Beaver, East Mule Deer Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 799 sq mi
Moderate — 1–2 points
The any legal weapon hunt, for an adult Utah resident, by the preference points that drew reliably in the 2026 draw. Each general-season weapon is its own permit with its own draw — the table below rates every one.
The unit also has a limited-entry late muzzleloader hunt, a separate draw that uses bonus points. Its dedicated-hunter buck hunt is separate and not covered here.
What hunting Beaver, East is like
The Beaver, East unit runs from around 5,500 feet up to 12,200 feet, with a typical elevation near 7,600 feet, and the country is best described as rolling to moderately steep rather than uniformly rugged. Most of the ground is gentle to moderate, with a smaller steep component, though the mean slope does run steep enough to make for real climbing in places. Popular areas near roads and camping draw more pressure, while the unit's remote pockets hold hunters who are willing to get off the road and work for it.
Access comes largely off roads out of Beaver along Highway 153, with camping and reasonably good access at Big Johns Flat and Big Flat, and popular camping at Kents Lake where hunting away from people means hiking off the road. Rainbow Mine, Cottonwood Creek, City Creek Peak, Lebaron Reservoir, Mumford Reservoir, and North Creek all have limited road access, with City Creek Peak and Lebaron Reservoir noted as popular despite that. Briggs Ridge offers remote, steep hunting, Shingle Creek Meadows has some ATV trail access into remote country, and Manderfield sits on flatter gravel roads where private property borders need attention. ATV travel is governed by US Forest Service travel management plans, and roughly 87 percent of the unit — National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land, and Wildlife Management Areas — is generally open to public hunting, with most state trust parcels open under a standing state access agreement, though individual parcels can still be leased or restricted.
Recent fire activity has reshaped parts of the unit. The Cottonwood fire burned about 97,000 acres toward the middle of the unit and is in its first year after burning this fall, while the Silver King fire on the northeast side, the Thompson Ridge fire on the south side, and the Little Twist fire also on the south side are all two to four years out and can offer good glassing and feed for deer working the edges of unburned timber. Hunters should check for current fire closures and restrictions before heading out.
General-season buck deer — drawn with preference points (2026)
General-season buck deer in Utah is drawn, and each weapon is its own permit with its own draw. It uses preference points: permits go first to the applicants holding the most points, in random order within each point level. Every year an application does not draw earns a point, and drawing a permit uses them all. A fifth of the permits are set aside for youth hunters. Applying here does not affect limited-entry deer bonus points, so a hunter can apply for both in the same year.
| Season | Dates | Legal deer | Draw (adult resident) | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | August 15 – September 11 | Buck | Moderate — 1–2 points | Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern, Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition |
| Muzzleloader | September 23 – October 1 | Buck | Moderate — 1–2 points | Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase |
| Any Legal Weapon | October 17 – October 25 | Buck | Moderate — 1–2 points | Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging |
Draw bands are for an adult Utah resident in the 2026 draw: the lowest preference-point level that drew each hunt reliably. There is no random half in this draw, so hunters well below a band should expect to wait.
Archery · August 15 – September 11
The archery hunt opens in mid-August while bucks are still working through the Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern phase, holding in small bachelor groups, and it runs into September as they move through the Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition phase. Summer scouting pays off here: bucks feed into the morning then bed in shade for most of the day, so glassing shady pockets and north-facing slopes is the way to locate one, watching where he beds before working in for a stalk in the middle of the day. Water is not the whole story since a mature buck can get by on very little, but forbs and browse draw them out, and an evening glassing session is often more about marking a buck for a morning follow-up than forcing a stalk in fading light. Once velvet comes off, habits hold steady but bucks tend to bed earlier and stay put longer, so a buck that seems to vanish is usually still tucked into a nearby crevice or draw rather than gone. This is drawn on preference points, with permits going to the highest point holders first and the order random within a point level, and adult residents have drawn it Moderately with one to two points.
Muzzleloader · September 23 – October 1
By the time the muzzleloader hunt opens in late September, bucks are finishing the Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition phase and sliding into the Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, and most are still on the same ground they held through summer. The glassing pattern that works in archery still applies early in this hunt — first light to spot a buck and watch him bed, then a stalk while he's down for the day, with evenings used mainly to relocate him for morning — but as October arrives bucks grow steadily more nocturnal, spending more daylight bedded and moving mostly after dark. That shift rewards persistence over long glassing sessions on shaded, north-facing country rather than covering ground. This permit is also a preference-point draw with permits awarded highest-points-first and a random order within each point level, and adult residents have drawn it Moderately at one to two points.
Any Legal Weapon · October 17 – October 25
The any legal weapon hunt runs from mid to late October, squarely in the stretch where bucks are at their most nocturnal under the Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase before easing into the Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging phase by the close of the season. Most bucks are still near their summer haunts early on, but as the days go by some begin drifting toward rutting ground, so glassing the country between summer range and likely staging ground can pay off better than sitting on one spot. Cooling October weather adds a bit of urgency to buck movement but the core tactic stays the same: work the shaded slopes and timbered edges where bucks hole up during the day. Like the other general-season hunts, this one is a preference-point draw with the highest point holders first and randomness only within a point level, and adult residents have drawn it Moderately with one to two points.
Limited-entry late muzzleloader buck deer (2026)
Limited entry is Utah's drawn buck hunt, managed for older bucks, with far fewer permits than the general season. It is drawn with bonus points: half the permits go to the applicants holding the most points, and the other half are drawn at random with one extra entry for every point held — so applicants below the reliable level do draw. A Utah resident may apply for only one limited-entry species a year.
| Season | Dates | Legal deer | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Late Muzzleloader A separate limited-entry permit, drawn with bonus points. | October 28 – November 5 | Buck | Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging |
This band describes the Late Muzzleloader limited-entry buck deer hunt, the only one on this unit, for a Utah resident in the 2026 draw: the lowest bonus-point level that drew reliably. Half of Utah's limited-entry permits go to the applicants with the most bonus points and half are drawn at random, with an extra entry for each point, so applicants below this level can draw. Nonresidents can take substantially more points.
Late Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
The Late Muzzleloader hunt runs from late October into early November, entirely within the Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging phase, when bucks begin shifting from their summer country toward the ground they'll use during the rut. Glassing the country between the two — the routes bucks travel rather than just their old summer haunts — becomes the priority. November brings the first real cold of the fall on this unit, with highs near 47°F, lows near 22°F, and average snowfall around 5.7 inches for the month, enough to push deer to start moving and to make for a harder, colder sit on open glassing points. This is a separate limited-entry hunt for any buck, drawn with bonus points rather than the preference points used in the general seasons; half of its permits go to the highest bonus-point holders and half are drawn at random with an extra entry per bonus point, so applicants below the reliable level can still draw, just not routinely. For adult residents the hunt has drawn Premium, with the bonus-point level that draws reliably falling between 10 and 19 points.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,500–12,200 ft, typically around 7,600 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 32% gentle · 43% moderate · 24% steep · 1% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~696 sq mi
Habitat & cover
What grows here, by elevation. Each band adds to 100% on its own — these are shares of that band, not of the unit.
Lower elevations
- Sagebrush47%
- Conifer42%
- Other cover9%
- Grass and meadow1%
Mid elevations
- Conifer60%
- Sagebrush32%
- Aspen6%
- Grass and meadow1%
- Other cover1%
Higher elevations
- Conifer64%
- Sagebrush22%
- Aspen6%
- Other cover5%
- Grass and meadow3%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land — left unnamed rather than guessed at.
Recent fires
Wildfires in the last several seasons that burned a meaningful share of Beaver, East. Fire perimeters show where a fire burned, not how hot — and closures change through the year, so check current fire closures and restrictions before you go.
- Cottonwood fire, 2026 — about 97,000 acres in the unit (19%), toward the middle of the unit.
- Silver King fire, 2024 — about 18,000 acres in the unit (4%), mostly on its northeast side.
- Thompson Ridge fire, 2023 — about 7,300 acres in the unit (1%), mostly on its south side.
- Little Twist fire, 2024 — about 5,400 acres in the unit (1%), mostly on its south side.
Fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Land & access
About 87% of Beaver, East is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas.
- National Forest57%
- BLM27%
- State Trust Land3%
- Wildlife Management Areas<1%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private13%
Most Utah State Trust Land is open to hunting under a standing state access agreement. Individual parcels can be leased or restricted, so check the parcel before planning around it.
Where deer live in the unit
Utah's statewide deer habitat mapping, by layer: how much of Beaver, East each one covers. The layers overlap, so they do not add to 100%, and a layer that is small or missing here says nothing on its own about where deer are.
- Winter Range50%used in winter
- Crucial Winter Range50%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
- Summer Range46%used in summer
- Crucial Summer Range2%the part of Summer Range considered essential to the herd — inside Summer Range, not added to it
Fall weather
- September — highs around 71°F, lows around 42°F
- October — highs around 59°F, lows around 31°F, about 0.8 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 47°F, lows around 22°F, about 5.7 in of snowfall
Beaver, East deer hunting FAQ
Do I need points to hunt deer on the Beaver, East unit?
No points are required to apply for the general-season archery, muzzleloader, or any legal weapon buck hunts, or for the limited-entry Late Muzzleloader hunt. General-season permits go to the applicants with the most preference points first, with random order within a point level, while the limited-entry hunt sets aside half its permits for a random drawing open to every bonus-point level, so an applicant at any point level can draw.
How many preference points does it take to draw a general-season rifle tag here?
The Any Legal Weapon general-season hunt, which runs October 17-25, carries a Moderate draw difficulty banded at 1-2 preference points for an adult Utah resident. That band reflects the point level that draws reliably; applicants below it are not shut out since the order within a point level is random.
What's the difference between hunting the general season and drawing the Late Muzzleloader limited-entry hunt?
The three general-season hunts (archery, muzzleloader, any legal weapon) are drawn with preference points, ranked highest-points-first with random order within a level, and each weapon is its own separate permit. The Late Muzzleloader hunt, October 28 through November 5, is a separate limited-entry draw using bonus points instead, with far fewer permits and half set aside for a random drawing so hunters below the Premium 10-19 point band can still draw.
Which hunts on this unit fall during the November rut?
None of them. All four hunts covered here — the general-season archery, muzzleloader, and any legal weapon seasons, plus the limited-entry Late Muzzleloader hunt — fall outside the Primary Rut phase.
How much of the Beaver, East unit is public land I can actually hunt?
About 87 percent of the unit, roughly 696 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land, and Wildlife Management Areas. Most state trust parcels are open under a standing access agreement, though individual parcels can still be leased or restricted, and the remaining private ground makes up about 13 percent of the unit.
Can I hunt this unit with a Cooperative Wildlife Management Unit (CWMU) permit or apply for both a general and limited-entry tag?
Permit holders may not hunt on CWMUs on this unit. A hunter can apply for a general-season buck permit and for limited-entry deer bonus points in the same year, since applying for the general season does not affect limited-entry bonus point accrual — though Utah residents may apply for only one limited-entry species per year.
Data sources & methodology
- Utah Division of Wildlife Resources — Big game hunting — limited-entry, general-season and antlerless deer permits
- Utah DWR — What hunters should know for the 2026 deer and elk hunts — 2026 buck deer hunt dates and changes
- Utah DWR — Big Game Application Guidebook — how bonus points and the limited-entry draw work
- Utah DWR — Hunt Planner — unit boundaries, and the DWR's unit and biologist notes the written guide draws on
- Utah DWR — Supporting Utah's mule deer — mule deer habitat and seasonal range
- Utah Trust Lands Administration — Trust Lands & You — the hunter access agreement that opens most state trust land
- USGS / MRLC — National Land Cover Database — habitat and cover classes by elevation band
- USGS PAD-US — Protected Areas Database of the United States — land ownership and access
- Daymet daily climate, 1991–2020 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) — fall weather
- National Interagency Fire Center — wildfire perimeters — recent fires, their size and where they burned
Draw difficulty is a qualitative band, not published odds — the notes under each season table state exactly which hunts the bands describe. Land shares are separate, non-overlapping categories. Confirm current dates and rules in the Utah Big Game Field Regulations guidebook before you hunt. Unit data last updated September 28, 2026.