General permits for bull elk hunting will go on sale Thursday, July 13. That season will have two phases this year. The first will run from Oct. 7 to Oct. 13, with the second running Oct. 14 to Oct. 20.
There’s also a separate season for hunting bull elk with a muzzleloader. That will be from Nov. 1 to Nov. 9. There are 15,000 total permits available for that first week and the muzzleloader season, and an unlimited number to hunt bull elk on the week of Oct. 14.
Steven Newren, a licensing financial analyst with the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources, said the division is allowing those unlimited elk permits to give more opportunities to hunters who may have missed out on other permits. And he said there’s another benefit.
"It’ll give us a good idea of demand," he said. The DWR hasn't had a good sense of that in the past "because we've had a quota and they've sold out earlier and earlier and earlier every year."
Multi-year permits are no longer available for bull elk hunts, but they are still available for spike bull elk; those are yearling bull elk with at most one point on their antlers. Another 15,000 permits will be available for spike bull elk, including a maximum of 4,500 multi-year permits. Those will go on sale Thursday, July 20.
Buck deer permits go on sale Tuesday, July 18. There are only 76 of those left from the drawing. Youth archery permits for buck deer also go on sale then.
For the first time ever, anyone 17 and under will be able to get their own elk hunting permits. Those permits are unlimited and will be available beginning on Tuesday, July 11, until the last day of the last general-season elk hunt. Youth and adult archery permits for bull elk are also unlimited, and will go on sale the same day.
"The demand in Utah is going up with trying to draw a permit," Newren said. "It's tougher and tougher through the drawing process. And this is one where we've got the opportunity [to] keep youth involved so they'll always have a tag available to them."
Permits are available for purchase at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources website, at DWR offices or from any available license agent.
Availability to purchase each type of permit begins at 8 a.m. on their respective days.
"I'd make sure that I'm ready to go at eight o'clock," Newren said. "If it were me, I'd be standing in line maybe like a licensed agent while having my phone up ready to go."
