Casey Successful on Utah's Muzzleloader Deer Hunt

I shot this nice 4 point in the morning of the second day of the muzzle loader hunt in the South Eastern area of Utah this year. A muzzle loader is a rifle similar in concept to the ones they used during the revolutionary and civil wars, by putting the bullet and powder down the front (muzzle) of the rifle. I like it because it is more challenging and typically there are fewer hunters.

This deer came charging into the patch of trees my brother Jon and I were glassing from. We had dropped down into this ravine and decided we would hunt through the trees and hopefully scare something up. After Hunting through through the trees and over some cliffs, we stopped in a grove of aspens and were glassing for about five minutes when we heard Mark ( a guy in my hunting party) yelling. Just then a nice four point stepped into view and stopped about 35 yards from where we were sitting. He gave me the perfect broadside profile and I shot him in the lungs with a 295 grain Powerbelt bullet from my .50 caliber Knight Disc Extreme . The shot gave him a quick clean death Thank heaven. I always worry about that. I guess that's the main reason why I don't hunt on the archery hunt. I'm not the biggest trophy hunter. To be honest, if the deer had been a spike or two point, I would have still shot him. Nevertheless, I'm glad he was a great four point.

Even though he is the smallest of three four points I've shot on Muzzle loader hunts, I am still proud of this deer. Primarily because just shooting a four point in Utah is a huge accomplishement due to how poorly Utah manages its deer population. Utah is a challenging place to hunt. Not because the deer are different than those in Nevada. But mainly because Utah mismanages the hunting so that there are many small deer and many hunters who hunt every year. They've designed the hunt as a revenue generator by nearly everyone who wants to hunt tags every year.

I finished butchering the meat today and ate a couple steaks cut from his rump roasts and let me just say, DELICIOUS, very mild game flavor, very lean, and very tender. Made several roasts, steaks, Taco meat and hamburger. Beautiful country too.