More than 29,000 permits to hunt bull elk with a rifle or muzzleloader in Utah went on sale at 8 a.m. on June 27.
General archery elk permits also went on sale June 27. General archery elk permits are not limited in number, though, so there’s no rush to get one. General archery elk permits will be available throughout both the general and extended archery seasons.
Permits are available for purchase at DWR offices, 300 hunting license agents across Utah and online at www.wildlife.utah.gov.
Before you buy a rifle or muzzleloader permit, you need to decide which units you want to hunt on: any-bull units, where you’re allowed to take a bull of any size, or spike-only units, where only spike bulls may be taken.
If you buy an any-bull permit, you can hunt on all of the any-bull units in Utah. If you buy a spike-only permit, you can hunt on all of the spike-only units in the state.
If you’re new to elk hunting, Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the DWR, encourages you to buy a permit for the spike-only units.
“Utah has lots of spike bulls,” he said. “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 said the two Uinta Mountains units — the North Slope unit and the South Slope unit – are the best bets.
“If you look at the map on pages 44 and 45 of the 2013 Utah Big Game Field Regulations Guidebook, you’ll see Utah has quite a few any-bull elk units,” he said.
He said there’s a challenge to hunting these units.
“With the exception of the North Slope and South Slope units, many of these units are covered by private land, or they don’t have the number of elk on them that the North Slope and South Slope units have,” he said.
Utah has lots of spike bulls. And there’s a lot of public land to hunt them on.”
