Big Game Hunting in Utah
 

Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a Happy New Year so far. I was wondering if we have any Utah residents or folks that hunt Utah a lot in here. I'm curious about the hunting opportunities and requirements of that state. My wife and I are about to purchase a little 6 acre plot in the mountains near Manti, UT. We plan to build on it eventually but not any time soon. I've read through the info contained on the Utah DWR Website and I see that the whole state is on the draw-hunt system. Is it pretty common to go a season without hunting because you failed to draw a permit???

Basically what I'm looking for is just a little clarification about the hunting system here. And also some personal hunting experiences would be cool. Thanks.

I grew up in Utah, hunting fishing, and camping, basically anything in the outdoors was my life. They went to the draw system there in the late 90's because of the amount of non-resident hunters coming there. All the hurds there from Deer to Moose etc... were dwindling fast.

However what the draw system did (at least back then) was limit there area where you could hunt. Basically you put in a draw for multiple areas for specific game. Then you would normally draw a tag from one area; which in turn took you out of the draw for the rest of the state for that animal. I am not sure if it's the same way anymore, they may have tightened down on it even more.

The only thing I remember for sure is that the Moose hunts were once in a lifetime. Meaning if you got a Moose tag then you had that one chance to get a moose. If you didn't use that tag that was it no more putting even putting in for it. I heard a while back though that they changed that from you can continually put in for a tag but once you get a moose you can't ever get a tag for it again.

The current residents of that state may be able to help you out more but I am hoping that this sheds some light on what you have read. Deciphering Utah's laws and regs can be a big pain in the :rant: I guess that is why I quit being a cop there and moved clear across the country.

Anyway my rant aside I hope I have helped you out

Thanks for the info! I guess no one in this forum lives or hunts in Utah. So I guess my chances are pretty good for drawing a tag... :s1:

i from utah,i'm not ganna say anything.
if you want too know about the state, go and look up on the enternet or buy the 09 big game proc.upland game, waterfowl.etc

General Elk tags are all OTC. It depends on what weapon you choose to determine what areas you can hunt. Rifle you can choose either to hunt any unit open to "any bull" or areas where you can hunt "spike only". The spike only units are also trophy or limited entry units. The area by Manti is a spike only/limited entry unit. If you hunt with a bow then you can hunt statewide, you just must understand if you are in a spike only or an any bull unit. When hunting with a bow you can also take a cow with a general tag and is an open quota so there is no limit on tags.

General deer tags are on a draw system. Some areas are more popular than others and harder to draw but there are always leftover tags on some regions after the draw and can be purchased OTC. The state is broken up into 5 regions. Odds of drawing are good in all regions but depends on weapon choice and region.

Pretty much all other tags are on a limited draw system and harder to get but Utah has great trophy units. Cow elk tags are fairly easy to draw. Speed goats are fairly difficult with the does being a bit easier to draw. Moose, goats, buffalo, and sheep are a "once in a lifetime" draw and extremely difficult to draw. Any time you don't draw you accumulate a bonus point.

Hope that helps and is probably clear as mud.

Well it sounds like things have changed a bit.

Well thanks for that informative post. :nonono2:

That definitely helps. Thanks! It's probably something obvious but what does OTC mean?

It means Over-The-Counter where as you can just go buy it at any participating agents. I plan on hunting there in a season or two. Wyo is just getting to hard to draw unless you apply with points and or private land areas with little or no public access\hunting areas. OR buy the special tags. Just that word "special" makes me mad. They should call it the rape me over the counter tag!

I knew it was something obvious I was missing. Thanks for clarifying NJheadhunter71

I will be sending in my application in the next week or so for Utah muzzle loader.the lil lady just got her hunters safety and wants to go also.so i have to find a youth rifle for her to start shooting.thinking about buying her a knight wolverine youth model.thier selling new with the complete starter kit and rifle for $150.00. and i have read nothing but great reviews on the wolverines.it's not a inline but she doesn't care and my 8yr old can shoot it soon also..crossing fingers we get tags!!!

SWThomas - Glad I could help shed some light on the process. The Manti area is a really neat area, you won't go wrong there. If you have any more questions post em and I'll help if I can.

Builder459 - Good luck on your draw and I'm sure you're excited to have the wife tag along this year. If you're like me you'll be much more focused on helping her get something rather than looking for a buck for you. The Wolverine is a good muzzleloader, you won't go wrong with it. I have one myself.

So is the home you hope to build going to be your primary residence? Just owning land in Utah won't get you a resident tag, You need to claim Utah as your primary residence. Pay Utah Income tax etc. If the home is a second home or a vacation home, you will have to continue to apply as a non-resident.

I've drawn a deer tag two of the last four years. And I don't put in for the Southern or South Eastern Units that are the most popular. So you can figure on drawing a deer tag about 50% of the time. There are often tags left over after the lottery for the Northern Utah unit. This year they were sold out the 1st day they went on sale over the counter. Like elk, The trophy deer tags are a draw tag. The rest of Utahs deer herd is a pertty tough hunt for a serious set of antlers. too many hunters on the regular deer tags are happy to harvest a 2 or 3 point deer.

Spike Elk tags and Open bull tags are available over the counter. They come close and occassionally sell out by a couple of weeks prior to the hunt. the success rate on these hunts is about 10%. The Open Bull tags are in units that are pretty tough to hunt. Primarily the Uintas. Which is mostly Wilderness. The majority of Utahs trophey elk are harvested on the Limited Entry tags. These tags are given out on a drawing. I currently have 15 points and waiting for my tag ( 1 point each year you put in and don't draw). The Lmited Entry tags have turned into basically a Once in a lifetime opportunity.

In addition to all the above. Utah has a lot of CWMU These are private land units that can sell their own tags to hunt the various species on their ranches. Most of the animals are still free roaming wild game, That just happen to spend hunting season on privately owned land.

I buy a spike tag each year. I usually draw a cow tag every 3rd year. So I do get some elk meat most years.

Sheep, Goats, Moose and Buffalo are all once in a lifetime. They are on a point systems. There are a lot of hunters with 15-20 points applying for these tags. these are spectacular hunts if you get lucky enough to draw one. You can only put in for one of these hunts each year. For example you can apply for Buffalo, But not moose or sheep in the same year.

Same thing for the limited entry tags. You can apply for a limited entry Deer OR Elk but not both in the same year.

Shouldn't be to difficult to get her a deer if we get drawn.she would be happy with a forky,but i will concentrate on her first.i am not a head hunter although i have a little higher goals than a forkie lol..she went to her 10 hr hunters safety class on her own and didnt complain a bit.she's a cowgirl and is used to being in the outdoors.thanks for the heads up on the wolverine,i did a lot of research on various M/L makers that make a youth model rifle.she is small in stature and i want a rifle she feels comfortable with.and with a price tag of $150 new in box and everything else needed to get started, i feel i can't go wrong.we would like to make this a yearly event and vacation rolled into one! again thanks.

Great info! Thanks! Yes, the home we're going to build in the future is going to be our primary residence. We're just buying the land now so we can have it paid off by the time we build on it. I'm not trying to abuse the system or anything. I still might go ahead and change my home of record over to Utah and use my in-laws address until our home is built. I will gladly pay state tax and anything else residency requires. This way I can start to accumulate points toward some of the harder draw hunts. If I draw one by chance while I'm here in Japan.... I'll just have to fly back home and use that sucker! :happy0001:

I appreciate it! Do you have any knowledge of the Manti La Sal National Forest or The Palisades State Park? I'm just trying to find out whether hunting is permitted there and how hard it would be to draw some of the better tags for these areas. Manti La Sal is literally my backyard on the property I'm buying.

You should qualify that with more info......I'm assuming you are talking about putting in for the "Any Weapon" hunt or more commonly known as the rifle hunt. If you put in for archery or muzzleloader your odds of drawing are much greater.

This last year I joined the dedicated hunter program but prior to that I have drawn a tag every year for the last 8 years but one. And that one year didn't draw I bought a Northern RIFLE tag that was leftover from the draw. If you are rifle hunter only then your odds are certainly lower. If you expand your weapon choices you will draw more than 50% of the time and you can always put Northern as your last choice if you want to make sure you get a hunt.

In short if you are focused on only drawing one or two regions with on weapon choice your odds will be lower.

SW - When you put in for the draw you can make more than one choice. For example you can choose Central Rifle as your first choice, but then put Archery Statewide as your second choice, and Muzzleloader Central as your third choice. Almost always you'll get one of them.

Yes I do. I have hunted the area above Manti and is one of my favorite places in Utah.

What's neat about that area on up on top of that mountain range there is a well maintained dirt road called Skyline Drive. It goes for several miles right along the top of that range. The road travels north and south. If you drop into canyons and finger ridges to the east and west of skyline you will find lots of elk. One canyon may be empty but go one more over and you'll find them eventually. Getting one out is the tough part since you're almost cetainly packing up. One general area I love is where the natural gas pipeline goes through the area. It's a buried line but you can't miss the swath in the forest where it is. If you go up there you'll find it.

I usually go up to Skyline Drive through Spanish Fork Canyon which is on the other side of the range from Manti. I once went down the Manti side and I believe the road goes into Fairview which is just up the highway from Manti. But be aware this road is paved but VERY steep and windy for a paved road. If you have a very big RV at all you'll want trailer brakes and a diesel to pull that hill. I'm sure someone has pulled a big RV up there with a gasser but for me, no thanks.

I almost forgot to mention the deer hunting up there. The deer herd up there is ok at best. Some years there are a lot of deer and others they are tough to find. It is by no means a trophy deer area but there is always one or two decent bucks hiding in some of those deep canyons up there. The two points can always be found if you're meat hunter. Hope that helps.

Awesome! So the entire Manti La Sal NF is huntable?... Sounds good to me. There's are supposedly 350 miles of ATV trails back behind me in the NF. Would I be able to get an animal out of there with that or are we not allowed to take the ATV's off the trail? We're definitely getting ATV's as Manti is only 5 miles up the road and they'll be our primary grocery getters.

Rather be huntin, i have a group of friends that hunt in a party and have drawn the central region for rifle every year for the last 5 years. they like to hunt as often as possible and don't bother applying for the southern region.i hunted the S.region a lot back in the 90's,98 being my last yr.what do you think my chances are for myself and my wife drawing for M/L,cenral 1st pick S.E 2nd? we would like to make this a yearly event if possible..thanks in advance.

Yes it is legal to hunt all NF lands, BLM, and state ground as well.

One thing to keep in mind that you probably already know is that the regulations on NF land are federal regulations, not state regs, and are usually pretty standard from state to state and NF to NF. Having said that it is NOT legal to go off of established trails and roads to recover animals on NF lands in Utah.

Every year it's important to get an updated map from the forest service with all the color coded roads and trails so you know which are open to ATV's and which are not. Their main concern is collisions on certain roads and they enforce it so make sure you know.

Some trails are only open to ATV's (of course motorcycles as well but closed to larger vehicles) so it is certainly good to have ATV's in some situations.

EDIT: I almost forgot. Utah recently passed a law that in towns smaller than a certain population (can't remember right now the population number) ATV's can be used on public, paved roads. They just have to pass a vehicle safety inspection meaning basically you have to add some blinkers and a horn. Manti I'm almost sure would qualify so you certainly could use them as a grocery getter.

Both the ML Central and ML S.E. were all gone in the draw last year so it's possbile you won't draw either although I would say your odds are pretty good that you'll get one. There are not a lot of ML hunters that walk away from the draw without a tag although it does happen. I will say if you don't get the Central region with your first choice chances are slim you'll get SE with your 2nd. They do all the 1 choice draws first for each region/weapon. If there are tags left then they do 2nd choices draws and so on.

If you want to make sure you get a tag you could also do ML Northern as your 3rd choice and maybe even add Rifle Northern as a 4th.

Just so you are aware last year there were leftover tags from the draw on:

Archery Deer Statewide - 2,396 left
ML and Rifle Northern - 6,250 left

However those tags sold very fast once going OTC. If you want an OTC deer tag this year (if you don't draw of course) make sure you are up early and online buying one on the first day they are available.

i don't want to high jack your post SWTHOMAS but after reading every single post i am glad to hunt were i live ..moose ,caribou ,bear and deer all i have to do is buy a hunting licence ..and go hunting ..but good luck with your venture ...

I have never hunted the northern region,my understandind if thier is very little public land ?.also my feeling is this year a lot of people won't be hunting out of state due to the continual decline in the economy,especially here in ca.

Awesome! Again, thanks for the info.

I hear ya. Must be nice. :biggrin:

That would be nice. Unfortunately hunting is very popular around here and populations in Utah are growing very rapidly. There is just more demand than supply right now.