# LE Elk Units



## bigbuckhunter64 (May 6, 2008)

I am just curious about how other people rank certain LE units in the state. I think we have already decided on how we rank them and what we are going to put in for this year but it would be fun to see how others would think. Rank these from best to worst and tell why you rank your best unit the best. Bookcliffs (either area), Dutton, Panguitch Lake, Boulder, Fishlake, and Wasatch in no particular order.


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Boulder, Dutton, Panguitch, Wasatch, Fishlake, Bookcliffs,

And I say Boulder because....I dunno. Actually this is kind of a hard list. I would probably put boulder on top no matter what though. Great country, pretty good access and a lot of great bulls are taken off the boulder. The dutton has a lot of elk, but is pretty rugged -- which I like. I don't know too much about panguitch and fishlake, other than fishing at fish lake, I haven't spent much time in that unit. The Wasatch is a good unit, but is usually a pretty busy place that can be quite crowded, that being said there are some great bulls on the wasatch, finally book cliffs, it seems like quality has been down a little as of late for the books.

Agree to disagree if you want, but that is how I would rank them.


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

San Jaun, Pahvant, Monroe, Southwest Desert, Boulder,,,,,,,,,

Theres my top 5.


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## blazingsaddle (Mar 11, 2008)

San Jaun, Pahvant, Beaver, SWD, Dutton, Monroe. The last four could but equals in my mind, and depend more on the terrain type one prefers. 
The worst- or should I say the hardest- would be Oak Creek


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

A few folks need to reread the first post. :? Out if the units you asked about my ranking is: Boulder, Dutton, Panguitch Lake, Fishlake, Wasatch, and Bookcliffs (either area). Boulder and Dutton are sixes in my book as far as quality, the bulls cross back and forth year round. I give the Boulder a slight edge due to having more country to spread hunters out. Panguitch Lake is a good 'sleeper' unit. I think Fish Lake is on the verge of becoming a Top 5 unit. The Wasatch holds lots of elk, with a few really good bulls, but it also gets a lot of pressure from the masses of people. I don't know either of the Book Cliff units, so I put them last based on what I have heard from others who do.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

Wasatch I know it pretty good and still learning more of it.
Dutton, Panguitch Lake, Boulder, Fishlake, Have heard good things about this places. Don't know much about them or been to them.


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## blazingsaddle (Mar 11, 2008)

my bad on misinterpreting the first post...
Size of animal- Dutton and boulder, but with effort Fishlake can really produce.
Wasatch is a huge unit, but in my opinion is the on the bottom end of those units because of pressure and too much access. Wasatch is everyones backyard.
I do think any one of these could produce a great bull though.

Dutton, Boulder, Fish Lake, Books (roadless), Wasatch, Panguitch


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## legacy (Sep 30, 2007)

blazingsaddle said:


> The worst- or should I say the hardest- would be Oak Creek


+1

It is a tough hunt, but in all actuallity, it is probably the worst unit in the state. Could be good and was at one time, but poor management has done away with that.


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## yak4fish (Nov 16, 2007)

I was going to bring this very topic up but I was going to word it (Which LE units get the most pressure?) I cant speak for the other units but Dutton was a zoo during the early LE rifle hunt. For a unit that got issued 57 tags there had to be close to 500 people looking for elk. :shock: That being said I saw some big bulls come off Dutton in Sept.
I'm curious how much pressure some of these other units get during the early rifle hunt :?:


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

yak, IMHO the Dutton was crazier than usual this past year due to a few factors. 1)It got lots of publicity on hunting forums for various reasons. 2)The new spike tags. 3)Since it is getting harder to draw a tag, more people are tagging along on family/friend's hunts. Until 2009, I would have put Dutton ahead of Boulder since the boulder had spike tags and Dutton didn't, now that all but a few LE units have spike tags that is a non-issue. I suspect the Dutton will be a lot less crowded in 2010, at least I hope so. 8) The Boulder has some great bulls, and some great areas to get away from the masses, as does Dutton. Dutton is a smaller unit over-all, so for someone with little/no experience with the Dutton I recommend they look elsewhere. Me, I would take a Dutton tag over ANY tag in the state straight up, but I am biased toward that pile of rocks and have been chasing elk on it yearly for over 10 years now.


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## Bullcrazy (Dec 28, 2007)

Dutton, Boulder, Fishlake, Panguitch, Bookcliffs, Wasatch.


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## blownsmok97 (Nov 8, 2009)

Dutton, Wasatch, Fishlake, Boulder, Panguitch, Books.
Mainly because i know the first three and have seen plenty of good bulls both dead and alive, but i don't really know the last three very well.


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## Jhartwell (Dec 17, 2009)

I have heard nothing but great things about the boulder unit. In fact my uncle is planning on getting a guide next year to get him a 385+ bull. To be honest it all depends on what your looking for. The good thing is Utah is producing amazing bulls in each unit. If your willing to put in the time and not shoot the first bull that comes in then you have great odds to getting a monster bull. Dutton has been doing great in the past 5 years and Boulder seems to only be getting better and better each year. I drew a muzzleloader tag for last september in the Bookcliffs Roadless area. To me that is the best area in the state because your away from so many people, there are no vehicles and only 10 hunters in the unit. I ended up taking a very respectable 371 bull. The secluded area alone was what made the trip. We never saw anyone else hunting in the field and we got into tons of bulls. If you have horses and are in good shape I would recommend the book cliffs roadless any day. If your looking for the best chances at a giant bull go to Dutton or Boulder, also San Juan is amazing as well. All and all Utah is doing an awesome job at managing elk. Here are some pics of my elk hunt down on the book cliffs http://www.myrockymountainhunting.com/2009/09/blog-post.html


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## proutdoors (Sep 24, 2007)

Jhartwell, your bull has tons of character! I like those long 3rds and that brow tine is wicked. Very nice, congrats. 8)


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Jhartwell,

Welcome to the forum. That's an awesome looking bull!

I'm up to 8 points for elk and have been putting "the books" down as my first choice. Maybe I'll get lucky this year.


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## bucks gone wild (Sep 9, 2009)

svmoose said:


> Boulder, Dutton, Panguitch, Wasatch, Fishlake, Bookcliffs,
> 
> And I say Boulder because....I dunno. Actually this is kind of a hard list. I would probably put boulder on top no matter what though. Great country, pretty good access and a lot of great bulls are taken off the boulder. The dutton has a lot of elk, but is pretty rugged -- which I like. I don't know too much about panguitch and fishlake, other than fishing at fish lake, I haven't spent much time in that unit. The Wasatch is a good unit, but is usually a pretty busy place that can be quite crowded, that being said there are some great bulls on the wasatch, finally book cliffs, it seems like quality has been down a little as of late for the books.
> 
> Agree to disagree if you want, but that is how I would rank them.


have you ever hunted before?


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## goofy elk (Dec 16, 2007)

bigbuckhunter64 said:


> I am just curious about how other people rank certain LE units in the state. I think we have already decided on how we rank them and what we are going to put in for this year but it would be fun to see how others would think. Rank these from best to worst and tell why you rank your best unit the best. Bookcliffs (either area), Dutton, Panguitch Lake, Boulder, Fishlake, and Wasatch in no particular order.


I've hunted elk on Boulder , Dutton , Fishlake , and a ton on the Wasatch.........
If you know Boulder,,,,,,,Its by far the best.

Now, I'm guessing your talking rifle hunting?

If you want some better detail,,,,,shoot me a PM.


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## Jhartwell (Dec 17, 2009)

Sawsman, Thanks yeah I was pretty excited calling him in to 15 yards. His thirds are his longest tines at 22 inches. Well it took me 10 points to draw the muzzleloader tag and I still had a 1 and 3.5 chance of drawing. Good luck and let me know when you do draw it.


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## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

BBH64, Fishlake and the books are obviously the closest for whom I assume you are inquiring. 

They've got horses, so I'd say books roadless will present a great opportunity at a big bull, good scouting trips and a very neat hunt. The drawback would be that they will likely have less help/company, due to the aforementioned factors. As always, it all depends on what someone wants out of their hunt.

Best chance at a huge bull? Boulder or Dutton. 

Elk all over the place? Wasatch. 

Mix of the above? Fish Lake.

Less people, neat terrain, Best "primitive" experience, Book cliffs roadless.

I don't know dick about Panguitch, Other than it's by Panguitch. :mrgreen:


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