Utah Hunter Needs Help!

jtoby

New member
First of all let me congradulate all you guys on an awsome sight. the people who are here
really know there stuff. well i just bought myself a sweet new ruger .223 varmint rifle and want to
get out there and start hunting the only problem is i only know a few areas where i can find
my prey. so i come to the experts for advice on anywhere you would reccomend to hunt
what to hunt and anything else in the catagory i would really love to have any info on places
around strawberry reservoir and the best game to hunt thanks everyone!


jtoby
 
hey there welcome to the site!the area your speaking of is a great place to find fox,coyote,and lots of small shootable critters.one thing that sucks this time of the year is the bow hunt just began and the rifle and muzzle loader begin right after it.might be safer down low in the desert until november.we hunt red fox in jan and feb in the strawberry area and always get 1 or 2.
 
if you are looking for someone to hunt with let me know my partner moved to new mexico last year and as I found out last winter its alot more productive and cost effective to call predators in pairs!
 
I hunt alot of northern utah and southern idaho (Brigham city, logan, preston areas). If you ever go up that way I can help out. I just moved to SLC, but haven't hunted down here yet. I can tell you that most of N. Utah is OVERRUN with red fox. They are pretty much everywhere if you look hard enough. The best places are the farmish/swampish areas where they have good cover. One thing that helps me locate the foxes is to get out right after a snow storm -- early in the morning and walk a fex feilds looking for tracks. It can really clue you in on good places to call.
As for coyotes, I like the desert, but I hear alot of the places around SLC get called quite a bit by road hunters. Again, being from the north part of the state, I like southern Idaho. You hardly ever see people out there.
 
Welcome to the PM site !!!!
I really couldn't help you much with were the coyotes are. There hasn't been a coyote sighting in the southern end of the state in years sounds like you and badger dave would have better luck staying way north /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Good Luck
 
jtoby

Allot of the SLCV hunters use rabbit distress calls.

If you hunt differently and use other calls you can get the wary ones in.

Why are you wanting Strawberry area????

Kamas has some good hunting and many of the farmers will let you hunt coyotes and fox.

Just do not try to get permission durning the deer or elk hunt. They will ask you to pay.

The North forks and south fork of the strawberry river is good for coyotes in the mid-winter but after a month of the cold they will move down to Heber area and the foot hills.

If you follow the deer herds to thier winter grazing areas you will find the coyotes.

Out west try quail calls and grouse calls to get coyotes. In the winter around Utah lake duck and goose work well too. Just stay off the Mormon church prop. they will sight you for trespassing.

If you have a Ecaller use sounds that are barnyard animals sounds like goats, sheep, pigs, house cats, calves, turkey...

These calls work where there has been allot of calling. You just have to sit longer than 20 minutes per stand. When I hunted these areas I would call for 45 to an hour and look for coyotes acting like bobcats sneeking in to the call.

They will not run in like up north they will sneek in if they do not wind you or see you.

Good luck and WELOME to the Best site on the web.
 
Thanks everyone for the tips im sure they will help me out a lot ! i just have one more question for everyone where is a good place and whats a good brand of ecalls? well i no its a little out of season but im going up to strawberry today to check out the game up there so wish me luck.
oh yea bader d i would love to go hunting with you but i an extrem beginer so im not sure if id be much help to you or not if your still interested just post a new messege or send me an email at jtoby_3@hotmail.com so we can set up a time

Thanks again everyone this is the BEST site on the web

Jtoby
 
Welcome to the board from a fellow newby, both to this site and to predator/varmint hunting. I don't have a lot of advice to offer, lacking experience myself. You've been given a lot of good advice, that I hope to utilize as well, let me just second what has been said about No. UT being over run by red fox. Coons and skunks for that matter, as well, but I have never seen as many fox as I have lately. The farmland/wetland areas of the north are indeed full of them. I've seen them all over, or evidence of them, in most every waterfowl mngmt. area across Davis, Weber, and Box Elder counties. And usually near the remains of waterfowl or pheasants. In the WMA's, You could only hunt them during waterfowl season, and would have to use a shotgun. But even near these places would be a good bet for fox.

Also, head over to the Predator Hunting Forum, dig through the past threads for one from Onefoot, called something like, "Utah Hunters - My Old Honey Holes," or something like that, if you haven't already. Sage advice, and thanks again to Onefoot. I copied and pasted that into an email to a friend who is also a newby predator hunter.

Also, one place that hasn't been mentioned much of the govt. land in Rich county is great for yotes, fox, and badgers.
 
not to be negative about northern utah BUT!sure there are tons of fox and coon near the management areas BUT!you are not allowd in these areas any time of the year and the surounding areas are private or buisness owned.unless you know of a special spott with some directions to it I would be hard pressed to say that you would have to travel way east or way west to be legal.any info on these ares would be appreciated.
 
BadgerD,

While the fox hunting oppurtunities are indeed limited in SL, Davis, and Weber counties, it is not impossible. You can shoot fox, or other furry critters for which it is legal to do so, in a WMA as long as: 1)You're using a shotgun, 2)You do so during the waterfowl hunting season, which is a little more than a month away.

Also, and I would say it's especially true in Davis and Weber counties, most of the farmers with land that would harbor foxes, would be more than happy to have you remove a few, especially if they have poultry. Now, it's getting tricky to find these spots that are far enough away from housing and aren't in a municipality that bans hunting within it's city limits, but there are a few still out there.

Also, your chances to hunt such an area increase rapidly, the further you get from SLC. I guess that goes without saying. Utah or Box Elder counties would be better bets, but there are still a few oppurtunities in Davis or Weber county, that I know of for sure, as of just last season.

Maybe Salt Lake County is no longer a possibility. I drove out by Herriman the other day, and couldn't believe the houses, even out there. The Riverton and Bluffdale area appear to be toast, even out towards Camp Williams. But, you'd probably know that better than I. I imagine Magna's in the same boat nowadays.
 
YUP SLC is building up VERY FAST....

I used to hunt ducks in the Jordan river bottoms from 6400 south south to Utah Lake.

Allot of good duck and pheasent hunting gone for good.

Guy's try the Mescarow Ranch in the southwest corner of Salt Lake County. They do allow predator hunting. BUT you need to catch them in a very good mood.

Over the top of the hill towards Cedar Fort Try West Canyoun. The manger there would allow three to four hunters in the canyouns per weekend.

BUT you had to also catch HER in a good mood too.

I would take my girls there and get in all the time.

She loved seeing the family learning how to hunt and get out all together....

Now you all have gotten a few more of my honey holes out of me.

Except ONE...

Dugway geode digging area.....

LOOK it up.....

I will answer any and all questions for those that find it on the maps there....
 
you are not allowd to fire a weapon or hunt in saltlake county or davis and weeber county other than a shooting range.thats a sure ticket to jail.I would love to hunt some of the small farms along SR201 up to kennecott there are so many predators there.
 
There's plenty of Nat'l forest in Davis county where it's legal to shoot 365 days a year. That's where all my friends kill their deer. A lot of guys rifle hunt for big game in Salt Lake county too. And there is a ton of duck and goose hunting that takes place in Salt Lake and Davis counties every year. All perfectly legal and nobody goes to jail. Myself, I've got permission and keys to the gates for all the Gilmore cattle company land in Salt Lake and Davis counties to do damage control. I've talked to the Sherrif's of both counties several times and they have NO PROBLEM with me shooting predators on the private ground I'm doing control work on.

- DAA
 
I was speaking of the areas where you see fox and racoons not the mountains or water fowl areas.there are lots of mountains in salt lake county but the animals are in abundance in the valleys where all the people are.
 
Well then I guess I better book myself in! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Actually, I've got some good news for you. As DAA said, their is plenty of hunting that goes on legally on private ground, in Davis and Weber counties. I had some doubts about Salt Lake County, but then I got thinking about all the gun and duck clubs on the south shore, and 7 lakes pheasant club, which I believe is not all that far from Magna. I've done a fair amount of dog training out by the Lee Kay Center as well, with live birds and live fire.

I grew up in West Davis County and it's true that developers have turned many of my old honey holes into subdivisions, but not all of them... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

BTW, the decision whether or not to outlaw shooting firearms is made on a municipal level, here in Utah, not on a county level. In some cases, you just have to find out where the city limits end and where the unincorporated county begins. Also, not all cities and towns along the Wasatch Front have banned shooting within their boundaries. You might want to do a little more research, who knows what oppurtunities you may find.
 
I'm still pretty knew to this but what I've found is in central UT the farther west you go the better. The other guys are right about using other than rabbit calls and staying on stand longer than than most people, at least 30-45 min.
Rarely do my hunts cover less than 150 miles one way. Up to 400+ sometimes.

Any of you guys up north ever feel like spreading the knowledge I'd love to tag along sometime. I'm always looking for a partner so if yer looking emal me. [url=mailto:footshot@hotmail.com
 


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