Hunting - The DIY Hunter

Details: Written by: Kaden Smith; Category: Hunting; Published: 29 October 2025; Hits: 3799

The deer crossed over the ridge right at daybreak, just as I had predicted. I was in the perfect spot, prepared for them. I gripped my muzzleloader tightly as I prepared to shoot. This year, I was muzzleloader hunting once again in the same location up Farmington Canyon. What made this hunt special was that I was driving up Farmington Canyon for the first time by myself. I planned to drive up on a Friday morning and hunt through Sunday night.

I got up and left the house at five A.M. I was able to drive to my hunting spot before first light. It was really windy when I arrived, and I threw on an extra jacket and gloves as it was sprinkling and the wind had picked up. After I got my pack on and my muzzleloader loaded, I noticed a few deer crossing a ridge, but couldn't make out if they were bucks. I started making my way over, and I saw a deer travelling down and to the left of me in a ravine. A little while later, I got jump scared by five does that were bedded down in front of me on a sidehill. They scattered, and three split off to the left and two to the right. I sat down and noticed the does bump even more does. Around this time, I had my breakfast, and I decided to check the other side, where I first saw some deer crossing.

My hair was blowing back from the wind that morning.

I glanced over and saw a few does but no bucks. Around this time, it was getting close to noon, so I decided to head back to my Jeep. I proceeded to eat lunch and sleep for a couple of hours. After I woke up, I decided to try another spot that would be good for glassing. I spotted two bucks sparring about five hundred yards away. But they were both small bucks that were in an inconvenient spot to. I stayed at this spot for an hour or two before deciding to try the place I went to in the morning. I got there around four o'clock and didn't see any other deer for the rest of the night.

My CVA Accura MR-X .45 caliber Muzzleloader with a Primary Arms SLX 1X MicroPrism scope. Learn more about why I chose this 1x scope for my muzzleloader.

When I went to sleep that night, I wasn't sure exactly what my plan would be for the morning. The next morning, I woke up and decided to try the spot where I saw the small bucks sparring. There was a close ridge where deer could cross over early in the morning, where they would be around three hundred yards away. I got to the spot and glassed before the sun rose. About fifteen minutes later, sure enough, I saw some deer crossing over the ridge and feeding towards me. There were two small bucks that I realised were the ones I saw sparring from the previous day. With my spotting scope, I could determine that one was a small three-point, but clearly bigger than the other. I decided he was just big enough, so I wanted to try to get him.

I ranged him at three hundred yards before I took my first shot. I barely missed, but I couldn't tell where I hit. After the shot, the buck was completely unbothered and just slowly made his way further down away from me. It was a steep slope that the buck was travelling down. I reloaded and shot at him over and over again. I kept missing and couldn't make out where I was hitting. After the deer had passed three hundred yards, I didn't feel comfortable continuing to shoot. After I counted my total shots, I was pretty shocked that the total was seven.

A cool view of the area where I shot at the buck.

Around this time, I went back to the Jeep and took another nap. After my nap, I went down to the spot where I bumped the five does, but this time I made my way down earlier and quietly. Around four o'clock, I saw two small two-point bucks coming out from the pines to feed. However, there was no other deer as it reached dark. My brother Dallen came by that night, and we discussed what to do on Sunday. On Sunday, we thoroughly checked the area where I saw the small bucks sparring. We unfortunately didn't see any deer over there. Where I saw a bunch of does the first morning of my hunt, we saw just some does again, so we decided to try a new spot. Before dark, we arrived at the new location, and we saw more deer than I had the rest of the hunt. We spotted mostly does, but before dark, we saw a small four-point buck and a small two-point. The four-point buck did a U-turn when it saw us and went into the trees, and we waited for it to come out. However, it never came out.

My brother Dallen and I went out hunting.

I decided, since I have till Thursday of next week, that I would take a day break and then hunt with my dad after work for a couple of days. The first night I came down with my dad, and Dallen came a little while later, it had rained a lot in the morning, which we believe made an impact on the little to no deer movement. We did see the small four-point bedded down, so we snuck around and sat and waited, but we never saw the buck again. We believe he never got up. We saw a little buck and doe move on the hill to the right of us. The following days, I hunted with just my dad, and we saw more movement and does. Unfortunately, right before dark, we did see a nice buck along with the small four-point I saw initially with Dallen, almost four hundred yards away from us. This buck was close in size to my biggest I have ever shot. On my last day, we planned to try to get closer to the spot where we saw those bucks. Last night we saw a couple of small two-point bucks, but not the bigger bucks.

My dad and I went out hunting.

I didn't get a buck this year, but I still had a good time, and it is always nice to explore and try new areas to hunt as well. I learned a valuable lesson when shooting at the small three-point. That lesson being that you really need to factor in the steep angle when shooting. I will apply this lesson to my future hunts.

Details: Written by: Kaden Smith; Category: Hunting; Published: 05 December 2024; Hits: 5498

This year's deer hunt was unlike any of the previous deer hunts I've ever been on. Every year I have drawn a rifle tag, but this year I drew a muzzleloader tag for the first time because I am no longer a youth hunter. I am grateful my dad planned for this and bought me a new Muzzleloader as a graduation present, CVA MR-X muzzleloader. Later he received a no-powered scope from work that we attached to the muzzleloader. We took the muzzleloader down to the range and shot with it multiple times across the summer and when it neared the deer hunt. It was a bit tricky adjusting the scope for accuracy however, on the last day, we had some pretty good groupings of accurate shots.

Normally when we deer hunt it would be at Henefer Echo WMA as we have had good success up there, but with that harsh winter a few years ago it wiped out most of the deer up there. So we decided to hunt the top of Farmington Canyon this year. Unfortunately, I couldn't go on the weekend planned with Dallen who drew muzzleloader as well. But I went the following week with just me and my dad, we planned to do day hikes and return to the jeep to eat dinner and sleep. This hunt took place from October 1 through the 3. My brother Dallen planned to come up and hunt a few hours after work every day that week.

Monday morning we woke up early around five o clock and took off. The first day a few minutes into our arrival we spotted a few bucks four hundred yards away. The biggest buck was a small three-point that I didn't mind trying to get a shot at with the Muzzleloader. So we kept an eye on the three-point and the other smaller bucks, they went lower and lower. So we made a plan to go lower and cut them off essentially. We chose a spot under three hundred yards away from them. We lost sight of the deer in a larger group of trees, and that's when we slowly made our way around to the area where they were located. However, when we went up to move a little closer we bumped the deer. They took off and we couldn't see them through the trees, the three point stopped in the open for a split second but we didn't have time to range them. It is amazing how fast deer and even elk can run, they can travel a thousand yards in just a minute.

Us hiking the first evening of the hunt just after bumping the bucks out.

Bumping the group of bucks out was unfortunate, but at least there weren't any huge bucks. Going after this buck took most of the day, but we slowly traveled back up near the trail. Around that time Dallen arrived and we coordinated with him to try and see if we could bump some deer into him etc. We didn't bump any deer and started hiking back to the jeep for it was close to dark. Dallen walked off to look at another spot. Dad and I made it back to the Jeep and discussed plans to drive to some lakes that night and hunt them the following morning. After talking for a few minutes we heard a gunshot in the direction Dallen was heading.

After that initial shot, we heard a couple more but none sounded like hits except for one. Dad started driving the Jeep as it was beginning to get extremely close to dark while I tried to get a hold of Dallen, I tried calling a few times but he wasn't picking up. Finally, after a few more shots he picked up the phone and explained the situation. Dallen says he spotted a group of bucks where there were two big bucks one with a gray-colored body, and one with a brown-colored body. He targeted the brown one its rack was a little bigger and had some forks in the back. Dallen mentioned that after shooting once at the brown one it wasn't running along with the other bucks, so he proceeded to shoot over and over at it. But he couldn't seem to hit the buck even though he dialed and used his range finder. All of his shots took place while he was behind a large rock so the deer couldn't see him. He said we should try in that area in the morning and look out for the brown and gray-bodied four-point bucks. That night we parked on top of the hill, where we warmed up our stuffing and mashed potatoes, which would be our dinner for the remainder of the week till Wednesday night.

The next morning, we woke up early and headed down to the rock, slowly checking on the other hillside occasionally as we walked. We spotted a few small bucks and does when eventually we spotted a nice four-point going up the bottom of the ravine. If we were a hundred yards further down from where Dallen shot at the deer the night before we'd be at an ideal spot to shoot from. We saw the four-point cautiously bed down and was wary of us looking in our general direction. We were around three hundred and fifty yards away from the buck when we initially spotted it, so we wanted to sneak one hundred yards closer if possible. We began slowly walking with our backs dipped low, as we made our way around the bushes and shrubs.

The buck that gave me the slip.

There unfortunately weren't any trees on this hillside to shield us from the bucks gaze. So as we were moving closer the buck was eying us till we eventually went out of sight from the hillside edge. Once we were close enough we poked up and noticed the buck met our gaze again, and just a few seconds later the buck stood up broadside. We rushed to sit down and Dad had the range exactly three hundred yards away. Once I got the gun up towards the buck it trotted a bit higher away from us and was about to go behind some trees. I figured it was around three hundred and fifty yards away, so I aimed accordingly and fired.

As soon as the shot went up I immediately noticed it didn't sound like a normal hit. Which surprised me for it felt like a good shot placement. I looked back at the deer and it looked confused it looked around a bit and started jogging away into some pines. After the shot, another small buck ran off as well. We looked to see if the big three-point I shot at would come out of the pines but we didn't notice. We figured we should wait a while before heading there to look for blood. After about an hour of waiting and eating breakfast, we headed over. As we drew near where the buck was bedded we began scanning for any signs of a hit. We even looked at the top of the ridge and on the other side, but there were no signs of the buck.

After concluding it was a clear miss we stopped and ate lunch. I was upset that I had missed and was confused, for it felt like a good shot placement. Dad consoled me by telling me he and my older brother Dallen have missed multiple bucks with muzzleloaders over the years. Where they have even missed much closer bucks than this one. Dad finished by saying that weird things can happen with Muzzleloaders. After he said all of that I felt a bit better as we crossed over the ravine and sat back where I had originally shot at the buck.

At this time it was a little past noon and we were a little tired so we took naps and would occasionally look out for any potential deer coming. Unfortunately, it started getting too hot to stay there for no shade was on the hillside. So around three o'clock we hiked back to the other side and hung out under a massive tree with branches draping over us like a big umbrella. After less than an hour of staying there, we spotted a two-point dashing down from the left side of us and bed down less than fifty yards away from us. During this time Dallen was hiking down and went to the spot we were previously at.

We were hoping other bucks would do the same thing this small buck did but unfortunately, it didn't happen and we took a shortcut up the hill by hiking from the bottom of the rock ravine. That night we planned on doing the same thing for the last day of the hunt, for we saw plenty of deer in that area. The next morning when we were hiking down we immediately saw some deer on the ridge close to us on the right. There was a decent three-point among some small bucks and does. We decided to go after this three point which was a little over three hundred and fifty yards away. We planned to sneak up just a little closer to take a shot but as we were walking towards it unfortunately some ATV drivers sped past on the road not too far away from us and bumped the deer over the ridge.

We began walking faster and crossed the ridge but didn't see the deer. We began walking around to the left to look further down the canyon and that's when we bumped them and they began running way down. It was unlucky the ATVs bumped them out of range. We didn't close the distance in time to get a shot. After bumping the deer out we sat on some rocks and had breakfast. Then we hiked back up and sat at that good old spot not seeing much, just a few does till Dallen arrived later that night. When Dallen arrived and we started talking we figured out how Dallen missed the four-point buck in this area. When Dallen was using his range finder it wasn't matching with the yardage of Dad's range finder.

Photo of me and Dallen glassing the last night of the hunt.

This was because the range finder was on the wrong setting showing meters instead of yards. This was annoying news but was nice to clear up why he was missing. We sat there the rest of the night seeing deer in the canyon. Unfortunately, we couldn't get any bucks on this hunting trip but we had some good tries. After this hunt, we again went to the shooting range to test our muzzleloaders. We set out a target at the exact range of the buck I missed and immediately after shooting at it, we noticed it was way too high missing the target by several feet. This explained how the buck reacted when I shot at it, it had gone way over his back into the trees. I didn't see dust kicking up on the ground near him. Dad just mentioned we needed to get a new scope for the muzzleloader. Dallen then shot his Muzzleloader with the Leupold Freedom RDS with this scope he can dial the yardage. After shooting his he figured out the yardage listed on the sticker was wrong so we adjusted accordingly.

Dad decided to order the same scope on his muzzleloader, which has a chevron aiming point and the option to illuminate the reticle when twisting the dial on the side. It is a Primary Arms SLX 1X MicroPrism. I liked that it had two options and went well after shooting it at the range. The color matched the Muzzleloader quite nicely as well it is an FDE color like a beige. Hunting with a Muzzleloader I've learned that it requires great patience and being in the right spot at the right time. It would be best if you almost predicted where the deer will go. It is more challenging than regular rifle hunting, but it is something I'll get used to as I continue hunting with Muzzleloaders.

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This is a photo during the muzzleloader season of a buck that gave Kaden the slip. I find this buck again weeks later during the rifle season.

Details: Written by: The DIY Hunter; Category: Hunting; Published: 29 November 2024; Hits: 6362

The winter of 2022-23 just wiped out the deer in the area where I like to hunt deer the most. We hunted it for a few days in the fall of 2023 and never saw a deer. We only found a few old deer tracks near the fence of the neighboring CWMU. With that knowledge, I switched to my second string area for deer hunting in 2024. My second string mountain lost a lot of deer in the Spring of 2023 but not all. On this hunt, I saw around 20 deer daily in the canyons I hunted.

My 300 WSM X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite with 30mm low Browning Integrated Rings and a Vortex Viper 4-16x50 HSLR rifle scope.

Dallen and Kaden drew muzzleloader tags this year and I drew a rifle tag. I hunted with them for seven days of their 2024 Muzzleloader Deer Hunt. We found several smaller bucks and a couple of bucks on the three-year-old line that were the oldest that we could find. Kaden and I worked hard to try and get a large-bodied 3-point buck that in the end Kaden missed. We later found that his Bushnell HOLOsight red dot was somehow off by 4 inches at 100 yards. We found a 1x muzzleloader scope we like much better for his muzzleloader after the deer season that he would be using to hunt elk with this year.

I decided to pass on hunting the opener and head up the mountain to hunt during the week. I like hunting deer and not hunting around what I see other hunters doing so the middle of the week is far better for me than any opener. I spent my hunt doing day hikes out from my jeep early in the morning then returning after dark to sleep in and cook dinner in the front seat of my jeep.

During the muzzleloader deer season, Dallen and I spent three days packed several miles further up the mountain. We found few deer this far in but found a lot more deer within a day's hike of where we could drive the Jeep. Kaden, Dallen and I focused on this area and that is where we found the 3-point Kaden tried to get with his muzzleloader. With this knowledge, I focused my rifle hunt within day hikes of my Jeep.

For my rifle hunt I was hunting with a new to me rifle, an X-Bolt 2 Hunter Composite in 300 WSM. I purchased this rifle at this year's employee sale. The rifle had been shot some by R&D and had a pretty scuffed-up stock but I didn't mind because I wanted a workhorse 300 WSM primarily for a backcountry elk rifle.

I spent most of my time hiking down into a canyon and out on a point where I could glass below me and back into draws above and behind me. I would take my Vortex 11-33 spotting scope and my old reliable Nikon binos and spend the day glassing. Every day I would spot around 20 deer and around 4 bucks. One evening I found a small 4 point bedded down and moved to within 400 yards waiting for him to stand up for the evening. He ended up standing a good 10 minutes well after shooting light. I could just barely make out his figure through the spotting scope when he stood.

Killing time taking photos of spiders during the middle of the day.

Using my BigBlue 28w solar panel that I purchased for our Golden Trout Wind River trip and now have it in my pack on almost all of my adventures. This solar panel weighs just over a pound and produces plenty of power to charge my Galaxy S23 Ultra phone or top off my one-pound 20,000mAh power bank that I like to carry.

The deer were up and feeding on the evening of the third day. I digiscoped a small 2-point in one draw then a 16-inch wide 3-point in another. I texted images to my family saying I have option 1 or option 2 in sight. My wife texted back to shoot either because they all wanted meatloaf and deer steaks. I love deer meat and we could use some deer meat with the price of groceries out of control. However, I was hopeful for at least a 4-point this year. Not long after I sent images of these two bucks another buck emerged up in a different draw further away from me and he was encircled in nasty terrain. This 3rd option was the 3-point Kaden had missed during the muzzleloader season. I texted an image of him to the family with the question of "Or option 3?" Kaden quickly chimed in to get the buck for him. So option 3 it was.

The buck was currently at 812 yards from my position. I had been center punching my 12-inch 822-yard steel target with my X-Bolt 2 a week or so prior but... I felt I had enough light to make a move and get closer. Using my Vortex Optics Viper HD 3000 Laser Rangefinder I ranged the deer and then a ridgeline between us and roughly calculated if I could get to that ridge I would be sub 300 yards.

I quickly gathered my gear and off I went. I passed several does along the way but luckily they avoided running into the thick area I was headed towards. As I crested the ridgeline and set up on my homemade doublecross shooting sticks I had him broadside at 269 yards. A quick elevation dial on my Vortex Viper 4-16x50 HSLR scope and I settled in dropping the crosshairs down across the buck and I touched off just as I got to the top edge of his heart. After the shot, I watched for a minute and couldn't see the buck or any movement anywhere so I fought my way through the overgrown steep terrain over to where he was last standing. Yup, I drilled him right where I was aiming. Blood was where he was standing and the blood trail went 30 yards and there he was piled up. The 200 Gr ELD-X passed right through him around the top edge of his heart. I always do a gutless boning out of my deer and elk so I'm not quite sure if it took out the heart but it looked like it did from the amount of blood everywhere and the location of the shot.

My 2024 Utah mule deer buck taken with my X-Bolt 2 in 300 WSM with Vortex Viper 4-16x50 HSLR scope.

Coming out heavy. I should have taken two trips. This Browning Monroe backpack has been a great pack for me on multiple hunts and our 2024 Golden Trout Wind River trip backpacking trip.

I took a few photos and then started the boning-out process. I had all the gear I needed with me to tackle the task. Most importantly my Browning Monroe backpack and some meat bags. I decided to try and pack everything out in one trip. Looking back I should have taken a small load that night and come back in the morning for the rest. Anyhow, the scale at home showed that the deer meat weighed 72 pounds and the head was 9 pounds. Combined with all the rest of my gear I was packing 123 pounds up and out of that canyon. With the help of angels carrying the load, I made it back to my Jeep at 2:10am. I should have taken two trips. On a good note, all of my daily hikes I do early in the morning with my dog paid off. Even with such a grueling pack out my knees did great and were just fine afterward. Although I do feel I was pushing it a little too much on my total knee replacement. Next time I'll take multiple trips.

As I write this I haven't ground up any burger from this buck in my LEM 3/4 HP grinder yet but the steaks have been to die for yummy.