SUNRISE CAMPGROUND, Logan Canyon — The Petersens are back in camp after their first assault of the 2003 deer hunt. For the better part of four hours, ever since first light, Dee, Cliff, Seth and Zane — representing three generations of Petersens — stalked their prey in the ravines east of the campground. Now, they're consuming large amounts of eggs, bacon, pancakes and orange juice as they discuss how it went.
They didn't see a deer. They didn't fire a shot. They only heard maybe half-a-dozen shots all morning.
But other than that, great.
Welcome to the new breed of Utah deer hunter. Just because the deer population has been falling like a tech stock, just because the weather is balmy enough for No. 48 sunblock, just because the prospect of having venison steaks for Sunday dinner is about the same as having Russian caviar, that's no reason to stop coming.
All you do is refocus your sights, lower your expectations and adapt.
This year, the Petersens even brought women.
Cliff's wife, Tamara, is here, along with their five kids, including daughters Whitney and Rhiannon (from the Stevie Nicks song) as well as the boys, Tyson, CoDee and Dylan. The kids have finished breakfast and they're now playing in the motor home or riding their bikes through the campground trails.
This is not your granddad's deer hunt.
"It's the first year the women have come," Cliff admits, glancing toward the 36-foot motor home backed into the campground parking slot. There is a correlation there that Cliff doesn't have to verbalize. They left the comforts of home back in Richmond, where they live, and came here to more comforts of home at the Sunrise Campground. Last night, nobody even got cold.
It's a far cry from the hunts Cliff, 42, remembers going on as a kid when his father, Dee, 69, used to take him every fall to Tony Grove, another part of Logan Canyon that served as the Petersens' deer hunting camp of choice for more than 60 years. Dee's father, Leonard, used to take Dee and his eight brothers there when they were kids and every year they'd all get a deer, usually hauling it through 2 feet of snow. There's a tree in Tony Grove with every Petersen male's name on it dating back to 1935.
But two years ago the Petersens stopped going to Tony Grove. It used to be that there were hardly any people and plenty of deer. Now it's just the opposite.
It's been 16 years since any Petersen has shot a deer — when Seth, who's now 21, was in the fifth grade. But that hasn't stopped them from reporting for duty every year on opening weekend. "You used to come to shoot," says Cliff. "Now you just hunt."
"We'll hunt all day and then at the end of the day we'll shoot a few rocks just to shoot."
They didn't even bother to bring the horses this year.
"If we need 'em, we'll go get 'em," says Dee.
But he says it without rancor or disdain. He looks around him at his son and his grandsons, his daughter-in-law and his granddaughters, and smiles. "This is why we come," he says, "not for the deer, but for the outing, for the fun we have together. If we get a buck, why, anymore, that's just a bonus."
Then the wily old deer hunter polishes off one last pancake. This afternoon, there are deer out there waiting for the Petersens to chase.
Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com and faxes to 801-237-2527.