Utah Hunting

Overview

Known For

Utah is known for its exceptional mule deer hunting opportunities with easy-to-access hunting lands and a healthy population of over 300,000 mule deer. Throw in trophy Rocky Mountain elk and other big game and Utah is a bucket-list hunting state for good reason.

Terrain

Utah has three geographically-significant areas, from the Rocky Mountains that run from northeastern Utah through its center to the Basin and Ridge Region and the Colorado Plateau. Utah’s landscape is dominated by deep twisting canyons, archaic delicate arches, sheer mountains, and ridges, spires, and buttes.

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Utah Hunting Seasons

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Utah Draw Specifics

UTAH – ALL SPECIES

Point System

• For limited entry elk, deer, antelope and Once in a Lifetime moose, sheep and goats Utah uses a traditional Bonus Point system
• Bonus Points are like raffle tickets – the more you have, the more “chances” you have in the draw
• You get one chance for your current application, and then one additional chance for every Bonus Point you have (so with 3 points, you’d get 4 chances)
• If you apply for a tag and are unsuccessful, you will be awarded a Bonus Point for that species that will apply to next year’s application
• Or you can also choose to apply for a Bonus Point Only each year to accumulate Bonus Points
• If you draw your 1st choice for a limited entry tag, your Bonus Points are purged back to 0
• For General Deer tags they use a traditional Preference Point system
• Preference Points are like a place in line – 1st in 1st out. The applicants with the most Preference Points draw before those with less
• You can apply for Preference Points only and accumulate General Deer Preference Points
• If you draw your 1st thru 5th choice for General Deer, your Preference Points are purged back to 0

Tag Allocation

• Nonresidents are issued a maximum of 10% of the total tags for a given hunt code
• For limited entry and Once in a Lifetime (OIL) tags, 50% of the total number of tags for that hunt will be awarded to the applicants with the most Bonus Points
• The remaining 50% of tags for any given hunt code will be issued in the Random Draw
• If the resident or nonresident total quota is an odd number, the extra tag will be issued in the Bonus Point Draw
• But if there is only tag available in total, it will be issued in the Random Draw
• Limited Entry or OIL Example:
  • Hunt Code X has 50 total tags
  • 90% will be issued to Residents (R): 45 tags
  • 10% will be issued to Nonresidents (NR): 5 tags
  • 50% will be issued to the applicants with the most Bonus Points: 23 R / 3 NR
  • 50% will be issued in the Random Draw: 22 R / 2 NR
• 100% of the General Deer tags per hunt code are issued to the applicants with the most Preference Points
• 20% of the total General Deer buck tags are allocated to the Youth drawing
• You can apply for both a Limited Entry and a General Deer tag, but if you draw a Limited Entry deer tag your General Deer tag application will not be considered (but you will still get a Preference Point)
• You can only hold one Limited Entry or OIL tag per year. The draw order is limited entry deer, elk, antelope, OIL species (sheep, moose, mountain goat, bison), youth General Deer and then General Deer

Understanding the Draw Odds

• In Utah, we include 2 draw odds columns in our List View: Bonus Point Draw and Random Odds
• Bonus Point Draw Odds: We show the minimum # of Bonus Points it took to draw in the Bonus Point Draw, and the % of applicants that were successful at that point level. So 25% @ 16 pts means that 25% of the applicants with 16 Bonus Points were successful. It also means that 100% of applicants with more than 16 Bonus Points were successful, and that 0% of applicants with less than 16 Bonus Points drew a tag. In this example there are more applicants at 16 points than tags left to issue in the Bonus Point quota, so they randomly select from the pool of 16 point applicants until the quota is reached (thus the 25%). Use this column to evaluate if you have any shot to draw a tag in the Bonus Point draw given your point total. It’s also a key indicator of demand for the hunt, and it’s implied quality.
• Random Odds: All applicants are eligible to draw in the Random drawing, regardless of your point level. The more Bonus Points you have, the better your random odds to draw are. If you change the selected value in the “Your Points” dropdown, this value will recalculate. Unless you are chasing a tag in the Bonus Point draw, this is the important column to consider.If you have 10 Bonus Points, and a hunt could have been drawn in the Bonus Point Draw with less than 10, the random column will not show a value. This is because you would have drawn in the Bonus Point Draw and awarded a tag before the Random draw occurred.Everyone’s 1st Choice is considered before anyone’s 2nd Choice. There are very, very few (if any) limited entry and OIL tags drawn as a 2nd Choice so focus on Choice 1 for your application.

Other Tips

• Point creep is really bad in Utah and each year these hunts get harder and harder to draw, especially as a nonresident. If you are only applying for the highest demand hunts you can realistically go a lifetime without ever drawing. At least consider the middle tier demand hunts as part of your long term Utah strategy.

Utah Licenses, Permits, and Regulations

Utah hunting licenses, permits, and regulations for resident and non-resident hunters can be purchased on the official website of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Click below to view the website.

Hunting Layers

UT Private Lands

Over 1,000,000 parcels mapped by the onX team, this layer helps you know who the property owners are in Utah. Tap any parcel to learn more info about the owner and acreage.

UT Gov Lands

onX has the most accurate maps of Gov Lands, covering over 43,000,000 acres in Utah. Not all Gov Lands offer access opportunities, check regulations before recreating.

SUBLAYERS (37)

UT Hunt Units

Utah Hunt Units. Please hunt responsibly, obey all signage and have a safe legal hunt.

Includes 37 Sublayers

• Deer General Hunt Units
• Antlerless Deer General Hunt Units
• Deer Limited Entry Hunt Units
• Deer Management Buck Hunt Unit
• Deer Premium Limited Hunt Units
• Deer Extended Archery Hunt Units
• Cactus Buck Hunt Unit
• Elk General Any Bull Hunt Units
• Bull Elk General Archery Hunt Units
• Elk General Spike Hunt Units
• Anterless Elk Control Hunt Units
• Antlerless Elk General Hunt Units
• Elk Extended Archery Hunt Units
• Elk Limited Entry Hunt Units
• Antlerless Elk Private Lands Only
• Black Bear Statewide Hunt Units
• Black Bear Spring Limited Entry Hunt Units
• Black Bear Conservation Hunt Unit
• Black Bear Fall Limited Entry Hunt Units
• Black Bear Harvest Objective Hunt Units
• Black Bear Multiseason Limited Entry Hunt Units
• Black Bear Spot and Stalk Hunt Unit
• Black Bear Summer Limited Entry Hunt Units
• Black Bear Summer Restricted Pursuit Hunt Units
• Pronghorn Buck Hunt Units
• Pronghorn Doe Hunt Units
• Antlered Moose Hunt Units
• Cow Moose Hunt Units
• Fall Turkey Hunt Units
• Spring Turkey Limited Entry Hunt Units
• Bison Hunt Units
• Cougar Hunt Units
• Rocky Mtn. Goat Hunters Choice Units
• Rocky Mtn. Bighorn Sheep Hunt Units
• Desert Bighorn Sheep Hunt Units
• Sage Grouse Hunt Units
• Sharp tailed Grouse Hunt Units

UT Possible Access

onX has mapped 21,000 acres of possible access lands in Utah including timber companies and land conservation groups. Research rules on these private lands before recreating.

UT Walk In Areas

The Utah Department of Natural Resources Walk In Areas. All hunters are expected to know the rules of the program. Please hunt responsibly and have a safe legal hunt.

UT CWMUs

The Utah Department of Natural Resources Cooperative Wildlife Management Units. All hunters are expected to know the rules of the program.

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