- Details
- Category: Hunting
- Published: Sunday, 26 October 2025 15:35
- Written by Greg
The Anticipation - 1st Buck
Upcoming hunts are always an exciting time and I eagerly look forward to them. But this year I felt quite a bit of anxiety and pressure in anticipation of the upcoming Utah deer hunts. Firstly, I knew that finding a deer during my son’s hunt would be difficult. Especially since it was localized to the dry west desert cedars where there would be lots of competition with all the other general season deer hunters. Secondly, my grandson would be participating in his first ever deer hunt, so I desperately wanted him to at least get a shot at a buck, but better yet I wanted him to fill his tag.
Kind of small, but a shed nonetheless Next shed was definitely bigger
Carson’s early season rifle hunt came first. But as it turned out, he wasn’t feeling well, so after a day of hard hunting he decided that he’d shoot the first buck that gave him a shot. And he did just that, a small buck, but meat for the freezer.
Glassing the vast nothingness Not his biggest buck but tag punched
Next up was Daxton’s hunt, which would be his first ever deer hunt. We arrived a day early and did some scouting and managed to see two bucks worthy of shooting, a little 3 point and a small 4 point. For him, he had his sights on anything bigger than a 2 point…at least that was his goal at the moment.
Scouting the day before hunt 7 PRC was his gun of choice today
Opening day came early, there were remnants of snow from a previous storm, anywhere from a skiff to 4 inches of snow, depending on the area. We chose to hunt a little bit lower hoping to avoid the loud crunch of crusted snow while stalking. However, the hard freeze from the previous night made walking anywhere a noisy endeavor. We hiked around the area where we had seen Daxton’s target buck the day before, but only saw a couple of does and a spike. He easily chose to pass on the spike.
However, as the morning was slipping away, our lack of deer found started to get Daxton thinking that he should shoot the next buck spotted. Especially since this 3 day weekend would be his only opportunity to hunt. I reiterated that we had another full day and a half and that he might want to consider shooting any legal buck come Sunday afternoon or on Monday morning.
1910 carving survived this year's big fire 1915 tree in same grove
After a quick break to grab a snack from camp, I suggested we go check out a particular area where in years past we often found deer milling around within a tight pocket of young aspens. He agreed so we headed out. Once we arrived, Daxton immediately spotted deer. However, the deer were mostly hidden by the dense cover of small aspens growing in close proximity, maybe a foot or two apart. We cautiously circled around the grove to get a better look through very small openings until we could better see the deer. And there among the group of does was a 4 point buck! Anxiously we watched the herd slowly move through the thicket as they fed. There were a couple of times where we caught glimpses of the buck, but his vitals were always covered by a tree or two. Finally the buck bedded but no clear shot existed. In an attempt to get a better view we moved, maybe 10 feet, when several deer spotted our movement. Within seconds the deer began to move uphill and away with the buck in tow, but luckily they didn’t seem spooked.
Antler blended well within tight aspens And was Daxton's first ever antler shed
Hurriedly we backtracked and circled back around the aspens from where we had come. And there on the other side of the stand of quaking aspens stood the herd of 10 deer…the buck was with them! It took some time for the buck to move into a shootable position, but once he did, Daxton took the 175 yard shot and drilled the buck, but it ran a little ways and disappeared out of sight behind another stand of aspens. That’s always a concerning situation when you don’t see the buck go down, so we made our way to where we last saw the buck. It wasn’t until we walked a little further and came upon the downed buck that we celebrated Daxton’s success!
Daxton with buck...another first! Proud Grandpa with Daxton & 4-point buck
Congratulations and hugs were exchanged, what an emotional moment to share with my grandson, his first buck. Definitely a memory that neither of us will ever forget!