Utah Elk — West Desert, Deep Creek
Utah West Desert, Deep Creek covers 419,480 acres and lies 88 miles south-west of Grantsville. 85% of it is public land, mostly BLM (79%) and state trust land (5%). A further 12% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2025, 27 people hunted elk here and took 19 — 70% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 2 nonresident tags here for 37 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 16 points.
Your chance of drawing here
Every elk license type on offer in West Desert, Deep Creek, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.
Simple view Odds at every point level-
<1% Point builder
-
<1% Point builder
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EB3137 ↗ Limited-entry Bull Elk - West Desert, Deep Creek Archery | <1% Point builder | 16 | 2 / 37 | Sep 1–30, 2026 |
| EB3144 ↗ Limited-entry Bull Elk - West Desert, Deep Creek Handgun | <1% Point builder | 16 | 2 / 28 | Nov 7–30, 2026 |
What these columns mean
- Your odds —
- the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 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 2026 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 (2026 nonresident fees)
| License | Up front | Gone if you miss | If you draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per application | $165 | $165 | $2,115 |
Application window: opens Mar 19, closes Apr 23, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- BLM 331,352 ac · 79%
- Tribal 49,126 ac · 12%
- State trust land 22,853 ac · 5%
- Private 13,594 ac · 3%
- Department of Defense 2,337 ac · 1%
- State land 0 ac · 0%
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 27 | 19 | 70% |
| 2024 | 26 | 18 | 69% |
| 2023 | 26 | 14 | 54% |
| 2022 | 27 | 18 | 67% |
| 2021 | 22 | 14 | 64% |
Boundary: Utah Big Game Hunt Boundaries 2025 (DWR hunt-unit / sub-unit boundaries, all species)
Harvest: 2025 Utah Big Game Harvest (preliminary) — single combined report, all species and hunt types