Cache, South Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 432 sq mi
Premium — 10–19 points
The easiest of the main limited-entry hunts here (Archery) for a Utah resident, by the bonus points that drew reliably. The other main hunts take more. The late archery hunt, a specialty hunt with few applicants, draws far easier: Hard — 3–5 points. 6 limited-entry hunts, plus a multiseason permit; 3 of them during the September rut.
What hunting Cache, South is like
The Cache, South unit runs from the valley floor up through timbered benches to just under 9,700 feet, and the country is best described as mixed, with substantial steep ground worked in throughout — a mean slope of 17.7 degrees puts it in the steep band even though gentle and moderate ground still make up most of the acreage. Elk generally avoid roads here, which means the hunting rewards distance from a vehicle: glassing open slopes at dawn and dusk while elk pull back into timber during the day is the pattern across most of the fall seasons, and getting away from the road corridors is what separates a good vantage point from an empty one. Pressure and access both trace back to the same handful of canyons.
Logan Canyon and Blacksmith Fork Canyon are the two access routes into the unit, both usable for ATV access as well as vehicle travel, and both are worth knowing since they anchor scouting areas named for the Sinks, Ephraim's Grave and Hardware Ranch. About 78 percent of the unit, roughly 338 of its 432 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through National Forest, state wildlife management area and state trust land, with most of that state trust land opened under a standing state access agreement even though individual parcels can still be leased or restricted. The remaining 22 percent is private ground. Public land access is not guaranteed simply because it exists on the map — it still requires legwork to find elk away from the roads that cut through it.
Summer Range and its crucial subset each cover 66 percent of the unit, while Winter Range and its crucial subset each cover 31 percent, reflecting a unit that elk use across both halves of the year rather than passing through. As fall progresses the unit cools sharply, and by the late rifle and late archery hunts elk pushed by snow concentrate on south-facing slopes between about 6,000 and 8,000 feet along the ridges from Logan Canyon to Blacksmith Fork Canyon.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | August 15 – September 15 | Bull | Late Summer / Velvet, Pre-Rut Transition, Rut Onset, Primary Rut |
| Early Rifle (any legal weapon) | September 16 – September 20 | Bull | Primary Rut |
| Muzzleloader | September 21 – October 2 | Bull | Primary Rut, Late Rut / Early Post-Rut |
| Mid-season Rifle (any legal weapon) | October 3 – October 15 | Bull | Late Rut / Early Post-Rut |
| Late Rifle (any legal weapon) | November 7 – November 15 | Bull | Migration Transition |
| Late Archery | November 28 – December 13 | Bull | Migration Transition, Winter |
| Multiseason Usable in this unit's limited-entry archery, early rifle, muzzleloader, mid-season rifle and late rifle hunts; the dates span all of them. Not valid in the late archery hunt. | August 15 – November 15 | Bull | — |
This band describes the easiest of the unit's main limited-entry bull hunts (Archery) for a Utah resident in the 2026 draw: the lowest bonus-point level that drew reliably. The late archery hunt, a specialty hunt with few applicants, draws far easier (Hard — 3–5 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.
Archery · August 15 – September 15
Limited-entry archery runs from mid-August into mid-September, covering the tail of the velvet phase through the pre-rut transition and into rut onset and primary rut, so bulls move from still-in-velvet to fully engaged over the course of the hunt. Early on, bulls are close to where they spent the summer and stripping velvet, which makes sitting water or working a spot-and-stalk approach off open slopes worth the effort. Elk hold in timbered high country during the day and drift onto open slopes to feed mornings and evenings, and since elk here avoid roads, getting away from vehicle access is what turns glassing into sightings. The Sinks, Ephraim's Grave and Hardware Ranch are worth scouting early to find that pattern before the season opens.
Early Rifle (any legal weapon) · September 16 – September 20
The early rifle hunt is short, running just five days in mid-September squarely inside the primary rut, when bull activity is at its most intense for the year. The same daily pattern holds as in archery season: elk bed in timbered high country through the day and push out onto open slopes to feed at first and last light. Because elk avoid roads here, still-hunting or glassing well off any drivable route pays off, and the Sinks, Ephraim's Grave and Hardware Ranch are the areas worth working first.
Muzzleloader · September 21 – October 2
Limited-entry muzzleloader opens in the closing days of the primary rut and carries through the first two weeks of the late rut/early post-rut phase, so bull behavior shifts partway through this hunt as breeding activity winds down. Elk still spend daylight in timbered high ground and move to open slopes at the margins of the day, and staying off roads remains the key to finding them, particularly around the Sinks, Ephraim's Grave and Hardware Ranch. October brings cooler temperatures and the season's first real snowfall, with highs near 52°F and about 2.5 inches of snow for the month, though conditions rarely turn extreme this early.
Mid-season Rifle (any legal weapon) · October 3 – October 15
By the mid-season rifle hunt in early-to-mid October, the rut has moved into its late/early post-rut phase, and bulls that were still chasing cows a few weeks earlier turn solitary and harder to pattern. Hunting the opening days offers the best chance of catching lingering rut activity before bulls scatter. Elk during this stretch concentrate in deep, dark, heavily timbered canyons well away from roads, and cow and spike-bull seasons overlapping this hunt spread animals out further across the unit. Access into the canyons is workable, and the open slopes make this a hunt built around long stretches of glassing rather than covering ground on foot; October's cooling temperatures and light snowfall accompany the hunt without changing it much.
Late Rifle (any legal weapon) · November 7 – November 15
Late rifle falls in November, inside the migration transition phase, when the season's heavier snow — averaging around 15.6 inches for the month with highs dropping into the upper 30s — starts pushing elk out of summer country. Elk still spend daylight in heavy timber at higher elevations and come out onto open slopes to feed mornings and evenings, and the same rule applies as earlier in the fall: staying off roads is what puts elk in front of glass. The Sinks, Ephraim's Grave and Hardware Ranch remain the areas worth scouting and hunting.
Late Archery · November 28 – December 13
Late archery, running from late November into mid-December, spans the migration transition phase into the winter phase and is built to be a hard hunt. Bulls are solitary or in small groups by this point and difficult to locate, and stalking them in steep terrain made slicker by snow adds to the difficulty. Heavy November snowfall pushes the bulk of wintering bulls onto the ridges between Logan Canyon and Blacksmith Fork Canyon, and when snow piles up deep, bulls concentrate on south-facing slopes roughly between 6,000 and 8,000 feet along that same stretch. This is a hunt for spending long hours behind optics rather than covering miles, since finding bulls at all is most of the battle.
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
General-season archery runs mid-August to early September, over the counter and open to any hunter willing to buy the permit, with a hunter's choice tag valid here for a spike bull or an antlerless elk — not a branch-antlered bull. The hunt spans the velvet phase into the pre-rut transition and rut onset, so early hunters find bulls still in velvet and holding close to summer range, with sitting water or spot-and-stalk glassing both viable approaches. As the days progress into rut onset, bull behavior starts to shift, though the basic daily rhythm of timbered cover by day and open slopes at dawn and dusk continues to apply across the unit.
Any Legal Weapon · October 3 – October 15
The general any-legal-weapon hunt runs the first two weeks of October, landing in the late rut/early post-rut phase, and is limited to spike bulls only. Spike hunting is inherently tricky here, since yearling bulls typically travel with cow groups rather than alone, so picking a spike out of a group takes patience. Elk hold at higher elevations, using timber as escape cover through the day, and getting off the roads to glass open hillsides in the morning and evening is the most consistent way to find them. October's cooler temperatures and modest snowfall, around 2.5 inches for the month, don't change the pattern much but do mark the shift toward fall conditions.
Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
General-season muzzleloader runs from late October into early November, spike bulls only, spanning the post-rut recovery phase into migration transition — a stretch when breeding activity has wound down and elk begin responding to the season's changing weather. November brings the unit's first heavy snow, averaging around 15.6 inches for the month with highs dropping into the upper 30s, and that snow is what starts pushing elk toward lower, more sheltered ground as the hunt progresses. Glassing open slopes at the edges of the day while elk hold in timber through midday remains the basic approach, with a spike-only tag meaning careful judgment on antler configuration before taking a shot.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,500–9,700 ft, typically around 7,300 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 26% gentle · 47% moderate · 24% steep · 3% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~338 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%
- Aspen21%
- Conifer20%
- Other cover9%
Mid elevations
- Aspen43%
- Conifer33%
- Sagebrush23%
- Other cover2%
Higher elevations
- Conifer50%
- Aspen27%
- Sagebrush21%
- 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 78% of Cache, South is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, Wildlife Management Areas and State Trust Land.
- National Forest70%
- Wildlife Management Areas5%
- State Trust Land3%
- Private22%
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, South 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 Range66%used in summer
- Crucial Summer Range66%the part of Summer Range considered essential to the herd — inside Summer Range, not added to it
- Winter Range31%used in winter
- Crucial Winter Range31%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
Fall weather
- September — highs around 65°F, lows around 40°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
- October — highs around 52°F, lows around 31°F, about 2.5 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 39°F, lows around 21°F, about 15.6 in of snowfall
Cache, South elk hunting FAQ
Is a bull elk tag for the Cache, South unit a draw, or can it just be bought?
General-season elk on this unit is over the counter: spike permits go on sale July 16 and the general archery permit goes on sale July 7, with no application or points needed. A rifle or muzzleloader hunter can take a spike bull only. A branch-antlered bull requires the separate limited-entry permit, which is a drawn hunt using bonus points.
What can a general archery hunter legally take on this unit?
The Cache, South is a spike-only unit for general-season rifle and muzzleloader hunters, and that restriction carries into archery too. The general archery permit is hunter's choice, but on a spike-only unit that means a spike bull or an antlerless elk — not a branch-antlered bull. Taking a branch-antlered bull here requires the separate limited-entry permit.
Do points guarantee a limited-entry bull tag on this unit?
No. The easiest of the main limited-entry bull hunts, the archery season, sits in the Premium band at 10 to 19 bonus points for a resident to draw reliably, and the other limited-entry rifle and muzzleloader hunts take substantially more. Half of each hunt's permits go to the highest point holders and half are drawn at random with one extra entry per point, so an applicant at any point level can draw, just not routinely below that band.
Which hunts on this unit fall during the September rut?
The general-season archery hunt and three limited-entry hunts — archery, early rifle and muzzleloader — all fall within the September rut onset and primary rut window. The general-season any-legal-weapon and muzzleloader hunts, along with limited-entry mid-season rifle, late rifle and late archery, fall outside that window.
How much of the Cache, South unit can a hunter actually access?
About 78 percent of the unit, roughly 338 of its 432 square miles, is generally open through National Forest, state wildlife management area and state trust land, with most of that trust land opened under a standing state access agreement even though some parcels can still be leased or restricted. That leaves 22 percent private. Being open on paper does not make finding elk simple, since the animals here tend to pull away from the road corridors that cross the public ground.
Are permit holders allowed to hunt CWMUs on this unit?
No. Permit holders on the Cache, South unit may not hunt on any CWMU regardless of which season or permit type they hold.
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.