Growing up in Nevada, Utah has always been a state that we have hunted. Much of the terrain we hunt in Utah is very similar to Nevada with some high mountains and low desert country. Utah has a history of producing many big mule deer, elk, antelope, sheep, and mountain lions. Utah also has a growing population of mountain goats.
When it comes to mule deer, Utah has a “general” deer season and a “limited-entry” (LE) deer season. Typically, the LE deer tags are much harder to draw but offer a better chance at harvesting a top-quality buck. The general season tags are much easier to draw which means there is an increase in hunter pressure and generally speaking, bigger bucks are harder to find. However, even on the general season hunts, quality bucks can be found and are killed every year.
Utah is a preference point state which means that during the tag drawing process, applicants with the most amount of points will draw the tags. In the Limited-Entry drawing, 50% of the tags go to random applicants so you do have a chance of drawing a Limited- Entry tag every year regardless of how many points you have. Each year you apply for a tag but don’t draw, you will accrue an additional preference point to increase your odds of drawing the following year. Generally speaking, you can have a good idea of whether you will draw a tag or not prior to applying for a tag if you look at the previous years drawing statistics.
If you have never applied for Utah before or would like to apply for the units we guide, please contact us prior to or during the application period (typically during March/April) and we can help you out. Because of the short muzzleloader and rifle deer seasons, we have limited time and aren’t able to take many clients so these guided hunts tend to fill up quickly after the draw results come out!
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding Utah big game hunting!
*New for 2024* – we now have STARLINK satellite internet available at hunting camp. We prefer to get away from the world while we are hunting, but for some people that isn’t realistic so we bring the internet with us! We might even pack the Starlink equipment into the backcountry if needed!
