Speaking of big mule deer bucks, positive growth is on the horizon. 7 bucks over the magical 190″ mark, with an average of 6.5 years old was what our deer hunters found in 2012. Thats pretty good considering 2007 winter kill. 2013 looks very good for big mule deer bucks, simply because of the mild winter as far as snow depth and the sheer number of 4-5 year old bucks our hunters passed on. Some of these hunters seen 15-25 140″- 170″ bucks per day in 2012. All across the west was close to the same story. Utah more than ever has started to wake up and see the mule deer NEED to be managed if they are to survive the many variables going against the majestic mule deer. Needless to say the future is looking better for the deer, hope we can keep improving.

     Giant antelope bucks, once they get in your blood… your hooked. Arguably some of the largest antelope bucks in the entire antelope range are harvested by Bucks & Bulls^® clients each year. 2012 was no different and that was following one of the worst droughts in 50 years. Even still 4 out of 10 hunters harvested Boone & Crockett bucks. Amazing is probably the best word to discribe our New Mexico leases for giant antelope bucks. Remember the formula earlier in this report… thats what we strive for. Thanks to our wonderful loyal clients/friends for coming out each year to enjoy the opportunities Bucks & Bulls^® has to offer. We are working hard as always to stay as one of the premier outfitters in the west!

Our elk year was one of the best years in along time, maybe the best ever! Producing two bulls over 400″ B&C, one of those being officially measured at 392 3/8″ net  404″ gross all-time B&C and the other bull a gross 412″ giant. Not offically measured yet the 412″ bull would net both in the typical and non-typical categories all-time. Congratulations go out to Micah Mauney, connecting on a 393″ 5 by 6. Micah has been hunting with Bucks & Bulls for several years and has some great bulls to show for it. One of our leases came in with a 368″ average on 12 bulls harvested. Thats pretty spectacular for elk anywhere in the west. We ran about 95% harvest and 100% opportunity on all of our leases combined. Once again its no seceret to our success, Management is the key. We are crossing our fingers as far as wolves getting to be a problem in our part of the country. As of now we have no reports for sure of wolves being on our ranches.

Mule deer on the other hand was tough through out the west and we were no different. The winter of 2007 still has its effect on our over all age class. The yearlings that were on the ground coming into the winter of 2007 had around 75% mortality rate. As of the 2011 season those yearlings would have been 4 years old. That is a very critical age with trophy mule deer. That puts most bucks one or two years away from having their potential. Since then our deer herd has been slowly coming back with the help of more mild winters and tightening up management as much as possible. We still harvested some great bucks in 2011 from 175″- 198″ but the 200′s eluded us.We are confident mule deer are on the up-swing with the mild winters and plentiful feed conditions here in northern Utah minus no drought to speak of. This all spells great things for the Mule Deer.

Thanks to our clients for another fun successful year in 2011. We cant stress enough how much you mean to us. Thanks!!!

So what has sustained us for over 20 years? We feel and strongly believe that it is the fact that Kim Bonnett, the president and founder, has built Bucks & Bulls^® on a foundation of honesty, trust, friendships, and hard work which encompasses all facets of his business; landowners, staff, and clients. We have been very fortunate and do not take for granted the fact that we have been blessed with exceptional landowners and private leases, which is the corner stone of any successful outfitter. Our guides, cooks, and staff are all very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, hard working individuals who are dedicated to making our clients’ hunts a success; not to mention, they are just all around good quality people. And as for our clients, we have been very fortunate to meet and provide services for some incredible people with whom we have cultivated some great relationships over the years, and realize that their satisfaction is the lifeblood to the continued success of Bucks & Bulls^®. We extend a big thanks to everyone, landowners, staff, and clients, who has helped make this organization a legacy!

Thanks again for visiting our website and if you have further questions about our hunts please give us a call at 801-785-5050.

Spring arrived late in New Mexico this year and it seemed as though many of the bucks lacked length and mass below the prong, however, our antelope hunts still kicked the season off well with eight of our hunters taking bucks that qualified for Boone & Crockett’s all-time listing. Several of these bucks were16” or better with the longest buck being 17 ½”. The largest buck scored 88 B&C points and was taken by long-time friend and client Mr. Dennis Sites. Although this monster antelope was barely 15” long, what he lacked in length he more than made up for in mass and prongs, with over 46” of total mass measurements and 6” prongs, this awesome pronghorn places well into the record books. Due to the dry cold spring our average was slightly lower than it has been for the last several years, but it was still an incredible 82 3/8 B&C points. Our 2009 forecast is very optimistic. In July it started raining and didn’t stop until mid August. The ranch was greener than we have ever seen it and with all the existing feed we feel that next year should be great. We also left a couple bucks that we feel could be really big in 2009 – can’t wait to get out there and find ‘em!

In our 2007 report we mentioned that we had high expectations for our 2008 elk hunts because of all the moisture that we were receiving at the time the report was posted; well I am sure we are all familiar with the phrase, “Can’t get too much of a good thing,” well that’s not true in this case. As previously mentioned, too much snow and moisture can be a bad thing (Hint: Utah is a high desert therefore moisture is usually a really good thing) and it was reflected in our 2008 averages. On one ranch our average was down 20” and on another ranch our average was down almost 15” from what they have been the previous five years. Our average age remained the same that it has been for years, but they just didn’t grow the antler like they normally do in a year with an average winter; having said that, 2008 still produced some great top-end bulls, just not the in the quantity of years past. For example, client Robert Jenkins and guide Kim Bonnett connected on a beautiful 388 B&C point bull making the all-time record book, Jim Coleman and several other clients were able to harvest bulls over 350 B&C points. So how do we feel about 2009? At this point, we are having an average winter, the animals went into the winter in incredible condition, and we feel that our antler growth for 2009 will be right back to where it has been the previous five years.

The mule deer species, holistically speaking, are at a critical point on their historical time-line and unless some changes take place, a big mule deer buck could become a thing of the past, to some extent it already is. Mule deer are a fragile species and few landowners or states are willing to properly manage in order to optimize trophy potential, thus making it more difficult to find a true trophy class mule deer hunt with each passing year. Fortunately, we have landowners who are disposed to manage for top-quality bucks and put the resource first. In conjunction with this last winterkill, our landowners have been willing to cut back on the number of buck permits to ensure we don’t over harvest. In the short run this will hurt the landowner, however they are able to look at the bigger picture and understand that if they don’t make some changes today, they won’t have a resource tomorrow. Having said that, we are very fortunate to be able to offer, what we feel, are true trophy class mule deer hunts.

Several of our ranches produced excellent trophy class bucks in 2008 and the average age on one particular ranch was higher than any previous year. This is encouraging and a good indicator that the age structure is sound and that the ranch is being properly managed to sustain the future production of big bucks. This past season we were fortunate enough to harvest several bucks that scored over 190 B&C points. For more details about our 2008 mule deer harvest please give us a call. All in all, despite the 2007/2008 winterkill, our mule deer hunts went well. Numbers are definitely down on a couple of our ranches but our age structure appears to be decent and we did see some good up-and-comers for 2009.

Our antelope hunts started the season off great with seven of our ten New Mexico hunters taking bucks that qualified for Boone & Crockett’s all time listing. Several of these bucks were 17” long, with the largest buck being taken by Dillon Baloun of South Dakota that officially nets right at 90” B&C Points. Our overall average on our New Mexico hunts was just under 84” B&C points (83 6/8”). Our Utah antelope hunts also went well with all of our hunters taking nice pronghorn bucks in the 14” to 15” range. Our overall success rate for 2007 was 100%!

Our 2007 trophy bull elk hunts were awesome with every one of our leases producing 350 plus bulls! This should speak volumes about our ability to manage for big game trophy animals. Stuart Thain, long time friend and client, was the lucky hunter to harvest the highest scoring bull of the season. This monster bull grossed 387 B&C points as a 5×6 and had 60” beams!!! Congrats Stu on another great trophy with Bucks & Bulls! The average B&C score on all of our leases for 2007 were as good as or better than previous years with the exception of one ranch, on which the average score was down as well as the success rate. We felt that this was due to a very dry summer and that a lack of feed had the animals somewhat displaced. Overall we had a 94% success rate with 100% opportunity, and with all the moisture that we have received this winter we feel that 2008 could be as good as ever.

We often say that trophy mule deer are our passion; but some years we have to ask ourselves “why”, as they can be so stinkin’ tough to hunt, this leads us to another one of our mottos “Trophy Mule Deer are tough”; however in 2007 things really seemed to come together! It was an outstanding year and a wonderful reminder of just why we love to pursue this wily animal – the muley buck! 2007 produced numerous bucks that grossed over 190 B&C points including several bucks that scored over 200 B&C points. The largest non-typical was a 35” 9×10 monster that grossed 225 B&C points taken by Richard Biddinger. The largest typical was a buck that had almost 28” beams, grossed 206 B&C points, and officially netted 194 B&C points taken by Stuart Thain. 2007 will go down in the books as one of the best and will be a tough year to top, however we sure look forward to trying in 2008!

Our 2007 Shiras moose hunts were also very good of which we ran 100% success and took two bulls that scored 150 B&C points or better. These hunts take place during the rut and provide our clients with a great opportunity to see a lot of game.