This hunt takes place on one of my favorite ranches, which covers more than 50,000 private acres in Region K near Evanston. The ranch has a variety of terrain from forested mountains to brushy breaks to sprawling sage and serviceberry hillsides. It is ideal deer habitat and always has produced big muleys, even when hunting pressure was fairly heavy in the '80s and early '90s. This outfitter took over game management of the property about four years ago, and his strict controls on hunter numbers have improved buck quality.

It's not uncommon to see dozens of four-point bucks during your five-day hunt, and the bigger bucks are usually in the 26-inch or larger class. A friend, who guides for the outfit, said he sometimes sees 25 bucks or more in a single day. The property has produced many bucks from 30 to 40 inches wide. Hunter success is usually 90 percent on bucks that score 160 to 190 B&C points, and there have been a few animals scoring over 200 B&C. The only hunter who did score three years ago passed on a drop-tine buck that would have probably scored in the 170s.

If you want to take this hunt, you must apply for a license in the tag drawing. The deadline to apply is March 15. Most hunters who apply in the special drawing will get a tag, and you can opt to get a preference point so that you can plan on a hunt the following year.

The oufitter has started building a log lodge on the property and said it will be done in time for the 2009 season. Tag prices in 2009 are as follows: Nonresident special license with preference point $605, onresident regular license with preference point $366. You must send a 50% deposit to book your hunt. If you do not draw, you can elect to have a 100% refund or to apply the deposit toward a hunt the following year.