Early Archery Seasons?

[tdcour]

California Blacktails start the first Saturday in July!

Pretty sure NV has the earliest archery Mule Deer seasons. Usually around August 10th. Idaho is August 31st.

Those are some pretty long trips from South Dakota, but I definitely have them on a "to do" list at least once!

[tdcour]

I live in Kamas Utah, which is called the gateway to the Uintahs. Find Highway 150 that goes from Kamas, to Evanston Wyoming. Everything along that road is what we call any bull area, if you can get off of the roads and into the backcountry you have a pretty good chance at getting into elk. Most years the bulls are just starting to rut the last week of the hunt.

What is the early season mule deer action like in the Uintahs? Are the Wasatch mountains a pretty good hunt early season for deer or elk? Again, not too concerned about shooting a monster (this is always a plus). I'm more concerned about having a great hunt and hopefully putting something down with my bow. Just getting something with a bow is a trophy for me!

[Elkhunter96]

The deer are very low in population. IMHO, the elk hunting is better. Success rates are still fairly low, it is bow hunting on public land.

[RUTTIN]

Exactly what Elkhunter96 said, the deer numbers are suffering in the Northern part of the state in my opinion, elk on the other hand are doing a lot better, but as stated above is still a hard hunt on public land with a bow. I always have a deer tag in my pocket while I am bow hunting elk so that if the opportunity presents itself I can go after a deer. The Wasatch mountains can be great for seeing lots of elk and big bulls but is a spike only area for elk. Myself I like to wait until November to bow hunt mule deer on the Wasatch Front.

[mnhunter]

Wyoming opens on 1 september for most of the state. IMO Archery hunting the general areas is better than rifle, and the tags there are still relatively inexpensive.

[tdcour]

Wyoming opens on 1 september for most of the state. IMO Archery hunting the general areas is better than rifle, and the tags there are still relatively inexpensive.

Would that be for elk or deer, or both? I haven't looked at Wyoming too much yet... I still have a lot of research to do I guess!

[tdcour]

Exactly what Elkhunter96 said, the deer numbers are suffering in the Northern part of the state in my opinion, elk on the other hand are doing a lot better, but as stated above is still a hard hunt on public land with a bow. I always have a deer tag in my pocket while I am bow hunting elk so that if the opportunity presents itself I can go after a deer. The Wasatch mountains can be great for seeing lots of elk and big bulls but is a spike only area for elk. Myself I like to wait until November to bow hunt mule deer on the Wasatch Front.

I'm having trouble figuring out the spike or any bull areas from the Utah Application Guide Book. They have a general bull and limited entry bull map, but down where they have the hunts listed, I only see Limited-Entry and Premium Limited-Entry. So are the units listed as spike bulls only always spike bulls even if it is a limited entry hunt? What is the difference between general bull and limited entry, just revolve around season and draw odds or what you can harvest?

[mnhunter]

It is for Deer & Elk. Antelope opens in August. I went out to WY during the archery season for the first time last year, and the amount of bucks I saw compared to during the rifle season was amazing. It was like a frat party out there

[tdcour]

Nice! I've never been able to experience something like that! Did you have any luck getting one tagged? What part of the state were you in, if you don't mind me asking?

[RUTTIN]

Travis, limited entry tags give you the opportunity to kill any bull on the spike only units, archery dates are the same as the general tag. If you get a general archery elk tag you can hunt on any unit in Utah, just have to shoot a spike or cow on a spike only unit, or you can shoot any elk (cows, bulls) on a any bull unit.