North Slope, Three Corners Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 225 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. 4 limited-entry hunts, plus a multiseason permit; 3 of them during the September rut.
What hunting North Slope, Three Corners is like
The North Slope, Three Corners unit is rolling country with some steeper breaks rather than a wall of rugged peaks — most of the ground away from the Green River and Flaming Gorge Reservoir corridor is walkable, with pockets of steeper terrain giving way to genuinely rugged draws in the higher country. Elevations run from about 5,400 feet at the low end up to 9,000 feet, with most of the unit sitting around 6,500 feet. Sagebrush dominates the cover at every elevation band, with conifer cover picking up in the mid and higher country and small amounts of grass and meadow scattered throughout — good country for glassing as much as for working timber edges. Tourist traffic tied to the reservoir and river adds some pressure in accessible areas, and a fire burned the north and east sides of Goslin Mountain, so expect changed cover there.
Roads and ATV trails are mostly under Forest Service or BLM travel management, and Baretop is closed to vehicle access entirely — anyone running a machine off the main routes should check the current Ashley National Forest or Vernal BLM travel plans rather than guess. About 95 percent of the unit is generally open to public hunting across BLM, National Forest, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Area ground, with a standing state access agreement opening most of that trust land as well, though individual parcels can still be restricted. Private land sits at roughly 5 percent, concentrated toward the Colorado and Wyoming state lines, and permit holders may not hunt any CWMUs on the unit.
Bull elk hunting here is entirely limited entry, drawn for older bulls with no over-the-counter bull option on this unit. The archery, early rifle and muzzleloader seasons all fall inside the September rut, while the mid-season rifle hunt runs after it, into mid-October.
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 |
| Multiseason Usable in this unit's limited-entry archery, early rifle, muzzleloader and mid-season rifle hunts; the dates span all of them. | 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. 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
The archery hunt opens in mid-August while bulls are still finishing out the Late Summer / Velvet phase, moving through the Pre-Rut Transition and on into Rut Onset and eventually Primary Rut by the time the season closes in mid-September. Early on, bulls are stripping velvet and still holding close to their summer haunts, which makes sitting water or glassing open ground worthwhile before pushing into a stalk. With sagebrush covering most of the lower and mid elevations and conifer picking up through the mid and higher bands, archers can work timber edges for cover while using the open sage flats and pockets of grass and meadow to spot bulls at a distance. Bull elk on this permit may be any bull, and the tag is drawn, so an archer heading out has already cleared the harder part of the process before ever hiking in.
Early Rifle (any legal weapon) · September 16 – September 20
By the time the early rifle hunt opens in mid-September, the unit is deep into the Primary Rut, and this short five-day window is entirely inside that phase. Elk activity tied to the rut can put bulls on the move across the rolling terrain, and glassing the sagebrush-dominated flats and benches at lower and mid elevations, then working toward conifer cover higher up, gives a rifle hunter a way to cover the open, walkable ground that makes up most of the unit. Any bull is legal here, and because the tag is limited entry, pressure stays lighter than an over-the-counter hunt would bring, though the reservoir and river corridor still draw some outside traffic that can bump into hunting ground.
Muzzleloader · September 21 – October 2
The muzzleloader season starts September 21 still inside the Primary Rut and carries through into the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase by its close in early October, covering a stretch when bull behavior is transitioning out of peak rut activity. Hunters can still find bulls working the sagebrush and timber mix across the mid and higher elevations, with the rugged draws in the higher country offering places bulls may hold as the rut winds down. Any bull is legal on this limited-entry tag, and the same open, rolling character of the unit — gentle to moderate ground giving way to steeper pockets — makes still-hunting timber edges or glassing sage benches both workable approaches through this window.
Mid-season Rifle (any legal weapon) · October 3 – October 15
Running from October 3 to October 15, the mid-season rifle hunt falls entirely in the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase, after the rut activity of September has settled down. Utah coordinates the opening of this any-weapon hunt with neighboring states so elk can't simply slip across the state lines near Colorado and Wyoming to escape pressure, which matters on a unit where private land is concentrated toward those same borders. Bulls can be found across the sagebrush-and-conifer mix from mid to higher elevations, and the rolling terrain with its steeper breaks still allows for both glassing and closing the distance on foot. Any bull is legal on this limited-entry permit, and hunters covering the higher country should be ready for the cooler, more variable conditions that come with mid-October in this part of the season.
Cow elk hunts are also offered on this unit (archery August 15 – September 4; any legal weapon November 21 – November 29; any legal weapon December 19 – January 3). They are drawn separately, in Utah's antlerless draw, using preference points — a different point bank from limited-entry bonus points.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,400–9,000 ft, typically around 6,500 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 58% gentle · 25% moderate · 13% steep · 4% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~214 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
- Sagebrush65%
- Other cover26%
- Conifer7%
- Grass and meadow1%
- Riparian1%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush74%
- Conifer21%
- Grass and meadow4%
- Other cover1%
Higher elevations
- Sagebrush69%
- Conifer21%
- Grass and meadow9%
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 95% of North Slope, Three Corners is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM, National Forest, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas.
- BLM44%
- National Forest41%
- State Trust Land6%
- Wildlife Management Areas4%
- Private5%
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 North Slope, Three Corners 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 Range40%used in winter
- Crucial Winter Range31%the part of Winter Range considered essential to the herd — inside Winter Range, not added to it
- Summer Range21%used in summer
- Crucial Summer Range21%the part of Summer Range considered essential to the herd — inside Summer Range, not added to it
- Yearlong Range13%the only layer that means year-round use
Fall weather
- September — highs around 74°F, lows around 42°F
- October — highs around 60°F, lows around 31°F, about 0.9 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 46°F, lows around 21°F, about 2.4 in of snowfall
North Slope, Three Corners elk hunting FAQ
Is there an over-the-counter bull elk tag for the North Slope, Three Corners unit?
No. This unit does not carry a general-season, over-the-counter bull hunt in the current brochure. All bull elk hunting here goes through the limited-entry draw, so a hunter needs to apply and be drawn before setting a season.
Do I need bonus points to eventually draw a limited-entry bull tag here?
Points are not required to apply, and no point total guarantees a draw. Half of the limited-entry permits go to applicants with the most bonus points, but the other half are drawn at random with one extra entry per point held, so an applicant at any point level can draw, just not on a predictable schedule. For the archery hunt specifically, point totals in the 10 to 19 range have drawn reliably, though the early rifle and muzzleloader hunts run notably higher.
Which of the fall hunts happen during the rut?
The archery, early rifle and muzzleloader seasons all fall inside the September rut window. The mid-season rifle hunt runs afterward, into mid-October, outside that window.
How much of this unit can I actually hunt without needing landowner permission?
About 95 percent of the unit, roughly 214 of its 225 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across BLM, National Forest, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Area ground. State trust parcels are included because of a standing access agreement, though individual trust parcels can still be leased or restricted, so it's worth confirming status before hunting a specific piece. Private land makes up about 5 percent of the unit, concentrated toward the Colorado and Wyoming state lines.
Can I run an ATV wherever I want to reach elk country?
Not everywhere. Most roads and trails on the unit fall under Forest Service or BLM travel management, and those agencies set which routes are open to motorized use. Baretop is closed to vehicle access entirely, so anyone planning to use a machine off the main roads should check the current Ashley National Forest or Vernal BLM travel plans first.
Can I use a limited-entry permit to hunt archery gear and then switch to a rifle later in the fall?
A multiseason limited-entry permit can be used across the archery, early rifle, muzzleloader and mid-season rifle windows on this unit, all four of them, rather than being tied to just one weapon and date range. Aside from that, no other rule is specified about how the permit gets used once a bull is taken.
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 25, 2026.