Cedar/Stansbury Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 2,222 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 Cedar/Stansbury is like
The Cedar/Stansbury unit is gentle and rolling country for the most part, with only a small share of steep ground breaking up the terrain. Elevations run from around 4,200 feet up to 11,000 feet, and that range shows up in the cover: sagebrush dominates the lower and mid elevations, grass and meadow build through the mid elevations, and timber starts to show up only in the higher country alongside sagebrush and grassland. Because so much of the unit is gentle rather than broken, it hunts as a walkable unit where glassing and covering ground on foot are realistic options rather than a canyon-by-canyon slog.
Roughly half the unit, about 53 percent, is generally open to hunting through a mix of BLM, National Forest and State Trust Land, with most of that trust land open to hunting under a standing state access agreement. That is the ground worth planning around. A substantial share of the unit, around 31 percent, is military and tribal land that is closed to state-licensed hunting or requires the tribe's own permission, and it should be treated as off-limits unless that permission is in hand. The remaining ground is private. None of this makes access simple, and public ownership here should not be mistaken for easy or guaranteed entry.
Two fires from 2026, the Hastings fire on the north side and the Stookey fire on the southeast side, along with the older Cedar Mountain One fire from 2018 on the northwest side, have reshaped patches of the unit. The two 2026 burns are within their first year of fire this fall, when elk are often displaced to ground that still holds water and feed but can filter back through burned patches between stands of unburned cover; the 2018 burn is now five to eight years out and has grown back thick with brush and deadfall that can hide animals easily. Hunters should check for current fire closures and restrictions before heading into any of these areas.
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
The archery hunt opens in mid-August and runs into mid-September, spanning the Late Summer/Velvet, Pre-Rut Transition, Rut Onset and Primary Rut phases, so bulls move from finishing out their velvet to being fully engaged in the rut by the season's second half. Early on, bulls are still tied to the areas where they spent the summer, and sitting water sources or glassing likely open ground for a spot-and-stalk works well while animals are predictable and calm. As the days pass into Rut Onset and Primary Rut, that predictability starts to break down, but the same open, rolling ground and glassing approach still applies. Archers on this any-bull unit may take any bull or an antlerless elk, giving more flexibility than the later weapon seasons.
Early Any Legal Weapon · October 3 – October 9
Running the first full week of October, this hunt falls in the Late Rut/Early Post-Rut phase, when the intensity of September has begun to fade but bulls are not far removed from it. Any bull is legal for rifle and muzzleloader hunters during this short window, and the gentle, open character of most of the unit continues to favor covering ground and glassing rather than working tight timber. Hunters working the burned ground from the Hastings or Stookey fires should expect elk to be moving through those areas between patches of standing cover rather than holding in them outright.
Late Any Legal Weapon · October 10 – October 16
The second any-legal-weapon hunt picks up right where the early one leaves off, spanning the tail of the Late Rut/Early Post-Rut phase and into Post-Rut Recovery through the middle of October. Bulls are settling out of rut behavior during this stretch, and the open sagebrush and grassland flats at lower and mid elevations remain good places to glass for elk that have shifted off any breeding activity and back into more routine movement. Any bull is legal here, and the same walkable, gentle terrain that defines most of the unit keeps this a hunt built around covering country and finding elk visually rather than calling them out of thick timber.
Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
By the time the muzzleloader hunt opens in late October and runs into early November, elk are well into Post-Rut Recovery and moving into the Migration Transition phase, with November bringing cooler highs near 49°F, lows near 28°F, and light snowfall around half an inch for the month. That first snow and the colder swing can start nudging elk out of summer patterns, so it pays to watch the transition zones between higher and lower ground rather than assuming animals are still where they were in October. Any bull is legal, and the thicker regrowth in the older Cedar Mountain One burn on the northwest side is worth checking, since that five-to-eight-year-old burn now holds heavier brush and deadfall that can conceal animals moving through it.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,200–11,000 ft, typically around 4,600 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 80% gentle · 12% moderate · 8% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~1,171 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
- Sagebrush62%
- Other cover26%
- Grass and meadow9%
- Riparian3%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush53%
- Grass and meadow42%
- Other cover4%
Higher elevations
- Sagebrush56%
- Grass and meadow29%
- Conifer13%
- 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 Cedar/Stansbury. 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.
- Hastings fire, 2026 — about 26,000 acres in the unit (2%), mostly on its north side.
- Cedar Mountain One fire, 2018 — about 14,000 acres in the unit (1%), mostly on its northwest side.
- Stookey fire, 2026 — about 13,000 acres in the unit, mostly on its southeast side.
Fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Land & access
About 53% of Cedar/Stansbury is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM, National Forest and State Trust Land. Another 31% is public land closed to state-licensed hunting — military land and tribal land.
- BLM44%
- National Forest5%
- State Trust Land4%
- military land30%
- tribal land1%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private16%
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 elk permit is not valid there.
Where elk live in the unit
Utah's statewide elk habitat mapping, by layer: how much of Cedar/Stansbury 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.
- Winter Range5%used in winter
- Crucial Winter Range5%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
- Transition Range3%used moving between summer and winter range
- 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 79°F, lows around 51°F
- October — highs around 64°F, lows around 39°F
- November — highs around 49°F, lows around 28°F, about 0.5 in of snowfall
Cedar/Stansbury elk hunting FAQ
Do I need points to hunt elk on the Cedar/Stansbury unit?
No. The general-season archery, rifle and muzzleloader elk permits on this unit are bought over the counter, not drawn, so there is no point requirement or point bank involved. Points in Utah only apply to limited-entry and antlerless draws, neither of which is part of buying a general-season tag here.
What can a general archery hunter legally take on this unit?
The general archery permit here is hunter's choice, meaning an archer can take any bull or an antlerless elk during the August 15 to September 16 season. That flexibility is unique to the archery permit; the later rifle and muzzleloader seasons are any-bull only.
Which of the general seasons fall during the rut?
The archery season, running from mid-August into mid-September, overlaps the September rut, covering the Rut Onset and Primary Rut phases. The Early and Late Any Legal Weapon seasons and the Muzzleloader season all fall after the rut has passed its peak.
How much of the Cedar/Stansbury unit is public land a hunter can count on?
About 53 percent of the unit is generally open to hunting, made up of BLM, National Forest and State Trust Land, with most trust land open under a standing state access agreement. Another roughly 31 percent is military and tribal land that is closed to state-licensed hunting or requires tribal permission, so it should not be treated as huntable ground.
Should recent fires change where I hunt this unit?
The Hastings and Stookey fires from 2026 and the 2018 Cedar Mountain One fire have all burned meaningful acreage on different sides of the unit, and each affects elk use differently depending on how long ago it burned. It is worth checking current fire closures and restrictions before planning a hunt in or near any of these burn areas.
Is the Cedar/Stansbury unit steep, technical terrain?
No, the unit is mostly gentle and rolling, with only a small share of steep ground and no rugged terrain by area. That makes it a unit where covering ground on foot and glassing open country are realistic tactics rather than a hunt defined by technical climbing.
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.