Permits to hunt buck deer in the Northern Region sold out on June 29. That means all of the public permits to hunt buck deer in Utah this fall have been taken.

“All of the state’s deer permits are gone, but plenty of general bull elk permits are still available,” says Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. “This should be a great year to hunt elk.”

The state’s general archery elk season starts Aug. 16. General archery elk permits are unlimited in number, so there’s no problem getting one.

In addition to the archery permits, more than 8,700 permits to hunt on spike bull elk units were still available this week. More than 8,600 permits were also available to hunt on the state’s any bull elk units.

Elk permits are available at www.wildlife.utah.gov or from more than 350 license agents across Utah and at any DWR office.

“If you’re new to elk hunting, I’d encourage you to buy a permit to hunt on the spike bull units,” says Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the DWR. “There’s more spike bulls in Utah, and there’s a lot of public land to hunt them on.”

If you decide to chase mature bulls on an any bull unit, Aoude says the two Uinta Mountains units — the North Slope unit and the South Slope unit -— are your best bet.

“Even though the map on pages 80 and 81 of the 2008 Utah Big Game Guidebook shows a lot of any bull elk units in the state, many of these units are covered by private land, or the elk populations on them are fairly low,” Aoude says.

For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.