Utah Elk · Southwest Desert, South
Utah Southwest Desert, South spans 1,708,644 acres, centered 45 miles north-west of Cedar City. 84% of it is public land, mostly BLM (72%) and state trust land (10%). In 2025, 182 people hunted elk here and took 120, a 66% success rate (sum of published hunt rows). Its most applied-for hunt, EB3149, put up 2 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 214 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 28 points.
6 licenses
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
72% BLM
1,708,644 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Every License in Southwest Desert, South
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EB3146 | Limited-entry Bull Elk - Southwest Desert, South | <1% (small sample) | 24 ▲7 | |
| EB3149 | Limited-entry Bull Elk - Southwest Desert, South | <1% (small sample) | 28 ▲4 | |
| EB3152 | Limited-entry Bull Elk - Southwest Desert, South | <1% (small sample) | 22 ▲2 | |
| EB3155 | Limited-entry Bull Elk - Southwest Desert, South | <1% (small sample) | 26 ▲5 | |
| EB3197 | Limited-entry Bull Elk - Southwest Desert, South | 2% (small sample) | 9 | |
| EB3198 | Limited-entry Bull Elk - Southwest Desert, South | <1% (small sample) | 24 |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: EB3157.
Draw results: Utah DWR 2026 Draw System DrawOddsData, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $2,115 ($165 to apply). Open Mar 18 – Apr 22, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 (summed) | 182 | 120 | 66% |
| 2024 (summed) | 155 | 95 | 61% |
| 2023 (summed) | 138 | 96 | 70% |
| 2022 (summed) | 105 | 89 | 85% |
| 2021 (summed) | 116 | 69 | 59% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limited entry · archery | 43 | 19 | 44% |
| Limited entry · firearm · 18 licenses | 18 | 15 | 83% |
| Limited entry · firearm · 30 licenses | 30 | 27 | 90% |
| Limited entry · muzzleloader | 27 | 18 | 67% |
| Limited entry · 7 licenses | 7 | 6 | 86% |
| Limited entry · 8 licenses | 8 | 1 | 13% |
| Limited entry · firearm · 49 licenses | 49 | 34 | 69% |
2025 split: archery 19 (17%) from 43 hunters, 44%, firearm 76 (67%) from 97 hunters, 78%, muzzleloader 18 (16%) from 27 hunters, 67%
What Utah Division of Wildlife Resources publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources publishes no whole-unit line for 2025; a year's total is the sum of published hunt rows, added only where the lines do not overlap. Source: Utah DWR 2025 Big Game Harvest; Utah DWR 2024 Big Game Harvest; Utah DWR 2023 Big Game Harvest.
The Ground
| BLM | 1,234,246 ac | 72% |
| Private | 280,954 ac | 16% |
| State trust land | 179,378 ac | 10% |
| State land | 10,267 ac | <1% |
| National Forest | 3,581 ac | <1% |
Source: Utah AGRC 2026 SGID Cadastre.
▸ Sources 9
- Utah DWR 2026 Draw System DrawOddsData draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah DWR 2026 Big Game Application Guidebook fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah DWR 2025 Big Game Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah DWR 2024 Big Game Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah DWR 2023 Big Game Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah DWR 2022 Big Game Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah DWR 2021 Big Game Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah DWR 2025 Big Game Hunt Boundaries boundary, area description, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Utah AGRC 2026 SGID Cadastre land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
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We don't take applications: check Utah Division of Wildlife Resources's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Utah elk hunts