We Bowhunted Management Velvet Mule Deer in Utah!
SEASON 26 | EPISODE 07
Quick Summary
- What happened: Ralph and Vicki head west to Round Valley Outfitters in Utah for archery management mule deer with Brett and the crew. Days of buggy rides, big views, and glassing bucks from a long way off, one target buck coming together at last light, and one of the tightest stalks of the year that ended with a face full of sagebrush.
- Best takeaway: On a management hunt, passing a good deer is the whole job. Knowing exactly what you are looking for keeps you from burning a tag on day one.
Hunt Information
Mule Deer, management bucks
Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo
Utah archery mule deer, 2026
Fully guided on a private ranch, running buggies to cover country, glassing from the high spots, then closing the distance on foot
Outfitter Information
Round Valley Outfitters
Brett Baum
Don't forget to let them know who sent you! The Choice Crew
Brett Baum's Round Valley Outfitters runs fully guided mule deer and antelope hunts on private Utah ground, including the Three C Ranch, Westlake Farms, and Allen Ranch. These are glass-first hunts, covering big country by buggy, picking apart the sagebrush from the high spots, then closing the last stretch on foot. Guides like Blake and Justin know every fold of it, and camp is run right. 2026 dates are filling fast.
Episode Breakdown
This one starts in the backyard and ends in the sagebrush. Ralph and Vicki get the bows dialed at home, then point it toward Utah to chase management mule deer with Brett at Round Valley Outfitters.
Bows at Home
Before a single mile gets driven, the bows come out in the yard. Arrows in the target, sights confirmed, everything checked twice. It is the least glamorous part of any western trip and the part that decides how it ends.
Getting to Utah
The trip out to Round Valley Outfitters puts them with Brett, and the first night sets the tone. Kim and Doug put out a dinner worth writing home about, gear gets sorted, and the plan for the morning comes together over the table.
First Morning on the Ranch
Up early, bows set up at camp, and out the door. The buggies come off the trailer at the ranch and the group splits up, at least for a minute. It does not take long before bucks start showing up. A couple of them are good deer, real good, but they are not what a management hunt is about. So they sit on the glass and let them walk.
Bucks Everywhere, Nobody Close
The next stretch is the western hunt everybody knows. Beautiful country in every direction, deer scattered across it, and nothing that lets you get close. Vicki and Justin cover ground and glass hard, spotting bucks all day without ever getting a real look. When it gets late, Vicki tries to reach Ralph and gets nothing back, no answer, no service, just a text sitting there.
One Incredible Day
A few days of long-range encounters go by before everything happens at once. Blake picks up another buck in the same spot they had been watching, and the group gets over there to put a plan together. Ralph drops Justin and Vicki off to make a move while he swings around to keep eyes on the deer.
Vicki's Stalk
They drop into the sagebrush and find the buck bedded, then watch him shift over. Vicki and Justin tiptoe closer, then closer again, until Justin holds up and lets her go the last stretch alone. Somewhere in there they lose sight of him completely. On the final push his head pops up under the brush, body still buried, and the shot never comes. That is bowhunting mule deer in the sage.
Last Light in the Birch
Ralph spends an evening working through the birch trees, and just as the light starts going, a target buck steps into view. Everything from the yard back home comes down to the next few seconds.
The Recovery
Vicki and Justin race across the ranch to help look, and with the whole crew on the ground the deer comes together. They quarter him out right there, load up, and haul back to the buggies with the sun long gone.
Closing Out the Week
The rest of the trip does not hand over another management opportunity, but they lay eyes on a pile of great mature bucks doing exactly what mature bucks do. Ralph and Vicki have history here too, going back a few years to a nice buck taken with Brett. Awesome place, awesome outfit, and one they will keep coming back to.
Location & Conditions
A big private ranch in Utah hunted with Round Valley Outfitters, covered by buggy and glassed from every high point on the property.
Rolling sagebrush flats and draws broken up by pockets of birch and timber, with long open sightlines that let you find deer at a mile and almost nothing to hide behind once you start walking.
Warm days, cool mornings, and enough wind to work with. Bright open middays that push the deer into shade and evenings that come alive right as the light fades.
Bucks feeding in the open early, bedding in the sage and shade through the heat, and slipping back out into the birch and edges in the last half hour of light.
Animal Descriptives
Mule deer live in country that works against you. Wide eyes built to catch movement, ears that miss nothing, and a habit of bedding exactly where they can see whatever is coming. A mature muley in sagebrush can vanish standing still, and the same brush that hides your approach hides his vitals just as well. Management bucks are a different read again, older deer with genetics or antler traits the ranch wants pulled out of the herd, so you are judging character and age rather than chasing the biggest rack in the glass. That is why so much of this hunt happens behind binoculars.
Shot Placement & Tips
On a stalk, the shot is the easy part compared to earning it. Get inside range slowly, use the wind, and let a bedded buck stand on his own before you draw. Aim tight behind the front shoulder about a third of the way up, and hold for a broadside or slightly quartering-away angle. The biggest mistake in sage country is forcing it when the brush is covering the body, if you cannot see the vitals, there is no shot, no matter how close you are. Back out, reset, and give yourself another day.
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FAQ
Who did they hunt with?
Round Valley Outfitters in Utah. Brett runs the show, with Blake and Justin guiding, and Kim and Doug keeping camp and the dinner table in great shape.
What is a management buck?
An older deer the ranch wants taken out of the herd, usually for age or antler traits rather than raw size. It means passing bucks that would be a slam dunk on any other hunt.
What were they hunting with?
Archery only, Hoyt Bows with Easton Arrows and Innerloc Broadheads, glassing from buggies and closing the last stretch on foot.
From the Field
You can pass a hundred good deer out here and still be having the time of your life. That is what hunting a place like this with people like this does to you.Ralph Cianciarulo
Bring It Home: August Velvet Mule Deer Backstrap
Salt it, grill it over coals, slice it pink — an August velvet buck is the best venison of the year.
Ingredients
- Mule Deer
- 2 lbs velvet mule deer backstrap, silverskin trimmed
- 1 tbsp kosher salt (for the dry brine)
- 1 tbsp coarse black pepper
- 2 tbsp beef tallow or olive oil
- Herb Butter
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp fresh chives, minced
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- Flaky sea salt, for finishing
- Fire
- Lump charcoal, banked to one side for two-zone heat
- 1 chunk oak or cherry wood (optional)
Recipe
- Trim the backstrap of silverskin but leave any clean summer fat — an August velvet buck carries the best fat of the season and it's worth keeping.
- Salt the whole loin, set it on a rack, and refrigerate uncovered 4–12 hours. This dry brine seasons deep and dries the surface for a better crust.
- Mash the butter with the garlic, thyme, chives, and lemon zest. Roll into a log in parchment and chill until firm.
- Build a two-zone charcoal fire — coals banked hard to one side, screaming hot. Add the wood chunk if using. Pull the loin from the fridge 30 minutes ahead, pat dry, rub with tallow, and pepper generously.
- Grill directly over the coals, turning every 90 seconds, until a dark crust forms — about 6–8 minutes total. If flare-ups get ahead of you, slide it to the cool side to settle.
- Pull at 130°F internal for medium-rare. Mule deer is lean and gets liver-y and tough past medium — trust the thermometer, not the clock.
- Rest 10 minutes on a board with a coin of herb butter melting on top. Slice thick against the grain, finish with flaky salt, and spoon the board juices back over.
Chef Tips
- August velvet is peak venison. A pre-rut buck hasn't burned off summer fat or picked up any rut musk — so keep the prep simple and let the meat carry it. No soak needed.
- High-country Utah bucks are feeding on green alpine forage in August, not sage, so the meat is clean and mild — don't marinate over it.
- Heat is the enemy of a hot-weather kill. Get the hide off, quarter it, and get it on ice fast — nothing in the kitchen fixes a warm carcass.
- Save the trimmed fat and render it; velvet-season mule deer tallow is mild enough to cook with all year.
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