Unit 931 Uinta Basin Private Lands Any Bull Elk
A private-lands-only, any-bull elk hunt across the agricultural Uinta Basin, built to relieve crop and depredation pressure on landowners.
Northeastern Utah — Uinta Basin (Roosevelt / Vernal) · Last reviewed 2026-07-12
Area
2,005
sq mi
Public land
—
approx.
Elevation
4,700–7,000
feet
Motorized
moderate
access
Overview
The Uinta Basin Private Lands Any Bull Elk hunt is not a traditional geographic trophy unit but a depredation-management tool spanning the farmed and ranched valleys of the Uinta Basin around Roosevelt, Duchesne and Vernal. It offers a general-season, extended-date any-bull opportunity restricted to private land, created so landowners and the hunters they permit can remove bull elk that damage crops, fences and irrigated ground. Quality and success hinge almost entirely on securing access to the right private property — where elk feed on alfalfa and hay meadows, a mature bull is possible, but this is fundamentally an access-driven, agricultural hunt rather than a public-land backcountry pursuit.
Terrain
The broad, semi-arid Uinta Basin floor — irrigated farm and ranch valleys along the Duchesne, Uinta, Whiterocks and Green rivers, rising into sage benches and pinyon-juniper foothills that ramp toward the Uinta Mountains to the north and the Book Cliffs / Tavaputs country to the south.
Cover: Irrigated alfalfa, hay and grain fields and riparian cottonwood along the river bottoms give way to greasewood, sagebrush and grass benches and pinyon-juniper on the surrounding foothills.
Landmarks: Duchesne River · Uinta River · Whiterocks River · Green River · Roosevelt farmland · Uinta Mountains front (north) · Book Cliffs / Tavaputs Plateau (south)
Access
This is a private-lands-only hunt — legal opportunity exists only where you have landowner permission, and the surrounding BLM, SITLA and Uintah & Ouray tribal lands are not part of this hunt. The Uinta Basin is a checkerboard of deeded farm/ranch ground and tribal trust land, so verifying exact ownership and securing written access is the single most important step. Access is via county and farm roads off US-40 and SR-87/SR-88 through the agricultural valleys.
Managers: private, tribal (Uintah & Ouray Reservation), BLM (adjacent), SITLA (adjacent)
Access points: US-40 corridor (Duchesne–Roosevelt–Vernal) · SR-87 / SR-88 farm-valley roads · County roads through the Duchesne and Uinta river bottoms · Private ranch access by permission only
Species notes
Rocky Mountain Elk
common opportunityThe entire purpose of the hunt — bull elk that move down onto irrigated private farm ground and cause depredation. With the right access, mature bulls are around, but this is an access-and-agriculture hunt where the private property you can hunt determines everything.
- →Line up written landowner permission well before the season — access is the whole game
- →Glass alfalfa and hay meadows and river-bottom feed at dawn and dusk
- →Set up on travel routes between bedding foothills and irrigated fields
- →Use the extended season dates to catch elk pushed onto ag ground by pressure and weather
- →Coordinate with landowners on where depredation is actually occurring
Mule Deer
common opportunityMule deer are abundant on the same Uinta Basin farm ground and foothills, sharing the private valleys with the elk though not the focus of this particular hunt.
- →Glass sage benches and field edges at first and last light
- →Hunt the transition between irrigated ground and pinyon-juniper foothills
- →Work private parcels by permission with the same access discipline as for elk
Pronghorn
limited opportunityPronghorn use the open sage flats and dry benches of the basin between the farm valleys.
- →Glass the wide open sage benches away from the irrigated bottoms
- →Spot-and-stalk using terrain rolls on the flats
Pro tips
- →Secure written private-land permission first — without access there is effectively no hunt here.
- →Focus on properties with active elk depredation; landowners there most want the animals removed.
- →Hunt the feed-to-bed transitions at dawn and dusk along field edges and river bottoms.
- →Use the extended dates to your advantage as weather and pressure concentrate elk on private ground.
- →Confirm exact ownership against the private/tribal checkerboard — reservation and public parcels are not part of this hunt.
Watch out for
- !Private-lands-only — no legal opportunity without landowner permission
- !Uintah & Ouray tribal trust land interspersed throughout the basin (not open under this hunt)
- !Complex private/tribal/public ownership checkerboard — verify every parcel
- !Slick clay roads after rain or snow
- !Agricultural setting means respecting crops, fences, livestock and irrigation infrastructure
Logistics
Roosevelt and Vernal are full-service towns with fuel, lodging and groceries, and Duchesne is a smaller stop along US-40 — logistics are easy given the hunt's roadside agricultural setting. Because the hunt is private-lands-only, plan lodging in town and coordinate staging and access directly with the landowners who host you; there is no public dispersed camping tied to this hunt.
Nearest towns: Roosevelt, Vernal, Duchesne, Ballard, Myton
Seasons & regulations
This page carries no season dates or regulations. Get current rules from the official Utah sources:
Research sources: UDWR Elk Herd Unit Management Plan #9 B,C,D (Vernal/Bonanza/Diamond) · UDWR Elk Herd Unit Management Plan #9A Yellowstone · UDWR Utah Big Game Application Guidebook 2026 · UDWR Utah Hunt Planner
FAQ
- How big is Unit 931 in Utah?
- Unit 931 (Uinta Basin Private Lands Any Bull Elk) covers about 2,005 square miles, ranging from roughly 4,700 to 7,000 feet in elevation. Area is computed from the unit boundary polygon.
- What species does the catalog list for Unit 931?
- Rocky Mountain Elk, Mule Deer, Pronghorn. For seasons, tags, and regulations, use the official Utah agency resources linked on this page — this page carries no regulatory information.
Put Unit 931 on your map.
Boundary lines, public/private ownership, topo, and offline maps for this unit — in Baseline Maps, free for 14 days.