Cache, Crawford Mtn Mule Deer Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 129 sq mi
Premium — 10–19 points
The muzzleloader hunt, the only limited-entry hunt here, for a Utah resident, by the bonus points that drew reliably. 1 limited-entry hunt; it falls during the November rut.
What hunting Cache, Crawford Mtn is like
The Crawford Mtn unit is gentle and rolling country, with the great majority of its ground classed as gentle terrain and only a small sliver of steep slope and none of it rugged. Elevations run from about 6,200 feet up to 8,000 feet, so this is not a place that demands mountaineering to hunt well — it's a unit where glassing and road access do a lot of the work. Sagebrush dominates the cover across the unit at 53%, with riparian drainages making up 10% and smaller shares of grass and meadow and conifer rounding things out; deer here have a lot of open sage country to work through along with pockets of timber and streamside cover.
Access comes from three directions: off Highway 30/89 on the north end via Crawford Mtn Road (which dips briefly into Wyoming), from the west on Crawford Mtn Road off Highway 16 north of Randolph, and from the south off Highway 16 on Reed Lane east of Woodruff. Road access throughout the unit is good, though ATV use should be checked against BLM travel plan regulations, and dispersed camping is allowed with details available through the BLM. Only about 41% of the unit, roughly 52 square miles, is generally open to public hunting — a mix of BLM, State Trust Land, and Wildlife Management Area ground, with most state trust parcels covered by a standing state access agreement. The remaining majority of the unit, about 59%, is private land, so knowing boundaries matters here, and permit holders should note that CWMUs are off-limits regardless of tag.
Deer move onto the Crawford Mountains to winter every year, though the timing depends on weather pushing them down from summer range, and deer are present on the mountain in some capacity throughout the fall regardless of when that migration arrives in full.
Limited-entry 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muzzleloader | November 7 – November 22 | Buck | Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut |
This band describes the 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.
Muzzleloader · November 7 – November 22
This is a drawn, limited-entry muzzleloader hunt for any buck, run for a hunt with a Premium draw band of 10–19 bonus points reliably drawing — though the random half of the draw means applicants below that level can still draw, just not routinely. Spanning the second week of November through late month, the hunt opens right at the tail end of pre-rut staging and runs through the primary rut itself, so bucks are actively tending and following does rather than holding alone; finding concentrations of does is the surest way to turn up a buck nearby. Deer continue arriving on the Crawford Mountains through the fall as weather pushes them down from summer range, and numbers on the mountain tend to build as the hunt progresses, though bucks can be found here even before that migration fills in. November brings real winter weather — highs near 40°F, lows down around 17°F, and average snowfall approaching 9 inches — and a cold front or fresh snow can shove deer out of the higher country onto ground that's easier to glass and reach; a fresh dusting is also a good time to cut buck tracks. Glassing is most productive early and late in the day, and access holds up well on the road network reaching in from Highway 30/89 on the north, Crawford Mtn Road off Highway 16 west of the unit, and Reed Lane off Highway 16 to the south — though roads can turn snowy or muddy as the season wears on, so plan travel accordingly. CWMU ground remains off-limits to permit holders regardless of where deer are found.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 6,200–8,000 ft, typically around 6,300 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 82% gentle · 14% moderate · 4% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~52 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.
Across the unit
- Sagebrush53%
- Other cover34%
- Riparian10%
- Grass and meadow2%
- Conifer1%
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.
Land & access
About 41% of Cache, Crawford Mtn is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas.
- BLM32%
- State Trust Land5%
- Wildlife Management Areas4%
- Private59%
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 Cache, Crawford Mtn 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
- Yearlong Range50%the only layer that means year-round use
Fall weather
- September — highs around 69°F, lows around 37°F, about 0.2 in of snowfall
- October — highs around 55°F, lows around 27°F, about 1.3 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 40°F, lows around 17°F, about 8.8 in of snowfall
Cache, Crawford Mtn deer hunting FAQ
Do I need bonus points to draw the Crawford Mtn limited-entry muzzleloader tag?
Points are not required to apply. Half of the permits go to applicants holding the most bonus points, and the other half are drawn at random with one extra entry per point held, so an applicant at any point level can draw. Ten to nineteen points is the level that has drawn reliably for residents, but that band describes what has been reliable, not a requirement to enter the draw.
Is Crawford Mtn a general-season deer unit or limited entry?
Crawford Mtn carries no general-season buck deer hunt. Its buck hunting is limited entry only, drawn with bonus points rather than purchased over the counter.
Does the Crawford Mtn muzzleloader hunt fall during the rut?
Yes. The November 7–22 muzzleloader season runs through the Primary Rut, so bucks are actively cruising and can be found traveling with does rather than holding to isolated summer patterns.
How much of the Crawford Mtn unit can I actually hunt?
About 41 percent of the unit, roughly 52 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through a mix of BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Area ground. Most of the state trust parcels are covered by a standing access agreement, though individual parcels can still be leased or restricted. The remaining 59 percent is private, so checking boundaries before setting up matters.
Are CWMUs part of the Crawford Mtn hunting area?
No. Permit holders may not hunt on any CWMU within the unit regardless of what tag they carry, so those parcels should be treated as off-limits when planning where to hunt.
What should I expect for road access and camping on Crawford Mtn?
Road access is good throughout the unit, with entry points off Highway 30/89 to the north, Crawford Mtn Road off Highway 16 north of Randolph to the west, and Reed Lane off Highway 16 east of Woodruff to the south. ATV use should be checked against BLM travel plan regulations, and dispersed camping is allowed with details available through the BLM's recreation pages. Late-season snow or mud can still affect those same roads during the muzzleloader hunt.
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
Limited-entry draw difficulty is a qualitative band, not published odds — the note under the limited-entry seasons states exactly which hunt it describes. 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.