Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 438 sq mi
Any-bull unit — no draw, no points
Any-bull permits go on sale July 9. A rifle or muzzleloader hunter may take any bull. The general archery permit (on sale July 7) allows any bull or an antlerless elk on this unit.
What hunting Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon is like
The Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon unit is mixed country, with substantial steep ground mixed in among gentler slopes. Elevations range from around 4,100 feet up to 9,500 feet, with most of the hunting taking place around 5,700 feet. At the lower elevations the cover is mostly sagebrush with some grass and meadow; moving up, sagebrush shares the mid elevations with conifer, and the highest country turns mostly to conifer with sagebrush and a bit of aspen mixed in. That range of terrain and cover means a hunter can find open sage flats to glass or work into timber for closer cover, depending on where the elk are sitting that day.
Access is mostly public: about 92 percent of the unit, roughly 405 square miles, is generally open to hunting, split between BLM land and State Trust Land. Most of the trust land is open to hunting under a standing state access agreement, though individual parcels can be leased or restricted, so it pays to check status before heading in. Private land makes up a small share of the unit, around 7 percent, and a sliver is closed military ground; those pieces are worth knowing before planning a route.
Roughly 40 percent of the unit is mapped as Yearlong Range, meaning a meaningful share of the unit sees elk use across the entire year rather than just seasonally. The unit also carries small shares of Summer Range and Crucial Summer Range. None of this pins elk to a particular elevation band or drainage, but it does mean the unit is not simply a passthrough for elk moving between seasonal ranges elsewhere.
General-season any-bull elk — over the counter (2026)
This is a general-season any-bull unit. General-season bull elk permits in Utah are sold over the counter — no application, no draw and no points. There is no general-season elk point bank at all. Any-bull permits go on sale July 9 and have sold out quickly in recent years. The general archery permit goes on sale July 7 and is not capped. It is hunter's choice: on this any-bull unit an archer may take any bull or an antlerless elk.
| Season | Dates | Legal elk |
|---|---|---|
| Archery | August 15 – September 16 | Any bull or an antlerless elk |
| Early Any Legal Weapon | October 3 – October 9 | Any bull |
| Late Any Legal Weapon | October 10 – October 16 | Any bull |
| Muzzleloader | October 28 – November 5 | Any bull |
Archery · August 15 – September 16
During the archery season, bulls are working through velvet shedding and then the pre-rut transition before sliding into rut onset and the primary rut by mid-September. Early on, bulls are still close to where they spent the summer, which makes sitting water sources or glassing likely feeding and travel areas a solid tactic for spot-and-stalk opportunities. As the season progresses into the primary rut, archers hunting the mix of sagebrush flats and timbered higher ground have a genuine shot at catching bulls more active and visible. Any bull or an antlerless elk is legal under this permit, giving archers flexibility in how they fill a tag.
Early Any Legal Weapon · October 3 – October 9
By the early rifle and muzzleloader-legal hunt in early October, the rut has moved into its late rut and early post-rut phase, meaning bull activity from the peak of September has settled down. Elk are still using the same mix of sagebrush and conifer cover across the elevation gradient, so covering ground and glassing open slopes before pushing into timber remains a sound approach. Any bull is legal during this hunt, and with rifle or other legal weapons in hand, hunters can work the steeper, more rugged pockets of the unit that archers might have avoided. Travel should be planned with the unit's mixed terrain in mind, since gentle ground and demanding slopes both show up across the area.
Late Any Legal Weapon · October 10 – October 16
The late any legal weapon hunt overlaps the tail end of the late rut and early post-rut phase before sliding into post-rut recovery, so bull behavior is settling further from the September peak. Elk activity is less concentrated around rutting behavior, so still-hunting and glassing the sagebrush-to-conifer transition zones through the mid elevations can pay off. Any bull is legal, and hunters have a full week to work both the open lower ground and the timbered higher elevations. Terrain remains the main variable to plan around, with steep and rugged pockets mixed among the gentler slopes.
Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
The muzzleloader hunt in late October into early November spans the post-rut recovery phase and the start of the migration transition phase, when elk activity shifts toward seasonal movement rather than rutting behavior. November brings cooler weather, with highs near 51°F and lows near 27°F, plus a light dusting of snowfall averaging around three-tenths of an inch for the month, enough to freshen tracking conditions without changing travel plans dramatically. Any bull is legal, and hunters should watch the higher conifer-covered elevations and the sagebrush country below for elk beginning to shift with the season. The mix of gentle and steep ground across the unit means routes should be planned with the colder, potentially icier conditions in mind.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,100–9,500 ft, typically around 5,700 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 35% gentle · 26% moderate · 30% steep · 9% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~405 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
- Sagebrush82%
- Other cover13%
- Grass and meadow5%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush68%
- Conifer31%
- Other cover1%
Higher elevations
- Conifer75%
- Sagebrush20%
- Aspen3%
- 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.
Land & access
About 92% of Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM and State Trust Land.
- BLM82%
- State Trust Land10%
- military land<1%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private7%
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 elk live in the unit
Utah's statewide elk habitat mapping, by layer: how much of Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon 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 elk are.
- Yearlong Range40%the only layer that means year-round use
- Summer Range<1%used in summer
- Crucial Summer Range<1%the part of Summer Range considered essential to the herd — inside Summer Range, not added to it
Fall weather
- September — highs around 80°F, lows around 51°F
- October — highs around 66°F, lows around 39°F
- November — highs around 51°F, lows around 27°F, about 0.3 in of snowfall
Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon elk hunting FAQ
Do I need points to hunt general-season elk on the Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon unit?
No. General-season bull elk permits on this unit are sold over the counter, not drawn, so there is no application and no point requirement. Any-bull permits go on sale July 9 and the general archery permit goes on sale July 7. Points in Utah apply to limited-entry and antlerless draws, not to this general-season hunt.
What can a general archery hunter take on this unit?
The general archery permit here is hunter's choice, meaning an archer may take any bull or an antlerless elk. This is because the unit is managed as an any-bull unit rather than a spike-only unit.
Which seasons fall during the rut?
The general archery season, running August 15 through September 16, overlaps the rut onset and primary rut phases in September. The Early Any Legal Weapon, Late Any Legal Weapon, and Muzzleloader seasons all fall after the primary rut, in the late rut, post-rut recovery, or migration transition phases.
How much of the Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon unit is public land?
About 92 percent of the unit, roughly 405 square miles, is generally open to hunting, made up of BLM land and State Trust Land. Most of that trust land is open under a standing state access agreement, though some individual parcels can be leased or restricted. The remaining ground is mostly private, with a small closed military parcel.
Is the terrain here difficult to hunt?
The unit is mixed country: a little over a third of the area is gentle, roughly a quarter is moderate, and the rest is steep or rugged terrain. That mix means routes can range from easy walking on sagebrush flats to demanding climbs in the steeper pockets, so travel plans should account for both.
When do any-bull permits go on sale, and do they sell out?
Any-bull permits for this unit go on sale July 9 and have sold out quickly in recent seasons. The general archery permit, which goes on sale July 7, is not capped.
Data sources & methodology
- Utah Division of Wildlife Resources — Big game hunting — general-season, limited-entry and antlerless elk permits
- Utah DWR — What hunters should know for the 2026 deer and elk hunts — 2026 general-season elk dates, including the split any-bull rifle hunt
- 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 — Elk (elk habitat mapping) — elk 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 25, 2026.