Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting My thoughts about hunting the Paunsaugunt (UT)

I have not yet drawn this tag but for 3 of the last 4 years I have tagged along with friends to offer help etc.

This year a co-worker drew the tag. He didn't have anyone to go with so I offered to tag along for opening weekend.

We saw some okay bucks but not the heavy horned monster you hold out for if you draw the tag. I left Sunday evening to get back to work. The plan was, he was going to stay down there alone and hunt until this weekend. I text him a Monday to see how he is doing. He tells me he is calling it quits and is headed home. I tried to explain to him when he drew this tag that the biggest challenge of this hunt is having the mental wear with-all and commitment to try and find the bucks. Of course that is the main challenge of all hunts but what I have witnessed among folks that draw this tag is that if they haven't seen a toad of a buck akin to what is on the cover of Muley Crazy mag within two days or so, they estimate that they must have "missed the mass migration" OR better yet, "they havent started moving down yet".

In my opinion hunting this beautiful area is every bit as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge.

I am a little frustrated with this co-worker for giving up on such a difficult tag when there are so many others that would have busted tail to harvest. And yes, there are still big bucks down here.

Anyone else have similar experience hunting this area?

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Its the same all over in many of Utahs deer and elk units. Guys sincerely think all they need to do is draw the tag, and everything will fall into place.

To add to their mentality is they have friends,co-workers and such telling them that they are an idiot if they cant kill a book buck/bull.

Then they get there and discover that holy chit, this is a hunt! Didnt even see a 190 30" on the drive in! A few days later panic sets in, some give up and go home,some shoot a buck they could have on a general tag, all claim it was an off year..Moon,weather or a guide screwed them..The truth is, its a [bleep] hunt not a slam dunk.

A few years ago I had a friend of a friend that drew a henrys tag, he was so sure he'd kill a 230" buck that he turned down my friends and myselfs help, even tho we know the unit pretty well..He got frustrated on about day four and came home! I couldnt even wrap my mind around that one.

My thoughts always evolve around .... It's hard to kill a buck/bull while sitting on the couch. It generally comes down to a mental game.

I don't understand the logic of quitting early either, whether UT or wherever. I once hunted with my buddy Big Al for 8 straight days in the TX sandhills, only seeing a couple of small bucks during that time. In the middle of the afternoon on the 8th day I managed to kill a 34", 190" muley buck. I usually hunt all day, every day (9 day season), until time runs out or I get lucky and kill one.

Concur! Too many think it's like a hunting show filmed at DL&L.

FWIW, a co-worker drew the Pauns tag a few years back and shot forked horn on the first day! Only day his young son was gonna be with him. Not sure that's what I would've done, but it was his tag and he was happy.

Utards ruined Utah hunting.

This could very well be the case...LOL

Yeah I have heard of this as well.

I will add that I have noticed the older/more responsibilities I get, the harder it seems to stay in the game mentally on a big hunt. I usually acknowledge that if I am going on a hunt and will be gone in the neighborhood of a week, I plan on hitting a wall mentally but commit to pushing through it and harvesting the rewards.

I explained this concept to my buddy who is an excellent hunter in many ways and he flat laughed out loud in disagreement...I guess its different for everybody.LOL

I have always felt that the mental aspect of hunting isn't emphasized enough.

The Paunsagaunt isn't easy. The area l hu nted had big sage and thick PJ forest and it took a lot of patient glassing to turn up a buck. Plus l hunted the pre rut and bucks seemed to still be on the "feed source to bedding area" pattern. Mix this with the tendency of BIG bucks to be back near bedding areas by first light ( and spend the day there lying down) and its obvious you are going to spend the bulk of your hunt looking for bucks bedded in heavy cover. They have little incentive to move.

Aside from that it takes some time for an aspiring trophy mule deer hunter to figure out a couple of things. First is that a 190-200 class mule deer iis a different animal from a 150-170 class buck. He is older, smarter, less inclined to panic than smaller bucks, uses them as decoys, loves heavy cover and will bed where he cannot be seen easily . He may be the wests smartest big game.

Second is that he is very hard to find and kill...anywhere...not just on the Paunsegaunt...but about anywhere. He may come easier where hunting pressure is lighter like central Canada; but in the Paunsegaunt there is always someone peeping at them and the bucks sre people smart.

I always felt that if l wanted to kill a big bucknin an area l had to devote 3or more seasons to it just to raise odds of success for myself. This is hard in an area you draw once or twice a lifetime. But anyone who thinks a special draw unit is a guarantee to a truly big buck has not hunted big mile deer m ucj. Putting big racks on the wall takes years of dedication and experience....unless you get very lucky...on the Paunsegaunt oranywhere else.

Anyone l know who has killed numbers of big mule deer bucks have all burned a lot of tags.

The five-day general seasons, if still in place, don't help either. Too many UT residents don't think they can hunt longer than that...