Utah Elk — Paunsaugunt

Utah Paunsaugunt covers 957,281 acres and lies 52 miles south-east of Cedar City and 61 miles east of Hurricane. 84% of it is public land, mostly BLM (64%) and national forest (14%). In 2022, 66 people hunted elk here and took 24 — 36% of them killed something.

Applicants:222 Hunter success (2022):36% Public land:84% Size:957,281 acres

Your chance of drawing here

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

6 licenses on offer · 222 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
  • EB3016 Limited-entry Archery Bull Elk - Paunsaugunt — · 29 applicants · needed 13 pts
    0% Point builder
  • EB3058 Limited-entry Alw (rifle) Bull Elk - Early - Paunsaugunt — · 90 applicants
    0% Point builder
  • EB3059 Limited-entry Alw (rifle) Bull Elk - Mid - Paunsaugunt — · 33 applicants
    0% Point builder
  • EB3060 Limited-entry Alw (rifle) Bull Elk - Late - Paunsaugunt — · 36 applicants
    0% Point builder
  • EB3094 Limited-entry Muzzleloader Bull Elk - Paunsaugunt — · 34 applicants
    0% Point builder
  • EB3118 Multi-season Limited-entry Any Bull Elk - Paunsaugunt — · 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

Cedar City Hurricane Santaquin Saratoga Springs Magna metro township
Paunsaugunt within Utah
Alton Barney Top/Kaiparowits Boulder Mt Dutton Pan guitch Lake Panguitch Lake Plateau, Barney Top/kaiparowits Plateau, Boulder Sweetwater Cedar City Hurricane
Paunsaugunt and its neighbours
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 608,654 ac · 64%
  • Private 154,592 ac · 16%
  • National Forest 131,205 ac · 14%
  • National Park Service 32,723 ac · 3%
  • State trust land 29,743 ac · 3%
  • State land 42 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
2022 66 24 36%
2021 80 32 40%

What people carried (2022 harvest)

  • Archery 1 · 5% · 18 hunters, 6% success
  • Firearm 18 · 82% · 33 hunters, 55% success
  • Muzzleloader 3 · 14% · 11 hunters, 27% success

Boundary: Utah Big Game Hunt Boundaries 2025 (DWR hunt-unit / sub-unit boundaries, 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