Big Game Hunting > Out Of State Hunting
Utah Manti/San Rafael area advice
swashington2128:
Hey all, I drew a mule deer tag for the Manti/San Rafael area (1503). First time going to Utah and was wondering if anyone has hunted that area before and could give me some advice about what to expect. I am in fairly good shape but definitely not a marathon runner. I am going with an outfitter so at least getting lost is not an issue.
Anything insight you can give would be awesome.
Thanks,
baldopepper:
I've not hunted that area in years now, but it is a huge unit. Mostly beautiful deer/elk country and it really depends where your outfitter is going out of. Most of that unit is bisected by what used to be called the Skyline Drive-it goes north south right down the heart of the unit with connecting roads coming up virtually every major canyon. Big country with many deep pine/quakie canyons. Text book deer country that has kicked out a lot of huge bucks over the years. Pretty heavily hunted. You'll have a great time.
swashington2128:
Thanks for the info, I am kind of panicking now about my cardio. Gonna be a big challenge to be ready for this one if it is steep as I have heard. My normal hunting is for whitetail on the east side and I climb hills all the time but this sounds like a whole new ball-game.
baldopepper:
I'm sure your outfitter can advise you what kind of country he'll have you in. Going as early as you are I suspect it'll be up in the higher country, so you might want to try to get in some altitude workouts. (I'm guessing you'll be anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000' up) Really that unit has some real variations in landscape. If you up out of Ephriam or Manti it's pretty much alpine areas. If you are going in from further south you could be more in juniper/sagebrush country. Late September down there can be a real mix of weather, even including snow at the higher elevations. Last few years of the ML hunt when I've been down that way we were literally in shorts and t-shirts. If you're outfitter is using horses you won't be needing to worry about getting in that good of condition, but if you're going on foot into some of canyons you better be in shape. We used to hunt elk out of Manti when I was young (and dumb) and I can promise some of those canyons are very, very tough. If you aren't fussy about what you're gonna shoot, you probably won't have to get to down and dirty to get a buck. Hopefully the sheep won't have it grazed down to nothing, that used to be a big problem there in the fall. You found the deer/elk in the few pockets the sheep hadn't eaten down to dust. (herds or 4,000-5,000 sheep aren't uncommon in that area). That area has lots of fond memories for me, but it's been long time since I hunted it. We've moved on down to the LaSalles around Moab now-easier hunting on old bodies! Good Luck.
baldopepper:
Just brought up Skyline Drive-Utah on my computer, has some very nice pictures of what kind of country you'll be in (I also didn't realize it was that high, some parts are 9,000-10,000')