I prefer not to hunt alone, but I do because it can be difficult planning ahead and sharing the same goals with everyone.
That being said, I've got a couple really good hunting partners.
One is my landlord/friend. We met when I moved to Colorado and moved into his place. He's a pretty serious hunter, but has a lot of demands on his time. Plus his wife can be extremely resentful if he has a lot of hunts back to back. I've helped him out on several hunts where I tagged along just because I wanted to, including a mountain goat hunt and a late bull elk hunt. He rarely hunts out of state, with the exception of Wyoming antelope. So, in this case the favor is not returned, but it doesn't bother me.
Another is a friend I met through a volunteer program (I'll second the notion that you can meet like minded folks in like minded organizations, like RMEF or MDF or similar). He does tag along on some of my other hunts, even when he doesn't have a license, just to scout it out for his future use. I've done the same for him, like when he drew a New Mexico elk tag a couple of years ago. He's married, but has no kids, so is quite a bit more flexible with his time. His wife is also much less resentful of his hunting time.
However, his main interest is really only elk and antelope. He doesn't care much about mule deer, which is too bad, because I'd like to do other out of state hunts with him. We are both accumulating elk points in Utah and Wyoming, but I'm also working the deer angle there and will likely be hunting those alone.
Lastly, I have my girlfriend. She enjoys hunting, but it isn't the most important thing in her life. Still, it's good to have her along, as long as we don't rough it too much. She wouldn't be the type to drop everything and tag along on an out of state adventure, unless it was to Alaska, which is where she's from.
I've got other friends that I hunt with, but there's a lot more teeth pulling involved with getting them to tag along on my hunts. It's never me joining them on their hunts because they mostly don't hunt without me.
Hopefully you'll obtain a mule deer permit in Utah in the near future. There's some really nice bucks in several areas of the state. The extreme southwest corner and the central part of the state has some dandies. The east central region that spills over into your home state has a lot of nice looking bucks and it's a special place to hunt because of the aesthetic value. Best wishes on the eventual Utah deer hunt.
