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20 Plus Years of Experience
In an industry where a company’s durability and consistency are as elusive as a nocturnal buck during hunting season, Bucks & Bulls Guides & Outfitters Inc. has been able to prove itself year in and year out. The 2009 season will complete our 25th year in business and although, like all companies, some years are better than others one thing is certain: we have consistently provided our clients with outstanding western big game hunting opportunities for trophy mule deer, elk, pronghorn, and Shiras moose. We did so in the 80’s, we did so in the 90’s, and we continue to do so today. In fact, 2007 was quite possibly the best mule deer year we have ever had in business; 2005 and 2006 for elk, without a doubt, produced our biggest bulls and highest averages ever; and as for our antelope hunts, well the last five years have been nothing short of incredible! 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.Comments (0) 23.02.2009. 15:17
2008 Season Report
2008 didn’t start off well in the western states. The months of January and February produced record-breaking snow depths in parts of Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. This excessive snow was very hard on all the wildlife, but in particularly on the mule deer and antelope herds. Some areas lost over 50% of their populations and in northern Utah on a couple of our ranches we feel like we may have lost as much as 35% of our mule deer herd. The elk were also not immune to the long cold winter and due to their very poor physical condition going into the spring, the bulls had to put all their energy into recovering physically and little energy into antler growth. This resulted in the overall average scores of our bulls being down 15 to 20 inches. However, despite the harsh winter we feel very fortunate and know that things could have been worse. With the cooperation of landowners and manpower provided by our staff and other outfitters we were able to put together a feeding program for the mule deer on their “extreme” winter ranges. This required literally hundreds of hours in volunteer labor and although we did lose some animals, we feel as though we did do some good, and that the outcome would have been significantly worse had we not made the effort. (If you would like to view some photos of the feeding in action you can go to our gallery and look under "Camp Life".) Now, with that being said and as dismal as I have painted this picture, Bucks & Bulls was still able to have a very successful year, especially on top-end trophies. 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, Jim Coleman and several other clients were able to harvest bulls over 350 B&C points, and guide Trevor Gillman finally drew a coveted Utah public land bull permit on which he spent over 40 days scouting and hunting and in the end was rewarded with a much deserved bull of a life-time. 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.Comments (0) 23.02.2009. 15:14
2007 Season Report
Incredible, fun, exciting, challenges!!! Many words could be used to describe our 2007 season, but there is probably one word that sums it up best - Fortunate. As we have been updating our website, I have had the opportunity to look over the numerous success photos of our clients and have been reminded just how truly fortunate we have been over the years, and 2007 was no exception.
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 5x6 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” 9x10 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.
Comments (0) 06.06.2008. 20:07