Looking to deer hunt Utah

What weapon do you want to use? The General Archery tag is statewide, excluding the limited units. The Northern and Northeastern General Rifle units usually have some tags left over, but the draw is still open until the 17th. Any unit you choose has produced big bucks in the past, and will in the future. There is public land in all of the units as well.

In my opinion the southern unit is overhyped and overhunted (especially during the archery hunt). The Southeastern Unit contains a lot of the limited units, a good amount of private ground, some areas that just don't have deer, and the rest has a lot of hunters on it. Both are known for big deer in the past. The 2 southern units are only 5 day rifle seasons, and the Central, North, and NE are 9 day hunts. Lots of public ground in NE region (National Forests and BLM) but I'm not sure how hard it gets hit during the rifle. I haven't heard of any truly big bucks up there, but that doesn't mean there're not there. I can't say much about the Northern or Central since I haven't ever hunted them.

If you were asking about Limited Entry Units, I can't tell you much since I've never drawn one. Seems like the Paunsagant is losing its reputation and the Henry Mountains are gaining it. The Bookcliffs has always had a good reputation.

Hope that helps.
 
It really depends on what type of tag you are trying to get. I hunt the Central region, and have had success every year. Not huge bucks, but they have scored between 130-150 inches.
 
I'll be hunting in the General zones with a rifle.

Are there areas in the General zones that are closed even though it's on public land?

Thanks,

Steve
 
Steve,
Utah is broken up into 5 General Units, the NE, N, Central, S, and SE. Inside those units are smaller units that are managed for quality/quantity and have very limited tag numbers and are off limits to general license holders. Check out the Utah Big Game Proclamation and toward the end are maps that show the "Limited Entry" units. The deer and elk limited entry units are different so use the map on page 46. Outside of the Limited areas your General tag will be good on any public or private land (with permission of course). Here's a link to the Big Game booklet if you have Adobe Acrobat on your computer.

Nick

Utah Big Game Proclamation 2006
 
If you are just looking for hunting, Utah is great, if you actually want to get some shots in, I'd try a State that still has deer in it !
 
I've seen more deer/bucks in the last few years than I ever have before! I would go with the southest-central-northeast in that order. It is too late now, but that is what I would do.

C
 
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