Utah muzzleloader elk

DonVathome · Jan 23, 2022

Do you think applying muzzleloader for Utak elk give you better draw odds? Are the elk still buggling and rutting?

hogg_65 · Jan 23, 2022

Yes they are Rutting still. Some units the muzz hunters experience the best Rut activity. Draw odds could be better or not.

gundog2 · Jan 23, 2022

One downside to muzz elk hunts is that most overlap with general season muzz deer hunts and the others would overlap with limited entry deer hunts.

Vitalwave · Jan 23, 2022

Utah LE muzzle elk hunts can be awesome hunts but like everything they can come with some downsides. In my limited experience the bulls antlers can be a little broke up by then and some of the "top end" bulls of the unit could have been harvested by archery and rifle hunters. The couple LE muzzle hunts I have been on the bulls were very in the rut. Sometimes the muzzle hunts are the best hunt.

Shadow · Jan 23, 2022

Often times, the muzzle hunt can be right in the peak of the rut. One thing to consider is the elk can go quiet real quick with a bunch of general season muzzle deer hunters around although you do get a two day head start on the deer hunters.

elkhunterUT · Jan 23, 2022

Utah LE elk muzzy hunts are as good as it gets. My hunt in 2020 might be my favorite hunt of all time. Bulls bugling all night long before opening day and rutting hard during the hunt. I would burn points again on that hunt without any second thought.

gundog2 · Jan 23, 2022

elkhunterUT said:
Utah LE elk muzzy hunts are as good as it gets. My hunt in 2020 might be my favorite hunt of all time. Bulls bugling all night long before opening day and rutting hard during the hunt. I would burn points again on that hunt without any second thought.

Was that on a unit with general season muzzy deer hunt? Im sitting on 23 points for resident elk now. I hunted the Monroe deer muzzy hunt a few years ago just to see how that might look for elk muzzy. It looked like a cluster to me, but I think there was some kind of ATV rally going on. We did hear some bugles, and see a few elk, but I am not sure about dropping 23 points to deal with something like that. Granted, I was only there on opening weekend.

elkhunterUT · Jan 23, 2022

Yes it was-the muzzy LE elk hunt recently has opened on a Monday and the deer hunt opens on Wednesday so you get 2 days prior to the craziness. It is definitely a consideration and some units are worse than others.

I hunted the Pahvant and killed my bull opening morning after glassing him and his cows up the Saturday and Sunday before the hunt opened so I guess I really didn’t have too many chances for deer hunters to screw my hunt up.

UtyoteKiller · Jan 23, 2022

gundog2 said:
Was that on a unit with general season muzzy deer hunt? Im sitting on 23 points for resident elk now. I hunted the Monroe deer muzzy hunt a few years ago just to see how that might look for elk muzzy. It looked like a cluster to me, but I think there was some kind of ATV rally going on. We did hear some bugles, and see a few elk, but I am not sure about dropping 23 points to deal with something like that. Granted, I was only there on opening weekend.

If you have 23 LE bull points and put in for a muzz hunt you need your head examined.

elkhunterUT · Jan 23, 2022

UtyoteKiller said:
If you have 23 LE bull points and put in for a muzz hunt you need your head examined.

Why?
If you want to hunt one of the best units and can’t get the early rifle tag, why not go muzzy and get hunting?

If you can’t get it done with a muzzy on Utah’s best units, you probably didn’t work hard enough or want it bad enough.

Shadow · Jan 23, 2022

UtyoteKiller said:
If you have 23 LE bull points and put in for a muzz hunt you need your head examined.

Depends if you want a tag or just a chance. Early rifle Monroe has 56 guys ahead of gundog and 41 in his group chasing 7 bonus tags. Muzz odds would be 1 in 2 for a bonus tag.

UtyoteKiller · Jan 24, 2022

elkhunterUT said:
Why?
If you want to hunt one of the best units and can’t get the early rifle tag, why not go muzzy and get hunting?

If you can’t get it done with a muzzy on Utah’s best units, you probably didn’t work hard enough or want it bad enough.

You should have got to hunting about 15 years ago, and not wait 23 just to hunt with a rifle on the so called best unit.
Example, look at what just came off the north cache?

UtyoteKiller · Jan 24, 2022

Shadow said:
Depends if you want a tag or just a chance. Early rifle Monroe has 56 guys ahead of gundog and 41 in his group chasing 7 bonus tags. Muzz odds would be 1 in 2 for a bonus tag.

A tag and a chance are the same thing. No tag is a guarantee.

elkhunterUT · Jan 24, 2022

UtyoteKiller said:
You should have got to hunting about 15 years ago, and not wait 23 just to hunt with a rifle on the so called best unit.
Example, look at what just came off the north cache?

Great for you - may not apply to this guy with 23 points now. I am also in the camp of hunting now and not collecting bonus points forever, but maybe this guy wants to hunt Monroe rifle for sentimental or other reasons.

No matter his reasons though, the fact is he has 23 points now so looking at all options on the table is a wise move.

ORIONTHEHUNTER · Jan 24, 2022

Do you guys think there will be an influx of muzzleloader apps this year with the scope banning talk or do you think they will stay about the same. I'm still trying to pull a nonresident tag regardless of the scope situation

elkhunterUT · Jan 24, 2022

ORIONTHEHUNTER said:
Do you guys think there will be an influx of muzzleloader apps this year with the scope banning talk or do you think they will stay about the same. I'm still trying to pull a nonresident tag regardless of the scope situation

Really hard to say, but I don't think it will change much from previous years.

gundog2 · Jan 24, 2022

UtyoteKiller said:
If you have 23 LE bull points and put in for a muzz hunt you need your head examined.

One of my friends shot a dang good bull on the San Juan muzzy hunt with help of BTO as I recall. It was worth every one of the 18 points he had, but I am still fighting point creep. I go hunting every year including upland, waterfowl, general season deer or elk, antlerless elk hunts, and occasional draw tags in other states. Taken a couple descent branch antler bulls (5 and 6 pointers), couple spikes, and a number of cow elk. Helped son and daughter hunt a couple draw tags. Fish a little bit, play hockey and do other things. It’s not like I‘m twiddling my thumbs waiting for my OIL Utah elk hunt and DBS, but definitely want to make the best of my points (23 each) if I can, before I get too old.

huntin50 · Jan 24, 2022

I have hunted units all over the state and helped a lot of friends. Every year is a little different. It seems to me that bulls are more vocal in central and southern Utah than Northern Utah. If you are in shape I like Muzzle hunts. Sometimes bulls more broken and left overs from archery and early rifle however. Still usually a few good ones survive.

littlebighorn · Jan 25, 2022

Season dates in Utah (and many states) rotate from year to year. The last couple of years opening dates have favored the rifle hunt in terms of hunting normal rutting dates, but that changes from year to year, so check the dates before applying to see what's best.

DonVathome · Jan 25, 2022

What years do the dates change? I made a mistake and burned 20 some points on CO deer 4th rifle, 2 years later the season dates were several days later. I need those few extra days. It made a massive difference.

Also what is the new scope rules talk? What might change about scopes? Any other possible changes for muzzleloader?

Cahunter805 · Jan 25, 2022

DonVathome said:
What years do the dates change? I made a mistake and burned 20 some points on CO deer 4th rifle, 2 years later the season dates were several days later. I need those few extra days. It made a massive difference.

Also what is the new scope rules talk? What might change about scopes? Any other possible changes for muzzleloader?

There is talk about changing the muzzleloader scopes back to 1X like it used to be but I don’t think anything is officially even on the agenda yet.

HNTNFSH · Jan 25, 2022

Cahunter805 said:
There is talk about changing the muzzleloader scopes back to 1X like it used to be but I don’t think anything is officially even on the agenda yet.

if you go to the rac agenda it shows they passed no scopes on Utah muzzy hunts

elkhunterUT · Jan 25, 2022

HNTNFSH said:
if you go to the rac agenda it shows they passed no scopes on Utah muzzy hunts

No wonder there is so much misinformation out there.

There has been no change to magnifying/variable scopes on muzzys in Utah as of now. RAC’s are recommending bodies and don’t set rules for wildlife or hunting. Only the wildlife board can do that, and they have not changed anything as it relates to weapon restrictions or requirements for muzzleloaders.

dhfk214 · Jan 26, 2022

Yes they are Rutting. Utah LE elk muzzy hunts are as good as it gets

tallelkchaser · Jan 26, 2022

This was from a muzzy hunt a few years back to give you a glimpse of rutting activity during that time. Weather is a big factor but the end of September can be amazing on a good LE unit.

huntin50 · Jan 27, 2022

San Juan bulls are usually very vocal. High bull to cow ratio. Hunted it many times. Nice video. Brings back memories. Most units in Northern Utah are not like that. When you have a couple cows in estrus and a few bulls in the mix it sure is fun!!!

BearBait49 · Jan 27, 2022

The Muzzy elk hunt is awesome Last year while Muzzy deer hunting I had a couple days where I was into 5+ Bugling bulls in a canyon and had it all to myself This was mid-week Mind you but to say I wish I had an elk tag would be an understatement

HNTNFSH · Jan 27, 2022

elkhunterUT said:
No wonder there is so much misinformation out there.

There has been no change to magnifying/variable scopes on muzzys in Utah as of now. RAC’s are recommending bodies and don’t set rules for wildlife or hunting. Only the wildlife board can do that, and they have not changed anything as it relates to weapon restrictions or requirements for muzzleloaders.

thank you for the clarification

Camper_A1 · Jan 28, 2022

I have experienced that type of action twice on Monroe. Once on the rifle and the other on the muzzleloader hunt. Both were 10 plus years ago. The muzzy hunt on Monroe can be awesome. Since they burned all the pine trees in 2019 around Box Creek and Landon Mountain we’ve seen a third of the elk we used to see. Once they can get some more growth I would expect the numbers to improve.

Muleman1 · Jan 28, 2022

They weren’t last year rough hunt. Buddy got tag soup

slamdunk · Jan 30, 2022

gundog2 said:
Was that on a unit with general season muzzy deer hunt? Im sitting on 23 points for resident elk now. I hunted the Monroe deer muzzy hunt a few years ago just to see how that might look for elk muzzy. It looked like a cluster to me, but I think there was some kind of ATV rally going on. We did hear some bugles, and see a few elk, but I am not sure about dropping 23 points to deal with something like that. Granted, I was only there on opening weekend.

Anywhere the Piute Trail goes through, you'll have non stop ATV's......it can be a nightmare.

middlefork · Jan 31, 2022

slamdunk said:
Anywhere the Piute Trail goes through, you'll have non stop ATV's......it can be a nightmare.

Change that to any other ATV trail system in the state and you would be correct.

I don't think we as hunters have any chance of getting those restricted during hunting season. But good luck trying.

Shadow · Jan 31, 2022

I’ve seen elk less than a hundred yards from the road during the jamboree on Monroe and they’ll go dead silent when they hear the brigade coming but soon as the pass, they’ll scream their head off again.

littlebighorn · Jan 31, 2022

DonVathome said:
Do you think applying muzzleloader for Utak elk give you better draw odds? Are the elk still buggling and rutting?

Of course applying for the muzzleloader tag in any Utah unit gives you better draw odds than the rifle hunt!

Slayer · Feb 1, 2022

Looking at harvest stats from last year the success rate went down a little on some of the muzzy hunts. Maybe because of later season dates last year?

DonVathome · Feb 2, 2022

Slayer, interesting. I have learned that waiting for better season dates can make a huge difference. I REALLY wish I did that with my 20 point CO 4th rifle deer tag.