OTC Elk tags

You can buy an OTC general bull tag which will allow you to hunt a few different areas across the state. I hunt the north slop of the uintahs so im not familiar with which areas you can hunt in southern utah. You can also buy an OTC spike tag which allows you to hunt on some limted entry areas and kill only a spike, there are also a few other spike only areas. This might be your best bet if youre just looking for the meat and you could hunt the LE area you hunted earlier. Im pretty sure those are the OTC options in utah, someone correct me if im wrong.

In the state of Utah there are two options for the general season elk hunt. You have to choose between a open bull or a spike only hunting tag. These tags are for sale OTC on a first come first sereve basis. Which type of tag you get will determin what areas you are allowed to hunt in. If there is a certain area that you would like to hunt then just make sure that you get the right tag for that area. Most of the southern part of the state is only open to spike general season hunting with a couple of small open bull areas that have very low success rates.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info. I just want to be able to get out to Utah to hunt. Usually I apply for a cow tag but did not get drawn this year. They are cheaper than a spike tag too. If the success rate for a general bull is very low in southern Utah than maybe I will have to rethink.
A buddy of mine said there was a OTC combination buck/bull archery tag for northern Utah. He hunted that a couple of years ago but it is a long ways for me. Said something about having to drive into Wyoming and then back down to Utah. Not sure of the area but he wasn't successful.

I belive that the Buck/Bull tags are in the draw instead of OTC. It wouldn't hurt to check though I could be wrong. I don't hunt the northern area it has alot of private property and most of them make it very clear how much they want you around.

For elk hunting, archery allows a certain degree of flexibility while any weapon and muzzleloader are not as flexible. Units are clearly marked “General Any Bull” and “Spike Only” on the maps at the back of the Utah Proclamation (download it from the Utah DWR website), you’ll notice that for the most part “Spike Only” units are also the “Limited Entry” units, which could allow for some fun scouting for a few years leading up to drawing the big limited entry tag.
An OTC archery tag allows you to hunt in any of the general season elk units and it’s basically “hunter’s choice.” You can also hunt any of the spike elk units and take a spike or cow. There are a couple units (Book Cliffs & Paunsaugunt) that restrict you to a spike only. So check your maps and be aware of where you end up hunting then if in doubt take a cow (unless you’re on the Books or Paunsaugunt!). The archery deer season goes on at the same time so you can buy both tags OTC and have an archery combo hunt assuming you don’t hunt deer within a limited entry deer unit.
For muzzleloader and rifle, you have to specify your weapon AND whether you want to hunt general any bull or spike only. There are no “loopholes” that allow you to take a cow. There are a handful of general any bull units peppered throughout the state and most are relatively low success with smallish bulls that never get a chance to see maturity. The most popular ones are the North Slope and South Slope Uinta’s units, but pressure is heavy.
It’s a lot to digest… unfortunately there are no “easy” limited entry draws in the southern part of the state, and for the whole state for that matter.

Thanks derekp1999.
That is a lot of the info I was looking for. Was looking to do archery this time. I was thinking of getting a state wide archery deer tag. I did not know they had that for elk also. I drew out a LE tag on Fishlake a couple of years ago. I have been applying for the late season cow on this unit. I know I could get a spike tag for this unit too. Are you saying that I could get a state wide archery elk tag and hunt spike or cow on this unit? I will have to look to see if there is a general any bull unit in southern utah. My buddy who hunted northern Utah must have been hunting the Unitah's.

A point of clarification archery deer tags in utah are draw tags. In the past there were tags left over for sale over the counter but that has changed now. This last year all of the in state archery deer tags were slicked up in the draw. Not sure about the out of state numbers but if you want to make sure that you have the best chance at getting a tag I would put in for the draw and not count on over the counter tag sales.

Good point a_bow_nut, the last few times I bought an archery they could be had OTC (that was 4-5 years ago... I've tried muzzleloader the last few years to try and boost my success). Last year all archery tags went in the draw so logic says the same will happen next year and so on.
Fish Lake is a good area, there is a Limited Entry deer unit down there (Fish Lake, Thousand Lakes) so be aware of your boundaries.

I drew out a LE tag on Fishlake a couple of years ago. I have been applying for the late season cow on this unit. I know I could get a spike tag for this unit too. Are you saying that I could get a state wide archery elk tag and hunt spike or cow on this unit?

I guess technically if you drew a late cow tag for Fish Lake AND also bought a spike tag you could technically take two cows... because the spike tag either cow or spike. That's the way I understand it. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because the opportunity to take two animals may factor into some of my future plans.
You should also check out the antlerless proclamation because the way I understand the antlerless regulations is you could fill your antlerless cow tag during the general/spike season as long as you are in the unit listed on the antlerless tag but using the weapon listed on your spike/general bull tag & during the dates on the spike/general bull tag. You can't fill the spike/general bull tag on the late cow hunt though. Again, if I'm wrong please correct me... this is also playing into some future plans of mine. :thumb

Thanks for pointing that out a_bow_nut. I did not know that the archery tags sold out in the draw. Seems more hunters are going archery.

derekp1999- I am very aware of the Thousand Lakes Area. The main road in is actually very well marked. Thank you for pointing that out though.
A buddy of mine that lives in Utah actually drew a cow tag and got a spike tag also this year for Fishlake. He was telling me the same thing about being able to fill your cow tag during he spike hunt. I did not know that you could shoot a cow with the spike tag. I usually apply for the cow tag during November. The elk seem easier to find. Too bad I could not hunt spike that time of year. Nice thing about the cow hunt is it is cheaper for nonres than the spike is. Better tasting too.

After reading the regs, I dont think you can shoot a cow with a spike tag unless you are using archery. Correct me if I am wrong on this one.

"CaHntr" wrote:After reading the regs, I dont think you can shoot a cow with a spike tag unless you are using archery. Correct me if I am wrong on this one.

That's the way I understand it as well, archery is the only season you have a choice between spike or cow.

You are correct. The archery season is hunters choice on most units. It might not hurt to see if there are any antlerless hunts that are held in the areas that you want to hunt also. Just a thought.