A few archery deer hunting permits are still available for hunters who are 18 years of age or younger.
All of the other permits to hunt buck deer in Utah this fall are gone. But you can still get a permit to hunt bull elk during this fall’s general rifle or muzzleloader hunts. More than 23,000 bull elk rifle and muzzleloader permits are still available.
And even more permits are available to hunt elk with a bow and arrow — there’s isn’t a limit on the number of general archery elk permits the Division of Wildlife Resources can sell, so there’s no problem getting one.
Utah’s general archery elk hunt starts Aug. 20. Elk permits are available at the DWR’s website (www.wildlife.utah.gov), from more than 300 license agents across Utah and at any DWR office.
Deer permits
More than 3,200 Northern Region buck deer permits — permits that weren’t taken in this year’s big game draw — have sold out. The permits sold out at 11:40 a.m. on July 27, less than five hours after going on sale.
With the exception of 1,300 archery deer permits that are available to hunters who will be 18 years of age or younger on Aug. 20, Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the DWR, says all of Utah’s deer hunting permits have been taken.
“But plenty of general bull elk permits are still available,” she says. “2011 should be a great year to hunt elk.”
Elk hunting advice
In Utah, general season elk hunting happens on two types of units. On spike bull units, only spike bulls may be taken. On any bull units, you can take a bull of any size.
If you’re new to elk hunting, Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the DWR, encourages you to buy a permit to hunt on the spike bull units.
“There are plenty of spike bulls in Utah,” he says. “And there’s a lot of public land to hunt them on.”
If you decide to chase branch antlered bulls on an any bull unit, Aoude says the two Uinta Mountains units — the North Slope unit and the South Slope unit — are your best bets.
If you look at the map on pages 46 and 47 of the 2011 Utah Big Game Guidebook, you’ll see Utah has quite a few any bull elk units.
“But there’s a challenge to hunting these units,” Aoude says. “With the exception of the North Slope and South Slope units, these units are either covered by private land or they don’t have a lot of elk on them.”
Copies of the 2011 Utah Big Game Guidebook are available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks.
For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.