Welcome to the forum, best advice for someone that doesn't know the unit is to find a spot and start glassing.

Other than that just follow the rest of the hord of hunters who will be beating the roads into dust.

 

Appreciate the reply. Where is everyone starting though? I know I’ve seen people on the south side near Spanish fork before but not sure if that’s the only spot or if there is places further north on the unit

 

The whole unit has elk, scattered but they're there. But I'm not totally familiar with what the boundaries are.

I would concentrate on burn scars close to darker bedding areas.

If you haven't looked at check out the hunt planner on the Dwr web site

 

Thanks for the advice Critter! I’ll check out the DWR planner then and see if I can locate some burn areas on ONX.

 

I never really paid any attention to the dates for that mid season tag. I didn't know it ran concurrently with the general season rifle spike tag. Oof! You couldn't pay me to burn my points for that tag. Especially on the Wasnatch. Good luck anyway. Just ask the half million spike hunters you are sure to see up there if they are seeing any good "not legal for them" bulls they will give you details on.

 

If his tag is for LE mid season he should have been scouting long before now. I got the impression he is talking about a general season any bull tag.

That being said I don't think spike hunters would have a problem with sharing locations of big bulls with those that have the tag.

 

You may want to start with finding out what areas your tag is good for.
I don't see a "Wasatch" area that is good for any bull.

 

You are completely right. I am looking at the EB1001 hunts on the planner now and that isn’t one of the listed hunts. I’m going to have to rethink where I’m going now. Thanks for the call out

 

To start with forget about the Henry Mountains, and Vernon. Very few elk and the DWR wants them off of those units.

 

I mean, at least he could shoot a bull on those units without catching a hellacious fine and losing his hunting privileges for awhile, so that is an improvement!
Ducky, your best bet is probably hunting the Uintas and your first year (or first several years) could very well be nothing more than going for some long walks with your gun until you start to figure things out. Word to the wise, there is a good chunk of Indian land on the south slope that needs to be avoided if you choose to hunt there. Do you know if you are an Indian or not?

 

I strongly recommend reading the regs cover to cover. Know the definitions and your responsibilities once you have a bull down. How much antler has to be present for a bull to be considered a legal bull (hint: having visible gonads isn't enough). What meat are you legally required to take? What proof of sex is required with the meat?

Outside of the regs, do you know how to break down an elk in the field?

A few folks here are adult-onset hunters (myself included) and had to learn all of this without help. We know it's a lot, but just know that ignorance is not a defense. The ball-busters are looking out for you.

Wandering the Uintas is a good suggestion for a first-timer. All drainages hold elk, but they're hard to find. Get high and glass. Don't shoot one further from the trailhead than you're prepared to pack out.

 

What proof of sex is required with the meat?

Completely off topic, but this one always has bugged me. Proof of sex in Utah is completely irrelevant to whether a big game animal was legal or not outside of bison. (And maybe Mtn Goat?)

For deer, elk, pronghorn, moose, and sheep, the proof of sex tells you nothing about the legality of the animal. It’s stupid.

Back to hunting LE units with a general bull tag. If I could figure out a way to legally do that, I would be set!

 

Nothing against Ducky, good on ya for doing your research, but it makes you wonder how many people do this. Buy OTC any bull and hunt Wasatch or Manti and other LE units.

 

I would wager it is more than most people would think.

I've ran into deer hunters who are a couple hundred miles away from the unit that is listed on their tag

 

Ran into a guy last year from AZ on the Pahvant who was talking about the big 6 he killed and then the game warden who happened to be driving by was like well let's check the tag. And then it got very awkward. Selfishly, I wish I had the chance to see the tag and turn him in so I could have gotten a reward tag.
So go ahead and hunt the Wasatch and then send me a DM with your name address and a picture of your bull. I'll make sure it finds it's way to the right folks.

 

Back when deer hunting was regions I was coming down off of the Manti through Mayfield Canyon. There was a wreck that blocked the road and I was bs'ing with another hunter. He said that he wasn't seeing a thing on the Manti so he was headed to Strawberry. I asked him what tag he had and he just said that he had a deer tag. I have no idea of what region it was for but evidently he didn't know what he was doing either, and his truck and trailer had Utah tags on them.

Much like the archery elk hunters I ran across out in the Book Cliffs hunting on Tribal Lands. They didn't even believe me when I show them the map on my GPS, they also were from Utah.