Utah Deer DB1559 — Unit Zion

General Buck Deer - Zion

What you may take
General Buck Deer - Zion (antlered)
Weapon
Rifle
Where
Zion
64% public of 1,103,098 acres
Season (2026)
Oct 17–25, 2026
Hunter success here (2025)
52%
of everyone who hunted the area

Showing nonresident results (Standard class). Switch to resident · Standard Youth

Odds by point level — 2026 draw

Prior-draw probability for a first-choice nonresident applicant. tags, 280 first-choice applicants, drew out at 0 points. Source: Utah Draw System DrawOddsData · HuntID=1226.

Points Your chance Applicants Drawn
0 10% (10%–10%) 81 19
1 19% (19%–19%) 52 0
2 27% (27%–27%) 28 0
3 35% (34%–35%) 29 0
4 41% (41%–42%) 30 25
5 90% (90%–91%) 44 44
6 100% (100%–100%) 12 12
7 100% (100%–100%) 3 3
8 100% (100%–100%) 1 1
9–14 100% same chance at every one of these levels
15 100% 0 0

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 $2,229.32 (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 0-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 3 → 4 → 4 → 5 → 0 points (2022–2026): +0.5 points/yr (range +0.0 to +1.0). Projecting that pace forward:

Your points nowYears until a sure thing
0now

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: Oct 17–25, 2026 p. HuntID=1226

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in Zion, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources counted 2,775 hunters and 1,437 deer taken in 2025 — 52% of them killed something. Full Zion 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 on General Season 15 7 47%
Type General Season 405 157 39%
Type General Season 1,116 694 62%
Type General Season 423 185 44%
Type General Season 479 236 49%
Type General Season 337 158 47%

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.

Year Tags Applicants Applicants per tag Points needed Source
2026 280 0 Utah Draw System DrawOddsData · HuntID=1226
2025 308 5 2025 Draw 5, Big Game Draw Results · p. 45
2024 338 4 2024 Draw 5, Big Game Draw Results · p. 56
2023 381 4 2023 Draw 5, Big Game Draw Results · p. 56
2022 388 3 2022 Draw 5, Big Game Draw Results · p. 58
2021 491 3 2021 Draw 5, Big Game Draw Results · p. 58

Other licenses valid in Zion

Legal cartridges for deer in Utah

From the Utah hunting laws rules on file for a rifle. "Depends" means the rule turns on your specific load — check the state page.

.22-250 Remington
.223 Remington from $0.42/rd
.243 Winchester from $1.11/rd
.25-06 Remington
6.5 Creedmoor
6.5 Grendel
.270 Winchester from $0.16/rd
7mm-08 Remington
7mm Remington Magnum
.30-06 Springfield
.300 AAC Blackout from $0.56/rd
.300 Winchester Magnum from $1.25/rd
.30-30 Winchester
.308 Winchester
.338 Winchester Magnum
.350 Legend from $1.07/rd
.35 Whelen
.360 Buckhammer
.400 Legend
.444 Marlin
.450 Bushmaster from $2.00/rd
.45-70 Government from $1.97/rd
.50 Beowulf
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.