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The Utah Hunting and Fishing app (available for iOS and Android) makes it easy to download, read and search Utah's hunting and fishing guidebooks on your mobile device. Make sure to check the app regularly for the most up-to-date guidebook editions.
Rules & regulations
These guidebooks contain the information you must know to hunt or fish in Utah. We highly recommend that you either download electronic versions or pick up printed copies. We distribute free printed guidebooks at Division offices and licensing agents.
- Hunt boundary maps: View interactive maps of most hunt unit boundaries.
- Wildlife statutes & administrative rules: The regulations written into the wildlife guides are largely taken from state statute and division administrative rules.
- Wildlife calendar: Take a quick look at application dates, deadlines and season dates.
Fishing Guidebook
The Utah Fishing Guidebook summarizes the laws and rules that govern fishing in Utah.
Previous editions
View guidebook updates
— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Emergency changes
Crouse Reservoir (Uintah County)
- Increasing limit to 8 trout, any species
Crouse Reservoir is currently experiencing low water levels and by law, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is required to send water downstream to meet senior water rights in the Pot Creek drainage. This emergency change will allow anglers to harvest more fish currently in the reservoir, with the intention of improving the survival of the remaining fish and encouraging fishing in this underutilized fishery.
This change is effective May 27, 2025 and will remain in effect until December 31, 2025.
All other rules established in the 2025 Utah Fishing Guidebook remain in effect.
Updates
Page 19: In the Underwater spearfishing section of the guidebook, updates were made to clarify the location of some waterbodies in the Uinta Mountains:
- Sand Lake (Summit County) was moved to the Uinta Mountains list of waterbodies.
- Smith and Morehouse Reservoir (Summit County) was moved to the Uinta Mountains list of waterbodies.
- A parenthetical was added to Fish Lake to specify the Weber River drainage.
The online edition of the guidebook has been edited to reflect these updates.
For six waterbodies in the Rules for specific waters section of the guidebook, the trout or kokanee salmon (combined total) limit and associated descriptive text was edited to reiterate the statewide regulations where relevant, and the content reorganized into separate bullet points for clarity. Additionally, page cross-references for a trout identification graphic were added for three waterbodies. All other information and additional rules for each of these waters remain the same as was originally published.
Updates were applied to the following waterbodies:
Page 29: Causey Reservoir, Weber County
- Limit 4 trout or kokanee salmon, and no more than 1 may be a lake trout over 22 inches.
Page 35: Lost Creek Reservoir, Morgan County
- Limit 4 trout or kokanee salmon (a combined total). Kokanee salmon of any size may be harvested as part of the limit.
- No more than 3 trout may be under 15 inches.
- No more than 1 trout may be over 22 inches.
Page 36: Panguitch Lake, Garfield County
- Limit 4 trout (a combined total).
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No more than 2 may be cutthroat or tiger trout under 15 inches, and no more than 1 may be a cutthroat or tiger trout over 22 inches.
To learn how to identify cutthroat trout in this water, see the graphic on page 49 and the description of a Bear Lake cutthroat trout on page 52.
Page 39: Scofield Reservoir, Carbon and Utah counties
- Limit 4 trout (a combined total).
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No more than 2 may be cutthroat or tiger trout under 15 inches, and no more than 1 may be a cutthroat or tiger trout over 22 inches.
To learn how to identify cutthroat trout in this water, see the graphic on page 49.
Page 40: Stateline Reservoir, Summit County
- Limit 4 trout or kokanee salmon, and no more than 1 may be a lake trout over 22 inches.
Page 40: Strawberry Reservoir, Wasatch County
- Limit 4 trout or kokanee salmon (a combined total).
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No more than 2 may be cutthroat trout under 15 inches, and no more than 1 may be a cutthroat trout over 22 inches.
To learn how to identify cutthroat trout in this water, see the graphic on page 49 and the description of a Bear Lake cutthroat trout on page 52.
The online edition of the guidebook has been edited to reflect these updates.
Big Game Application Guidebook
The Utah Big Game Application Guidebook provides information and instructions hunters need to know to apply for bucks, bulls and once-in-a-lifetime hunts.
Previous editions
View guidebook updates
— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Corrections
Page 71: In the CWMU buck deer hunt table, the Plymouth Peak CWMU (DB1276) was listed in error. That property combined with Washakie CWMU (DB1306) last year.
The online edition of this guidebook has been updated to remove the reference to Plymouth Peak CWMU.
Page 50: In the limited-entry buck deer muzzleloader hunt table, the beginning date of the Cache, Crawford Mtn hunt (DB1026) was listed incorrectly as Nov. 9. The correct dates for this hunt are Nov. 8-23, 2025.
The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with the correct date.
Page 28: In the timeline of application dates, the "2nd chance to apply for big game bonus/preference points" date was listed as starting June 6. The actual dates are June 4-18, 2025, which align with the antlerless application period.
The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with the correct dates.
Page 67: In the Once-in-a-lifetime Mountain Goat Hunts table, the Wasatch Mtns, Timpanogos hunt (#GO6820) was printed in blue text. The hunt name and number has been corrected to black text, indicating that there is a nonresident permit available in this year's application.
The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with the correct text color.
Big Game Field Regulations Guidebook
The Utah Big Game Field Regulations Guidebook summarizes the laws and rules that govern big game hunting in Utah.
Previous editions
View field regulation updates
— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Updates
Page 28: An update to the wildlife management and waterfowl management areas that will be closed to the general public (including big game hunting) for sponsored youth and beginner pheasant hunts was made after the printed guidebook was distributed.
The 2024 closures are:
- Oct. 26 — Huntington Game Farm (until 3 p.m.)
- Nov. 9 — Annabella, Pahvant, Pine Canyon (also known as Carr Fork) WMAs and part of the Ogden Bay WMA
The online edition of the guidebook has been edited to reflect this update.
Corrections
Page 44: The correct dates for the elk muzzleloader multi-season hunt are Oct. 30–Nov. 7 (the end date was listed incorrectly in the printed edition of the guidebook as Nov. 9). Hunter permits, the Hunt Planner and all other instances in the guidebook list the correct dates. The online edition of the guidebook has been edited to reflect this correction.
Page 19: The footnote in the "What seasons can youth hunt?" table indicated an incorrect page number for reference. The footnote has been updated to refer to page 38 (instead of page 43). The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with this correction.
Page 54: The Hunter Mentoring Program no longer requires participating youth to be Utah residents. The word "resident" has been deleted from the information box. The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with this correction.
Pages 3 and 24: In the description of the new muzzleloader regulations, the guidebook language as printed was unclear about how those rules apply to HAMSS hunts. Those descriptions have been edited to reiterate that no scopes of any kind are allowed on HAMSS hunts. The online edition of the guidebook has been edited to reflect these updates.
Page 32: Minor corrections were made to the section describing the use of trail cameras on private land to align more closely with Utah Code § 23A-5-307: A trail camera using internal data storage and not capable of transmitting data is permitted for use on private lands for the purposes of taking protected wildlife. The online edition of the guidebook has been edited to reflect these changes.
Page 43: An incorrect end date for the general-season archery elk hunt was printed in the guidebook. Utah's general season archery spike elk hunt runs from Aug. 17—Sept. 6, 2024 (not Sept. 5, as was indicated in the print edition). The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with this correction.
Upland Game and Turkey Guidebook
The Utah Upland Game and Turkey Guidebook summarizes the laws and rules that govern upland game and turkey hunting in Utah.
Previous editions
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— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Corrections
Page 31: The Hunter Mentoring Program no longer requires participating youth to be Utah residents. The word "resident" has been deleted from the information box. The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with this correction.
Page 40: An incorrect end date for the gray (Hungarian) partridge season was printed in the guidebook. The correct season dates are Sept. 28, 2024–Feb. 15, 2025 (not Feb. 15, 2024, as was indicated in the print edition). The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with this correction.
Waterfowl Guidebook
The Utah Waterfowl Guidebook summarizes the laws and rules that govern waterfowl hunting in Utah.
Previous editions
View guidebook updates
— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Updates
Pages 4, 16 and 30:
Due to limited staffing, the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge has modified the swan check station hours to Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m.–noon and 2–7 p.m. only.
The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with this information.
Black Bear and Cougar Guidebook
The Utah Black Bear and Cougar Guidebook summarizes the laws and rules that govern black bear and cougar hunting and pursuit in Utah.
Previous editions
View guidebook updates
— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Corrections
Page 17: In the Bear pursuit season dates (units not designated as restricted) table in the guidebook, the fall season dates incorrectly included an early limited-entry hunt date range that does not apply to those hunts, as well as an asterisk referencing season dates for the Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/South unit, which is a restricted pursuit unit.
The incorrect dates and footnote were deleted from the digital edition of the guidebook. The correct fall bear pursuit season dates (for units not designated as restricted) remain the same as printed: Nov. 3-9, 2025.
The online edition of the guidebook has been edited to reflect these updates.
Cougar Guidebook
The Utah Cougar Guidebook summarizes the laws and rules that govern hunting and pursuing cougars in Utah.
Note: Hunters may refer to the Cougar Guidebook or the 2025 edition of the Utah Bear and Cougar Guidebook for information about hunting and pursuing cougars through Dec. 31, 2025.
Previous editions
View guidebook updates
— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Updates
Page 15: The Utah Wildlife Board approved allowing the use of rimfire cartridges and ammunition to harvest cougars caught in traps. This change does not allow these types of cartridges and ammunition to harvest cougars not confined in traps.
Pages 15 and 18: In order to accommodate edits to the digital edition of this guidebook following the Jan. 9, 2025 Utah Wildlife Board meeting, the No drones allowed information box was moved from page 15 to page 18 of this guidebook.
Page 21: Cougar pelts and claws: The Utah Wildlife Board approved allowing the sale of green cougar pelts, and the sale of claws if they are attached to the hide. Any pelt still must have a permanent tag issued by the DWR within 48 hours of harvest.
The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with these changes.
Furbearer Guidebook
Taking, possessing, selling and purchasing furbearing animals — including bobcats and martens — and trapping cougars.
Previous editions
View guidebook updates
— Important changes and corrections made after the guidebook was printed.
Updates
At the Jan. 9, 2025 meeting, the Utah Wildlife Board approved some changes regarding cougar trapping. Updates to the digital edition of this guidebook include:
- Page 15: Allowing the use of rimfire cartridges and ammunition to harvest cougars caught in traps. (Rimfire cartridges and ammunition may not be used to harvest cougars not confined in traps.)
- Page 26: Allowing the sale of "green" cougar pelts, and the sale of claws if they are still attached to the hide. Any pelt still must have a permanent tag issued by the DWR within 48 hours of harvest.
The digital edition of this guidebook has been updated with these additions.
Corrections
Page 16: In the "Trap restrictions to protect river otters" information box, the correct trapping-device restriction distance from certain waterbodies is 600 yards (not 100 yards as was indicated in the print edition).
The online edition of this guidebook has been updated with this correction.
