Unit 29

[SpotnstalkAZ]

I was pondering about putting in for the unit 29 mule deer hunt this year. I have been backpacking in Zion several times and that part of utah seems to be great habitat (outside the park). I've never applied for Utah so I have no points. Would I have a decent chance at drawing a general rifle tag for this hunt? If not, any others in the southern half of utah or any insight of this unit would be greatly appreciated!!

Im tired of waiting on tags here in Az so I'm praying on a decent hunt this year.

 

[Zeke]

There's some pretty good deer hunting IN the park too but some people frown on that!!! JK of course, they more than frown.

It should be a fun hunt but with zero points I'm not sure if you'll pull a tag or not. Check the F&G odds and you'll be able to find the info.

Maybe someone who knows the unit better will chime in. I hunt a couple clicks east of that unit and always find mediocre deer but nothing special.

Good luck!

Zeke

 

[elkfromabove]

There are some big bucks in that unit alright, BUT it's 36% private, 13% National Parks and only 8% National Forest. There's also 37% BLM and 6% State Trust lands there, but much of those are in small parcels that are hard to access or are landlocked with private property. And a good portion of the dirt roads in this unit are now closed, plus we recently had a big fire on the east side of the unit.

You also have to know that the National Forest property is mostly on top and the deer and elk that use it usually drop down into the private lands at the first sign of snow or really cold weather. It's a great place to archery hunt and muzzy hunt, but the rifle hunt is iffy unless you have permission to hunt private property or know exactly where you are!

On the other hand, there are some big bucks in that unit because of all of the above!

 

[ridgetops]

They have increased the # of tags for the unit in the last couple years. Which means it should be easier to draw but there will be more crowding on the public lands.

 

[Trix4me]

There were 1542 applicants with 0 points on the Zion unit that didn't draw a permit last year (any weapon) There were 1518 total permits. Odds are that no one with 0 will draw this year.....