San Rafael, South-Dirty Devil Elk Hunting, Utah
Utah hunt unit · 3,413 sq mi
Spike-only unit — no draw, no points
Spike permits go on sale July 16. A rifle or muzzleloader hunter may take a spike bull only. The general archery permit (on sale July 7) allows a spike bull or an antlerless elk on this unit.
What hunting San Rafael, South-Dirty Devil is like
The San Rafael, South-Dirty Devil unit is rolling country with some steeper breaks, running from around 3,600 feet up to nearly 7,900 feet at its highest points. Most of the ground is gentle to moderate, so it hunts mostly as walkable, glassable terrain rather than a climb, though the steeper breaks scattered through it can bunch elk up or make for tougher stalking when they're used. Sagebrush dominates the cover at every elevation band, with small amounts of riparian, grass and meadow low down and a bit of conifer higher up, so hunting here is largely a game of glassing open sage flats and working the thin cover where it exists.
Access is good on paper: about 86 percent of the unit, roughly 2,918 square miles, is generally open to public hunting across BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas. Most of the State Trust Land is opened by a standing state access agreement, though individual parcels can still be leased or restricted, so it pays to check status before committing to a spot. A separate piece of the unit, about 9.3 percent, is Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which allows hunting with a Utah license but under its own local closures that should be checked before hunting there; a small remaining share, about 3.6 percent, is National Park Service land closed to hunting entirely. None of this makes access effortless — it's public ground across a big, sparsely broken landscape, and covering it takes time and legwork.
Elk sign on this unit is thin and can be inconsistent from year to year, with animals occasionally showing up along the Fremont River near Cainville. Through the fall the pattern shifts season to season more than it holds steady, so persistence and willingness to cover ground matter as much as picking the right drainage.
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 archery hunt, open from mid-August through early September, catches bulls finishing out the Late Summer and Velvet phase, moving through the Pre-Rut Transition, and into the early days of Rut Onset. Early on, bulls are stripping velvet and still holding close to where they spent the summer, which makes sitting water or glassing open sage flats for a spot-and-stalk approach a solid plan on this unit's mostly gentle, open ground. This is a hunter's-choice permit on a spike-only unit, meaning an archer can take a spike bull or an antlerless elk, but not a branch-antlered bull. Working the thin riparian and meadow pockets at lower elevations alongside the sagebrush flats gives the best chance at cutting fresh sign.
Any Legal Weapon · October 3 – October 15
Running from early to mid-October, the any legal weapon hunt falls in the Late Rut / Early Post-Rut phase, after the peak breeding activity has passed. On this unit, elk that spent the season here don't appear to return to the Thousand Lakes summer range, which means hunters shouldn't count on animals pulling out toward that country as the hunt progresses. Only a spike bull is legal for rifle and muzzleloader hunters, so care in judging antlers matters before taking a shot. Covering the open, gently rolling sagebrush ground methodically, rather than waiting on a single spot, fits the way elk are scattered across this unit.
Muzzleloader · October 28 – November 5
By the time the muzzleloader hunt opens in late October and runs into early November, elk are through the Post-Rut Recovery phase and into the Migration Transition phase, with cooling weather pushing highs down toward the low 50s and lows into the upper 20s alongside a bit of snowfall. As with the earlier rifle hunt, elk here don't appear to head back toward the Thousand Lakes summer range, so still-hunting or glassing the unit's own sagebrush country is a better use of time than chasing a migration that doesn't reliably happen. Only a spike bull is legal for muzzleloader hunters. The light snow that can fall this late in the season is worth watching for fresh tracks across the open ground, since sign can be scarce otherwise.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 3,600–7,900 ft, typically around 5,200 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 68% gentle · 20% moderate · 8% steep · 3% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~2,918 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
- Sagebrush79%
- Other cover19%
- Riparian2%
- Grass and meadow1%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush90%
- Other cover10%
Higher elevations
- Sagebrush89%
- Other cover6%
- Conifer3%
- Grass and meadow1%
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 86% of San Rafael, South-Dirty Devil is public land a hunter can generally count on — BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas. Another 4% is public land closed to state-licensed hunting — National Park Service.
- BLM78%
- State Trust Land7%
- Wildlife Management Areas<1%
- Glen Canyon National Recreation Area9%
- National Park Service4%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private<1%
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.
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area is National Park Service land where hunting is allowed with a Utah licence, subject to the recreation area's own local closures — check them before you go. National parks and monuments are closed to hunting.
Where elk live in the unit
Utah's statewide elk habitat mapping, by layer: how much of San Rafael, South-Dirty Devil 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 Range3%used in winter
Fall weather
- September — highs around 82°F, lows around 52°F
- October — highs around 68°F, lows around 40°F
- November — highs around 53°F, lows around 28°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
San Rafael, South-Dirty Devil elk hunting FAQ
Do I need points to hunt elk on the San Rafael, South-Dirty Devil unit?
No. The general-season spike and archery permits here are bought over the counter on their sale dates, with no application or points required. Points in Utah only apply to limited-entry bull elk and antlerless elk draws, neither of which this page covers for general-season hunting here.
What can I legally take with a general archery permit on this unit?
The archery permit here is hunter's choice, but because this is a spike-only unit that means a spike bull or an antlerless elk, not a branch-antlered bull. Archers need to be able to judge whether antlers branch before committing to a shot.
Which elk seasons on this unit fall during the September rut?
The general archery season, running mid-August through early September, overlaps the Rut Onset phase toward its end. The any legal weapon and muzzleloader seasons both run in October and November, after the September rut window has passed.
How much of this unit is public land I can actually hunt?
About 86 percent of the unit, roughly 2,918 square miles, is generally open to public hunting through BLM, State Trust Land and Wildlife Management Areas. A separate 9.3 percent, inside Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, is also open to licensed hunting but under its own local closures that are worth checking beforehand.
Can rifle hunters take any bull on this unit?
No. Both the any legal weapon and muzzleloader general seasons here are spike-only, meaning only a bull with non-branching antlers is legal. A branch-antlered bull is not a legal target on either of these general-season hunts.
What kind of terrain does this unit have?
The unit is rolling country with some steeper breaks, ranging from about 3,600 feet up to nearly 7,900 feet. Most of the ground is gentle to moderate, with only a small share classified as steep or rugged, so it generally hunts as open, walkable terrain rather than technical mountain country.
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.