Monroe Mule Deer Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 690 sq mi
Hard — 3–5 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 Monroe is like
The Monroe unit is rolling to moderately steep country, rising from valley floors around 5,200 feet to peaks above 11,000 feet, with most of the ground sitting in the moderate-elevation range that makes up the bulk of the unit. Deer are spread across the entire unit, with the central and northern parts holding the highest densities; the southern end is narrower and drier and holds fewer deer. Cover shifts with elevation — sagebrush dominates the lower country, conifer and sagebrush share the mid elevations, and the higher country mixes conifer with sagebrush, aspen and pockets of grass and meadow. The 2025 Monroe Canyon fire burned about 74,000 acres on the unit's northeast side, roughly 17% of the total, and this fall falls within the first year after that burn — deer displaced by it are likely to be found on ground that still holds water and feed, and hunters should check for current fire closures and restrictions before heading in.
Access comes from several directions: road #068 reaches the north side out of Annabella or Glenwood and is well maintained gravel, #076 comes in from Koosharem and #069 from Greenwich on the east side, with #069 the better choice for pulling a trailer. The south end is reached via the Pole Canyon road (#072) near Angle or the Monroe Mountain road (#068) near Kingston, both narrow and not great for large trailers, while the west side uses the Dry Creek road (#071) or Monroe Canyon road (#078), neither recommended for trailers. About 75% of the unit, roughly 520 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Area ground, with most state trust parcels open under a standing state access agreement; the rest is private. The road and trail network is extensive and mostly manageable by vehicle early in the fall, though later-season snow can make travel difficult, and some trails carry ATV size restrictions.
Through the fall deer move between the higher country used in summer and lower winter range, with much of that shift tied to elevation rather than any single travel route, though some deer moving from the north end toward winter range near Angle typically make that move after the rifle season closes.
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 | Hard — 3–5 points | Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase |
| Any Legal Weapon | October 17 – October 25 | Buck | Hard — 3–5 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
Archery season opens in mid-August while bucks are still finishing out the Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern phase, and runs into the Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition phase by mid-September. Most deer are concentrated above 8,000 feet, sitting at the intersection of conifer/aspen and aspen/mountain brush/sage habitats, so summer scouting and glassing pay off more than anything else. Bucks feed into the morning and then bed in shade for most of the day, making shady pockets and north-facing slopes worth first-light glassing; watch where a buck beds and consider a midday stalk, or work the evening glass and come back for him the next morning. Good areas to start include Hunter's Flat, Thompson Basin and Big Lake above Glenwood and Annabella in the north, the Mormon Mountain area and hills above Burrville to the east (watching for private ground), and Box Creeks, Indian Peak, Monroe Peak, Greenwich Creeks and the Dairies, along with Poverty Flat, the canyons around Marysvale Peak and Barney Lake on the west side.
Muzzleloader · September 23 – October 1
The muzzleloader hunt runs from late September into early October, spanning the tail of the Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition phase into the Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase. Deer are still concentrated above 8,000 feet as they were during archery, but bucks are turning increasingly nocturnal, so glassing shady bedding pockets at first light and again in the evening remains the most productive approach rather than expecting much daytime movement. Hunter densities are not particularly high during this stretch and weather tends to be workable, making it a comfortable time to cover ground in the same northern areas — Hunter's Flat, Thompson Basin, Big Lake — as well as the Box Creeks, Indian Peak, Monroe Peak, Greenwich Creeks, Dairies, Poverty Flat and Barney Lake areas noted for archery. Most bucks are still holding near where they summered, so returning to areas scouted earlier in the fall is a sound strategy.
Any Legal Weapon · October 17 – October 25
By the time the any-legal-weapon hunt opens in mid-to-late October, deer are moving through the Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase into Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, and the herd is far more spread out than earlier in the fall. A sizable portion of deer have started shifting onto or near winter range and toward agricultural areas near the valleys, though some remain as high as snow will allow on the highest peaks. Scouting just before the season is important since deer concentrations can be found anywhere from the mountaintop to the valley floor, with hunters often finding success glassing near agricultural ground where deer are easier to spot. Glassing the country between summer range and the areas deer use heading toward the rut can also turn up bucks staging for the move.
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, a separate limited-entry permit drawn with bonus points, runs from late October into early November and falls within the Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging phase, with deer actively working toward their rutting ground. Many deer are moving toward winter range at this time, wintering around the valley floors and often working agricultural areas, though some remain in oak and aspen habitat rather than dropping all the way down. The central and northern portions of the unit tend to hold the heaviest concentrations, so glassing the country between summering areas and lower winter ground is the way to intercept deer as they stage for the move. November brings colder temperatures and the first real snowfall of the fall, around 5 inches for the month, which can push deer lower and make roads muddy or snow-covered, so plan travel accordingly.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,200–11,200 ft, typically around 7,200 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 47% gentle · 37% moderate · 15% steep · 1% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~520 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
- Sagebrush57%
- Other cover31%
- Conifer10%
- Grass and meadow2%
Mid elevations
- Conifer51%
- Sagebrush42%
- Other cover4%
- Grass and meadow3%
Higher elevations
- Conifer51%
- Sagebrush28%
- Aspen12%
- Grass and meadow8%
- Other cover2%
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 Monroe. 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.
- Monroe Canyon fire, 2025 — about 74,000 acres in the unit (17%), mostly on its northeast side.
Fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Land & access
About 75% of Monroe is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas.
- National Forest37%
- BLM32%
- State Trust Land5%
- Wildlife Management Areas1%
- tribal land<1%
- Private24%
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.
Tribal land requires the tribe's own permission and licence — a state deer permit is not valid there.
Where deer live in the unit
Utah's statewide deer habitat mapping, by layer: how much of Monroe 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 Range40%used in winter
- Crucial Winter Range40%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
- Summer Range34%used in summer
Fall weather
- September — highs around 73°F, lows around 41°F
- October — highs around 60°F, lows around 31°F, about 0.3 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 48°F, lows around 22°F, about 5.2 in of snowfall
Monroe deer hunting FAQ
Do I need preference points to hunt buck deer on the Monroe unit?
Points are not required to apply — general-season buck permits are drawn with preference points awarded highest-first, but the random ordering inside each point level means an applicant with few or no points can still draw. A hunter who does not draw in a given year earns a preference point toward future applications. Points are unit-independent since they are for deer generally, not this unit specifically, and drawing any general-season buck permit uses them all up.
How many points does the general-season rifle hunt take on Monroe?
The Any Legal Weapon hunt is banded Hard, with 3 to 5 preference points drawing reliably for an adult Utah resident in recent years. That band reflects the point level that has drawn consistently, not a guarantee — applicants with fewer points can still draw since the ordering within a point level is random. The muzzleloader hunt carries the same Hard, 3 to 5 point band, while archery is lighter at Moderate, 1 to 2 points.
What's the difference between the general season hunts and the limited-entry late muzzleloader hunt?
General-season archery, muzzleloader and any-legal-weapon hunts are each their own drawn permit using preference points, with permits going first to the highest point holders and random order within a level. The limited-entry late muzzleloader hunt is a separate draw entirely, using bonus points, where half the permits go to the highest point holders and the other half are drawn at random with an extra entry per bonus point. Applying for general-season deer does not affect limited-entry bonus points, so a hunter can apply for both in the same year, and a Utah resident may only apply for one limited-entry species per year.
Which Monroe hunts fall during the November rut?
None of the unit's hunts fall inside the Primary Rut phase. Archery, muzzleloader, any-legal-weapon and the limited-entry late muzzleloader hunt all take place before it, running from mid-August through the start of November.
How much of the Monroe unit is public land?
About 75% of the unit, roughly 520 of its 690 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Area ground. Most state trust parcels are open under a standing state access agreement, though individual parcels can be leased or restricted. The remaining roughly 24% is private, so knowing boundaries matters in areas like Mormon Mountain and the Box Creeks/Indian Peak/Greenwich Creeks country where private ground is mixed in.
How hard is it to draw the limited-entry late muzzleloader permit on Monroe?
That hunt is banded Premium, with 10 to 19 bonus points drawing reliably for a Utah resident. Because half of the permits are set aside for a random drawing with one extra entry per bonus point, applicants below that band can still draw, just not routinely. Nonresidents typically need substantially more points to draw reliably.
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 29, 2026.