Jay Walk of Grantsville has been a bow hunter for 50 years and still gets a huge adrenaline rush when a big buck comes close enough to fire upon during archery season.

“I remember the first time I tried to shoot a deer. I got all nervous and was shaking. I still get that same adrenaline rush going even now when I’m shooting at a deer,” Walk said.

Back in 1957 when Walk participated in his first archery competition he became so enthralled with the sport that he ended up converting his whole family.

The Utah deer and elk archery season starts on Saturday so Jay and wife Saranell will be back at it again. This year they drew tags to hunt in the limited entry Vernon area. “We’ve already been out there scouting. There are some nice deer out there,” Walk said.

“Archery season was always our vacation time in the early years,” Walk said. The Walk’s children Ron, Randy, Wendy and Kristie all like grew up shooting bows. Randy is currently president of the Hoyt company, a leading manufacturer of archery products.

All the children have bagged game with a bow except Wendy. “Wendy’s not a hunter, but she loves shooting a bow in competition,” her father said. She even holds records in youth archery competition.

Right now all the archery competition is over the season and the hunt is on.

“They’ve given out 16,000 tags this year for bow hunters and basically it’s a general hunt and you can go to any unit in the state. The success rate for bow hunters is about 17 percent,” Walk said.

The Grantsville archer said there are plenty of avid bow hunters in the state of Utah and Walk should know. He currently is the president of the Utah Bowmen’s Association. Back in 1963 he was selected as president of the association. He later served as vice president and this year he is back again as president.

“The Utah Bowmen’s Association is made up of all the clubs throughout the state. I’m also president of the Stansbury-Oquirrh Bowmen’s Association,” Walk said. The Tooele County organization includes 65 members.

It’s a year-round activity for the Walks. They shoot outside at the archery range at the Deseret Peak Complex and in the winter take it indoors and shoot at 3D targets.

“The good thing about competition is that it gives you some pressure and that helps when you actually end up shooting at a deer,” Walk said.

He has hunted in several United States locations along with Mexico and Canada. Locally, he likes to hunt in Hickman Canyon in the Stansbury Mountains.

Walk has rarely hunted with a rifle, but his archers do work with rifle deer hunters and the Utah Division of Wildlife in preserving wildlife habitat. “With a bow the success rate is about 17 percent while with rifle shooters it’s about 25 percent. The thing that is fun and difficult about bow hunting is that you have to get real close, usually within 20 yards,” he said.

Walk with his many years of experience is quite confident about success if he can get within 40 yards of deer. He has his own set of targets at various distances set up in his back yard.

“Basically you spot a deer and stalk them. Over the years you learn their habits. You need to check the wind and watch the watering holes. Big bucks water at night. The closer you get the better. It’s a rare thing to ever get a second shot,” he said.

“One of my biggest thrills was shooting a big black bear on the coast of British Columbia. It was coming straight at me. We got it all on video,” the hunter said.

In addition to nearly 50 deer, he has bagged elk, antelope, turkey and wild pig.

The Utah Bowmen’s Association encourages young people to take up the sport of archery. They participate in fund-raisers to help the Division of Wildlife work to preserve animal habitat. “We just encourage people to join their local clubs and become involved in competitive shooting. The competitive shooting events help you become better under pressure. You become so good that when you do end up shooting at a deer everything is automatic,” Walk said.

Wildlife biologist Tom Becker said the deer population is actually down this year. Fewer fawns made it through the winter.

“In Tooele County more and more people are heading out to the Deep Creek range. There is always a lot of hunting pressure along the Wasatch Front, but a lot of residential development is gobbling up the winter range,” Becker said.

He said recent fires in the Stansbury Mountains may prove beneficial in the long run.

“I haven’t seen the exact location of the fire, but if it burned out some conifers that could be good in the long range because it could open up areas for forbes and grasses to come back which provide feed for deer,” Becker said.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com