Hackleback
WKR
Preface
This is a really long read, about 7,000 words, you have ben warned! Thank you to those of you that provided help on this hunt. Several members provided location information that proved to be correct and extremely useful to the success of my hunt. I was able to harvest about 300 yards from one of these provided points. Contrary to what you may hear, there are still respectable bulls to be found in the Wasatch unit- you are going to work for them though.
Also, resident Utah hunters, please get your fellow hunters to pick up their trash, I picked up multiple water bottles, Twisted Tea, and Michelob Ultra cans. Hang onto your trash and dispose of it at the gas station if you don’t want to take them home- just don’t be a slob.
To appease the powers that be, I will refrain (or attempt to) from identifying specific locations and will speak in generalities. For those of you that are familiar with the area, and those that want to do a bit of sleuthing, you should be able to figure out where I am.
Applying as a NR in Utah started over 20 years ago when I got bit by the sheep bug. I had a young family and not much in the way of money and Utah allowed me to apply for not much, though even then, the draw odds were poor. Then about 15 years ago, things changed, and UT allowed NR’s to apply for multiple OIL and limited tags. I started to apply for everything, mostly the top tier units. This year I was tired of not drawing anything over all these years so I did a bit more research and changed my approach a bit. The Limited ML bull elk tag for the Wasatch unit had good success rates and better draw odds so I put in, with a rather low expectation of a “successful” draw result.
This ended up being a solo hunt, as my brother, my usual hunting partner had other obligations to attend (plus a vet emergency with one of his dogs). I had waited a long time for the tag and had the leave, so I went for it. It was an experience/adventure soon not to be forgotten and learned a lot as we often do with these types of activities.
Cell service is highly variable in the unit, but if you are on a high point, you are able to text and sometimes make good quality calls. Since I was solo, I activated my InReach that had been sitting in my safe for a couple years. InReach works well but can be slow to send or receive and you are limited to 160 characters per message, both incoming and outgoing, so sometimes the second half of a message arrives before the first. I had daily communication with my brother and other family members making the long solo days a bit better.
This is a really long read, about 7,000 words, you have ben warned! Thank you to those of you that provided help on this hunt. Several members provided location information that proved to be correct and extremely useful to the success of my hunt. I was able to harvest about 300 yards from one of these provided points. Contrary to what you may hear, there are still respectable bulls to be found in the Wasatch unit- you are going to work for them though.
Also, resident Utah hunters, please get your fellow hunters to pick up their trash, I picked up multiple water bottles, Twisted Tea, and Michelob Ultra cans. Hang onto your trash and dispose of it at the gas station if you don’t want to take them home- just don’t be a slob.
To appease the powers that be, I will refrain (or attempt to) from identifying specific locations and will speak in generalities. For those of you that are familiar with the area, and those that want to do a bit of sleuthing, you should be able to figure out where I am.
Applying as a NR in Utah started over 20 years ago when I got bit by the sheep bug. I had a young family and not much in the way of money and Utah allowed me to apply for not much, though even then, the draw odds were poor. Then about 15 years ago, things changed, and UT allowed NR’s to apply for multiple OIL and limited tags. I started to apply for everything, mostly the top tier units. This year I was tired of not drawing anything over all these years so I did a bit more research and changed my approach a bit. The Limited ML bull elk tag for the Wasatch unit had good success rates and better draw odds so I put in, with a rather low expectation of a “successful” draw result.
This ended up being a solo hunt, as my brother, my usual hunting partner had other obligations to attend (plus a vet emergency with one of his dogs). I had waited a long time for the tag and had the leave, so I went for it. It was an experience/adventure soon not to be forgotten and learned a lot as we often do with these types of activities.
Cell service is highly variable in the unit, but if you are on a high point, you are able to text and sometimes make good quality calls. Since I was solo, I activated my InReach that had been sitting in my safe for a couple years. InReach works well but can be slow to send or receive and you are limited to 160 characters per message, both incoming and outgoing, so sometimes the second half of a message arrives before the first. I had daily communication with my brother and other family members making the long solo days a bit better.