Getting ready to purchase some tickets to come hunting down in the "Lower 48." The kid scored a Utah Youth Any Bull Elk tag. The dates are Sept 16-26 - two weeks before the general bull elk season. He can hunt any of the General Any Bull units, except those that are Spike Bull only.

Been looking at the south slope of the Uintas [Ashley Nat'l Forest] pretty hard. I noticed that some on the better bulls are coming out of the southern part of the state in the limited elk units such as: Beaver, Mt. Dutton, Plateau, Boulder and Kaiparowits.

Am I better off hunting on the southern Any Bull Elk units adjacent to the limited units? Such as Pine Valley [Dixie Nat'l Forest?] I think the kid would like a chance at a 5x5, or better. Not really interested in a raghorn.

Any help/advice appreciated.


MM

are there any elktags being issued for the ocher mts,?the mt range lays just west of salt lake city and if you have ever driven interstate 80 you go around the north end of it 15 minutes west of same.very very very good elk herd there,don't know if they have a season,but ask utah fish and wildlife,lived at the foot of the mt. for some yrs and would be a great place to kill a 300-315 6x6

As you know, you can only hunt the Any Bull units. Most of the units open for this tag are either private or remote. I would recommend you stay away from Southern Utah. The Any Bulls there have few elk and take some time to learn. There will be locals hunting those elk with youth and they know where to go. Also, there is a considerable amount of private ground on the Zion unit. The Pine Valley has few elk. Very few. The area is Any Bull to keep a herd from establishing a strong base.

The same goes for the Henry Mtns. There are a few elk down there, about 40-50 total. They are very wary, hard to find and difficult to hunt.

So that leaves the Northern portion of the state and the Unitas in the Eastern part of Utah. The Northern Portion of the state is mainly private in the Any Bull areas. There are some isolated islands of accesible public lands. These can be very productive, as they boarder on private ranches which run quality guided hunts.

For the Uintas you have the North and South Slopes. There are some areas of public ground on the North Slope which boarder private ranches also. These areas can be very productive during the rut. The South Slope is public, but you must be aware of the tribal lands and boundaries. Getting caught hunting the tribal lands will land you a trip back to Alaska with only the close on your back. The area has a lot of dense pines and gets hunted hard. The elk on the South Slope do bugle, but it is hard to pin point them due to the fact that their bugles won't carry far in the dense terrain.

One other area would be the forest above Kamas. This area gets hunted hard, with lots of recreationalists. The bulls seem to be more reclusive due to the high use of humans in the area. But there are some good elk.

Trophy quality will be worst on the South Slope, then Kamas, North Slope and Nothern areas will be better. The number of elk is highest in the opposite direction with the South Slope haveing the highest numbers.

You guys have a hunt which provides little competition and gives a youth the chance to shoot a bull during the rut. It is not a trophy hunt. Setting your sights too high on this hunt can lead to some major dissappointment. Utah has the biggest bulls anywhere, but those bulls do not live in the Any bull units.....Well, except for that 440 that came off the Zion.

I have shot a 320 type bull and some other smaller 6s, but those are hard earned. If he sees a bull with brows he might want to shoot. I could give you some areas, if you can keep secrets....

Ravenr - That you be "Oquirrh" mtns per your description. Unfortunately, not an area we can hunt.

MC - Thanks for all the info. Sounds like quantity does not equate to of elk. This is true of a lot of things in life. A quality fair-chase experience is all I'm after. I hate to set sights to low and shoot a small animal, just so we can say we shot one. The kid doesn't have a quick trigger finger and he's shot big game before here in Alaska.

Guess we'll probably base out of Vernal and take a look around from there. I have a few tips from some other forums that sound good. If you want to share info via PM that would be great. What elevations do you think most elk will be at? At, or around treeline? For what I've heard, they're pretty vocal and you can listen at first light and dusk to get an idea of where they are at, but they are pretty quiet during the day.

MM