Utah · Deadlines
Utah application deadlines
Every date below was read off a Utah Division of Wildlife Resources document on the verification date. Where the division hasn't published something — including the whole of next year's calendar — this page says so rather than filling the gap.
The big game draw
One draw covers buck deer, bull elk, buck pronghorn, bull moose, bison, bighorn sheep and mountain goat — general-season, limited-entry, once-in-a-lifetime and CWMU permits alike.
| Stage | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Application opens | March 19, 2026 | 8 a.m. MDT |
| Application closes also the deadline to edit or withdraw, free of charge | April 23, 2026 | 11 p.m. MDT |
| Drawing results | on or by May 31, 2026 | — |
| Permits mailed | early July 2026 | — |
2026 Big Game Application Guidebook, pages 31 and 33.
Two assumptions worth dropping if you apply in Wyoming.
Utah does not split its deadline by residency. Residents and nonresidents apply in the same window, close on the same day, and get results on the same date. There is no nonresident-only early deadline and no Special-versus-Regular calendar.
Utah has no summer point-purchase window. Points are applied for inside the draw itself, or during the antlerless period in June. Miss both and there is no July-to-autumn catch-up period.
The antlerless draw
A separate application period, later in the year, and the second of the two chances to apply for a point.
| Stage | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Application opens | June 9, 2026 | 8 a.m. MDT |
| Application closes | June 23, 2026 | 11 p.m. MDT |
| Drawing results | on or before July 8, 2026 | — |
| Remaining permits on sale | July 28, 2026 | 8 a.m. MDT |
Application guidebook, page 5 · division news release.
Two point systems, two windows
Utah runs bonus points and preference points side by side, and they are not interchangeable. Bonus points apply to limited-entry and once-in-a-lifetime permits. Preference points apply to one thing only — general-season buck deer.
Both are applied for the same way and in the same two windows: during the big game application period, March 19 to April 23, 2026, or during the antlerless application period, June 9 to 23, 2026. The fee is the standard application fee, $10 for residents and $21 for nonresidents, per species or point applied for, plus the division's 2.2% transaction fee. A hunting or combination licence is required first.
The guidebook is explicit about two ways to lose points, and both catch people out. Buying a remaining permit over the counter after the draw costs you the points for that species — including a remaining general-season buck deer permit, which costs your deer preference points. And surrendering a drawn permit less than 30 days before the season opens forfeits the accrued points as well.
Over-the-counter and remaining permits
What was left after the draw, and the general-season elk permits that never went through it. All sales opened at 8 a.m. MDT.
- July 7, 2026General-season archery elk · youth general-season elk · remaining limited-entry big game · remaining general-season buck deer · youth archery buck deer · Nine Mile unit bison
- July 9, 2026General-season any bull elk · general-season private-lands-only any bull elk (Uinta Basin)
- July 16, 2026General-season spike bull elk · multiseason spike bull elk
- July 28, 2026Remaining antlerless permits · antlerless elk control permits · private-lands-only antlerless elk
Application guidebook, pages 13 and 32.
What it costs
The application fee is charged whether or not you draw. The permit fee is charged only if you do. A 2.2% transaction fee applies to both.
Application fee, per species or point applied for: $10 resident, $21 nonresident. 365-day hunting licence, required before you can apply and priced by age: $40 for a resident aged 18–64, $144 for a nonresident aged 18 or over.
| Permit | Resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|
| General-season deer | $46 | $599 |
| Limited-entry deer | $94 | $1,070 |
| Premium limited-entry deer | $185 | $1,398 |
| General-season any bull or spike bull elk | $56 | $849 |
| Limited-entry elk | $314 | $1,950 |
| Limited-entry pronghorn | $63 | $571 |
| Bull moose | $454 | $3,488 |
| Mountain goat | $454 | $3,488 |
| Bison, not on Antelope Island | $460 | $4,840 |
| Desert or Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep | $564 | $3,988 |
Application guidebook, pages 14 to 16.
What the division does not state
Named here rather than filled in. Every item below is a gap in the division's own publications as of 27 August 2026, not a gap in our reading of them.
- When to apply for a 2027 sportsman permit. This is the next thing a Utah resident needs, and the guidebook gives no date for it — only that you can apply “in late October 2026”, with details published “in mid-October 2026”. We are not going to sharpen a date the division deliberately left soft.
- The 2027 calendar. No 2027 Big Game Application Guidebook and no 2027 draw dates had been published as of the verification date. The current edition is the 2026 guidebook, published 30 January 2026.
- Dedicated Hunter Program dates. The division's own deadlines page gives months rather than dates — “Late March to April”, “April”, “Late May” — and directs hunters to the guidebooks for exact dates. It also notes those deadlines are approved by the Utah Wildlife Board, generally at its December meeting, so they are not settled until then.
- A dated deadline table on the website. The division's big game page points to its wildlife events calendar for application deadlines, and that calendar is an embedded third-party widget rather than an agency-authored table. The guidebook PDF is the only place these dates appear stamped with a year.
Every source read for this page
- 2026 Utah Big Game Application Guidebook — published 30 January 2026, version 2026.5 — the only year-stamped source for these dates, fetched 27 August 2026
- Guidebooks — the division’s guidebook index, carrying each edition’s publication date and version, fetched 27 August 2026
- The application period for Utah’s 2026 antlerless hunts opens June 9 — division news release, published 1 June 2026, fetched 27 August 2026
- Dates and reminders — Dedicated Hunters — the Dedicated Hunter Program calendar, which gives months rather than dates, fetched 27 August 2026
- Hunting big game — the division’s big game landing page, fetched 27 August 2026
- Wildlife events calendar — where the division points hunters for application deadlines, fetched 27 August 2026
Utah draw data on this site
Utah publishes point-level draw odds for residents and nonresidents running back more than a decade. Those tables are queued, not published — a state goes live here only once its numbers have been checked against the agency's own documents. Until then this deadline page stands on its own, and the coverage page says plainly where Utah sits.