'll pack in about a mile off the roads to be ready for the morning rush.

 

[willfish4food]

What part of the unit are you looking to hunt? I've hunted the very south end and could give you some insight for that part of the unit. Shoot me a PM if you're interested.

Also, when you say your knee is not up for packing in steep terrain, what's steep for you? Steep for me is not steep for a lot of other people on this forum.

 

[lunkerjunker]

What part of PA are you from?

 

[KEA208]

Shady Grove. Outstanding. Used to hunt north east of Mont Alto. Thanks for the advise. We are scouting around now

 

[KEA208]

Hi Lunkerjunker

South central PA, York area.