Utah Deer DB1016 — Unit West Desert, Vernon

Limited-entry Buck Deer - West Desert, Vernon

What you may take
Limited-entry Buck Deer - West Desert, Vernon (antlered)
Weapon
Archery
Archery gear only — no rifle season on this license.
Where
West Desert, Vernon
89% public of 973,608 acres
Season (2026)
Aug 15 – Sep 11, 2026
Nonresident tags (2026)
4
for 81 first-choice applicants
Hunter success here (2025)
80%
of everyone who hunted the area

Showing nonresident results. Switch to resident

Odds by point level — 2026 draw

Prior-draw probability for a first-choice nonresident applicant. 2 tags, 81 first-choice applicants, drew out at 18 points. Source: Utah Draw System DrawOddsData · HuntID=1304.

Points Your chance Applicants Drawn
0 <1% (<1%–<1%) 12 0
1 <1% (<1%–<1%) 9 0
2 1% (<1%–1%) 7 0
3 2% (1%–2%) 3 0
4 2% (2%–2%) 6 0
5 2% (2%–2%) 9 0
6 2% (2%–3%) 4 0
7 3% (3%–3%) 5 0
8 4% (3%–4%) 5 0
9 4% (3%–4%) 3 0
10 4% (4%–5%) 1 1
11 5% 0 0
12 5% (4%–5%) 4 0
13 5% (5%–6%) 3 0
14 6% 0 0
15 6% (5%–6%) 2 0
16 6% (6%–7%) 1 0
17 7% (6%–7%) 5 1
18 100% (100%–100%) 1 1
19 100% (100%–100%) 1 1
20–21 100% same chance at every one of these levels

Monte Carlo over published bonus-point pools. A dash means Utah Division of Wildlife Resources did not publish a count for that level. How we compute these.

What it costs (2026 nonresident fees)

Cash to apply
$165
Out of pocket if unsuccessful
$165
Total if drawn
$764
Refunded if unsuccessful
$0

At the 2026 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $764 (enough points to draw) to $44,111.66 (lowest published odds).

Nonresident big game application fee, per species or point applied for (plus 2.2% card processing fee) · paid at application $21 source
Nonresident 365-day hunting license, age 18+ (required to apply; a drawn nonresident big game permit also acts as a 1-year fishing license) · paid at application $144 or $190 source
Bonus or preference point only (same as the application fee; no permit fee) · only for a point bought without applying — an unsuccessful applicant gets the point free $21 source
Nonresident general-season buck deer permit · paid if drawn $599 or $1,070 or $1,398 or $2,130 or $2,330 source

Not applying this year? A point-only purchase costs $21 (Mar 19 – Jun 23, expected) and keeps you moving toward the 18-point cut.

Next application window: opens Mar 19, closes Apr 23, 2027 (expected) · results ~May 31. Last cycle's schedule rolled forward — confirm when the agency publishes.

Point creep & years to draw

Drew out at 17 → 15 → 16 → 19 → 18 points (2022–2026): +0.0 points/yr (range +0.0 to +2.0). Projecting that pace forward:

Your points nowYears until a sure thing
018 yrs (18–∞)
315 yrs (15–∞)
612 yrs (12–∞)
99 yrs (9–∞)
126 yrs (6–∞)
153 yrs (3–∞)
18now

A projection of the last five draws' median creep (capped at 2 points/yr), not a forecast. Random-pass odds still apply every year you're below the cut.

Seasons (2026)

Split 1: Aug 15 – Sep 11, 2026 p. HuntID=1304

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in West Desert, Vernon, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources counted 261 hunters and 209 deer taken in 2025 — 80% of them killed something. Full West Desert, Vernon profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →

Hunters holding this license type (2025) — the rest of the area's hunters held something else:

What they hunted Hunters Harvest Success Days per animal
Type Limited Entry 51 29 57%
Type Limited Entry 151 129 85%
Type Limited Entry 50 44 88%
Type Limited Entry 9 7 78%

Post-season survey, not draw statistics. Source: 2025 Utah Big Game Harvest (preliminary) — single combined report, all species and hunt types 2024 Utah Big Game Harvest — General Season Buck Deer + Limited Entry/Once-in-a-Lifetime (all species)

Year by year

The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year. Utah runs a second, random pass after the points pass; it is shown beside the year it belongs to.

Year Tags Applicants Applicants per tag Points needed Random pass Source
2026 4 81 20.3 18 2 tags Utah Draw System DrawOddsData · HuntID=1304
2025 91 19 0 tags 2025 Draw 5, Big Game Bonus... · p. 33
2024 93 16 0 tags 2024 Draw 5, Big Game Bonus... · p. 32
2023 91 15 0 tags 2023 Draw 5, Big Game Bonus... · p. 33
2022 139 17 0 tags 2022 Draw 5, Big Game Bonus... · p. 32
2021 129 13 0 tags 2021 Draw 5, Big Game Bonus... · p. 30

Other licenses valid in West Desert, Vernon

Spot a data error on this page? Tell us.

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

How to read these numbers

Every percentage on this page is a prior-draw probability: the chance an applicant with that many points would have drawn in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results. It is not a forecast — quotas, applicant numbers, and point creep change every year. Every figure links to the agency document it came from. Where a state does not publish a number, we show a dash, never a zero. Hunts with fewer than five tags show counts instead of percentages. Fees show the fee year used. Read the methodology for the engine details.

Not an application service

This page is informational only. Draw rules, quotas, fees, and deadlines are set by the state agency and change by commission action — confirm everything on the agency's own site before you apply, and apply through the agency, not here. We disclaim all liability for reliance on this page.