Available Utah Bison Hunts – Search HF Aventures
Utah is one of the only states to have truly wild bison populations within its state boundaries. The Henry Mountains and Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek bison populations are completely self-sustaining herds that live most, if not all, of their lives within public land open to hunting. The Book Cliffs, Little Creek bison herd will travel back and forth between public BLM and Uintah and Ouray reservation land. Due to the amount of hunts and permits given in this area, bison have become a lot more aware of the boundary line between public and reservation land.
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Utah will have the same hunts available this year as last year, with the exception of the cow muzzleloader hunt in the Book Cliffs, Little Creek unit which was discontinued due to the lack of animals in the unit during the hunt. Since Utah passed a two-year hunt season structure in 2023, the season structure for the 2024 season is set but will likely take a turn in 2025. Utah’s aggressive nature with bison hunting resulted in reduced harvest in both Book Cliffs units in 2023. Pay close attention to permit recommendations coming out in April as they will most likely reflect this reduced harvest and offer fewer permits for 2024 which could result in no hunt having more than one nonresident permit.
The Henry Mountains unit is still primarily being managed by the UDWR and local ranchers who utilize grazing permits on the BLM that most of the bison call home. It looks to remain status quo for 2024 but could get permits bumped up a bit. It is still a tough hunt, and hunters will need to be patient and put a fair amount of miles in to be successful.
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In 2020, Utah added a new over-the-counter bison hunt along the Green River in Desolation Canyon. This was an outstanding success in the first year with 123 bison harvested out of 248 permits sold. Almost all of these bison lived all summer and most of their fall on the Ute Indian Reservation until late fall and winter when they would come across the Green River onto non-native public and private land. In 2021, with additional improvements made to road access throughout the reservation along the Green River to deter these bison from leaving, better forage conditions, and likely smarter bison, the total number of bison harvested was a mere 8 out of 163 permits sold. This has been the norm since with reduced harvest every year, and it likely will remain that way.
Bison are doing well on the whole in Utah, and these hunts are truly free-range. Utah is one of the only states in the West that can boast this. If you are applying for other species as a non-resident, it just makes sense to throw your name in the hat for bison.
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Application Dates for Bison in Utah
The Utah big game application period deadline is 11:00 p.m. MST on April 25, 2024.
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Utah Non-Resident Bison Hunting Fees
2024 UTAH NON-RESIDENT FEES Up-Front Fees Non-Resident Hunting License $120 Youth (17 and younger) Non-Resident Hunting License $34 Application Fee per Species $16 Post Draw Fees (if successful) Bison $2,420 Utah Bison Hunting Articles from Huntin’ Fool Magazine
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