The old Hannah post office reflects the size and character of this northern Utah community.

"Before the Adamses bought this property," Tom said, "the owners leased hunting rights to a local outfitter who hosted as many as forty deer hunters each season. Especially during late hunts, when the mulies were rutting and migrating through to the Duchesne, a lot of bucks fell. You can't save enough deer to get big antlers when you pressure them that hard."

The year before, I hadn't pressured the deer hard at all. My only chance at a big buck came when I spied one half a mile above me, silhouetted against a sky that promised additional snow. I circled quickly. At the top, the wind proved fickle. I moved in on the buck, but not fast enough to beat a reversal that alerted him.

He trotted up through an opening forty steps away. I declined the moving shot, then quartered the neck with my crosswire as the buck ran straight away. The sight picture looked good. But the deer continued on behind the smoke. I tracked the animal until dark, spotting it twice more. I'd missed.

The country above Sand Creek is big. A vast quilt of woodland and range, deep canyon and jagged ridge is ribboned by streams and capped by frosted peaks above dense aspen thickets. Oakbrush, juniper and cedar swath ridges below 8,000 feet. Douglas fir and lodgepole hide game in higher country that meets the Uinta National Forest to the southwest.

(Left) Bitterbrush helps sustain deer during Sand Creek winters. Oaks are also important. (Right) A four-wheeler served as a deer-hauler but not as a hunting vehicle during the author's the muzzleloader hunt.

School trust land buffers sage flats to the southeast, on winter range. Everywhere this year there was an abundance of good forage, as rainfall had topped the fifteen-inch annual average. Even now, free water could be found in almost every draw.

"Increasing the availability of water, and improving its distribution, are top priorities on any ranch we buy," Danny Adams reminded me at dinner. "Add water and you add value." On Sand Creek, thousands of yards of pipe pull gravity-fed water from streams and developed springs to remote tanks and stock waterers. Low-maintenance systems matter most in big blocks of wild country.