We were less than 300 yards from camp when my buddy Brad stopped.
“There’s gold in there,” he whispered as he grabbed the bino and pointed it uphill. “That’s just a huge two points.”
But over Brad’s shoulder, less than 70 yards away, he saw another deer with its head down feeding.
I replied as I shot the arrow. “How about the other one?”
At that moment the two males trotted downhill to join the second male and both slipped into the timber below us. So we carefully walked up to where we expected the deer to go and within minutes had the deer on the move. This time they spotted us too, although they were only 40 yards away. Their ears and eyes were directed toward us, and their front legs were fixed straight up. I found “other bucks” to be a nice 4 point. Probably a 150 class deer still wearing velvet. When the 2-point bounced a few yards back, I went for a full draw, hoping the commotion would distract me from my movements.
We spent a full 15 minutes hunting with an easy-to-draw unit on the first day of Utah’s typical archery mule deer season in a popular national forest not far from Salt Lake City. All you need is a window in the pine trees for your arrow to pass through and your mule deer hunting dreams will become a reality.
If you’re an Eastern whitetail hunter like me, it’s easy to form grandiose ideas about Western hunting. After all, Americans tend to fantasize about great adventures in the West. When those fantasies are combined with endless podcast episodes and social media posts about how awesome it is to hunt elk, antelope, and mule deer, you have a potent cocktail.
However, a more sober look at DIY hunting in the West reveals that it’s not always fun or as easy as it seems. Here’s why:
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The success rate for many units is extremely low.
This 4-point buck never got out and two bucks ended up running into the woods. Later that afternoon, while trying to sneak into the ambush site, I knocked another buck off his bed, an even bigger buck. I knew that they were likely the only real chances I had, at least from a statistical standpoint, so losing both chances really hurt.
The unit’s archery hunters had a success rate of 4.2 percent last season. If you’re hunting in public during the general season in the West, the odds are probably against you. For example, in Colorado (the state with the largest elk herd), the average success rate for all units and all capture methods was 16% in 2023.
This is not to say that out-of-state people cannot have consistent success while searching public lands in the West. It’s just that the majority of us end up eating the expensive non-resident tag.
Also, keep in mind that game density varies greatly by region. In 2022, much of the West experienced a harsh winter that took a toll on mule deer, elk, and antelope populations. Many units even closed hunting opportunities in 2023. It will take years for hunting numbers in these areas to recover. In the unit I was hunting with, the mule deer population goal was 25,000. Current population estimates are only half that number.
You’ll have to deal with the pressure of hunting (and partying)
When we arrived at the National Forest campground the afternoon before the opener, we were a little surprised to see a group of RVs and campers spread out in the area. I believe it was the night before the opening, and the place had the feel of a popular campground during the Fourth of July weekend. There were kids riding around on four-wheelers and brothers unloading dirt bikes. There were also platoons of hunters scattered about, geared up and throwing arrows at targets (the sound of errant arrows hitting rocks added to the atmosphere).
Brad could tell I was skeptical of the situation.
“It’s like this every weekend,” he reassured me. “The deer are used to it. Some hunters in this unit leave their hunting clothes in the smoke because the deer are used to the smell of campfires.”
And Brad was right. On our first night of scouting, we saw several deer, including a shot deer, not far from camp. A man passed us on a four-wheeler, looked into our optics, and shouted over the sound of the engine. “I just saw two big bucks running across the road over there. They almost hit me!”
Public lands in the West are used especially early in the hunting season when the weather is still favorable. No matter where you go, expect to encounter hikers, trail riders, campers, and other hunters. But don’t be discouraged if you meet these people. One of the challenges is finding a way around them. Animals figured out how to live around them.
One night I was extra cautious and snuck into what I thought was an expensive bedding place. As the sun began to set behind the mountains and things started to fall into place, I heard a man yell, “Whoa! Whoa!” From across the stream bed. When he screamed again, I thought he was on the dirt bike trail about 600 yards away. Just to be sure, he yelled two more times before moving on to crushing a beer can with his forehead and other things such people do for fun.
“Every weekend is like this,” I said to myself as I waited silently for prime time. But the gold did not appear, so I walked back to camp in the dark.
Simply hiking farther may not help
If you’re reading this and thinking, buddy, I need to keep hammering and dig deeper, I’d argue that you’re glad you’re listening to a hunting podcast. But it’s more complicated than that.
Indeed, in some cases, simply hiking deep into nature can alleviate hunting pressure. But these days, thanks to onX, anyone can find and access the same backcountry meadows, saddles, and springs as themselves. When it comes to digital scouting, there’s no better secret.
Many of the locals who have been hunting these wilderness areas for decades own horses and ride their horses into places where the flounder’s legs will shake. Additionally, a younger generation of serious homegrown hunters in the West seem willing to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death if they can find a big mule deer buck on the other side. Many of these young guns have been building structure throughout their lives to give them the best chance of hunting mature bucks and bulls in the same areas you plan to hunt.
So don’t expect to find pristine honey holes just because you’re far from the trailhead. No matter how far you plan to hike, focus your strategy on hunting and avoiding other hunters rather than running away from pressure completely. That probably won’t happen.
Hunters who are consistently successful spend a lot of time on it
The key to successful DIY western hunting isn’t as much fun as posting on social media. It takes knowledge gained over many years. That knowledge can only be gained through diligent scouting and hard hunting season after season with the same troops.
Cliff Gray, a former equipment salesman and current hunting YouTuber, makes some great points on this subject in the video below. Don’t be fooled by the video title. What Gray is really talking about here is continuous hard hunting over several seasons to find success.
Even influencers who honestly post about DIY Western hunts often get a lot of help from locals and friends who are familiar with the area, or they spend a lot of time in the area themselves. No one should blame them for that, but it’s important to know that you can’t just drop into a generic unit and expect it to hunt great. Hunting with limited entry units can be even more difficult. For long-term success, it’s usually a good idea to choose a unit that you can draw every year (or every few years) so you can study it over time. Choose wisely and hunt hard, and before long you’ll start killing bucks and bulls.
My friend Brad uses this strategy himself. After giving up on his previous deer unit due to hunting pressure, he opted for a three-year, $2-kill unit and a tag program. This first hunt was essentially an initial investment in gaining knowledge for future seasons. Nonresident hunters should make similar multi-year plans for hunting in the West.
But… there’s still a chance you’ll get lucky.
Still, hope springs eternal in the hearts of Eastern deer hunters. If you have a tag and have time to hunt, there is a chance (albeit small) that you can shoot a slammer bull or buck yourself in a public area.
I witnessed this firsthand several years ago while on a DIY muzzleloader elk hunt in Colorado. One of my cousin’s friends more or less accompanied us on our hunts and ended up killing a bull over 300 inches with a popular unit that was easy to draw at the time. A local taxidermist said the bull was as big as the first one to come out of a public area in years. The boy achieved it purely on his own, having incredible luck and a decent shot.
This may also be your destiny. But even if you don’t, as long as you have the right expectations, you can still have a good time hunting the vast landscapes of the West.
