Question for you Utah Guys

[blacktailer]

A good buddy of mine and hunting partner is considering a transfer to St George for a number of reasons. One point he is using is that the hunting around St George is awesome. I am trying to discourage him from leaving and know very little about Utah hunting. Isn't the majority of good hunting in Utah by special permit only (i.e. controlled hunts) And doesn't it take years and years of applying to build up enough points to draw the tags?? He also mentioned something along the lines of volunteering to instruct hunters safety for kids and getting special hunting privelages? Can anyone here shed a little light for me. I know Utah has some of the best hunting in the West but thought it was really limited. Thanks

 

[slamdunk]

St George is a good place to live.......in the winter.
The housing market is really soft there right now, prices are dropping, that's a good thing if your a buyer.

There are so good public land areas to hunt all over Southern Utah that he can hunt if he draws a southern general deer tag. Ther are a lot of LE units there too, and yes, it does take years of applying unless you get lucky.

St George is a good place to live, a couple hours in any direction and you are doing somthing fun.
Great hunting just to the north, good hunting and fishing to the east (Lake Powell) Las Vegas just to the southwest, Mesquite is only 40 minutes away.

As long as he can handle extreme summer heat, St George is a good place to reside.

 

[shotgunjim]

"Hunting around SG is awesome". It's OK at best, the LE areas around SG are awesome but your buddy will maybe be able to hunt one of them in about 30 or 40 years from now. "special hunting privelages" My A$$. SG sucks. If he thinks he'll like living in a place where it gets to around 110 degrees in the summer then go for it. There's no bars in town, no bird hunting, the town gets invaded by stupid teenagers in the spring, its just some fine desert living. But hey, your buddy might be moving from a place worse then SG and he'll love it there.

 

[legacy]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-03-08 AT 11:54AM (MST)[p]I've lived in St George for 4 years now. It's a great place to live. It's a good sized town but still has a small town feel to it. Slam has already said most of what could be said. There is a lot of general season/public land areas to hunt in the area. I can drive 20 minutes from my house and see huntable deer and turkey. It's not far from Zions, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, etc... It is HOT in the summer, but you do get acclimated after the first summer. The winters make up for it though. We have had one or two days in the last couple of years that we got a sciff of snow. It was gone the next day. There are a ton of golf courses and lots of places to do about any type of recreation you could imagine. Nows the time to buy a home. Lots of REO's and short sale homes. A high inventory of homes has driven prices down. If he needs help finding a home, let me know (my mom-in-law is a real-estate broker here in town). All in all this area offers a lot of hunting opportunity and St george is a great place to live. It is difficult to draw a quality LE tag for any part of the state, but if you do your homework, you can have success. I wouldn't say it's as bad as jim says it is.

 

[blacktailer]

Can you buy "over-the counter" elk and deer tags as a resident in Utah? Thanks

 

[wymoose]

Yeah, but they are limited. Sometimes there are left-over deer licenses to buy after the draw, and usually state-wide archery tags, I wouldn't count on it next year though, they sold out really fast this year. There are usually some Northern region rifle and muzzy tags left to buy, but once again, they have been selling out recently. I don't think you'll ever find southern unit deer tags to buy OTC. Elk tags to buy OTC are very limited, you can buy spike elk tags and hunt spike only in most of the limited entry units, there are unlimited state-wide archery elk tags available, but once again you are limited to shooting spikes, or cows in the limited entry areas, there are a few any-bull areas where you can buy a license and hunt, I've never hunted them, but from what I hear, they aren't great. So I guess the answer is yes, but it's hard to get a decent tag over the counter in utah.

 

[blacktailer]

Thanks for the info guys. Way too damn hot for me; hopefully for him too. I'll pass this info on. Thanks again

 

[BBB]

Blacktailer,
PM me. I've lived in Southern Utah and now live in blacktail country. I'll let you know what I think.

 

[Coyote_chaser]

I lived there and loved it! There are ALOT of hunting opportunites, more quail than you can shake a stick at. Your close to alot of good country that holds good deer. I would go to cedar city!

 

[Ticks N Tines]

He is probably considering the "Dedicated Hunter program". If he helps out teaching a hunter saftey class he can get hours toward the program. The program allows you to hunt in the region of your choice and you can hunt all three seasons (Archery, Muzz, and Rifle). The catch is that you can only take two deer in the three year enrollment period, and you have to do 24 serive hours for the state.

 

[King_B]

The archery elk tags that you buy over the counter have no limit. At least that's what the DNR's website says. Those over the counter elk tags could be great! If he gets to know the country and is willing to make a little drive, the any bull archery areas can produce some good bulls. It just takes time in the mountains to locate them.

 

[Knockmdead]

Well Boys, I think that I am the Long Time resident. I will be 35 in Dec and have lived her my entire life, born and raised. This town has changed alot over the years.
There is tons to do here in the St.George area if you enjoy the outdoors. Mountain bicking, golfing(lots of that), hiking, fishing, skying, hunting and the list goes on and on.
It does get a little warm in the summer (June, July, Aug) but not to bad once you get use to it. The heat is very dry so the humidity doesn't get you. Been Golfing at 117 and its not to bad, just make sure you drink lots of water.
The city has grown a ton and is now becomming a big city instead of a small one, about getting to big for me.

As far as the hunting goes it is great around here. There is all kinds of hunting. It is true that you may never draw a Limited Entry Elk tag in this state but you can always try like the rest of us. There are some great areas to hunt spike elk and most have pretty good success with that hunt, and you can get the spike elk tags over the counter most the time.
You can usually get a general season rifle deer tag for the Southern Unit at least every other year. You can get a state wide archery deer tag over the counter but they usually sell out within the first week they go on sale. Got to be on your toes anymore.

Your buddy is more then welcome to come to our fine city if he wants, but if he cant handle the heat for the 4 months of summer then he may want to look elsewhere.


Jeff