Deep Creek Outfitters currently offers guided bull elk hunts on the following units. We guided all seasons (archery, muzzleloader, early/mid/late rifle, late archery, and HAMSS):
- Panguitch Lake
- Southwest Desert, South
- Southwest Desert, North
Panguitch Lake
The Panguitch Lake unit has been one of the top producing elk units for the past few years. The 2017 Brianhead Fire burned a large percentage of the unit and has turned most of the unit into prime elk habitat. This is a great unit if you’re looking for a 360″ bull with the potential to kill a giant 380″+ bull. However, drawing odds are pretty tough and it will take quite a few points to draw unless you get lucky in the random draw.
There is a late archery hunt in this unit that takes place in early December. This hunt is much easier to draw than any of the other hunts, but gives a hardcore hunter a chance to hunt some giant late season bulls with a bow. We do have a cabin located in this unit so most of the hunts will be based out of the cabin unless we need to camp remotely in wall-tents or camp trailers.
Southwest Desert, South
The Southwest Desert is known for producing some giant desert bulls every year. We are new to guiding here, but we have spent a ton of time in these units and have located some giant bulls. The South unit has produced a number of bulls over 400″. Compared to some other units there aren’t a ton of elk in the SW desert, but the state manages the unit for trophy quality. The average quality in the South unit is 320-350″ with plenty of bulls over 360″.
The archery hunt is a great hunt for rutting activity and the rutting continues into the early rifle and muzzleloader hunts. By the time the mid-rifle starts most of the rutting is done, but occasionally you can find areas where elk are still rutting. The late rifle is post-rut and the big bulls are usually hidden in thick/steep canyons away from pressure, but it is a great hunt for killing a big bull.
The late archery is a new hunt that Utah has started to offer in most LE elk units. It takes place during the first part of December. Finding a big bull is usually not the problem, but stalking within bow range can be very tough. Thick cover and snow makes stalking difficult, but these are fun hunts!
Southwest Desert, North
The North unit is managed much differently than the South unit. The overall elk numbers are pretty low in this unit, but the bull-to-cow ratio is very high. It is quite a bit easier to draw than the South unit, but there are still some big bulls in the unit. There are only two hunts in this unit: September archery and HAMSS (handgun, archery, muzzleloader, shotgun, straight walled rifle).
The September archery hunt goes the entire month of September so it gives bowhunters a great opportunity to kill a great bull during the rut. The HAMSS hunt takes place during November and is a primitive weapon hunt with no scopes allowed. Most hunters choose to use open-sight muzzleloaders.
This unit has a bunch of 300-330″ type bulls, but every year we find some bulls over 350″ in this unit. If you are looking for a great LE elk hunt that doesn’t take a ton of points to draw (especially as a UT resident), this is a great unit.
If you have any questions about either unit please contact us!
*Utah does offer OTC elk tags, but we don’t currently guide any of those hunts. We only guide Limited-Entry elk hunts. To get an idea of your drawing odds, here is a link to past drawing statistics:
https://wildlife.utah.gov/bg-odds.html
