Manti Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 2,563 sq mi
Very hard — 6–9 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 Manti is like
The Manti sits as a big block of the Manti La Sal National Forest, rolling to moderately steep country that runs from valley bottoms up to timbered ridgelines topping 11,000 feet. Terrain across the unit runs mostly gentle to moderate, with steep and rugged ground making up a smaller share, so most of the hunting is foot country with a manageable grade rather than cliff country. Elk are distributed fairly evenly across the unit, though the northeast holds more private ground than the rest, so a hunter working that side should expect to run into boundary issues more often than elsewhere on the unit.
Access runs largely through the national forest, with the Upper Fish Creek trailhead on the west side of Scofield Reservoir connecting west to a trailhead on Skyline Drive near Johnson Ridge — a route that crosses the spine of the range and opens up a lot of the high country. Skyline Drive itself runs the length of the mountain range from SR-6 to Interstate 70 and is a key travel corridor for reaching drainages at elevation. Camping is allowed at official Forest Service campgrounds and also across most of the forest outside those campgrounds. About 73 percent of the unit is generally open to public hunting between National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land, and Wildlife Management Area ground, with most of that being national forest; the remaining ground is private, concentrated more heavily in the northeast.
Four fires have burned sections of the unit in recent years: the Coal Hollow and Pole Creek fires of 2018 on the north side, the Trail Mountain fire of 2018 on the east side, and the Bear fire of 2021 on the northeast side. This fall, all of these burns sit in the five-to-eight-year-old window, where brush and saplings have grown thick enough to hide animals easily and downed, tipped-over trees are accumulating — terrain that takes more effort to move through and to see into. Hunters working those burn footprints should check for current fire closures and restrictions before heading in.
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
Archery hunters drawing this tag work a season that runs from velvet through the pre-rut transition and into the onset and heart of the September rut. Early on, bulls are still shedding velvet and holding close to the same ground they used all summer, so sitting water sources or glassing open slopes for a spot-and-stalk works well. Through this stretch elk show little migratory movement and tend to stay on summer range, so a bull located early in the season is likely to still be in the same general area days later. As the rut builds through the month, the same tactics of glassing and closing the distance keep paying off on bulls that haven't yet started shifting off summer range.
Early Rifle (any legal weapon) · September 16 – September 20
This short late-rifle window lands squarely in the Primary Rut, a good time to catch bulls active and vocal. Elk on this unit show little migratory behavior during this hunt and remain on summer range, so the ground scouted beforehand should still be holding animals when the season opens. Covering drainages methodically and glassing from vantage points remains the most efficient way to find a bull worth pursuing in the limited number of days available.
Muzzleloader · September 21 – October 2
Muzzleloader hunters get the tail end of the Primary Rut and the start of the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase, a transition when bull behavior starts to change but before any real migration kicks in. Elk are still holding on summer range through this period, so the same areas that produced sightings in earlier seasons are worth checking again. October weather turns noticeably cooler with highs near the mid-50s and lows around freezing, and light snowfall becomes possible, but conditions rarely force elk off the mountain yet.
Mid-season Rifle (any legal weapon) · October 3 – October 15
Mid-season rifle falls in the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase, and because this is a newer hunt on the calendar, more hunters in the field can actually work in a hunter's favor — plenty of other people glassing means plenty of potential spotters. Bulls may still be bugling some years and can be located by sound even if they're less willing to respond to calling after weeks of pressure. Deep snow generally hasn't arrived yet, so elk are still concentrated in the high country between 8,000 and 10,000 feet, and nearly every drainage at that elevation is worth a look; Skyline Drive provides the access needed to check them efficiently, running the length of the range from SR-6 to Interstate 70.
Late Rifle (any legal weapon) · November 7 – November 15
By the time the late rifle season opens in November, elk are in the Migration Transition phase and bulls begin actually moving off the high summer ranges they held through the earlier seasons. Most bulls shift down in elevation onto steep ridges as they migrate. November brings real winter weather, with highs near 41°F, lows near 21°F, and close to a foot of snowfall for the month, conditions that can push movement along and make tracking more productive but also make high-elevation travel harder.
Late Archery · November 28 – December 13
Late archery spans the Migration Transition phase into the Winter phase, placing it well after the rut and squarely in the period when bulls have started moving down off summer range onto steep, shrub-covered ridges. Cold is a factor by this point, with November-into-December conditions running highs near 41°F and lows near 21°F alongside substantial monthly snowfall, and archery hunters need to be ready for both the weather and the added difficulty of finding animals that are no longer holding on predictable summer ground. Locating fresh migration routes and hunting the lower ridges elk move onto is a better bet than treating this like an early-season summer-range hunt.
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 hunt opens in mid-August and runs into the Late Summer / Velvet phase, the Pre-Rut Transition, and the start of Rut Onset by its early-September close. Bulls are shedding velvet and staying close to summer range through this window, making sitting water sources or glassing for a spot-and-stalk effective approaches. This permit is hunter's choice on the unit's spike-only structure, meaning an archer can take a spike bull or an antlerless elk, but not a branch-antlered bull.
Any Legal Weapon · October 3 – October 15
The general any-legal-weapon season runs in early-to-mid October, landing in the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase after the main September breeding activity has wound down. This permit is spike-only, so rifle and muzzleloader hunters need to identify antler branching before taking a shot. October conditions turn cool, with highs near 54°F and lows near freezing, and light snowfall is possible but not usually heavy enough to change elk locations dramatically.
Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
The general muzzleloader season runs from late October into early November, covering the Post-Rut Recovery phase and the start of the Migration Transition phase. As with the other general-season rifle and muzzleloader hunt, only a spike bull is legal, so careful looking before shooting matters. Weather turns colder across this stretch, from October highs near 54°F down toward November highs near 41°F with lows near 21°F and increasing snowfall, conditions that can start nudging elk toward lower ground as the season closes.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,100–11,300 ft, typically around 7,900 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 37% gentle · 39% moderate · 22% steep · 2% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~1,878 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
- Sagebrush60%
- Conifer21%
- Other cover14%
- Grass and meadow3%
- Aspen2%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush37%
- Conifer37%
- Aspen20%
- Grass and meadow3%
- Other cover3%
Higher elevations
- Sagebrush35%
- Conifer32%
- Aspen28%
- Grass and meadow3%
- 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 Manti. 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.
- Coal Hollow fire, 2018 — about 30,000 acres in the unit (2%), mostly on its north side.
- Pole Creek fire, 2018 — about 27,000 acres in the unit (2%), mostly on its north side.
- Trail Mountain fire, 2018 — about 18,000 acres in the unit (1%), mostly on its east side.
- Bear fire, 2021 — about 12,000 acres in the unit, mostly on its northeast side.
Fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Land & access
About 73% of Manti is public land a hunter can generally count on — National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas.
- National Forest53%
- BLM10%
- State Trust Land7%
- Wildlife Management Areas4%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- 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 Manti 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 Range43%used in winter
- Summer Range33%used in summer
- Crucial Summer Range33%the part of Summer Range considered essential to the herd — inside Summer Range, not added to it
- Crucial Winter Range20%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
- Transition Range9%used moving between summer and winter range
- Yearlong Range4%the only layer that means year-round use
Fall weather
- September — highs around 66°F, lows around 40°F
- October — highs around 54°F, lows around 31°F, about 1.7 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 41°F, lows around 21°F, about 11.8 in of snowfall
Manti elk hunting FAQ
Do I need bonus points to hunt elk on the Manti unit?
Points are never required just to apply — anyone can put in for the limited-entry bull tag. Half of the limited-entry permits go to applicants with the most bonus points, but the other half are drawn at random with an extra entry per point, so an applicant at any point level can draw, just not reliably. The general-season spike and archery permits need no points or application at all; they are bought over the counter on their sale dates.
What's the difference between the general season and the limited-entry hunt here?
The general season is bought over the counter with no draw: rifle and muzzleloader hunters may take a spike bull only, and archers get a hunter's choice permit good for a spike bull or an antlerless elk. Limited entry is a separate drawn hunt using bonus points, with far fewer permits, and it allows taking any bull, not just a spike, across its archery, rifle, muzzleloader and late-season windows.
Can a general archery hunter take a branch-antlered bull on the Manti?
No. The Manti is a spike-only unit, so the general archery permit is hunter's choice between a spike bull and an antlerless elk. A branch-antlered bull can only be taken with the separate limited-entry bull permit.
Which Manti elk seasons fall during the September rut?
The general-season archery hunt and the limited-entry archery, early rifle, and muzzleloader hunts all fall within the Rut Onset or Primary Rut windows. The general any-legal-weapon and muzzleloader hunts, along with limited-entry mid-season rifle, late rifle, and late archery, all run outside that September rut period.
How much of the Manti unit is public land?
About 73 percent of the unit, roughly 1,878 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across National Forest, BLM, State Trust Land, and Wildlife Management Area ground. The remaining share is private, with more of it concentrated on the northeast side of the unit. Public ownership here doesn't mean access is automatic — individual state trust parcels can carry restrictions, and permit holders may not hunt CWMUs.
How hard is it to draw the Manti limited-entry bull tag?
For the limited-entry archery hunt specifically, the most recent draw showed resident applicants pulling a permit reliably at 6 to 9 bonus points, a band described as very hard. The other limited-entry rifle and muzzleloader hunts on this unit take substantially more points than that archery benchmark, while the late archery hunt is an exception that draws considerably easier, in the 3 to 5 point range. Because half of all limited-entry permits are drawn at random with an extra entry per point, applicants below any of these bands can still draw, 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.