Nine Mile, Range Creek Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 1,547 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 Nine Mile, Range Creek is like
The Nine Mile, Range Creek unit is mixed country, with substantial steep ground worked in among gentler benches and slopes. Area figures put a little over a third of the unit in gentle terrain, a quarter moderate, and the rest split between steep and rugged ground, so hunters can find easier walking near the bottoms but should expect real climbing the farther they push into the broken country. At lower elevations the cover is mostly sagebrush with some conifer and scattered grass and meadow pockets; move up into the mid and higher bands and conifer starts to dominate, with sagebrush still present and aspen showing up more as elevation increases. Elk have room to work across a wide elevation range here, from valley bottoms near 4,000 feet up to ridgelines above 10,000 feet.
Getting into the unit means relying mostly on BLM ground, which makes up the bulk of the land base, along with state trust land and a small share of state wildlife management area. Most of the state trust land is open to hunting under a standing state access agreement, though individual parcels can carry leases or restrictions worth checking before committing to a spot. All told, about 71 percent of the unit is generally open to public hunting, while the remaining ground is private and off limits without permission — a hunter can count on the open three-quarters, but the private inholdings mean it pays to know boundaries before planning a route.
Elk use of the unit shifts through the fall as animals move between summer range, winter range, and the ground connecting the two, with roughly a quarter of the unit classed as year-round habitat. Archery hunters working the early season find bulls not far removed from summer patterns, while by the time the any-legal-weapon and muzzleloader hunts arrive later in fall, colder weather and the approach of winter start pushing animals toward transitional and wintering ground.
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 general archery hunt opens in mid-August and runs into mid-September, covering the Late Summer / Velvet phase, the Pre-Rut Transition phase, and both the Rut Onset and Primary Rut phases by its close. In the first week or two, bulls are still shedding velvet and holding close to where they spent the summer, which makes glassing productive and puts sitting water sources into play for spot-and-stalk setups. As the season progresses into Rut Onset and Primary Rut, elk activity shifts with the rut itself, and archers should be ready to adjust tactics as bulls respond to that change. This permit is hunter's choice on this any-bull unit, so an archer may take any bull or an antlerless elk.
Early Any Legal Weapon · October 3 – October 9
The early any legal weapon hunt is a short window in early October that falls in the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase, meaning the peak breeding activity of September has just wound down. Any bull is legal for rifle and muzzleloader hunters during this hunt, and elk behavior is settling out of rut intensity into the early stages of post-rut patterns. Given the compressed week-long season, covering ground across the unit's mix of open sagebrush lower down and conifer cover higher up gives the best chance of finding bulls before they settle further into post-rut routines.
Late Any Legal Weapon · October 10 – October 16
Running immediately after the early hunt, the late any legal weapon season in mid-October spans the tail end of the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase into the Post-Rut Recovery phase, so bulls are further removed from breeding activity and settling into more recovery-oriented behavior. Any bull remains legal for rifle and muzzleloader hunters. With rut activity fading, hunters may need to rely more on covering terrain and glassing than expecting bulls to be actively responding to rut cues, working through the unit's steeper ground where elk may be holding.
Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
The muzzleloader hunt in late October and early November falls across the Post-Rut Recovery phase and into the Migration Transition phase, with November bringing colder conditions — highs near 47°F, lows around 25°F, and light snowfall of about 2.2 inches for the month. That early snow and cooling trend can start nudging elk toward transitional routes as they move between summer and winter range, so hunters should watch travel corridors and lower-elevation cover rather than expecting elk to hold in the same high country they used earlier in fall. Any bull is legal, and the combination of quieter post-rut behavior and shifting weather rewards patience and mobility over calling or rut-based tactics.
Cow elk hunts are also offered on this unit (any legal weapon October 3 – October 25; any legal weapon November 25 – January 31). They are drawn separately, in Utah's antlerless draw, using preference points — a different point bank from limited-entry bonus points.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,000–10,200 ft, typically around 6,600 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 37% gentle · 25% moderate · 28% steep · 10% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~1,105 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
- Sagebrush71%
- Other cover17%
- Conifer11%
- Grass and meadow2%
Mid elevations
- Conifer58%
- Sagebrush39%
- Other cover2%
- Aspen1%
Higher elevations
- Conifer55%
- Sagebrush28%
- Aspen15%
- 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 71% of Nine Mile, Range Creek is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas.
- BLM64%
- State Trust Land8%
- Wildlife Management Areas<1%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private28%
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 Nine Mile, Range Creek 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 Range31%used in winter
- Yearlong Range25%the only layer that means year-round use
- Summer Range16%used in summer
- Crucial Summer Range16%the part of Summer Range considered essential to the herd — inside Summer Range, not added to it
- Crucial Winter Range15%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
Fall weather
- September — highs around 75°F, lows around 48°F
- October — highs around 61°F, lows around 37°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 47°F, lows around 25°F, about 2.2 in of snowfall
Nine Mile, Range Creek elk hunting FAQ
Do I need points to hunt general-season elk on the Nine Mile, Range Creek unit?
No. General-season elk permits here, including the any-bull rifle and muzzleloader tags and the archery permit, are bought over the counter with no application or points required. Points in Utah only apply to limited-entry and antlerless draws, not to this general-season hunt.
What can I hunt with a general archery permit 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 Nine Mile, Range Creek is managed as an any-bull unit rather than a spike-only unit.
Which elk seasons here fall during the rut?
The general archery season, running from mid-August to mid-September, overlaps the September rut period. The early and late any legal weapon seasons and the muzzleloader season all fall after the rut has wound down.
How much of the unit is public land I can hunt?
About 71 percent of the unit, roughly 1,105 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through BLM, state trust land, and a small share of state wildlife management area. The remaining ground is private, so checking boundaries before heading out matters even with that much open access.
What is the terrain like across the unit?
The unit is mixed, with substantial steep ground woven in among gentler areas. A little over a third of the unit by area is gentle terrain, a quarter is moderate, and the remainder splits between steep and rugged ground, so route planning matters depending on which part of the unit is being hunted.
Are there antlerless elk hunts on this unit?
Yes, antlerless elk hunts are offered in October and again from late November into January, but those are drawn separately through Utah's antlerless draw using preference points. They are a distinct hunt from the general-season any-bull seasons covered on this page.
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.