OTC Utah

J

jhall239

New member
Dec 28, 2012
7
Are there decent OTC public land hunts available in Utah?


I always thought UT was straight draw or land owner which I can never get either
 
I have heard that the OTC stuff in Utah is heavily over sold and not worth paying for.  I have not experienced it myself though.  I'd go there if I knew anybody with local knowledge that proves otherwise.
 
I would second that for elk OTC is a waste of money. I have lived in Utah all my life and have started hunting Colorado and Wyoming to hunt anything with branch antlers.
 
OTC Utah is totally worth it...but only if you're prepared to do a lot of homework and put in some miles on the hiking shoes.  I hunt archery exclusively also so that may skew my opinion slightly.
I imagine it depends on your standards...I would be super happy to whack a raghorn 5 or 6 every year with an OTC Utah archery tag.  Heck I'd be happy to whack one every 2-3 years and a cow or spike in between!
Of course non-res OTC 1st choice should always be probably MT or CO...but I usually find some elk in UT with the ole OTC tag :)
 
OTC Utah can be a very good hunt if you plan like others have said. The only way to get into the larger bulls on an OTC hunt in Utah in my opinion is to hit the Uinta Mountains North Slope just south of Wyoming. It is big country and you must do some serious scouting to bag a nice bull but it can be done. I am in agreement that I would be happy to kill a raghorn any year and not hold out on this hunt. My favorite OTC hunt is Idaho archery.
 
Ya I'm definitely doing an OTC Archery Elk hunt this upcoming season if I do not draw here in Nv.  I am looked at UT, CO and Idaho.  If I knew more people and got some good experienced advice it would help.  So far I'm leaning towards Idaho but Colorado is also on my radar.
 
Did it a couple times while in school, never connected but had a ball trying.  Seemed like we saw elk daily, but the early season really limits calling.  So if you are after calling I would look elsewhere.  If you don't mind sitting water/spot stalk I'd do it in a heartbeat.
 
Utah is tough, no question about it. Get ready to put lots of miles under your boots.  It can be done, you just can't halfass it. Do your homework, train hard at the gym, scout like a mad man and you'll punch your tag.
 
I did not know that utah had otc but I'll have to check it out.  I've heard that otc colorado if you don't know where you're going you'll most likely see more hunters than elk and there is a lot of pressure, so I have been looking at Idaho or Oregon
 
If your not afraid of packing into the wilderness the north slope of the Uinta mountains is amazing and you will have a great week or however long you hunt in there. Check with DWR and BLM on where the cattle will be. If the cattle are in a drainage go to a different one. There will be some animals there but always fewer as I have found out in past years. When I hit the drainages that do not have cattle I usually see more animals.
 
Mountain Bowhunter said:
I did not know that utah had otc but I'll have to check it out.  I've heard that otc colorado if you don't know where you're going you'll most likely see more hunters than elk and there is a lot of pressure, so I have been looking at Idaho or Oregon
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Pretty much the same in Utah and Idaho. I have never hunted Oregon so can't help you there.
 
Yeah I'm guessing it's like that anywhere if you don't know where you're going.  So what is the deal with the landowner thing cuz I know somebody that owns land in utah
 
you will need to check with them to see how many tags the state allocates them for their property...obviously a landowner owning a large piece of elk habitat is gonna have a few tags...whereas someone who owns a small piece of whistle pig/coyote habitat is gonna have less...check with your friend and then invite me to come along...  8)
 
If you scout hard and hunt even harder there are some elk to be had OTC in Utah.  Here are the bulls that my hunting partner and I have taken in the last 3 years on the OTC archery tag. There is a lot of pressure here and a lot of hunters, you have to hunt hard and get away from the roads, same as most OTC hunts.  If I didn't live in Utah I would look at hunting Idaho or Colorado for OTC first but I can't complain with the success we've had here.
 

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Yeah, As you can see from Dan and I pics we do ok. We put in a lot of hrs/miles on. OTC Utah big bulls are far and few between but they are out there. Have seen a couple 350 bulls and my buddy Roland was able to harvest one but they are hard to come by. I would say to look at CO. Elk density's there are greater.
 
All responses are on money.  They can be hard but if you do your homework you can be successful.  Almost closed the deal last year on a huge bull, but couldn't make it happen.  Hopefully this season I will have some success

Here are a few bulls me and a couple buddies have taken on OTC Utah bull tags all in the same area within 500 yards in 3 consecutive years.
 
Love the pictures guys! I'm very impressed with the bulls you have been able to take here in Utah. I've lived here my whole life and haven'ttried OTC elk because so many of the other seasons are such a joke. It's like a flood of orange on any hillside during rifle seasons.
Looks like I need to try archery and give it a whirl!
 
be8405f74bf58f6661bb0223ed11b923.jpg
this was the 13th branch bull I saw last year on the archery hunt in Utah


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