Cache, North Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 239 sq mi
Premium — 10–19 points
The easiest of the main limited-entry hunts here (September Archery) for a Utah resident, by the bonus points that drew reliably. The hamss (restricted weapons) hunt, a specialty hunt with few applicants, draws far easier: Very hard — 6–9 points. 2 limited-entry hunts; one of them during the September rut.
What hunting Cache, North is like
The Cache, North unit is mixed country, with substantial steep ground mixed among gentler slopes, running from about 4,500 feet at the low end up to 10,000 feet at the high end, with most of the hunting happening around 7,100 feet. Elk here are usually found away from trails and roads, and that pattern holds across the seasons — hunters willing to get off the beaten path and glass open hillsides in the morning and evening tend to find more elk than those who stay near vehicle access. Timber cover gives elk a place to retreat during daylight hours, which shapes how the unit hunts from the archery opener through the late muzzleloader season.
About 73 percent of the unit, roughly 176 square miles, is generally open to public hunting, made up of National Forest, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas. National Forest accounts for the great majority of that open ground. State Trust Land parcels are covered by a standing state access agreement that opens most of them to hunting, though individual parcels can still be leased or restricted, so it pays to check before counting on a specific piece. The remaining roughly 26 percent of the unit is private land. Access into the interior is not simple even where ground is open — hiking or using pack animals is often the practical way into the back country, and getting familiar with the unit boundary and map before heading out matters more here than on unit with easier road access. Logan Canyon and the area toward Franklin Basin see a lot of traffic during the October any-legal-weapon hunt, so hunters looking for fewer other people in the field may want to look elsewhere on the unit.
Elk use both summer and winter range broadly across the unit, with crucial summer and crucial winter range each making up a meaningful share of that seasonal use. The general archery season and the limited-entry September archery hunt both fall inside the September rut; the general any-legal-weapon, general muzzleloader and limited-entry HAMSS hunts all come after it.
Limited-entry bull elk (2026)
Limited entry is Utah's drawn bull hunt, managed for older bulls, 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 elk | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| September Archery | September 1 – September 30 | Bull | Rut Onset, Primary Rut |
| HAMSS (restricted weapons) Restricted to handguns, archery, muzzleloaders, shotguns and straight-walled rifles. | November 7 – November 30 | Bull | Migration Transition |
This band describes the easiest of the unit's main limited-entry bull hunts (September Archery) for a Utah resident in the 2026 draw: the lowest bonus-point level that drew reliably. The hamss (restricted weapons) hunt, a specialty hunt with few applicants, draws far easier (Very hard — 6–9 points). 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. Other weapons and seasons, and nonresidents, can take substantially more points. The band says nothing about the general-season over-the-counter hunt, which needs no points.
September Archery · September 1 – September 30
The limited-entry archery hunt runs through the rut onset and into the primary rut, so bull behavior is actively shifting through the month as breeding activity ramps up. Elk densities vary across the unit, but animals are consistently found away from trails and roads, particularly in the country above Richmond, High Creek, and Smithfield Canyon, around Mt. Naomi and White Pine, and west of Franklin Basin. A bull tag here means any bull is legal, not just a mature one, though the hunt is managed with older bulls in mind. Covering ground away from easy access points and working those named drainages is the practical approach.
HAMSS (restricted weapons) · November 7 – November 30
By the time the HAMSS hunt opens, the unit has moved into the migration transition phase, with elk shifting off summer range as the season progresses. November brings real cold and meaningful snowfall, and hunters should expect that accumulation to affect both elk movement and their own access into the backcountry as the month goes on. Only handguns, archery equipment, muzzleloaders, shotguns and straight-walled rifles are legal, and permit holders may not hunt on CWMUs or use this permit in extended archery areas. Any bull is legal, and glassing open hillsides for elk that have started shifting off summer range is a reasonable strategy as conditions change through November.
General-season spike elk — over the counter (2026)
This is a general-season spike-only 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. Spike permits go on sale July 16; a rifle or muzzleloader hunter may take only a bull whose antlers do not branch. The general archery permit goes on sale July 7 and is not capped. It is hunter's choice: on this spike-only unit an archer may take a spike bull or an antlerless elk. A branch-antlered bull here needs a separate limited-entry permit.
| Season | Dates | Legal elk |
|---|---|---|
| Archery On a spike-only unit the general archery permit allows a spike bull or an antlerless elk — not a branch-antlered bull. | August 15 – September 4 | Spike bull or an antlerless elk |
| Any Legal Weapon | October 3 – October 15 | Spike bull only |
| Muzzleloader | October 28 – November 5 | Spike bull only |
Archery · August 15 – September 4
The general archery season opens in mid-August and runs into early September, spanning the velvet phase, the pre-rut transition, and the start of rut onset, so bull behavior changes noticeably over its three-plus weeks. Early on, bulls are stripping velvet and still holding close to where they spent the summer, making sitting water sources or glassing for spot-and-stalk opportunities effective tactics. This is a spike-only permit for rifle-class weapons, but the archery tag here is hunter's choice, meaning an archer can take a spike bull or an antlerless elk — not a branch-antlered bull, which requires the separate limited-entry permit.
Any Legal Weapon · October 3 – October 15
Running from early to mid-October, the any-legal-weapon season falls in the late rut and early post-rut phase, when yearling bulls are typically still traveling with groups of cows. Spike bull hunting is genuinely difficult here — legal bulls have to be picked out from among cows and other elk, and success depends on getting off roads to glass open hillsides in the early morning and evening, since elk retreat into timber for cover during the day. Logan Canyon and the area toward Franklin Basin draw heavy traffic during this hunt, so hunters willing to work farther from those access points may find less competition. Only a spike bull is legal for this permit.
Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
The muzzleloader hunt spans the post-rut recovery phase and moves into the migration transition phase by its close in early November, a stretch when elk are settling out of rut behavior and beginning to shift with the onset of winter weather. Snowfall picks up noticeably by the tail end of the season, which can push elk to move and change how huntable they are day to day. As with the other general-season rifle-class hunt, only a spike bull is legal, and getting away from roads to glass hillsides while using timber cover to anticipate where elk are holding remains the core tactic.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,500–10,000 ft, typically around 7,100 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 25% gentle · 34% moderate · 37% steep · 4% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~176 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
- Sagebrush43%
- Other cover40%
- Aspen11%
- Conifer6%
- Riparian1%
Mid elevations
- Conifer33%
- Sagebrush33%
- Aspen33%
- Other cover2%
Higher elevations
- Conifer43%
- Sagebrush36%
- Aspen20%
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 73% of Cache, North is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas.
- National Forest70%
- State Trust Land2%
- Wildlife Management Areas2%
- Private26%
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 Cache, North 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.
- Summer Range48%used in summer
- Crucial Summer Range48%the part of Summer Range considered essential to the herd — inside Summer Range, not added to it
- Winter Range37%used in winter
- Crucial Winter Range34%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
Fall weather
- September — highs around 67°F, lows around 42°F
- October — highs around 54°F, lows around 32°F, about 1.4 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 41°F, lows around 22°F, about 13.1 in of snowfall
Cache, North elk hunting FAQ
Do I need points to hunt elk on the Cache, North unit?
Points are never required to apply for anything on this unit. The general-season spike and archery permits are bought over the counter with no application and no points at all. The limited-entry bull permits use bonus points in a draw where half the permits go to the highest point holders and half are drawn at random with an extra entry per point, so an applicant at any point level can be drawn, just not reliably below the higher end.
What is the difference between the limited-entry hunt and the general season hunt here?
The general season is bought over the counter with no draw, and on this spike-only unit it allows only a spike bull for rifle and muzzleloader hunters. The limited-entry hunt is a separate drawn permit with far fewer tags, and it allows any bull, including branch-antlered bulls, on its own September archery and November HAMSS seasons.
What can a general archery hunter legally take on this unit?
The general archery permit here is hunter's choice, but because this is a spike-only unit, that choice is limited to a spike bull or an antlerless elk. A branch-antlered bull is off limits to a general archery hunter; taking one requires the separate limited-entry permit.
Which seasons on this unit fall during the September rut?
The general-season archery hunt and the limited-entry September archery hunt both fall within the September rut period. The general any-legal-weapon hunt, the general muzzleloader hunt, and the limited-entry HAMSS hunt all take place outside of it.
How much of the Cache, North unit is public land I can count on hunting?
About 73 percent of the unit, roughly 176 square miles, is generally open to public hunting between National Forest, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas. National Forest makes up the large majority of that figure. The remaining roughly 26 percent is private land, and even on open ground access can require real effort rather than a short walk from a road.
How difficult is it to draw the limited-entry bull tag on this unit?
The main limited-entry bull hunts on this unit, based on the September archery season, fall in the Premium band, meaning 10 to 19 bonus points drew reliably for a Utah resident in the most recent draw. The separate HAMSS restricted-weapons hunt draws considerably easier, in the Very Hard band of 6 to 9 points. Because half of all limited-entry permits are drawn at random with an extra entry per bonus point, applicants below either band can still be drawn, just not on a predictable basis.
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 28, 2026.