I am wanting to start putting in to hunt Utah need help with area.I know about the website but was hoping to talk with someone here
sent you a pm.
I've hunted Utah a few times and have 7 trophy bull points. We've killed 3 Elk and 2 trophy Mulies in three trips. Last trip was in 08. I heard from my friends and son-in-law that the state is crawling with hunters now after being about the best kept secret in the west. PM me with the areas you discover and we could discuss a bit. I know my Utah friend and guide has tried to keep his homeground quiet but it hasn;t worked very well.
Nothing in UT is sacred especially hunting areas. After next year, there will be some big changes, especially for the mulies :) PM me if you want any help.
for the past 30 years what you want to know
What is the non res tag cost in Utah?
I am looking for a draw area that I can start getting points for. I know that any OCTags area will have lots of friendly hunter so figure if I start now in 4 or 5 years I maybe able to draw a good area
non-resident tags (cow/spike) were just shy of $400 last year...
when does the draw start
To put in is from Feb 1 to Mar 3 this year. Here is the website for the proclamation. http://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2011_pdfs/2011_biggameapp.pdf
Probably gonna take longer that 4 or 5 years for a good area in UT, unless your lucky. But you never know, you have to play the game, so you have a chance.
Like Steadman said, if you are lucky. I have been putting in for 9yrs now. If you want to hunt one of the top LE elk units you will need 12 or more pts. this next year. I firmly believe Utah has seen it's glory days. With the spike tags and rifle tags during the rut it will not get better for elk. So the sooner the better is my motto.
I've been thinking about UT also. I've hunted in WY and CO for elk. I have an offer with a local in extreme western WY that I should accept. Near the Jackson area.
QuoteOriginally posted by maxplan:
I've hunted Utah a few times and have 7 trophy bull points. We've killed 3 Elk and 2 trophy Mulies in three trips. Last trip was in 08. I heard from my friends and son-in-law that the state is crawling with hunters now after being about the best kept secret in the west. PM me with the areas you discover and we could discuss a bit. I know my Utah friend and guide has tried to keep his homeground quiet but it hasn;t worked very well.
Thats sure a heck of a lot better than I've done the last 3 yrs. I haven't even seen a trophy mulie?? Must be doing something wrong?
:dunno:
did a hunt in utah a few years back.stayed in fish lake utah lodge.great lodge, affordable. we nailed a couple muleys. we also saw plenty of elk.also take your fishing rod when we werent huntig we were catching big trout at fish lake.worth checking out the lodge was great.
sam.
I have read that there is concern for the muley population in the Fishlake unit. If you're interested in muleys I'd try another unit.
I have read that a cow or spike is easy to draw.
Been wanting to go elk hunting since I was a child when my dad and older brother talked of it.
My Dad passed away three years ago and I think of the hunts we never went on A LOT.
I need to get my butt moving and do something or I will not EVER go. Closing in on 50 now and time flys.
Will keep a eye on this to learn more from the people who know.
Tim
Tim cow/spike archery tags are OTC and unlimited. No need to draw them, just the deer tag and big bull tags are draw tags. The elk numbers should be coming back in the next couple years as the DWR reduced late season cow tags a bunch this year. BUt as said, the huge bulls behind every tree of yesteryear are gone, I for one am glad because now an elk hunt for a resident here is not a once in a lifetime. There will be some good bulls, just not the monsters everywhere. There are a lot of places to chase cows and spikes, but there are quite a few people out chasing as well.
Steadman is right the big bull behind every tree is not real. However if you start getting points and draw a tag they are good hunts. I drew a limited entry unit in 95 or 96 and then in 2009. Both were great hunts. Hey snag the mule deer population has problems in lots of areas around here. I saw more hunters this year than I ever have for archery. But if you are willing to get away from the crowd you can still with some work find a pocket or two.
I think for non-residents planning a trip west (other than a couple very special limited draw hunts that are basically once in a lifetimes)....Utah is not the place. There are just SOOOO many other states and regions within other states that are WAY WAY more non-res friendly...where folks are able to plan a hunt with some buddies, buy multiple over the counter tags and also have a great chance at drawing a humber of premium publica land limited entry hunts without waiting a decade.
Montucky why not give us a few examples?
As Bjorn said, "examples?"
The Utah DWR is a highly embattle agency with with a relatively poor track record of management relative to the extraordinary potential of the landscape. I lived in UT for ten years, but did all my hunting in Idaho after a couple years even though I love Utah's country and harvested elk, deer and antelope there...as resident, if I wanted to hunt an area with nice muleys or bull elk...forget about it... you would wait years to draw. Idaho, Wy, MT, CO all have a variety of options for various big game hunts that are in my opinion far superior to Utah's options. DOnt get me wrong, Arizona, NM, and Utah have some archery elk limited entry hunts that are off the charts dream tags for recordbook bull elk and mule deer, AND the fall climate is more predictable and the terrain is more civilized than ID,MT,WY. But I dont think I will ever hunt in Utah again - I think it is ridiculous that they have just enacted even MORE restrictive Mule deer regs...the fact that they cannot sustain better herds in such an enormous state with such varied habitats and such low human population densities is crazy to me.
Part of the problem is that private agricultural landowners in Utah - by-in-large, are not particularly friendly to conservation innitiatives - they have polical strangle-hold on the DWR and state senate vs. states like WY and MT where the F&G outfits are seen positively by the political establishment. Of course when you pay your game warden less than 30k a year you probably are not catching a lot of poachers either:) the other problem Utah has is too much easy ATV access everywhere.
The far western edge of the state in the Great Basin is prob the most underappreciated area. anyone interested in hunting utah in areas with hardly anyone around and HUGE mule deer and some very very desirable limited entry elk units...look at the far western and northwestern part of the state.
Thanks montucky, that is pretty well thought out- the ATV access included-seen that personally. I do love Utah, the hunting and the people and I have likely been focused more on Elk than anything else. The UT DWR officers that we met were at least as committed as any anywhere.
The non resident options are certainly better there than NM for example, perhaps we are saying none are as good as they could be. And Canis Lupus is not making things any easier for us in terms of having 'good' hunting states to pick from.
I agree montucky with you. The UT DWR is the worst in the country as far as I'm concerned they are driven by the all mighty $. But how does making the mule deer hunting more limited not help the deer herd. I've hunted here my whole life and saw far fewer deer and more hunters last year than ever before. As far as I am concerned, they can cut tags more to get the herd back up. But most hunters here in this state are not willing to sacrifice to get that, and the DWR is not going to sacrifice any $ for that. One of the main reasons the deer herd took such a hit is because of the extreme focus on elk in this state. Just look at the San Juan unit. 20 years ago you couldn't find an elk on that unit, and the deer herd was one of the best in the world. Now it's one of the best elk herds UT has and the deer are suffering terribly. You have a very good point on the roads here, they are rediculous and reducing them would help the deer herds tremendously.
I wish the economy was better so I could go out of state to hunt, but I will just keep praying for a miracle in the draw and hunt stressed out mulies and cows and spikes :)
yeah I totally agree and I LOVED the utah country and worked for the DWR for 10 years. Loved the place. ANd it is true about increasing elk herds vs. mule deer but I think that is only part of the picture...and yes the new regs will help the herd...I just can't believe they were not able to do better before..I mena a resident could not puy an OTC deer tag since about 2000. A lot of it is the amount of sheep and cattle grazing in the forests and of course in the northern part of the state the winter range has been decimated by development. I will never forget hunting down by Richfield utah for rifle deer (pre draw for deer) and seeing two truck loads of hunter drive right to the top of the mnt and start this huge deer srive like southern plantation hunting. It was nuts. I did draw Book cliffs archery elk a few years ago and it was trully amazing.
As for the Canis Lupus...interesting....I now hunt elk in the middle of the wolf scene in western wy and southwestern MT and the hunting great. We had a pack of wolves howling 100 mteres from our camp last fall. The hunting is totally different...in utah I could go to the same north/northeast timbered ridge as the year before and always get into the herd like whitetail in a "deer yard" in New england. The elk were typically bedded in timber for many hours of the mid-day. In wolf areas...the herds I have hunted are always moving, the interesting thing is that in the right places it means that you see more elk through the day and they are focused on moving and eating, moving and eating and i found you can stalk them easier as they are more distracted and moving more than you are. Last fall I found myself behind a herd of over 100 elk for about 3 miles trying to get a shot and was never made...fund hunt.
I must have missed something here the other western states that I have put in for for limited entry elk archery are also a decade wait or so to draw a really good unit. I drew arizona in 2005 with nine points and I have 8 for nevada archery elk and no tag yet. Atv use in utah is not the problem atv users who abuse the land are the problem not all atv users are slobs. Cutting tags is a step in the right direction here I have seen my hunting areas go downhill for years. As far as I care they could have cut the deer tags by half.
Your righ Troy about the ATV's, it's the users, not the machines. Usually it's the 10% that give3 a bad name to the rest, here it seems to be the 90% give the bad name on atv's. But eliminating access to some of the herds would help out as well. JMO.
We have the same problem with ATV's here in Oregon. I thought the Forest Service was implementing a closure of roads after that long study they did? Of course that won't stop some of these morons from driving where they aren't suppose to.
I'm on the fence about Utah...I have 9 pts. and could possibly draw a decent elk tag this year. But if I wait a few years I could draw a better one. But then the hunting might not be as good if I wait....if, if, if....really want to make these pts. count!
QuoteOriginally posted by steadman:
They are driven by the all mighty $.
You can say that again.
I have only ever hunted for deer in the Cache/Rich area, and it's pretty bad. Gotten better the last couple years (seen more deer) but there are a ton of people, and they all ride their ATV's like idiots. DWR and FS rangers are very seldom seen.
David put in this year. They are supposed to be dropping age structure in more units. Last year was real tough for some guys. Let me know what you decide to do and if I can help. I'm hoping to draw this year myself. Remember the application period is later this year feb to mar.
Good luck!!
I agree that more areas need to be closed for any and all motorized access my local mtn. burned bad in 09 and I mean bad and slobs in jeeps, trucks and atvs were driving everywhere but thanks to the blm and forest service they closed all vehicle access for at least two years. This fall I hiked into the area and the vegetation was coming back really strong. I am still waiting to hear what states offer better n.r. hunting chances you could hunt spikes here in a big group while one guy has a l.e.tag. To say utah is not good for n.r. is not the case all states that I have been to and including utah love n.r. hunters for many reasons. Hey Ryan we still need to do the moose ribs cook-out.