Utah Elk — Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south

Utah Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south covers 2,234,423 acres and lies 116 miles south-east of Mapleton. 72% of it is public land, mostly BLM (59%) and state trust land (13%). A further 23% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2024, 5 people hunted elk here and took 4 — 80% of them killed something.

Applicants:616 Hunter success (2024):80% Public land:72% Size:2,234,423 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

5 licenses on offer · 616 applicants in the 2022 draw

Chances are from the 2022 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • EB3001 Limited-entry Archery Bull Elk - Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south — · 122 applicants · needed 19 pts
    0% Point builder
  • EB3026 Limited-entry Alw (rifle) Bull Elk - Early - Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south — · 346 applicants · needed 23 pts
    0% Point builder
  • EB3027 Limited-entry Alw (rifle) Bull Elk - Late - Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south — · 75 applicants · needed 19 pts
    0% Point builder
  • EB3078 Limited-entry Muzzleloader Bull Elk - Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south — · 73 applicants
    0% Point builder
  • EB3103 Multi-season Limited-entry Any Bull Elk - Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/south — · 0 applicants
    No draw held
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2022 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2022 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2022 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Per application $15 $15 $15

Application window: opens Mar 19, closes Apr 23, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • BLM 1,309,182 ac · 59%
  • Tribal 518,980 ac · 23%
  • State trust land 284,576 ac · 13%
  • Private 100,486 ac · 4%
  • State land 20,165 ac · 1%
  • Department of Defense 564 ac · 0%

Source: SGID Cadastre — Land Ownership (opensgid.cadastre.land_ownership), statewide surface-ownership parcels

How the hunting has gone

What Utah Division of Wildlife Resources publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2024 5 4 80%
2022 83 57 69%
2021 109 70 64%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Archery 1 · 25% · 2 hunters, 50% success
  • Firearm 2 · 50% · 2 hunters, 100% success
  • Muzzleloader 1 · 25% · 1 hunters, 100% success

Boundary: Utah Wildlife Management Units — Elk (DWR biologist WMU/herd-unit layer)

Harvest: 2024 Utah Big Game Harvest — General Season Buck Deer + Limited Entry/Once-in-a-Lifetime (all species)

Harvest: 2022 Utah Big Game Harvest — General Season Buck Deer + Limited Entry/Once-in-a-Lifetime (all species)

Harvest: 2021 Utah Big Game Harvest — General Season Buck Deer + Limited Entry/Once-in-a-Lifetime (all species)

How we compute draw odds · All Utah elk hunts