Wasatch Elk-Early Rifle

jaws1580 · Sep 9, 2021

I was called on Tuesday, 9/7 and offered an early rifle elk tag for Wasatch for someone that turned one in. I accepted it but am trying to collect as much information as possible now. I didn't plan on drawing a tag in this area for years. I'm going to be hunting with the help of my brother and we plan to get to the area a couple days before season to scout. Neither of us of have been in this area before and we're trying to look over maps, find areas to camp/hunt, etc. We are both in decent shape and plan on having to hike a fair amount to find animals. I've been digging through old posts on here and have found a few areas to look at. I've called the Utah biologist for the area and he sent me a text telling me to look at the website but won't call me back. So I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share a little information with me about good areas to camp, general areas with decent elk numbers (I'm not looking for anyones honey holes or spots), areas to avoid, etc. If you would be willing to share information, please pm me. If not I understand and appreciate you reading my post anyway. Thanks

Robiland · Sep 9, 2021

There are lots of great places. You could literally camp any area around Strawberry and go to any canyon or ridge and find some elk. North or South or West or East. A good area is north and East, a lake called Current Creek. Some good areas around there for elk and camping.

jaws1580 · Sep 9, 2021

Thank you Robiland, I appreciate the reply. It makes me feel better about some of the information that I've been reading.

Robiland said:
There are lots of great places. You could literally camp any area around Strawberry and go to any canyon or ridge and find some elk. North or South or West or East. A good area is north and East, a lake called Current Creek. Some good areas around there for elk and camping.

littlebighorn · Sep 11, 2021

The unit is very big with elk mostly throughout. You probably need to identify a general area in the unit you want to hunt and concentrate your efforts in that area. If you know what general area you want to hunt, post that and you will probably get more specific info.
Good luck. I have a tag in another unit so my focus is elsewhere

desertpointbrian · Sep 15, 2021

Don't go Into to this unit over confident. No there are not Elk in every canyon. You will have to work for it most likely. You will have alot of spike hunters during your hunt and there is alot of private areas the Elk know to run to.
That being said I am sure you will have a fun hunt and get into some Elk. But it's not a slam dunk. It is a very large unit. Try to get away from the more popular areas, or hunt the borders of them.
I have witnessed it year after year. Once half of salt lake and most of Heber ends up at current creek and Strawberry. The good bulls go nocturnal and dissappear to the deep timber or private property.

Vanilla · Sep 16, 2021

desertpointbrian said:
You will have alot of spike hunters during your hunt and there is alot of private areas the Elk know to run to.

A lot of spike hunters during the early rifle hunt?

desertpointbrian knows this unit very well, and he's not lying. It's not a cake walk hunt. And if you have dreams of passing anything less than 350 inches, then you should be prepared to eat tag soup.

That said, there are A LOT of elk on this unit, and the places people mentioned above hold elk. You won't have them to yourself, and there are enough roads on this unit it's hard to get away from roads entirely, but it usually doesn't take going too far away to get away from people. This should be a really fun hunt and the weather next week will actually make it feel like elk hunting! Monday the snow level is supposed to hit 7,000 feet. Enjoy!

jaws1580 · Sep 16, 2021

Thanks everyone for the info and advice. I appreciate it. I will post back after the hunt with how it went.

ElkMagic · Sep 16, 2021

Vanilla said:
A lot of spike hunters during the early rifle hunt?

desertpointbrian knows this unit very well, and he's not lying. It's not a cake walk hunt. And if you have dreams of passing anything less than 350 inches, then you should be prepared to eat tag soup.

That said, there are A LOT of elk on this unit, and the places people mentioned above hold elk. You won't have them to yourself, and there are enough roads on this unit it's hard to get away from roads entirely, but it usually doesn't take going too far away to get away from people. This should be a really fun hunt and the weather next week will actually make it feel like elk hunting! Monday the snow level is supposed to hit 7,000 feet. Enjoy!

May you tell me how do you check the weather and snow in mountain please? which webisite? thank you

Vanilla · Sep 16, 2021

ElkMagic said:
May you tell me how do you check the weather and snow in mountain please? which webisite? thank you

I just heard that on the radio today. Forecast calls for mountain snow and it could drop to 7,000 feet.

desertpointbrian · Sep 16, 2021

Ha my bad guys I read it as 2nd rifle for some reason. Definitely a huge difference. But still don't underestimate the tag just because it's a limited entry unit. You will have a blast with your tag. I hope you smack a good one. If you run into trouble don't be afraid to shoot me a PM. I would be glad to help out. I live in Fruitland and consistently keep an eye on these animals. The Rut is in full effect right now. And the snow will be icing on the cake. Good luck.

Vanilla · Sep 16, 2021

This is an offer I would not pass up!

jaws1580 · Sep 17, 2021

desertpointbrian said:
Ha my bad guys I read it as 2nd rifle for some reason. Definitely a huge difference. But still don't underestimate the tag just because it's a limited entry unit. You will have a blast with your tag. I hope you smack a good one. If you run into trouble don't be afraid to shoot me a PM. I would be glad to help out. I live in Fruitland and consistently keep an eye on these animals. The Rut is in full effect right now. And the snow will be icing on the cake. Good luck.

Thank you for the offer, I appreciate it. We will see how the next few days go.

desertpointbrian · Sep 24, 2021

How did you guys Do?

jaws1580 · Sep 24, 2021

I ended up harvesting a 6x6 on Tuesday. From what I saw, my bull seemed about average for the unit (about 280"). I appreciate all the information everyone provided me. It was a challenge locating elk in the unit. Every place we went we ran into lots of cattle/ sheep or other people but no elk. We did find one creek drainage that held 3 bulls and was receiving limited hunting pressure with no sheep and only a few cattle.
My bull had about 15 cows with him and we actually ended up stalking him in the timber until we were able to get a shot. If anyone would like specifics about the drainages we hunted please pm me.

Ranger1 · Sep 25, 2021

Congrats and thanks for sharing your success.

desertpointbrian · Sep 25, 2021

Congrats on the Bull. Thanks for circling back. Cool to see the success

jaws1580 · Sep 25, 2021

Thank you and you're welcome. Good luck with any tags everyone has this year.

yoteduster · Sep 25, 2021

Congrats on your bull...

littlebighorn · Sep 25, 2021

Congratulations on getting it done.

Camper_A1 · Sep 26, 2021

Congrats on getting it done, looks like a fun hunt.

BradA · Sep 27, 2021

Congratulations on the bull

h20fwl · Sep 27, 2021

Great job! Thanks for letting us know how you did.

Hunterman1966 · Oct 7, 2021

jaws1580 said:
I ended up harvesting a 6x6 on Tuesday. From what I saw, my bull seemed about average for the unit (about 280"). I appreciate all the information everyone provided me. It was a challenge locating elk in the unit. Every place we went we ran into lots of cattle/ sheep or other people but no elk. We did find one creek drainage that held 3 bulls and was receiving limited hunting pressure with no sheep and only a few cattle.
My bull had about 15 cows with him and we actually ended up stalking him in the timber until we were able to get a shot. If anyone would like specifics about the drainages we hunted please pm me.

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