New Or Noteworthy For This Year

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Utah's Elk Breakdown

Utah's Antelope Breakdown

Utah's 2026 elk and antelope application overview

Note: The application timeframe for all Utah species is March 19 to April 23, 2026, at 11 p.m. MT. Applicants wishing to purchase preference and/or bonus points can do so prior to the April 23 deadline or, if they miss that deadline, they can apply for points only during the antlerless application timeframe from June 9 to 23, 2026. You may apply online here.

Insider Features

Hunt Planner

To aid in your research and planning efforts, we created a brand new tool for Insiders called Hunt Planner. This tool will help you be more efficient at planning for hunts and also keeps all your research data organized. No more notepads getting lost or headaches when trying to remember what units caught your eye during your research! Everything you need is always in one place at GOHUNT.

What can you do in Hunt Planner?

Point Tracker

Point Tracker allows you to enter the number of points you have for each state and species and, as you research through Filtering and Draw Odds, your point total will automatically be highlighted.

State Information

To view important information and an overview of Utah’s rules/regulations, the draw system and bonus points, tag and license fees, and an interactive boundary line map, check out our State Profile. You can also view the Utah Elk Profile and Antelope Profile to access historical and statistical data to help you find trophy areas.

Important dates and information

Note: Applicants need to buy either a hunting license or a combination hunting/fishing license to apply. Applicants will not be charged the cost of the permit unless they are successful in the draw.

The Utah Draw System

Hunting license to apply

Every applicant will need to have a valid hunting license to apply for hunts or even bonus or preference points only. That hunting license is valid for 365 days from the date of purchase. Applicants can buy one hunting license every two years and apply if they time it correctly. For example, if you purchase a hunting license and apply on the last day of this application period and then apply early in next year's application period, you could apply for two years on one hunting license. You do not need a valid hunting license to actually hunt; you only need it to apply in the draw.

Permit split/allocation

The permit split offers 90% to residents and 10% to nonresidents. For limited entry elk units with three weapon types, permits are allocated in the following percentages: 25% for archery, 15% for muzzleloader, and 60% for any legal weapon. Within any legal weapon (rifle) elk seasons, percentages of permits will be recommended as 10% for the early any weapon season, 30% for the mid any weapon season, 17% for the late any weapon season, and 3% for the multi-season.

Important notice: The percentages of permits allocated for each season changed in 2023 from previous years with the new statewide elk plan. This change continues into 2026 and reduces the number of permits primarily for the early rifle (any weapon) season. 

The application period was also moved back to give applicants a chance to review tag allocations for the hunts they plan to apply for. UDWR will release the number of recommended permits for each hunt the first week of April. When you evaluate the odds of the hunts you are planning to apply for it is imperative to review the detailed draw odds pages for those hunts and compare the number of permits that were allocated at each point level. The mid-October seasons have the best odds for rifle hunters. The late season archery hunts have the best archery season odds; however, be cautious as those are late season spot and stalk hunts that will have lower harvest success rates.

Bonus points

Utah has a hybrid draw system for limited-entry elk and antelope permits, where they guarantee 50% of the permits for each hunt to the applicants with the most bonus points, and 50% are randomly allocated. If there is an odd number of permits for a hunt (for example, three), the bulk go to high point holders, and only one will be randomly allocated. If there is only one permit, it will be randomly drawn.

The random draw takes into consideration the number of points each applicant has, meaning you get more chances in the random draw with each point you have. For example, if I have zero points, I get one chance, but if I have ten points, I get eleven chances (one for each point I have and one for this year’s application).

Bonus points are given for each year an applicant applies for a limited-entry or once-in-a-lifetime species and is unsuccessful in the draw. Applicants can also apply for bonus points only until the April 23 deadline. Applicants who miss the deadline can apply for bonus points only during the antlerless application timeframe from June 9 to 23. Bonus points are species specific, meaning you cannot apply bonus points for limited entry elk that an applicant has accrued toward a limited entry deer or antelope hunt. My recommendation is to always apply for for hunts and not bonus points only. Unless you cannot afford the time off to hunt or the cost of the permit should you draw it, always apply for hunts because if you are unsuccessful in the draw you will be given a bonus point for this year's application. Remember that half of the permit for each hunt are randomly drawn.

Group applications

Applicants can apply as a group for limited-entry elk and antelope. Up to four applicants can apply on a group application. Group applicants will have their bonus points totaled and averaged and rounded down to the whole number. For example, if a group of three applies with three, five, and nine bonus points, that application will go into the draw with five points (3+5+9=17/3=5.666 rounded to 5). Residents and nonresidents can apply as a group together on the same application. 

A group application is treated as a single application in the draw, meaning that if an application is successful in the draw, all applicants on that application will receive permits. Be aware that Utah will not over allocate their permit quotas to satisfy a group application. For example, if there is one permit remaining for any given hunt and a group application of two is drawn, they will bypass that application and move to the next single applicant. For resident/nonresident combo group applications, there must be enough nonresident permits to cover the nonresident applicants on the application. If there was an application with two nonresidents and two resident applicants, and there was only one nonresident permit available for the hunt they applied for, that application has no chance at being successful in the draw. 

Hunt choices

Applicants can select two hunt choices when applying for limited-entry hunts. Every single applicant's first choice is considered before moving to any applicant's second choice. Essentially, it is very rare for a limited-entry permit to be drawn as a second choice. To draw a hunt as a second choice, it would mean that there were permits remaining after every single applicant's first choice was considered. Be aware that if you draw a permit as a second choice you will lose any accumulated bonus points.

Draw order

Utah’s draw goes in the following order from first to last:

Utah does not allow applicants to draw multiple limited-entry tags in the same draw/year. You also cannot draw a limited entry and a once-in-a-lifetime (moose, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, or bison) permit in the same year. In the rare case that an applicant has enough points to draw both a limited-entry permit and a once-in-a-lifetime permit, they should decide which hunt they want to pursue. With the order of the draw, they would draw the limited entry hunt, and their once-in-a-lifetime species application will not be considered in the draw.

Permit return

Successful applicants who wish to return a permit that they have drawn can do so 30 days prior to the start of their hunt. In this case, they can have their bonus points reinstated; however, they would not earn one for that year's application. The cost of the limited-entry permit will be refunded as long as it is returned 30 days prior to the hunt. If applicants drew a permit as part of a group, all members of the group must surrender their permits in order to have all of the applicants’ bonus points reinstated. Hunting licenses and application fees are nonrefundable.

Snowpack and drought in Utah

Currently, almost the entire state of Utah is experiencing moderate to severe drought, with some pockets of extreme drought. Utah’s snowpack outlook is abysmal to say the least. The state's best elk units from central Utah to the south are all below 50% of the annual average snowpack. The more northern units are faring slightly better, at just over 50% of annual snowpack. While October had higher-than-average precipitation, November, December, and January were dry. With snowpack typically peaking around the beginning of April, that only gives the state approximately eight weeks to accumulate more snow. The current season is the second lowest season-to-date snowpack behind 1981. 

Although we know that weather patterns and predictions can be finicky, northern Utah is expecting above normal precipitation in February, while southern Utah has high potential for snowstorms in southern Utah. Overall, the outlook for quality feed and good antler growth for the 2026 hunting season is not great. 

However, there are many factors that go into antler growth, including the body condition of the mother, the year the bull was born, the moisture years post birth, and the current body condition of the bulls coming out of the winter. Data comparing age and main beam antler length for elk harvested in Utah show trends with 97% of antler length being achieved by 6.5 years old. If we peel back the years, bulls that will be 6.5 years old this coming fall would have been born in 2019, which was a great water year. That year was one of Utah’s snowiest seasons on record. That was followed by some drier years, but the state rebounded in 2022-2023 with more great moisture year. 

Body conditions and survival coming out of this winter are likely to be good, due to seasonal rain in October. If the state gets some spring and summer monsoon moisture, the antler growth could also be good but, I don’t think it will be a banner year for antler growth in the southern half of the state, but I do think it will be decent. The northern half of the state should fare better, although most of those units are not managed for an older age class of bull. 

We often get asked whether this is a good year to use your bonus points to draw an elk permit. While I do not believe it will be an ideal year for antler growth, there is no guarantee that waiting will yield better results due to the fact that Utah can and does “drought out” seemingly more frequently. Waiting may be a gamble, one thing we do know is that the bulls that were born 6-8 years ago would have been born in good moisture years. 

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

If you have a burning desire to hunt mature bulls, Utah needs to be on the short list of states you apply in. Currently, I’d rank only Nevada ahead of Utah in terms of the quality of bulls available to hunt each fall. In saying that, the quality is not what it was in the early to mid 2000’s, but it’s still really good and has had some great years recently. The highest hurdle to clear for applicants is actually getting a permit to hunt. The draw odds are extremely tough, especially for nonresidents. As indicated in the bonus point table below, Utah is over thirty years deep into their bonus point application system. Their system allocated half the permits for any given hunt to the applicants with the most points that apply. The other half of the permits are allocated randomly, with weight given to the number of points you have, which means if you have 5 bonus points, for example, you get 6 chances in that random portion of the draw (one for each point, plus one for this year's application). Because there is a random portion of the draw, I always encourage applicants to apply for hunts. 

Utah is unique in their approach to elk management. They manage each unit for a desired age class objective of harvested bulls. In plain terms, each unit is managed so that the bulls available to hunt each fall largely fit into the desired age class. After the hunts conclude each fall, hunters are asked to submit a tooth sample and from those samples the UDWR averages out the age of all teeth submitted for each unit. The UDWR then uses a three-year average age of the bulls harvested from each unit to help them adjust the number of permits for the coming year (higher permit numbers if age is above the objective, lower permit numbers if the age is below the objective). As indicated in the tables below, there are three tiers of age class, five units in the 6.5-7 age class, seven units in the 6-6.5 age class, and ten units in the 5.5-6 age class. The quality of bulls taken in the state each fall coordinate well with the age class that each unit is managed for, meaning the best bulls are almost certainly going to be taken from one of those five units managed for the oldest age. That’s not to say that there are not great bulls taken from the two lower tiers, but there are certainly far fewer big bulls available in those populations. 

The reason age class management is important to applicants is because it will allow you to quickly sort through what units you should apply for depending on your own objectives. If you are truly only interested in hunting a 350” plus bull, you should likely apply for one of those top-tier units. If you are content with a 300-340” class bull, the mid to lower-tier units offer you better odds of drawing. For applicants that can scout hard, know the areas, and are willing to hunt those mid to low tier units there are some hidden gems. Some units in the bottom age class tiers have experienced wildfires over the last ten years, and the resulting feed is producing some incredible bulls. 

Utah’s season structure offers early archery, early rifle, muzzleloader, mid rifle, late rifle, and late archery. The mid rifle hunt and the late archery hunt are relatively new. The late archery hunts occur from late November to mid-December, and harvest success has been low since the hunt was implemented. It does appear that some die-hard bowhunters are starting to figure out the late hunt to capitalize on some great bulls. Be aware that if you draw a late archery bull permit, the hunting can be very challenging. The bulls will have moved off into remote, rough terrain to find feed and solitude. Cold temperatures and snow make it hard to sneak up on and kill the bigger bulls that remain. The mid rifle season occurs in early October, and since its implementation, the bulk of the overall rifle tags are allocated for those hunts. The mid rifle season occurs just outside of prime rut dates and is concurrent with the over-the-counter (OTC) general rifle spike elk hunt. The later dates and added pressure in the field is making it tougher to kill the largest bulls, but if you have time to scout and can handle the added hunting pressure of the OTC spike hunters, those hunts offer the best rifle draw odds generally. Some great bulls were taken the past two years during the mid-season rifle hunt. 

The early archery hunt starts in mid-August and runs to the 15th of September. Many of the best bulls killed every year are killed during the first ten days of the early archery hunt. Many hunters reserve their time off to hunt during the later part of the hunt in September. This strategy is understandable since the bulls will be starting to round up cow/calf herds and are susceptible to calling, but don’t overlook the first two weeks. During that time frame, bulls are often still in their summer habitat and are more patternable. They are vulnerable to spot and stalk methods and hunting over water/wallows can be productive to target and kill a specific bull. In my personal experience, during the pre-rut and rut, the bulls can and do move significant distances. Finding a bull that you scouted in the summer can be difficult once they begin to rut. 

The early rifle hunt was shortened to five days a few years ago. This early rifle hunt is still the most highly coveted due to the prime rut dates. The odds of drawing the early rifle hunts are tough, but for those that draw, the hunter is almost guaranteed an opportunity to harvest. Early rifle hunters should be prepared to cover ground and pull the trigger when they find a bull that they like. It can be a fast-paced hunt with the opportunity to look over a lot of bulls. The muzzleloader hunt occurs just after the early rifle hunt, and given the fact that the hunt is nine days long and during a time of year when the bulls are still rutting, it's definitely worth considering for firearm applicants. For many years, the muzzleloader hunt provides one of, if not the best rut hunt. Remember that Utah outlawed the use of magnified scopes on muzzleloaders, so take that into consideration as well. Overall, I still think the muzzleloader hunt is probably the most fun and has slightly better draw odds than a lot of the rifle hunts.  

I’ve already talked about the mid-season rifle hunt above, so I’ll move to the late rifle hunts. When you are considering a late rifle hunt, I’d suggest that you do some research and find units that have big open country where you can glass. Glassing is going to be your primary method of finding bulls during the late season and some units are thickly vegetated and can be hard to glass. The flip side of that coin is that a few of the units that are managed for older age class bulls are thickly vegetated and hard to hunt late season which has resulted in better draw odds. 

Hopefully, I’ve given readers something to think about, and they can consider their own situation and objectives for their hunt to find the best option for them. Utah is a dream elk state and offers fantastic elk hunting. Every year I have people ask if they should apply for bull elk in Utah given the draw odds are so low. To answer that question, I would ask if they also are interested in hunting general season mule deer. The odds of drawing a general season mule deer tag are good within a handful of years, and if you are interested in hunting mule deer, applicants should buy the hunting license required to apply and also apply for all species for the extra $21 application fee per species. The odds of drawing a bull elk tag are low, but if you can hunt general season mule deer every few years, it keeps you engaged in Utah, and remember, you always have the random chance of drawing. If you do draw an elk tag, you’re probably in for one of the best elk hunting experiences of your life.

Below are the most recent three-year age-class structures for each unit, along with the three-year average. This is the most recently published data.

Statewide, the elk population is estimated at 82,140 (as of 2024) with an objective of 79,965.

Limited entry elk seasons

Random odds vary by the number of bonus points. Review the odds within your Insider account. 

New season permit quotas are likely to impact maximum point draw odds. Review the proposed 2026 permit numbers and compare them to the number of permits allocated in 2025 to further evaluate chances of drawing. The 2026 permit quotas will be released in early April on the Utah Wildlife Gov. site.

September archery and hams hunts (handgun, archery, muzzleloader, shotgun)

Utah offers HAMS hunts on the Cache/North, Barney Top/Kaiparowits, Southwest Desert/North, West Desert/DeepCreek, and East Canyon.  The hunts in these units run from Nov. 7th to the 30th. The exemption is the dates for East Canyon, which runs from Dec. 7th to the 27th. 

Four of those same units also offered a Sept. archery only hunt that runs from Sept. 1st to the 30th. 

Looking at the draw odds, those hunts have required close to the same number of bonus points as other limited-entry, mid-tier archery hunts.  Something to ponder when considering the archery hunts in these units is that the harvest success for the Southwest Desert, North and West Desert, Deep Creek units has been very high. The quality and number of bulls is not what you would typically find on the best units in the state, but it’s on par with mid-tier options and, for the bowhunter, you have the entire month of September to hunt. The HAMS and archery hunts on these units are intriguing, but they may not be a good fit for everyone. Weapons are limited to a handgun, archery, a primitive muzzleloader, or a shotgun. For applicants who are looking for a unique hunt where pressure is limited, these may be worth considering.

Over-the-counter elk hunt options

One of the primary goals of Utah’s elk plan was to increase elk hunting opportunities. Utah offers over-the-counter (OTC) elk hunts under two different categories: general any bull and general spike elk. There are archery, rifle, and muzzleloader permits. 

The general archery permits are not specific to a unit, and hunters who purchase a general season archery elk permit can hunt either spike elk units and/or any bull units. Archery hunters can harvest a spike or cow elk on almost every spike elk unit or they can harvest any bull or a cow elk on any bull units. The number of archery general season permits is unlimited. The OTC archery elk permit is a great opportunity for a hunter to harvest an elk and, with more states like Idaho and Colorado, opportunity hunts being harder to come by; it’s one of the best guarantees to hunt elk.

Rifle and muzzleloader hunters must choose between buying a spike elk permit or any bull permit. Rifle hunters or muzzleloader hunters who buy a general spike tag can harvest a spike only on any of the open spike elk units. The general any bull elk rifle or muzzleloader permits are only valid for bull elk in general any bull units. In 2026, there will once again be an early rifle any bull hunt and a late rifle any bull hunt. There is a 15,000 permit cap that is shared between the early rifle any bull hunt and the any bull muzzleloader hunt. The 15,000 permits will sell out quickly. The late any bull rifle hunt is unlimited in the number of permits that can be sold.

The rifle spike bull and muzzleloader spike bull permits have a shared cap of 15,000 permits. Out of those 15,000 permits, 4,500 can be sold as multi-season permits. Once again, these permits will sell out quickly. Hunters should plan on buying permits the day they go on sale in order to have the best chance at getting a permit. 

The following table breaks down hunt dates and the dates that permits go on sale.

Insiders can explore the general season any bull and spike elk hunts in Utah by selecting Utah under Filtering. They can then select Elk, Any Bull, or Elk, Spike to research the units, harvest success, season dates, and public land percentages to help them fine-tune their search for an OTC elk hunt opportunity.

The table below lists the top general-season rifle spike units with the most recent harvest data from 2024. If you are considering an OTC spike elk hunt, consider one of these areas.

Below are the top general season any bull elk units based on the most recent harvest success. Please refer to your Insider account or UDWR booklet or website for boundary descriptions.

Managing elk points and expectations

In 2025, there were 21,451 residents and 16,844 nonresidents that purchased limited entry elk bonus points only rather than apply for hunts. Remember that you will be given a bonus point if you are unsuccessful in the draw. In essence, there were a lot of applicants who bought a hunting license, paid the application fee, and applied for a bonus point only, giving themselves no chance to draw. In my opinion, with 50% of most hunt tags being randomly allocated, applicants should apply for hunts if they can afford the permit and the time to hunt. You never know when it might be your lucky year to draw a great permit.  

2026 maximum bonus points for elk: 33

Utah’s pronghorn populations hit it’s highest point from 2018 to 220, but dropped until 2024. Over the last two years, mother nature has been kind to pronghorn populations in Utah and herds have rebounded quickly. Pronghorn are prolific fortunately and herds that have suffered due to drought and winterkill can, and have, rebounded over just a few short years. 

One prime example of that is the Parker Mountain herd which has served as a source population for pronghorn transplants throughout Utah and other Western states. Nearly 6,000 animals have been captured there and relocated since 1975. However, due to recent population struggles, no transplants occurred between 2014 and 2024. Fortunately, the Parker Mountain pronghorn population has recovered in recent years. In 2025, it once again had enough animals for a capture-and-transplant project. In late January 2025, the UDWR and its partners captured 317 pronghorn from Parker Mountain for transplant to four management units across Utah. These units included the Cache, Mt Dutton/Paunsaugunt, South San Rafael and Southwest Desert. Overall, populations are doing well and pronghorn hunting is great for the lucky applicants that draw a tag. Generally speaking pronghorn herds are growing and doing well in Utah.

Trophy quality has decreased slightly based upon my observations over the past five years. That is a general statement, because there are still great bucks killed every year by hunters willing to scout and hunt hard.  A few years ago the UDWR lowered the age class objectives and began to increase permits across the state. This was based on a study that most bucks reach their horn growth potential around three years of age. There is 80”+ potential in many units, and pronghorn are not under the microscope the way a trophy mule deer or bull elk might be. Consequently, hunters can scout and find a buck that probably doesn't have the attention of guides and outfitters. The key to hunting and killing a trophy buck is patience and persistence. It will often require hunters to look over a good number of bucks and continue to grind to find the buck that fits their objective. This year should be a good year for horn growth I believe. Utah received good fall rains, and it’s getting good late snowfall even in the valleys. 

Utah offers archery and rifle seasons, and on some units they also have a muzzleloader hunt. The archery and muzzleloader hunts are challenging spot and stalk or ambush hunts. The success rates are still generally very high. The rifle hunts occur in mid September while the archery hunt occurs in August and September. Both hunts should offer you the chance to hunt some of the rut. 

For residents of Utah, they must pick one limited entry species to apply for. They cannot apply for limited entry elk, limited entry deer, and limited entry antelope in the same year.

Nonresidents can and should apply for all limited entry species they are interested in. Certainly, there are people who love pronghorn hunting, and if that is your main focus, then apply until you draw and once off your waiting period, apply again. For most resident hunters considering Utah, I would recommend they apply for limited entry elk until they draw a tag. After you have drawn an elk tag, you’ll be on the waiting period for elk, and at that point, I would suggest applying for pronghorn. Pronghorn tags generally offer better odds of drawing than limited-entry deer, and you can hunt general-season deer in Utah relatively often. Everyone has their own strategy but personally I think it makes the most sense to apply for limited entry elk until drawing a tag and then applying for pronghorn and limited entry deer while in that waiting period. Overall, while the trophy quality is not incredible, there are still good numbers of antelope, tons of public land, and, should you draw, it’s a quality hunt. Antelope are definitely worth applying for in Utah!

Managing antelope points and expectations

2026 maximum bonus points for antelope: 27