Utah Hunting Season 2024: Everything You Need to Know

Are you prepared to start an unforgettable hunting journey in Utah? It may not be as popular as other hunting destinations, but the Utah hunting season for 2024 will still be thrilling.

Utah provides year-round hunting opportunities and there is always something for every hunter here. Now is the moment to prepare.

In this guide, we will explore the types of animals you can hunt, the season calendar, licenses and rules to hunt in this state legally.

What Hunting Season Is It In Utah?

Utah offer various hunting opportunities all year round. Here’s a summary of hunting seasons in Utah by each month:

1. Year-round: Cougar, Muskrat, Red fox and Coyotes
2. January: Deer, Bison, Tundra swan, Waterfowl
3. February: Light geese
4. March: Tundra swan, Ducks, Mergansers, Coots, and Snipe, Bobcat, Marten, Light geese
5. April: Turkey, Waterfowl, Beaver and Mink
6. May: Black Bear, Turkey
7. June and July: No specific hunting seasons open
8. August: Bison, Moose, Deer, Elk, and Pronghorn
9. September: Deer, Elk, Pronghorn, Goat, Badger, Gray fox, Kit fox, Rabbits, Spotted skunk, and Weasel, Beaver and Mink
10. October: Tundra swan, Ducks, Mergansers, Coots, and Snipe, Dark and White-fronted geese, Light geese
11. November: Scaup, Moose, Dark and White-fronted geese
12. December: Tundra swan, Ducks, Mergansers, Coots, and Snipe, Scaup, Dark and White-fronted geese

Utah Big Game Seasons

There are different kinds of big game animals you can hunt in the state and each of them has their own hunting periods.

Utah Deer&Elk Seasons

Species	Seasons	Dates
Buck deer	General archery	Aug. 17–Sept. 13
	General muzzleloader	Sept. 25–Oct. 3
	Early general any legal weapon	Oct. 9–13
	General any legal weapon	Oct. 19–27
Bull elk	General muzzleloader	Oct. 30–Nov. 7
Any bull elk	General archery	Aug. 17–Sept. 18
	Early general any legal weapon	Oct. 5–11
	Late general any legal weapon	Oct. 12–18
Youth bull elk	General-season	See page 19
Any bull/hunter’s choice elk	Draw-only youth	Sept. 14–22
Spike bull elk	General any legal weapon	Oct. 5–17
Spike bull elk	General archery	Aug. 17–Sept. 6
Deer	Extended archery season	Sept. 14–Oct. 15
		Sept. 14–Nov. 30
		Aug. 17–Dec. 15
Deer and elk	Sportsman and statewide conservation permit season	Sept. 1, 2024–Jan. 15, 2025

*Notes: No general-season archery elk hunt on the Paunsaugunt unit.

Utah Black Bear Seasons

Spring limited-entry hunts: March 30–May 27

Summer limited-entry hunts: May 27–June 30

Fall limited-entry hunts:

• 1–Aug. 31 and Nov. 4–Nov. 10
• 3 – Aug. 16 and Oct. 4 – Nov. 17 (Book Clifs, Bitter Creek/South Unit)

Limited-entry spot-and-stalk hunts: Sept. 2–Nov. 10 (Book Clifs, Little Creek Roadless Unit)

Harvest-objective hunts: Sept. 1–Oct. 27(Most Units)

Utah Other Big Game Seasons

Species	Dates	Areas
Deer, elk, and pronghorn	Aug. 17–31	Any open unit with archery equipment
Pronghorn	Sept. 1–Nov. 15, 2024	Any open unit with any legal weapon
Bighorn sheep and mountain goat	Aug. 31–Dec. 31, 2024	Any open unit with any legal weapon
Bison	Aug. 1, 2024–Jan. 31, 2025	Any open unit with any legal weapon
Moose	Aug. 31–Nov. 15, 2024	Any open unit with any legal weapon

Utah Turkey Seasons

Seasons	Dates	Areas
2024 Spring turkey hunts	Apr. 1–May 31, 2024	Statewide
2024 Fall turkey hunts	Oct. 1, 2024 – Feb. 28, 2025	Central, Northern, and Southeastern areas
2025 Spring limited-entry hunts	Apr. 12 – 24, 2025	Central (TK1003), Northeastern (TK1004), Northern (TK1005), Southeastern (TK1006) and Southern (TK1007) units
2025 Spring Youth Hunt	Apr. 25 – 27, 2025	Statewide
2025 Spring general-season hunts	Apr. 28 – May 31, 2025	Statewide
Turkey WMU Hunts	Apr. 12 – May 31, 2025	Pahvant Ensign (TK1018), East Zion (TK1021)

To hunt turkey in Utah, you will need to apply for different permits required. The following are the start dates for each application:

• Fall 2024 management harvest permits: 10, 2024
• Limited-entry applications deadline: 12, 2024
• 2024 application deadline: 27, 2024
• Drawing results announcement: 8, 2025
• Remaining limited-entry permits: Mar. 6, 2025
• Spring general-season permits: Mar. 6, 2025

Utah Upland Game Bird Seasons

Species	Zones	Dates	Limits
Dusky and ruffed grouse	Statewide	Sept. 2–Dec.31, 2024	Bag limit: 4 Possession limit: 12
Greater sage-grouse	Diamond, Blue Mountain (SG1000); Parker Mountain (SG1001); Rich County (SG1002) and West Box Elder County (SG1003)	Sept. 28–Oct. 20, 2024	Bag limit: 2 Possession limit: 2
Sharp-tailed grouse	Northeast Box Elder County (ST1000) and Cache County (ST1001)	Sept. 28–Oct. 20, 2024	Bag limit: 2 Possession limit: 2
White-tailed ptarmigan	Statewide	Sept. 2–Oct. 31, 2024	Bag limit: 4 Possession limit: 12
Chukar partridge	Statewide	Sept. 28, 2024–Feb. 15, 2025	Bag limit: 5 Possession limit: 15
		Sept. 21–23, 2024(Youth Hunt)
Gray (Hungarian) partridge	Statewide	Sept. 28, 2024–Feb. 15, 2025	Bag limit: 5 Possession limit: 15
		Sept. 21–23, 2024(Youth Hunt)
Ring-necked pheasant	Statewide	Nov. 2–Dec. 1, 2024	Bag limit: 2(male) Possession limit: 6(male)
		Oct. 26–31, 2024(Youth Hunt)
California and Gambel’s quail	Statewide	Nov. 2–Dec. 31, 2024	Bag limit: 5 Possession limit: 15
		Oct. 26–28, 2024
Sandhill crane	Cache County (SC1001) and Rich County (SC1002)	Sept. 7–15, 2024	Possession limit: 1
	East Box Elder County (SC1000)	Sept. 7–Nov. 5, 2024	Possession limit: 1
	Uintah and Duchesne counties, and Ouray National Wildlife Refuge	Sept.28–Oct.17, 2024 Oct. 18–Nov. 6, 2024 Nov. 7–26,2024	Possession limit: 1
Band-tailed pigeon	Statewide	Sept. 2–14, 2024	Bag limit: 2 Possession limit: 6
		Sept. 2–Dec. 15, 2024(Falconry)
Collared-dove	Statewide	Year round	No Limit
Mourning dove and white-winged dove	Statewide	Sept. 2–Oct. 30, 2024	Bag limit: 15 Possession limit: 45
		Sept. 2–Dec. 15, 2024(Falconry)	Bag limit: 3 Possession limit: 9
American crow	Statewide	Sept. 2–30, 2024	Bag limit: 10 Possession limit: 30
		Dec. 2, 2024–Feb. 28, 2025

Utah Waterfowl Seasons

Species	Zones	Dates	Limits
Youth Waterfowl Hunt	Northern Zone (see page 35 for details)	Sept. 21, 2024	•Ducks, mergansers and scaup: 7 •Coots: 25 •Dark geese:5 •White-fronted geese: 6 •Tundra swan: 1
	Southern Zone (see page 35 for details)	Sept. 28, 2024
Tundra swan	Northwest Zone	Oct. 5–Dec. 8, 2024	Possession Limit: 1
Ducks, mergansers, coots, and snipe	Northern Zone	Oct. 5, 2024–Jan. 18, 2025	Daily Bag Limit: 7 , 25(coots) Possession Limit: 21, 25(coots)
	Southern Zone	Oct. 12, 2024–Jan. 25, 2025
Scaup	Northern Zone	Oct. 5–Dec. 29, 2024	Daily Bag Limit: 2 Possession Limit: 6
	Southern Zone	Nov. 1, 2024–Jan. 25, 2025
Dark and white-fronted geese	Eastern Box Elder goose area	Oct. 5, 2024–Jan. 18, 2025	Daily Bag Limit: 5(Dark), 6(White-fronted) Possession Limit: 15(Dark), 18(White-fronted)
	Northern goose area	Oct. 5–12, 2024, and Oct. 26, 2024–Jan. 31, 2025
	Southern goose area	Oct. 12, 2024–Jan. 25, 2025
	Wasatch Front goose area	Oct. 5–12, 2024 Nov. 11, 2024–Feb. 15, 2025
Light geese	Eastern Box Elder, Northern, and Wasatch Front goose areas	Oct. 15–Dec. 22, 2024 Feb. 1–Mar. 10, 2025	Daily Bag Limit: 20 Possession Limit: 60
	Southern goose area	Oct. 25–Dec. 15, 2024 Jan. 15–Mar. 10, 2025
Snipe	Northern Zone	Oct. 5, 2024–Jan. 18, 2025	Daily Bag Limit: 8 Possession Limit: 24
	Southern Zone	Oct. 12, 2024–Jan. 25, 2025

 

Utah Furbearer Seasons

Species	Dates	Limits
Badger, gray fox, kit fox, ringtail, spotted skunk, and weasel	Sept. 14, 2024–March 1, 2025	No limit
Beaver and mink	Sept. 14, 2024–April 1, 2025	No limit
Bobcat	Nov. 14, 2024–March 1, 2025	One per permit, up to a maximum of six
Marten	Sept. 14, 2024–March 1, 2025	No limit
Cougar, muskrat, red fox and striped skunk	Year round	No limit
Cottontail rabbit	Sept. 2, 2024–Feb. 28, 2025	Bag limit: 10 Possession limit: 30
Jackrabbit	Year round	No limit
Snowshoe hare	Sept. 2, 2024–March 15, 2025	Bag limit: 5 Possession limit: 15

Utah Hunting Licenses and Permits

The following are the costs for different types of hunting licenses for residents and non-residents.

Licenses	Resident fees	Non-resident fees
365-day hunting license(age 13 and under)	$11	/
365-day hunting license(ages 14–17)	$16	$34
365-day hunting license(ages 18–64)	$40	$120
365-day hunting license(age 65+)	$31	/
365-day hunting license for disabled veterans	$26	/
Multi-year hunting license(ages 18–64)	$39	$119
Multi-year hunting license(age 65+)	$30	/
365-day combination license(ages 14–17)	$20	$38
365-day combination license(ages 18–64)	$44	$150
365-day combination license(age 65+)	$35	/
365-day combination license for disabled veterans	$29	/
Multi-year combination license(ages 18–64)	$43	$149
3-day small game license(any age)	/	$46
Furbearer Resident license	$33	$195

 

Except for a hunting licenses, hunters will also need to purchase related permits for different game animals:

Permits	Resident fees	Non-resident fees
General deer	$46	$418
Youth general deer	$40	$418
General any bull and spike bull elk	$56	$613
Youth general elk	$50	$613
Multi-season spike bull elk	$200	$830
Private-lands-only antlerless elk	$56	$350
Control antlerless elk	$40	$118
Nine Mile bison	$460	$2,420
Sandhill crane permit (resident)	$40	$125
Turkey limited-entry permit	$40	$125
Turkey general-season permit	$40	$125
Turkey general-season permit (youth)	$25	/
CWMU turkey permit	$40	$125
Bear pursuit permit	$45	$171
Federal migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp	$25	$25

Utah General Hunting Regulations

Here are some of the common rules for hunting big game and small game in this state:

1. Hunter Education: If you were born after December 31, 1965, you must show proof of passing an approved hunter education course to get a hunting license.
2. Age Restrictions: No age limits for hunting turkey, waterfowl, upland game, or furbearers. But you must be at least 12 years old to hunt big game.
3. Hunter Orange Requirement: It requires wearing hunter orange when hunting big game (except during deer archery and muzzleloader seasons). For other game hunting, it is not mandatory to do so. Avoid wearing hunter orange during turkey hunting, as the bright colors can be mistaken for a turkey’s head.

4. Reporting Hunts: You must report your hunting information within 30 days after any limited-entry or once-in-a-lifetime hunt, even if you didn’t successfully harvest an animal.
5. Migratory Game Bird Registration: It requires registering in the Migratory Game Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP) if you plan to hunt migratory birds.
6. Turkey Permits: You can get one permit for the spring turkey season and up to three for the fall season.
7. Trial Hunting Program: Anyone over 12 years old can try hunting for up to three years through Utah’s Trial Hunting Program.
8. Waterfowl Hunting: Hunters need to obtain a federal migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp to hunt waterfowl.
9. Prohibited Practices:

• Using aircraft, drones, or any airborne devices to locate wildlife is illegal.
• Trail cameras are banned on public land from July 31 to December 31.
• Baiting for hunting is not allowed.
• No electronics on bows or arrows.
• You need permission from the landowner to hunt or trap on private land.
• Using night-vision devices while hunting big game is unlawful.
• Using spotlights or artificial lights to locate wildlife is prohibited.

Conclusion

As we wrap up, the hunting season in Utah is not to be missed. Utah provides a hunting experience like no other with its stunning landscapes and rich wildlife population.

Make sure to note the dates, pack your equipment, and be well prepared for numerous possibilities for adventure. Have fun and welcome to share your hunting experience with us in the comments!