[BigT]

This is a tough hunt. Tons of deer down there and you are going to see some world class deer rutting. As others have mentioned, talk to the biologist. I'd consider going down and scouting a little around UEA weekend in October before the rifle deer hunt starts. Scout around the Glendale Bench Road down to Johnson Canyon and HWY 89. Not necessarily to scout for hunting that area, but to see the deer that will have migrated south toward Kanab.

When the hunt starts in November, the deer aren't likely to be up as high as the Glendale Bench Road as they will have been migrating south. When my dad had this tag, we saw a lot of deer but not as many as we needed to. If you can get a hold of the biologist, they may have some landowners who are willing to allow you onto their property up Johnson Canyon. Tons of deer in those meadows up the canyon there. This is where we saw all the cactus bucks that we saw. We spent a lot of time on 89 east of Johnson Canyon. Plenty of public ground and roads to access. Tons of deer, just didn't cross the path of a cactus buck while out that way. Honestly, while we saw a lot of deer, we probably needed to be out more time glassing to try and turn up more deer.

Good luck! Personally, I am not a fan of this hunt. My opinion is that if they are such an issue in the area, then have the biologist shoot them when they see them and donate the meat. But I guess that's probably just me.

 

[BigT]

BigT,
Why in the world would you want to take away this hunt opportunity?
If someone wants to burn up their points on this hunt and leave the other tags open to other hunters why would you not be a fan of that?
Biologist shoot them instead of a legit hunter who wants to pay to hunt?
If you are not a fan, just don’t do it.

Mr Shane I woudn't put in for that hunt. Not only that, but why in the world can someone not have an opinion here. My dad had this tag. It was the very first year of it. And in the words of the now departed biologist, the real draw of this hunt was to be down there and witness the rut while hunting deer. Well guess what? I can do that every year! I can go there every year and watch the rut through optics and from most roads. The biologist said himself he would not invest more than a couple points into this hunt... The biologist said if you see a cactus buck, no matter the buck, don't pass it thinking there's going to be a better buck. I've seen quite a few cactus bucks over the years, but I've not seen more than one or two in all those years that I would consider worthwhile to invest points, and a 5-year waiting limit on! I visited with a few members of the wildlife board that year that had the very same opinion as the biologist, and me. The real issue at hand is that there's a log jam of people with points, and point creep just keeps getting worse. So add said hunt, and some who get tired of the game put in for these types of hunts. Takes 30-40 people out of the system. Not many, but it's some. Good for them. This is not a limited entry type hunt. This is a low grade management hunt while seeing really cool country and some big bucks you can't shoot type hunt.

You are more than welcome to have your opinion, and I don't care that you disagree. Every person can choose for themselves on this issue. I don't have to like it. I don't have to believe it's a good use of points.

Good luck to the OP. I gave him some information about the hunt. Hope it turns out ok for the OP.

 

[BigT]

BigT,
Why in the world would you want to take away this hunt opportunity?
If someone wants to burn up their points on this hunt and leave the other tags open to other hunters why would you not be a fan of that?
Biologist shoot them instead of a legit hunter who wants to pay to hunt?
If you are not a fan, just don’t do it.

Having said all that above, I can't argue that we didn't have a really fun time. Me, a brother and my dad down there seeing some beautiful country. A lot of awesome bucks, finding petrified trees, hunting coyotes, etc. Ultimately, my dad had a really good time. But he was disappointed in the end with the deer hunting... Not the overall experience. He did have an opportunity at a harvest but decided not to pull the trigger at a buck that appeared to have deflated antlers now forming a type of hat or toupee.

The issue was with him. He didn't understand what a cactus buck was. He thought it was a deer with lots of trash cuz you know most rifle hunters would pass said buck! Tried to explain to him that it was in fact a stag, or a "mongoid" buck. With his 12-points, the biologist actually urged him to surrender it and put in for the management hunt the following year. But it was his decision to keep it. We had fun as mentioned above.. No question there.

 

[BigT]

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, and it sounded like you were advocating to have a hunt that actually helps lower point creep removed from the system.
I guess that is what stung me a little, sorry if I offended you.
I wish there were more hunts like this, more guys cashing in their points help all of us by not only providing more opportunities for all but for hunters to also get back in to the system to draw a third/fourth/fifth LE tag in their lifetimes.
Currently the system is lop-sided to the ‘point holder crowd’, I sure would like to see that todder over to the ‘goin’ huntin’ crowd’ is all.
Hunts like the Cactus hunt help achieve this.
Just my opinion.

No I think it's a good thing to relieve the points out of the system. There's a lot ways they are doing this now with the late season muzzle load hunts on the general season units. I can't speak for all of the units, but the late season muzzle load hunt my 14-year old drew last year as an LE hunt was a cool experience. I think things like this help the point log jam more than anything. The CWMU system does help in that regard, but the issue there is the hunter can't scout the unit and it can be challenging to the hunter to figure everything out in five days. Not to mention that it's limited on who can come with you.