Kamas Scouting

[Wmac333]

I am going to apply for an archery deer tag in Kamas this year, I will have a chance to get boots on the ground this summer and have done my research, I have some areas narrowed down. My scouting trip will be a family camping trip as well. I am looking to camp near Smith and Morehouse reservoir and explore the rest of the unit from there. There is a forest service road called Red Pine Road, which is just before the upper campground at the reservoir. I am looking to see if anyone has experience in this area.... looks like there might be a few camp spots up that road -- Id like to be outside of a regular campground.

We have a new born so I will be towing my 23' toy hauler, hoping someone has some insight on the condition of this road.
I take my rig into some rather rough terrain here in CO, well equipped with chains and all if needed.

 

[nobody]

I am going to apply for an archery deer tag in Kamas this year, I will have a chance to get boots on the ground this summer and have done my research, I have some areas narrowed down. My scouting trip will be a family camping trip as well. I am looking to camp near Smith and Morehouse reservoir and explore the rest of the unit from there. There is a forest service road called Red Pine Road, which is just before the upper campground at the reservoir. I am looking to see if anyone has experience in this area.... looks like there might be a few camp spots up that road -- Id like to be outside of a regular campground.

We have a new born so I will be towing my 23' toy hauler, hoping someone has some insight on the condition of this road.
I take my rig into some rather rough terrain here in CO, well equipped with chains and all if needed.

I spent some time in this unit with a good friend this last year, and I'll tell you this much, there's about 28 other units I would apply for from out of state before I applied for Kamas (there's 29 total general deer units in Utah). Even as a resident, I wouldn't ever apply for it. We saw 1 buck in 23 days of hunting up there, and it was a dead 2 point on the back of an old man's fourwheeler that he shot from his camper. Everyone else we talked to said the same thing, very very few deer in general. It was a rough year for sure. And it's not like we didn't work for it. We hiked MILES every time we went in there. We saw more elk sign than deer, and the Kamas unit has the smallest established elk herd in the entire state, if that tells you anything. I did speak with a biologist about it, and he told me that the Kamas deer herd is the smallest and unhealthiest it has been in years. May wanna rethink the plan, just saying...

 

[Wmac333]

Good information, I appreciate your insight!

 

[unclericco]

I think this is probably true for almost all of the units in Utah recently. I hunted the Beaver and also the Pine Valley units the last 7-8 years and the number of deer in both was absolutely abysmal. Consequentially, I decided after the last Utah deer tag I drew, that I won't be applying for deer again in Utah. I grew up there and the deer hunting used to be fantastic, not so much the past 25 years or so.

 

[sneaky]

The best deer hunting in Kamas is going to be on private ground. Winter kills in the not so distant past have really hammered deer numbers in that unit.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Flatlander5]

Ive hunted the unit and personally I think you'd be better off camping on the Mirror lake side vs Smith and Morehouse. There are a lot more camping options and more sxs trails to access more land.