Just found out that I drew a muzzy tag on this unit. I am a resident of Utah and have 13 years invested in trying to draw a tag. Just starting to do some research and will be doing some scouting this summer. The muzzy hunt starts September 26.
Looking for any advice on where to look, camp , tactics ect. Thanks
I hunted the Paunsagunt twice, and I took a 30" buck that scored 183. Since this tag is very likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime hunt, I think you should consider getting a guide, even though you're a Utah resident.
I hunted with Jeff Johnson out of Kanab. He owns around 3000 acres of irrigated land on Skutumpah(sp?) Creek and leases many more acres of surrounding BLM land. He isn't an outfitter per se, but he has lived and hunted there all his life. A more capable or honorable man you won't find.
If you decide to go with a guide, contact Ryan Hatch out of Kanab (Monster Muley's). He'll put you in touch with people who know that unit like the back of their hand.
Sure, he charges. And he also feeds you and provides horses, tack, and guiding expertise based on his entire life living and hunting there. But he belongs to no guide association nor holds any guiding license, at least that I'm aware of. He does no advertising, has no website, attends no hunting shows, either. I know of no booking agents that send him hunters. His assistant guides were his two sons, Travis and Tyson. I slept on a cot in the tack room and ate at the dinner table the food that Jeff himself cooked up.
So, I guess you could call him an outfitter......per se.
Unless it's landlocked, it's not possible to restrict hunting on the BLM lands he "leases"...FWIW.
He leases the BLM land for grazing and water conservation, not for hunting. I should have been more clear....my bad.
But all of his gates were closed (but not locked), and I suppose any other hunters who were intimately familiar with the area could have gone in there with horses or 4x4s. The only other hunters we saw were on the roads, not on the land.
Unless it's landlocked, it's not possible to restrict hunting on the BLM lands he "leases"...FWIW.
He leases the BLM land for grazing and water conservation, not for hunting. I should have been more clear....my bad.
But all of his gates were closed (but not locked), and I suppose any other hunters who were intimately familiar with the area could have gone in there with horses or 4x4s. The only other hunters we saw were on the roads, not on the land.
I figured as such. I just wanted to make it clear that one can't lease hunting for BLM lands. If it's on a public road on BLM he can't lock the gate even if he wanted to.
I sure hope for his sake he is a licensed outfitter. UT recently changed the laws regarding the requirements and from your description of what he does he would need a license with the state. Similarly, he would need a permit from the BLM to conduct outfitting/guiding opportunities on BLM lands. FWIW...
The public land hunting has really stunk the last few years, due to extreme poaching and predators. I concur with the others, get on some private land and work out a deal with land owners or outfitters. It truly is a once in a lifetime hunt. Get your butt in shape and if you don't use premium binos now, get some and learn how to live behind them and use them constantly. The best bucks are coming off of the Heaton Ranch down there.
Don't expect a slam dunk easy hunt, even with an outfitter. You will hunt your butt off for a nice buck. Flinch
Flinch Outdoor Gear broadhead extractor. The best device for pulling your head out.
Ryan Hatch down there keeps getting himself in trouble with the law, due to some shady hunting practices. If you go with him, be prepared to get harassed by the law.
Flinch, by saying that Ryan "keeps getting himself in trouble with the law" are you referring to the incident that happened in 1997 where the federal government spent millions of dollars on a case dubbed "Operation Navajo Buck", that named quite a few hunters and got Ryan for not having his $10 companion permit on the Navajo Nation? I'm guessing that this must be what your talking about seeing as to how Ryan hasnt been in trouble with the law since then. You've posted misinformation before but this takes the cake.
I have hunted with Ryan in the past and was with them on the hunt for "Sampson" and can tell you that he will not bend a law at all! He knows that he has a target on his back and he goes above and beyond to be 100% legal. This has been my real life experience with the man and of all the hours I've spent in the field with him I have NEVER seen a Game Warden, much less been "harassed by the law". What a joke!
I would have loved to post the name of the guy you need to call but I sent it via PM for fear that Flinch might get his "facts" mixed up and accuse him of being a serial law breaker.
Best of luck on your hunt and whichever route you decide to take I sincerely hope you have the hunt of a lifetime.
Christensen Arms sponsors my friend and they took him and I on a Pauns hunt 2 years ago. We had a blast! Here is a video promo of that hunt
If you decide to go with a guide, contact Ryan Hatch out of Kanab (Monster Muley's). He'll put you in touch with people who know that unit like the back of their hand.
That should actually read Muley Crazy, not Monster Muley's.
Exactly WHAT facts do you think I have wrong in my other posts?
You fail to recall the issue a couple of years ago with Ryan flying around in a paraplane, locating bucks and taking his clients to them or "herding" the bucks to his clients? He can no longer own one or be in one. Flinch
Flinch Outdoor Gear broadhead extractor. The best device for pulling your head out.
Exactly WHAT facts do you think I have wrong in my other posts?
You fail to recall the issue a couple of years ago with Ryan flying around in a paraplane, locating bucks and taking his clients to them or "herding" the bucks to his clients? He can no longer own one or be in one. Flinch
So your telling me that 2 years ago Ryan was caught "herding" bucks to his clients in a chute plane and all they did was take away his chute plane? Did they take away his TV time and make him eat all of his vegetables too? LMAO! Your an idiot. If Ryan had done that 2 years ago it would have been huge news. That didnt happen Flinch and I beg you to produce anything to the contrary.
Seriously, Flinch, if your going to make accusations like that on a public message board you better be 100% positive that your correct. When I took Ray Atkinson to task I was 100% POSITIVE that I was right and he was wrong. I did not want to open myself up to a defamation suit
As for your other false statements, here are a couple about Antelope Island and the Kennecott Mine
Originally Posted by Flinch
Contrary to what you might think, they are WILD and wary on there. It isn't a "fish in a barrel" hunt...and it will be a hunt. They won't let a pile of guides on there to "guide" the hunter. It is highly regulated. There are other critters hunted on there and the game doesn't like people.
The most "difficult" aspect of this hunt will be picking out the deer you want to kill. If you compare the deer on the island to other bucks of the same age in heavily hunted areas your comparing apples to oranges
Originally Posted by Flinch
There isn't ONE person here that would turn down the tag if given to them, nor if they got it for a reasonable price. It is an amazing sanctuary and you will see more and more hunting on there.
Not one? I'm not trying to be argumentative in any way, shape or form but an Antelope Island tag wouldn't interest me at all and I am absolutely addicted to big mule deer. Arizona Strip or Henries Mountain and I'd take as many tags as I could get
Originally Posted by Flinch
Same with the land around Kennecott Copper Mine. They gave a tag to an employee last fall for the first time. They had a company drawing for it. If I remember right, it was a 38" 7x9 buck. Flinch
Employees of the mine have been given tags for over a decade now. They give employees multiple tags a year. No employee killed a buck this year like the one you described.
Flinch, your "that guy", you hear rumors, accept them as fact and you run your mouth. You think you know a lot about everything but really dont know crap about anything. I've seen your kind in and around hunting camps for YEARS. You talk a big game but when it gets down to the nut cutting you'll be the douche bag that brings in a spike bull on a LE elk unit and then make excuses for doing so
You wouldn't take an Antelope Island tag? Uh hu...sure...you are addicted to mule deer, but would turn down a tag....right. You are one in a billion that wouldn't take the tag. I guess I was wrong and I admit it. There is "one" person in the world that wouldn't take the tag
You don't think the Henry's would be an easy hunt? Have you spent time down there hunting? I have some video you might enjoy from the Henry's that I actually took myself. It IS shooting fish in a barrel. I had more fun down there chasing big mule deer, which were EVERYWHERE, than I did chasing the buffalo I was after.
When my buddy talked to Ryan on the phone (I was with him), he said he had some issues with the law and his chute plane practices. He said the fish cops were always bugging him. Hmm...I wonder why? I don't know what happened, nor do I care. Why again does he have a target on his back, if he is so squeaky clean? I like the guy and have NO beef with him at all. I would hire him in a second. He is a great guy, but WELL known by law enforcement and die hard muley hunters. And he does get checked and followed by law enforcement frequently. He will tell you that himself. If the original OP was with Ryan, he would more than likely get checked often and thoroughly as well. That is all I was saying. I wasn't defaming him, just giving the original OP some insight.
Everyone that knows Ryan KNOWS he hasn't been squeaky clean all his life? I could care less, unless he was a hard core poacher, like Darner. Again, he is a great guy and I admire his acheivements. I would hunt with him in a second, regardless if I was checked by the game wardens a lot or not. I would expect it in such a unit. I got checked several times. Flinch
Flinch Outdoor Gear broadhead extractor. The best device for pulling your head out.
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