The cathedral of Utah’s game-rich mountains provides hallowed ground for a father-son foray into the heart of the game.
The gentle foothills and mountains in this stretch of Utah are home to all manner of the state’s big game—elk, mule deer, black bear and mountain lion. With a mix of aspen copses, evergreens, oak brush and sage flats, the territory is a prescription for big game, and the ample edge provided by this natural mosaic draws the hunter’s eye with every bend in the trail.
There is much to admire about our beloved mountain deer, not the least of which are the places they inhabit that are among the world’s most inviting theaters. And when the aspens turn to gold, the chorus of distant elk bugles are delivered like whispers on alpine winds, an undeniable rhapsody that lives with us until next season.
Guide Matt Fenton, the author’s son, Luke, and the author (right) claim the prize
Mule deer have been in decline over the past several decades, but you would never know it by roaming this part of Utah. Finding mule deer isn’t nearly the challenge that finding the right mule deer can be—a massive old buck that lives a secretive existence. Mature bucks behave so differently than other mule deer, in fact, that they almost seem a different species.
Perhaps Robert Frost had it wrong when he wrote that “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” Maybe it just stays in our hearts for as long as we dream of mountains and pass the token of the hunt from father to son.
The long expanse of an irrigated hayfield provides this ranch home an impressive room with a view. Hundreds of mule deer and elk descend from the high country each morning and evening, providing a stunning manifestation of just how game rich this slice of Utah can be—especially as mountain vegetation dries and the alfalfa flats stay lush.
Where once the mountain hunter relied solely on horses to get into the high country, the horses of this hunt were packaged under the hood of a Ram truck and a Polaris Ranger.
Each hunt started with a journey into the high country where miles of surrounding draws and flats could be glassed in order to find the property’s best bucks. Once a good buck is sighted, moving from the snow-covered peaks to the sage flats and aspen meadows was done the old-fashioned way: one careful step at a time.
Veteran TV personality, producer and Sporting Classics TV host Chris Dorsey took this massive non-typical on the last night of the Utah adventure. The ancient buck sported double main beams and a 28-inch spread, a unique beast fitting of an epic hunt in the world of Sporting Classics.
As magnificent as the bucks were, it’s the indelible memory of a 13-year-old’s first mule deer buck taken among friends and family that will forever tie them to the stunning Utah high country. There can never be another first mule deer buck, so a father’s wish for his son is that the experience be unforgettable and that the seed of a desire to hunt is firmly planted and nurtured so the two will forever have the sporting life to share. No matter how divergent life’s roads may take them in the future, the hunt will always bring them together, if only for a few sweet weeks each autumn.
Photos by John MacGillivray
There’s something about the deer-hunting experience, indefinable yet undeniable, which lends itself to the telling of exciting tales. This book offers abundant examples of the manner in which the quest for whitetails extends beyond the field to the comfort of the fireside. It includes more than 40 sagas which stir the soul, tickle the funny bone, or transport the reader to scenes of grandeur and moments of glory.
On these pages is a stellar lineup featuring some of the greatest names in American sporting letters. There’s Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning William Faulkner, the incomparable Robert Ruark in company with his “Old Man,” Archibald Rutledge, perhaps our most prolific teller of whitetail tales, genial Gene Hill, legendary Jack O’Connor,Gordon MacQuarrie and many others.
Altogether, these carefully chosen selections from the finest writings of a panoply of sporting scribes open wide the door to reading wonder. As you read their works you’ll chuckle, feel a catch in your throat or a tear in your eye, and venture vicariously afield with men and women who instinctively know how to take readers to the setting of their story.
This is an anthology to sample and savor, perhaps one story at a time or in an extended session of armchair adventure. That’s a choice for each individual reader, but rest assured that on these 465 pages, there’s an abundance of opportunity to be enlightened and entertained. Buy Now
