Utah Elk Hunting

[honuswagner]

Utah general rifle deer season is a time of great tranquility in the woods.

Utah general rifle deer season is the reason Utah is known as a "whole new level of crazy!" More idiots per capita than any other hunt!

But as Jacob.smithjas said, most hunters, including deer and spike hunters, won't get too far from their UTV. If you're willing to get into the backcountry then you can find tranquility.

 

[Sled]

Utah general rifle deer season is a time of great tranquility in the woods.

I'm at 36,000 feet right now and almost blew Pepsi out of my nose when I read that.

 

[NJFikkert]

Sounds like elk hunting sucks pretty much everywhere these days.

 

[sljensen]

Utah hunting in general suffers from imbalanced supply vs demand. The state does a fine job of distributing permits through general season over the counter tags and limited entry hunts. A major issue is there are just more hunters than elk permits available. Limited entry hunts draw a lot more hunters to the woods than gross tag numbers would suggest because it takes so long to draw. Lots of family and friends get involved. Season dates are short compared to many surrounding states but thats how pressure is alleviated.

 

[CNEDEER]

Key is to get far off the road......FAR!!!

 

[HighUintas]

I wouldn't do it unless you happen to draw a promo tag. General season is nuts and I agree with most of the replies on here stating how bad Utah is with general season.

That being said, if you do lots of research and have enough time to make a couple trips down to scout, you might be able to find a place that is free of people, especially in the first half of archery season. People don't want to go because it's damn hit and the elk are harder to find, supposedly.

Just don't do it. The woods down here are too crowded

 

[gammagrammar]

I moved to UT recently but haven't hunted it yet. Didn't realize there's so many mixed opinions on the state.

 

[wmr89]

Utah general rifle deer season is the reason Utah is known as a "whole new level of crazy!" More idiots per capita than any other hunt!

But as Jacob.smithjas said, most hunters, including deer and spike hunters, won't get too far from their UTV. If you're willing to get into the backcountry then you can find tranquility.

My favorite Utah general season rifle buck story is running into a guy on a trail who was wearing shorts, crocs, no orange and carrying an ar-15.

 

[sneaky]

I moved to UT recently but haven't hunted it yet. Didn't realize there's so many mixed opinions on the state.

Utah takes it to a whole different level on a lot of things. I lived there for about 5 years, don't miss their hunting "culture" at all. It may be your cup of tea, it wasn't mine.

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[wildwilderness]

OTC archery for cow/spike is fine. the Any bull regions are tough. will run into people. More live in UT than ID, and there are less elk in UT than ID. so do the math.

 

[sneaky]

Yes. The limited number of any bull units really funnels pressure into those units for guys looking for a bull.

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[Roughwater]

Utah is a whole new level of crazy. Colorado is crazy, Idaho is crazy, and Utah is off the rails. There are tons of people and for whatever reason a culture of respect and decency hasn’t caught on in the state. I’m not sure I fully enjoy the name but there’s a reason why Utah is commonly referred to as tardville. Poach, drive around no atv signs, park across public roads, have 8,000 spotters for a single tag holder. It’s everything hunting shouldn’t be.

I hunted Utah the last 2 years during the general rifle (Any bull any weapon) season. Though the above quote is slightly exaggerated, there is some truth to to it. Had I been a game warden I would have kept very busy writing tickets., especially in 2018. Locals recommend the Uintas to Non-Residents. There are Elk there but tons of hunters during general rifle. That said I did see Elk in 2018 and had a couple opportunities one very long shot and one extremely close opportunity and had my gun set to 15X.

I suspect Archery would be better as far as being less crowded. I know a local man who usually tags a bull during archery season. But the general OTC archery season unfortunately takes place before the height of the rut.

If a person had lots of time to scout some General rifle units outside of the Uinta's I think a guy could probably do OK and not have a crowd of hunters to deal with.

 

[Roughwater]

Utah hunting in general suffers from imbalanced supply vs demand. The state does a fine job of distributing permits through general season over the counter tags and limited entry hunts. A major issue is there are just more hunters than elk permits available. Limited entry hunts draw a lot more hunters to the woods than gross tag numbers would suggest because it takes so long to draw. Lots of family and friends get involved. Season dates are short compared to many surrounding states but that's how pressure is alleviated.

I don't know anything about the limited tags but the general Any bull, any weapon hunt is 12 days long so more than twice as long as Colorado's 1st rifle season which is only 5 days long. Also the any bull hunt takes place around the 5th so there are still some Elk bugling around the earlier part of the hunt. But I wouldn't encourage anyone to hunt their since there are no Elk, just ask almost any local.

 

[wapitibob]

I've hunted ID, NM, AZ, WY, and UT. Nothing wrong with hunting Utah and I'll be going back as soon as they give me another tag.

 

[amp713]

I have commented before when this first was posted. And I think I've even been mentioned but not by name as well. Here is what I'm going to say.

Utah dwr is crushing the general elk populations.
Utah has a huge percentage of hunters that fit in 2 categories: road hunters or horse hunters. Every year people on horses come back empty handed while people kill 6 points from the road.

I was staring at a bull on Thursday that survived another season and is pushing 300. He is on public now but could have spent the entire hunting season where he cant be hunted.

Utah has it's fair share of parks, private and tribal that cant be hunted. You need to plan around those things.

Archery is hot and too early and no limit of tags sold or units so one spot could have a million people (or feels that way) and another spot you are the only soul around. Rifle is crazy crowded and muzzleloader is getting stacked up as people try to move away from rifle hunters.

Now there are multi season tags allowing people to hunt all 3, plus some units will allow 2 cow tags to tack on to your bull tag (remember how I said the elk are getting crushed?). Additionally they continue to increase private land tags as well.

Can Utah treat you with a bull? Hell ya. But come into it with realistic expectations. The general hunts are decreasing in quality and quantity overall in my opinion and it is going to take a lot to buck those odds. Those who live here and put in the time and effort to figure something out often get skunked. Are there better states, probably, doesnt mean you shouldnt give the beehive state a go.

 

[sneaky]

Utah is pivoting towards mule deer. The only way they can do that is to reduce elk numbers. Their elk "management" plan is baffling, as amp noted above. They've conditioned the public to wait 20 years for an LE tag, and crushed the open units.

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[BeastOfTheTrees]

My favorite Utah general season rifle buck story is running into a guy on a trail who was wearing shorts, crocs, no orange and carrying an ar-15.

Sounds like my hero

 

[honuswagner]

I've given up being astonished by the things humans do.