# Utah’s big game seasons are



## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

Change my mind
Utah’s big game seasons need to be changed.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

archery elk should cover the rut


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

They also shouldn’t have hounds running at the same time as the archery season


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## Pokesmole (Oct 29, 2016)

Certainly not horrible. Are there things I'd like changed for personal benefit? Absolutely. However there are tons of guys who consistently get it done.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

19 years ago today on September 15 I had my LE elk tag for the Book Cliffs. 

Luckily I shot my bull at 7:05 opening morning at 7:30 there was a pack of hounds let loose in the canyon that I was hunting in. At 7:35 there wasn't a elk or deer left in that canyon where there had been 40-50 elk just before I shot mine. 

The DWR heard a ear full from me about it. But nothing was done about it.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

...fine just the way they are.


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## Brettski7 (May 11, 2020)

*Utah's big game seasons are*



Ray said:


> archery elk should cover the rut


I agree kind of but honestly a lot of places are the same, however you don't have to buy a license for each season or draws and all that crap. You just bug an add on and then can use archery during those seasons. Yes I'm talking mostly non western states. You just buy a hunting license and then purchase a muzzleloader tag or archery tag and covered for the whole season. Don't have to choose one of the other etc. I understand we have a multi season but during the muzzie you can't archery hunt if I remember correctly. Not the case most other places I've hunted and not reduced down to zones.

But West is a whole new game. Kind of sucks coming from more freedom and hunting opportunity to less, but I understand it also. I'm adjusting.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

...never going to make everybody happy.


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## 7mm Reloaded (Aug 25, 2015)

Ray said:


> archery elk should cover the rut


Nope


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Ray said:


> archery elk should cover the rut


Great idea if your an Archer. Sucks if your not.

IMO, Archers have greater opportunities now than any other weapon. I favor the ML hunts myself, so lets give the ML guys the prime time Elk rut season.

It boils down to the adage....."Your never going to please everyone". No matter what is done with dates, seasons, species, weapons, there will always be someone that complains. It's human nature I guess.


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

...great the way they are.

People only want change for selfish, beneficial gain. What benefits you, won’t benefit others. You don’t need the rut to kill an elk with a bow. Figure out how to be successful with the seasons we currently have. It’s not that hard if you put a little effort into it.


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

"(insert subject here) needs to be changed."


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

taxidermist said:


> . I favor the ML hunts myself, so lets give the ML guys the prime time Elk rut season.


ML LE elk has the best rut dates already.

I think the DWR has struck a pretty good balance between all users.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Ray said:


> They also shouldn't have hounds running at the same time as the archery season


Not only should hounds be restricted during the archery hunt, but so should the following:

upland game hunting
scouting for later hunts
general hiking (including straight, LGBTQ, or otherwise)
photography
ATV riding. In particular, ATV riding in areas closed to ATVs. But all those Razors running up and down the highway should be restricted too.
camping by non hunters.
guides
Cattle grazing
cattle gathering
cattle in general. + sheep
Require a minimum of 10 years prior experience hunting a specific area before being allowed to hunt said area. Unless you are a local. Locals exclude all people that live along the Wasatch Front.
all hunts should be conducted during the rut. But really only archery.

While we're at it: Utah needs to restrict antler gathering during the spring turkey hunts.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

PBH said:


> Ray said:
> 
> 
> > They also shouldn't have hounds running at the same time as the archery season
> ...


Now you're talkin! &#128514;


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

MooseMeat said:


> ...great the way they are.
> 
> People only want change for selfish, beneficial gain. What benefits you, won't benefit others. You don't need the rut to kill an elk with a bow. Figure out how to be successful with the seasons we currently have. It's not that hard if you put a little effort into it.


Of course, it's human nature to want to make things better for yourself and no, the ruts not needed to kill an elk but it sure would be fun.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

If anyone wants to hunt elk in the rut, apply for an elk hunt in the rut. Everyone can already do that. You could even still use your bow to do it. 

Join the club!


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## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

the season dates are set up pretty well to maximize profitability. why would you want to change it?


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## MooseMeat (Dec 27, 2017)

Ray said:


> Of course, it's human nature to want to make things better for yourself and no, the ruts not needed to kill an elk but it sure would be fun.


Hunt the extended. Apply for any legal weapon permits. There's ways to still hunt the rut.

Last I checked (a couple weeks ago). By September 1, you can call bulls in with cow calls. Most years, you get 10ish days to hunt any bull units with OTC tags during the beginning of the rut with your bow. The opportunity is there. But it will never be good enough for most guys. You'll never make everyone happen. The season that we have now is great. Provides opportunity for the people willing to work for it.


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

Current season dates are just fine. Every western state has pluses and minuses for season dates and lengths. Nothing is going to make everyone happy so I say leave as is, because if ya do change it it's going to tick of someone else and then here we are again. I have even learned to kinda like the floating hunt dates that line up with weekends all based off that general deer hunt being the third weekend in October. Some years you get better dates for archery and some years better for rifle or ML depending on your preferences. For long term planning it can be a nice feature. If someone was sitting on a good amount of LE Elk points and wanted the best rut archery season dates then next year is the time to cash them in as apposed to this year where I would say the Muzzy loader has probably the best LE Elk season dates. High country early archery mule deer had good season dates this year and so on. 

If archers did get their way and hunted elk all of September then be prepared for the huge increase in point creep! Every coin has two sides.

I have learned to like Utah's seasons over the years as I have gotten older. I used to think they were ridiculous but you have to look outside yourself and know that it's all a compromise and it makes more sense.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

MooseMeat said:


> Hunt the extended. Apply for any legal weapon permits. There's ways to still hunt the rut.
> 
> Last I checked (a couple weeks ago). By September 1, you can call bulls in with cow calls. Most years, you get 10ish days to hunt any bull units with OTC tags during the beginning of the rut with your bow. The opportunity is there. But it will never be good enough for most guys. You'll never make everyone happen. The season that we have now is great. Provides opportunity for the people willing to work for it.


This is the truth. You can hunt rutting bulls on the extended with a bow during the rut every year on an OTC/unlimited tag. I'm gonna be chasing them this weekend.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Archery elk:Sep1-Sep 22.
ML elk:Sep 23-Sep 26.
Rifle elk:Oct1-Oct 9.


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## cedar (Jul 29, 2013)

One of my most difficult hunt was early season LE bull elk with rifle in my hand last year.it was a tasty tag soup.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

shaner said:


> Archery elk:Sep1-Sep 22.
> ML elk:Sep 23-Sep 26.
> Rifle elk:Oct1-Oct 9.


Wow. You hate muzzleloader hunters, don't you?


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## KineKilla (Jan 28, 2011)

shaner said:


> Archery elk:Sep1-Sep 22.
> ML elk:Sep 23-Sep 26.
> Rifle elk:Oct1-Oct 9.


I think you'd want to make the MZ hunts longer than the Rifle hunts, IMO.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

It could be worse, you could have the muzzle loader right in the middle of the bow hunt like Colorado does.

It is actually going on right now here in Colorado. I'll be back out in the morning.


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## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Isn’t this just a thought exercise anyway? It’s not like anything that’s promoted here is going to come to fruition. 

Of course in a thought experiment I’m going to promote things that are selfishly beneficial, that’s the point. 

I had a great time chasing elk with my bow this year, got into them everyday, putting in 10+ miles a day and hitting it hard for all 15 hours of the day, I’m in 5am, hiking out at 9pm. So the work I put in is definitely there. I’ve already spent several days on the extended, have gotten into 20+ deer (all does with one 2x3) and have an active wallow I’ve been sitting.

Again, I’ve been having a ton of fun this year, I wasn’t complaining in any way, whatsoever. I was merely engaging in conversation and throwing out ideas that are beneficial to me. 

Hell, while we’re at it, put the rifle deer hunt in late Nov.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

It's fine the way it is now. I never draw permits anyway.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

My only complaint has been backpack hunt related as it's always so warm at nights for my previous hunts. I always worried about meat spoilage with the temps in the Boulders but my skill level never got me into an experience to find out.

And PBH has it backwards....ban all other hunts during the grouse season 😁


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

It's hard to keep so many different users happy all the time. I think the division has done a pretty good job at this ongoing balancing act!


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

backcountry said:


> And PBH has it backwards....ban all other hunts during the grouse season &#128513;


See.

Next thing you know, the LGBTQ hikers will want everyone else banned so they can hike.

I just want to hunt turkey's without all the horn hunters chasing the birds away....

....and then I want to drown a worm on the Provo without the fly-flingers giving me dirty looks...


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## Hoopermat (Dec 17, 2010)

How about for elk
Archery starts last week of Aug to friday of third week of sept. 
And sell them as two different seasons. Early 2 weeks
Late 2 weeks
ML 
Early 2 weeks 3rd week of sept to end of first week of oct. 
Late first week of nov
Rifle 2nd week of oct until nov ML starts
For both LE and General. 

We all know that a general elk draw is coming and if the dates stay the same the point creep will skyrocket faster then the LE has

I feel like we need to be ahead of this. I have a group of people that want to push season date changes but we would only have one chance and we have to get it’s right. 
If anything gets done it has to be move LE rifle season to match general rifle season. 
And if ML wants rut hunt the scopes must come off


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

....and then I want to drown a worm on the Provo without the fly-flingers giving me dirty looks...	

If you don't want the looks, just spend another grand and learn how to fly-fish. After a few years you'll be very proficient at it and begin to wonder why you didn't take it up years earlier.  

https://utahwildlife.net/forum/12-big-game/203429-utah-s-big-game-seasons-4.html#


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

PBH said:


> ....and then I want to drown a worm on the Provo without the fly-flingers giving me dirty looks...


Nah, the dirty looks are either if you chuck your worm container on the bank, use a "bobber" (indicator), use cheap Wal mart gear, or have the temerity to harvest a fish. Otherwise, they are too busy trying to look cool. ;-)


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## Pokesmole (Oct 29, 2016)

I'd actually like to see a LE muzzle load season on the any bull units. Similar to what they do with the November deer hunt on general units. Match it up with the other LE muzzy elk seasons and give adults a chance to chase bulls in the uintahs during the rut. Might just help point creep too.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Pokesmole said:


> I'd actually like to see a LE muzzle load season on the any bull units. Similar to what they do with the November deer hunt on general units. Match it up with the other LE muzzy elk seasons and give adults a chance to chase bulls in the uintahs during the rut. Might just help point creep too.


Not a bad idea! I'd be all over it.


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## Bucksnbulls08 (Sep 18, 2008)

High powered rifle LE Elk hunts should never be held during the elk rut. Archery or muzzleloader should be during the rut or share the rut. Why does the most effective and longest shooting weapon be allowed when the elk are the most vulnerable?
Politics and money! There is no sound biological reasoning.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

Bucksnbulls08 said:


> There is no sound biological reasoning.


There is no sound biological reason, yet the herds have not only survived for decades under this system, but thrived.

Odd, indeed.


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## provider (Jan 17, 2011)

Hoopermat,

You are absolutely right. I will not change your mind, but this needs to be the schedule:smile:

No big game hunts until Fall!!!

3rd Sat. in Sept, archery deer and elk, 1.5 week
1st Sat in Oct, muzz / cross bow deer & elk, 1 week
2nd Sat in Oct, rifle elk, 1 week
3rd Sat in Oct, rifle deer, 1 week + 1 day

Then we can all leave the animals alone for 11 months and go do other things besides endless meat procurement.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Hey Vanilla,
it’s actually the opposite!
The muzzleloader is my favorite weapon to hunt with.
I’ve shot big game with cap and ball, full bore bullets, and sabots.
I currently hunt with the TC Encore system and love it.
I have a 12 gauge muzzleloading shotgun.
A little known fact is I lost my left hand with a muzzleloader 25 years ago because I thought I knew more than the engineers.
I had a brand new .54 caliber Knight Wolverine within 2 months of my accident and killed a deer with it that fall.
I help teach Hunters Ed and use my missing hand as an example of why gun safety is so important.
The reason I suggest the muzzleloader season be so short is that is THE ONLY way it could ever be possibly moved back to September, where it BELONGS, in between the archery and rifle hunt.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

And if you think I am a nutcase about wanting a VERY short ML season during the rut, please remember I am the guy who wants a deer area as two points or less restriction to try as an experiment....
If we don’t do something fast to police ourselves/seasons to try to get what we want, some people with very deep pockets are going to do it for us, especially with the fiasco this year with elk tags.


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

Bucksnbulls08 said:


> High powered rifle LE Elk hunts should never be held during the elk rut. Archery or muzzleloader should be during the rut or share the rut. Why does the most effective and longest shooting weapon be allowed when the elk are the most vulnerable?
> Politics and money! There is no sound biological reasoning.


Yeah, people say that until they are sitting on 18 elk points with the expectation of a world class rifle elk rut hunt on the horizon because that's the way the season has been for thirty years.

The whole 'no sound biological reason' argument doesn't hold water. Biologists say take X number of animals off the land for X carrying capacity goal. How we do that doesn't matter as long as they are killed. Utah has chosen to give it's LE elk hunters a truly unique and rare experience. You can argue it's big money or whatever but by and large the vast majority of Utah hunters hunting elk in the rut with a rifle have drawn the tag and are not big money folks. They are regular folks! Tag numbers proof this out.

Basically we have a limited resource and you have an opinion that the way we cut it up should be different. Well you are fighting against years of expectations and tradition so that your favorite weapon gets favored. That's fine but don't bring biology or shadows of big money because those are easy to disprove. You could argue more tags for the same harvest but that could diminish the experience of folks who have waited many years for what others have had ahead of them. It's all interesting to talk about but I would continue to argue for the status quo as switching around who gets preference just makes another party upset and here we are again for what?


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

shaner said:


> If we don't do something fast to police ourselves/seasons to try to get what we want, some people with very deep pockets are going to do it for us, especially with the fiasco this year with elk tags.


What are you talking about specifically? I don't understand how changing the seasons is going to stop some deep pocket threat or demand for elk tags. Did I miss out on some fun new conspiracy theory in the Utah hunting world? Am sincerely curious but please just the verifiable facts good sir


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

Bucksnbulls08 said:


> High powered rifle LE Elk hunts should never be held during the elk rut. Archery or muzzleloader should be during the rut or share the rut. Why does the most effective and longest shooting weapon be allowed when the elk are the most vulnerable?
> Politics and money! There is no sound biological reasoning.


Hate to break it to you but the muzzle loader hunt now is just a high power single shot rifle hunt. The archery hunt is getting there with shots being taken at 100 yards+.

My Utah legal muzzle loader is just as effective as any of my rifles out to 300 yards.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

shaner said:


> The reason I suggest the muzzleloader season be so short is that is THE ONLY way it could ever be possibly moved back to September, where it BELONGS, in between the archery and rifle hunt.


It's in September now, and much longer than 4 days. Having helped out on a couple LE ML elk hunts in the past, I think it's fine where it's at. These were awesome hunts!


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Sorry Vanilla, I should have specified I meant GS Elk ML.
Leave the LE Elk ML where it is with as many days as it is, all those folks with points deserve it.


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

shaner said:


> Sorry Vanilla, I should have specified I meant GS Elk ML.
> Leave the LE Elk ML where it is with as many days as it is, all those folks with points deserve it.


That makes much more sense. I was really confused, but can see what you're saying now.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Airborne, conspiracy theory? I must have missed something also?
Our season framework is set by design, not just thrown out nilly-willy.
Historically, rules have always been made by those with the most money, land, political favor, etc.
Do you believe that in the early 90’s a bunch of city folk were making the rules and said 
“Hmmm, let’s design a system to grow trophy bulls, get it to a point to charge $15-20,000 dollars a tag, and hunt them on my quarter acre lot.”?


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## Airborne (May 29, 2009)

shaner said:


> Airborne, conspiracy theory? I must have missed something also?
> Our season framework is set by design, not just thrown out nilly-willy.
> Historically, rules have always been made by those with the most money, land, political favor, etc.
> Do you believe that in the early 90's a bunch of city folk were making the rules and said
> "Hmmm, let's design a system to grow trophy bulls, get it to a point to charge $15-20,000 dollars a tag, and hunt them on my quarter acre lot."?


Go read what you wrote--you said if we don't so something fast about season dates something bad will happen. I want to know what and how. I also don't get the quarter acre lot thing--are you referring to CWMU's or something? Those have to be thousands of acres. Can you cut down the hyperbole a bit and explain in clear terms what real threats we have to our hunting because of our season dates?

I understand how money and power are influential but if the majority of the hunting community was against the current dates they would change. The vast majority of our tags are filled by normal folks through the draw. Utahn's have become accustom to their LE rifle rut hunts and people covet those tags and enjoy that opportunity.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

To the point of no sound biology...
reality is you can move hunts to any part of the season based upon science as long as they adjust tags and hunt timeframe for the range of predicted success rates. Other than that it's mostly meeting the subjective demands by us hunters. 

So close big game hunts until the new year and allow us upland hunters to pursue our quarry in peace. Big game hunters can easily get their game in the middle of winter. Hunting elk above 0F, winds below 40 mph, less than crotch deep snow and without the need for mickey mouse boots is clearly cheating.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

Airborne asks the what and how of “bad things will happen?”.

What= tag cuts, high tag prices, application fees being implemented/raised, point creep creeping exponentially, etc.

How= by running resources too low causing supply/demand inequalities. 
This will happen because we are becoming too efficient at killing, especially if seasons are too liberal.
We need to ‘de-tech’ ourselves a little. 
I would NEVER advocate for 100% closures.
I’m just of the opinion that we need to keep the game at harvestable populations but let more people be out there ‘hunting’ and not just ‘shooting’ big game.
I feel it could be accomplished by weapon restrictions (‘de-teching’) a little, longer seasons with less effective weapons to make them more enticing, or as I originally suggested moving the framework around a little.
Not sure if you are a long time Utah resident but I sure miss hunting deer during archery AND muzzleloader EVERY year.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

We are never going back to archery or ML hunting deer every year. That's not an issue of technology but simply too many hunters interested in that experience. Technology does affect success rates but demand is simply too high for our historically dwindling herds. Throw on top of that the continued issue of suburban sprawl and decreasing winter range and there is zero chance that genie is going back in the bottle.

I think the hunting community at large only benefits from being introspective about how technology has affected our sport and herds. But I'm pessimistic that intellectual exercise will have an impact beyond awareness. I say that as I've seen similar changes and pressures on every single one of my outdoor pursuits the last decade. What we love is just too dang popular for its own good. The West is being resettled a second (3rd, 4th...) time and I think information is as much our problem as physical tech.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

BC,
I agree 100% with you about information hurting us as much as technology.
We are indeed on a path of loving our hunting heritage to death.
Just like Tommy Boy hugging his new pet too strongly (get it? haha).


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

backcountry said:


> We are never going back to archery or ML hunting deer every year. That's not an issue of technology but simply too many hunters interested in that experience.


The Dedicated Hunter program is the reason for this.
I'd be OK with killing the DH program.


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## shaner (Nov 30, 2007)

In my pea-sized brain we could get back to hunting deer every year but nobody would agree with me.
I am prepared to limit myself to recurve only/no sights or range finder, no scope/sabots/synthetic powders/range finders for muzzleloader, and no scopes/rangefinders on rifles.
To me it is a fantastic tradeoff to be able to hunt deer every year, one I would accept in less than a heart beat.


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## ns450f (Aug 28, 2018)

Longer than 8 days for a general season tag would be nice.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

PBH said:


> backcountry said:
> 
> 
> > We are never going back to archery or ML hunting deer every year. That's not an issue of technology but simply too many hunters interested in that experience.
> ...


How would we compensate for man hours dedicated to habitat? Or are those projects relatively low quality?


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

BC -- I don't know about quality. I'm assuming most are good quality. 

But I do think that the DWR currently has to "make up" projects to satisfy the current DH project requirements. keep in mind, it was the Wildlife Board that recommended the project hour requirement, not the DWR...

If this were an issue, I'm sure we could come up with a way to continue to incentivise volunteers for habitat projects.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

PBH said:


> BC -- I don't know about quality. I'm assuming most are good quality.
> 
> But I do think that the DWR currently has to "make up" projects to satisfy the current DH project requirements.
> 
> If this were an issue, I'm sure we could come up with a way to continue to incentivise volunteers for habitat projects.


Interesting idea. From my limited experience there are definitely some redundancies in the projects that are simply justified by required volunteer hours.

Eliminating DH tags would clearly open up more tags for the draw each year. I didn't take advantage of the archery or ML portion of my tag so I can see how there could suddenly be an abundance of such tags without DH multi-season users. Would be interesting to see the numbers as I hadn't thought about that before my previous post and it shows an obvious flaw in my approach.


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## ns450f (Aug 28, 2018)

shaner said:


> In my pea-sized brain we could get back to hunting deer every year but nobody would agree with me.
> I am prepared to limit myself to recurve only/no sights or range finder, no scope/sabots/synthetic powders/range finders for muzzleloader, and no scopes/rangefinders on rifles.
> To me it is a fantastic tradeoff to be able to hunt deer every year, one I would accept in less than a heart beat.


I completely agree. Archery and muzzleloader hunting is extremely challenging with traditional methods. 50 years ago it seemed logical to give muzzleloaders and bow hunters a longer season. Today it is common to hear hunters with compounds talk about 70 or 80 yard shots on animals. Muzzleloaders are the same, plenty of guys shooting muzzleloaders out to 300 with a scope. It raises some questions with both ethics and season lengths. I think a good solution would be seperate tags for traditional and non traditional methods of archery and muzzleloader hunting.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

I've had an archery deer tag in hand every year for the past 7....This year I have DH. The notion that you can't have a tag nearly every year isn't true. It is true if someone is married to a particular unit, I guess. Most aren't willing to hunt a different unit, or a unit that might be more difficult for access and/or hunting.

While I understand the desire to limit technology with archery and muzzleloaders(which I would support to an extent), the Wildlife Board has shown zero inclination to pursue any kind of limitation. Hell, they've gone the other way by allowing magnification on scopes for muzzleloaders in the last few years.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

Kwalk3 said:


> I've had an archery deer tag in hand every year for the past 7....This year I have DH. The notion that you can't have a tag nearly every year isn't true. It is true if someone is married to a particular unit, I guess. Most aren't willing to hunt a different unit, or a unit that might be more difficult for access and/or hunting.


I'm certainly not willing to enter a draw for DH for a unit that I don't want to hunt just to have a tag. 3 years stuck in a place I don't want to be isn't going to satisfy me.

What's ironic is that the unit I want to hunt has no deer, and yet you still can't draw a deer tag without multiple bonus points. :noidea:


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

PBH said:


> I'm certainly not willing to enter a draw for DH for a unit that I don't want to hunt just to have a tag. 3 years stuck in a place I don't want to be isn't going to satisfy me.
> 
> What's ironic is that the unit I want to hunt has no deer, and yet you still can't draw a deer tag without multiple bonus points. :noidea:


The DH bit was more of an aside. There was a comment made earlier in the thread about hunting deer every year with archery or muzzleloader being a thing of the past. I could have drawn my same archery tag this year, but wanted to have the chance to hunt the rifle season as well.

I'm not faulting anyone for not wanting to hunt different units, just wanted to point out that there are opportunities to hunt every year if someone is willing to be flexible.


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## blacksage (Sep 11, 2019)

a hell of a lot better than it was in the early 2000's.


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## 300 Wby (Aug 14, 2008)

Critter said:


> 19 years ago today on September 15 I had my LE elk tag for the Book Cliffs.
> 
> Luckily I shot my bull at 7:05 opening morning at 7:30 there was a pack of hounds let loose in the canyon that I was hunting in. At 7:35 there wasn't a elk or deer left in that canyon where there had been 40-50 elk just before I shot mine.
> 
> The DWR heard a ear full from me about it. But nothing was done about it.


Sorry Critter, something has been done about it. Dogs aren't run in the bookcliffs anymore during those seasons. Oh yes, they do let you hunt again the last week of October through 15 November during prime time (NOT!).

Don't know why they even offer a fall hunt there anymore, guys wait 10-16 years to draw a multi season tag to not hunt when they are gorging themselves.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I haven't followed to see just what the elk and bear hunts are out there for a while now. The last time that I was out there for a LE elk hunt was in 2002 for my brother in laws hunt. 

When I was there in 2001 it was a very strange year. We got there on Tuesday night right after the attacks happened. As I was waiting for my brother in law at the Westwater exit I looked up into the sky and saw a single plane going from south to north and wondering just what type of fighter it was. 

Before the hunt started we only saw one other truck out there where we were at just to the west of Ten Mile Knoll, and they just pulled out onto a point and then left. There were no trucks and trailers parked at the Roadless parking/jumping off area. 

After I shot my bull I pulled out at around 3pm on the 15th. I didn't see another hunter or vehicle all the way out to the top of Hay Canyon. I even stopped once to look at my tag and then my watch to confirm that I was there at the right time. There was a large camp at the top of Hay Canyon and of course the pack of dogs that were let loose into Willow Creek.


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

Getting in a little late on this, but I would give an extra week on the archery hunt to hunt the pre-rut. I would have the general archery hunt run to 9/15. I like the idea of better opportunity for the lower success hunts. And full disclosure...I haven't archery hunted in over 10 years...but I would seriously consider it with that change.


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## ISO_Joe (Dec 9, 2018)

No scopes on muzzle loaders.. unless you are using them on a rifle hunt.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

ISO_Joe said:


> No scopes on muzzle loaders.. unless you are using them on a rifle hunt.


That would be the any weapon hunt. Utah doesn't have a rifle hunt but it has a hunt that you can use a rifle.


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