San Juan, Mancos Mesa Mule Deer Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 969 sq mi
Premium — 10–19 points
The HAMSS 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.
This page covers the hunt area of the unit's restricted-weapon (HAMSS) limited-entry hunt. The area overlaps other deer units, so other deer hunts may be held on the same ground.
What hunting San Juan, Mancos Mesa is like
The Mancos Mesa unit is desert and canyon country in San Juan County, running from around 3,500 feet up to 7,700 feet, with a typical elevation near 4,700 feet. By area the ground is rolling to moderately steep, with the largest share gentle and a smaller portion moderate; steep and rugged pockets exist but make up a minority of the unit, mostly tied to the canyon breaks that cut through the mesa country. Foot travel and vehicle glassing both play a role here, since the open desert terrain lends itself to spotting deer from a distance before closing the gap on foot through the canyons.
Access comes by way of Clay Hills Road, SR-276, Red Canyon Road (CR 259) and Radium King Road (CR 258), which reach into the unit from different directions. About 63 percent of the unit — roughly 611 square miles — is generally open to public hunting through BLM and State Trust Land, with most trust land opened under a standing state access agreement, though individual parcels can carry their own leases or restrictions. Another 36 percent falls inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where hunting with a Utah licence is allowed but subject to the recreation area's own local closures, which are worth checking before heading in. Most roads and trails fall under Trust Lands and BLM travel management plans, and dispersed camping is allowed across most of the hunt boundary, with camping and OHV questions best directed to SITLA or the BLM directly.
Cover at lower elevations runs mostly sagebrush with a smaller share of grass and meadow and a touch of riparian; mid elevations lean even more heavily sagebrush; and higher elevations are dominated by sagebrush with a modest conifer component and a little grass and meadow. The unit's only deer hunt, a limited-entry buck season, falls during the November rut.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| HAMSS (restricted weapons) Restricted to handguns, archery, muzzleloaders, shotguns and straight-walled rifles. | November 7 – November 30 | Buck | Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut, Late Rut / Winter Consolidation |
This band describes the HAMSS 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.
HAMSS (restricted weapons) · November 7 – November 30
By the time this hunt opens in early November, bucks are moving into and through the rut, and the hunt runs across the Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging phase, the Primary Rut phase, and on into the Late Rut / Winter Consolidation phase by the time it closes at the end of the month. Toward the tail end of October and into the opening days, deer may still be shifting from summer ground toward rutting ground, so glassing the country that connects the two is worthwhile before settling into one spot. Once bucks are rutting, working early and late light with optics pays off, and any weather that moves through can push deer down out of higher ground onto more open, easier-to-glass terrain — fresh snow is also a good cue to look for fresh tracks. Since bucks tend to stay near does through this stretch, locating groups of does is often the more direct way to find a buck nearby. This is a restricted-weapon hunt open to handguns, archery, muzzleloaders, shotguns and straight-walled rifles, taking any buck, and permit holders may not hunt on CWMUs or take part in extended archery hunts with this tag.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 3,500–7,700 ft, typically around 4,700 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 49% gentle · 31% moderate · 15% steep · 5% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~611 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
- Sagebrush49%
- Other cover44%
- Grass and meadow5%
- Riparian3%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush56%
- Other cover40%
- Grass and meadow4%
Higher elevations
- Sagebrush78%
- Other cover11%
- Conifer9%
- Grass and meadow1%
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 63% of San Juan, Mancos Mesa is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Trust Land.
- BLM57%
- State Trust Land6%
- Glen Canyon National Recreation Area36%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private<1%
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.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is National Park Service land where hunting is allowed with a Utah licence, subject to the recreation area's own local closures — check them before you go. National parks and monuments are closed to hunting.
Where deer live in the unit
Utah's statewide deer habitat mapping, by layer: how much of San Juan, Mancos Mesa 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 Range3%used in winter
- Crucial Winter Range3%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
Fall weather
- September — highs around 85°F, lows around 57°F
- October — highs around 71°F, lows around 44°F
- November — highs around 56°F, lows around 32°F
San Juan, Mancos Mesa deer hunting FAQ
Do I need bonus points to apply for the Mancos Mesa limited-entry buck hunt?
Points are not required to apply. Utah's limited-entry draw splits permits in half, with one half going to the applicants holding the most bonus points and the other half drawn at random with one extra entry per point held, so an applicant at any point level can draw, just not reliably.
How hard is it to draw the HAMSS limited-entry tag on this unit?
For Utah residents, the reliable draw band on this hunt falls in the Premium range, around 10 to 19 bonus points, meaning that is the lowest point level that has drawn consistently in recent years. Nonresidents typically need substantially more points than that to draw with the same reliability.
Is there a general buck deer season on Mancos Mesa?
No, this unit does not carry a general-season buck deer hunt; its buck hunting is limited entry only, drawn using bonus points rather than purchased over the counter.
Does the Mancos Mesa hunt fall during the rut?
Yes, the HAMSS limited-entry hunt runs from November 7 through November 30 and spans the Early Pre-Rut, Primary Rut, and Late Rut phases, placing the entire season inside the November rut.
How much of the unit is public land I can count on hunting?
About 63 percent of the unit, roughly 611 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through BLM and State Trust Land. Another 36 percent lies within Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, where hunting is allowed with a Utah licence but subject to that area's own local closures, so it is worth checking current restrictions before planning a hunt there.
What weapons are legal on this unit's limited-entry tag?
The HAMSS hunt restricts hunters to handguns, archery equipment, muzzleloaders, shotguns and straight-walled rifles. The legal animal is any buck, since limited-entry permits in Utah do not carry antler-point restrictions.
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.