Oquirrh-Stansbury LE elk

C

c86man3

Guest
Looks like I'm probably moving to Stansbury Park in the next few months and so I'm thinking about changing my unit that I will be putting in for.

The Oquirrh-Stansbury unit is the obvious choice because I'll basically be living in it.

I have a few concerns though. The stansbury range looks like it is mostly public, but from what I hear there are very few elk there.

The Oquirrh range looks like it has limited public land. Seems like a good chunk of public on the north end and then scattered public on the south.

Has anybody hunted this unit that could be of help?

FYI, I'm planning on hunting archery.
 
c86,

I live in Tooele and spend a good amount of time on this unit. I would use some caution before applying for an Oquirrh-Stansbury elk tag. You are correct in that most of the Stansbury range is public, but there are very few elk over there. I wouldn't even waist your time hunting that side. The Oquirrhs hold a good number of elk but like you said a huge percentage is private. In fact the entire north east side is the Heaston CWMU and you can not hunt that with your limited entry tag. There are elk on the northwest side, but that is very rough country with limited access. You will find more elk south of Middle Canyon. The south portion can be accessed pretty well through Ophir Canyon. There is still private land here, but you can still access the mountain well enough.

That being said, I did help a friend that had the muzzleloader tag a few years ago. We got into a bunch of bulls in Ophir Canyon and after missing a 330 class bull, he took a pretty good 300 class bull a short time later. It is a fun hunt, but a lot of work. Be prepared for that.

Good luck,

Jon
www.HuntersTrailhead.com
 
from my research from a few years back the DWR said that there was as many elk on the stansburys as on the oquirh's...i will try and dig up the info and pm it to you.

How to start an argument online:
1. Express an opinion
2. Wait
 
PM inbound JDC

>c86,
>
>I live in Tooele and spend
>a good amount of time
>on this unit. I would
>use some caution before applying
>for an Oquirrh-Stansbury elk tag.
>You are correct in that
>most of the Stansbury range
>is public, but there are
>very few elk over there.
>I wouldn't even waist your
>time hunting that side. The
>Oquirrhs hold a good number
>of elk but like you
>said a huge percentage is
>private. In fact the entire
>north east side is the
>Heaston CWMU and you can
>not hunt that with your
>limited entry tag. There are
>elk on the northwest side,
>but that is very rough
>country with limited access. You
>will find more elk south
>of Middle Canyon. The south
>portion can be accessed pretty
>well through Ophir Canyon. There
>is still private land here,
>but you can still access
>the mountain well enough.
>
>That being said, I did help
>a friend that had the
>muzzleloader tag a few years
>ago. We got into a
>bunch of bulls in Ophir
>Canyon and after missing a
>330 class bull, he took
>a pretty good 300 class
>bull a short time later.
>It is a fun hunt,
>but a lot of work.
>Be prepared for that.
>
>Good luck,
>
>Jon
>www.HuntersTrailhead.com
 
LAST EDITED ON Feb-02-13 AT 11:11AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Feb-02-13 AT 11:09?AM (MST)

LAST EDITED ON Feb-02-13 AT 11:03?AM (MST)

There is no way as many elk on the Stansburys as there is on the Oquirrhs. I grew up in the Tooele valley and have spent a lot of time watching the elk. Ive never hunted it archery but I would imagine it would be extremely tough. The Oquirrhs are pretty rugged. There are certain little areas with high bull numbers that would be fun if the rut kicked off a little early. I had the late tag two years ago (won it in a dedicated hunter drawing). I dont know what you are out to harvest or what unit you were previously applying for but the late tag is hard to find a bull pushing 330 that is not on private land. By the time the late hunt rolls around, the majority of the decent bulls have been harvested. Ive seen a few decent bulls this year. Still, I personally would not put in for the tag due to how many points it takes to draw. I know there are much better hunts you can draw for close to the same points. My idea of a good LE unit is having a significant chance at a bull in the 350 range or better. It's just not there. Good luck on whatever you go with.
 
Living in this unit most my life Ihave seen the upswing and now the downswing of this unit. One of my sons had atag in 2005. Around that time is when Ithink the unit peaked for having good bulls. You would see 40-50 bulls on a horse ride in the spring. Now you'll be lucky to see a handful.The extra tags they started givingon the late hunt and then the spike hunts have really cut down on the quanity of bulls. The Stansburys do have some but not like the Oquirrhs. There are still some good bunches of cows.Like previous posts said the Oquirrhs have a lot of private land with some state and blm mixed in.Still with a little home work you could do all right.
 
Bottom line is oquirrhs are steep and rugged, some access issues. 330 plus bull is a tall order as they just don't seem to have the genetics, but it is still hunting and if a nice 6 x6 is what your after and score doesn't matter, then go for it. When I was young there were no elk in the stansburys, 80's, one summer in the early 90's I was farming and in the middle of summer, saw a cow elk with a collar heading accross our field and into the army depot heading out to the stansburys. 10 years later there was an established herd, so it took a while for the elk to migrate, so it is a much younger herd and thus the reason for many fewer elk on the stansburys. Oh and by the way, the stansburys are steep and rugged as well. Horses are great in both units, once the animal is down.
 

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