Despite Utah lowering their management age class levels in 2023, there is still some great hunting for mature trophy bulls across the state in most units. Most hunters figured that this move was the beginning of the end for trophy class bulls in the state, but somehow Utah is still holding solid for great bulls. A lot of this can be attributed to other management changes like moving the bulk of the tags to less opportune times for harvest, like the mid-season rifle hunts in October. This redirected tags from the early rifle hunt in September when bulls are at their most vulnerable state, and consequently, most of the units across the state do not have any preference tags awarded for those early rifle hunts.

Most elk units in Utah have three rifle hunts consisting of an early rifle hunt in mid-September, a mid-season rifle hunt the first of October, and a late rifle hunt in mid-November. The early season is obviously the best hunt for prime rut activity and yields the best chance at a mature bull. The mid-season hunt overlaps with a general rifle spike-only elk hunt and has the most tags issued for it and is the hardest hunt to find a mature bull. The late season has fewer tags and can be the physically toughest hunt of the three, but if you can locate where the bulls are calling home, it can be productive for mature bulls.

Most units also have two archery seasons consisting of an early archery season that runs from mid-August to the second week of September and a late archery hunt in early December. The first part of the early archery hunt can be difficult without some scouting as most of the bulls at this time will still be in bachelor groups and not bugling. Towards the first of September, things will start to pick up with the rut and bulls become a lot more vocal. The late archery hunt was introduced in 2023 and has been a very difficult hunt when it comes to harvest success. The pro about this hunt is there are very few tags and most of the time is the only hunt going on at that time. The stalking is always going to be problematic with crunchy snow and groups of bulls together, but the odds are incredibly good to draw.

Most units also have one muzzleloader season the last week of September. This is one of the best hunts for elk because of the timing, and since Utah went back to open sight or 1 power scopes, the random draw odds have gotten a little better. The same issue exists for this hunt as the early rifle in that Utah issues very few tags for the muzzleloader season and most tags are only available in the random draw.

Utah has one other type of elk unit, HAMSS. HAMSS stands for Handgun, Archery, Muzzleloader, Shotgun, and Straight-walled cartridge. These have different seasons than the normal elk units that consist of an archery season that runs the entire month of September and a late HAMSS weapon season that runs most of the month of November. These units consist of low elk populations and/or predominantly private land. These units can produce some mature bulls but can be very difficult hunts and should be applied for with caution.

There are two seven-day rifle hunts on any bull units back to back in October. The first hunt will run October 4-10, and the second hunt will run October 11-17. The first rifle hunt will have a shared 15,000 permit quota with the muzzleloader hunt that will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis on July 17th. The second rifle hunt has an unlimited permit quota. Utah has multi-season spike-only permits available for purchase, with a cap of 4,500. There are no multi-season any bull permits available.

Almost all of Utah’s limited-entry bull elk units have a spike-only hunt on them. These limited-entry units have the best genetics and highest chance of success when hunters put in the effort. Hunting pressure is lower, but hunters must be aware that these units often include thick cover and steep shooting canyons. Some of the best non-resident opportunities are found in these units, but these are still archery and spike-only permits. The second hunt has no cap, but the first and third rifle seasons will all have a limited-entry spike bull hunts during the same season, October 4-16.

For the most part, any bull units have either a large amount of private land and are very difficult to manage as a limited-entry unit or are being managed for lower elk populations. Those units that largely consist of public land get hunted hard, and mature bulls are driven off quickly into the thick. Most of the any bull units in Northern Utah consist of private land, except the Uinta Mountains. Some of these units have better hunting for mature bulls, but it is highly dependent on the private lands. There will always be a few big, mature bulls that come from the any bull units in Utah, but most of the big bulls are either off some of the private land or wander of a neighboring limited-entry unit.

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