Unit San Rafael, Desert
Utah Hunting Guide — Antelope
Unit San Rafael, Desert lies in Emery, Garfield, Kane and Wayne counties and covers about 4,709 square miles. Ground runs from 4,261 to 6,675 feet. UDWR publishes no per-unit pronghorn success figure we can verify for this unit. Most of the unit is private, so access comes before tactics. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Antelope Hunting in Unit San Rafael, Desert
Unit San Rafael, Desert lies in Emery, Garfield, Kane and Wayne counties and covers about 4,709 square miles. Ground runs from 4,261 to 6,675 feet. UDWR publishes no per-unit pronghorn success figure we can verify for this unit. Most of the unit is private, so access comes before tactics. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit San Rafael, Desert
UDWR's material on unit San Rafael, Desert stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its pronghorn live. Every place named below sits inside the unit line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out. The unit lies in Emery, Garfield, Kane and Wayne counties. It runs to about 4,709 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Green River, Colorado River and Rock Springs
UDWR draws unit San Rafael, Desert in Emery, Garfield, Kane and Wayne counties with a boundary that runs on I-70, and on Green River, Colorado River, Rock Springs and Willow Springs, walked corner by corner in its hunting district legal descriptions. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. Its value is practical — those are the features you will navigate by, and the ridges that separate one day's country from another's.
High ground inside the line: North Summit Ridge, Mount Ellen Peak and Mount Ellen
Named high points inside the unit include North Summit Ridge at 11,515 feet, Mount Ellen Peak at 11,498 feet, Mount Ellen at 11,477 feet, South Summit Ridge at 11,407 feet and Mount Pennell at 11,393 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Pronghorn live in the open and trust their eyes, which is the whole problem.
Holding ground: Nasty Flat, Wickiup Pass and Star Flat
Below them sit Nasty Flat at 9,633 feet, Wickiup Pass at 9,261 feet, Star Flat at 8,868 feet, Blue Basin at 8,669 feet and Copper Basin at 8,583 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.
Water: Johns Spring, Bluejohn Spring and French Spring
Named sources include Johns Spring, Bluejohn Spring, French Spring, Crows Nest Spring, Twin Springs and Upper Dugout Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
Before you apply: who owns this unit
A UDWR permit does not authorise hunting on Native American trust lands, on a CWMU without that CWMU's own permit, or on National Park land, and written permission is required to hunt private land. Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as Private / Other 100%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. The unit runs from 4,261 feet to 6,675 feet, averaging 5,306 — enough relief to separate summer range from winter range.
Unit San Rafael, Desert terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: North Summit Ridge (11,515 ft), South Summit Ridge (11,407 ft), Mount Pennell (11,393 ft), Mount Hillers (10,698 ft)
Holding ground: Bull Creek Pass (10,475 ft), East Saddle (9,975 ft), Star Flat (8,868 ft), Johns Spring, Bluejohn Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Pronghorn in Unit San Rafael, Desert
Antelope Success Rates
UDWR's 2023 harvest estimates carry no pronghorn row for unit San Rafael, Desert that we can read back to this unit on its own. Where the agency reports a unit inside a grouping, or prints a table our parser cannot resolve to a single column, we leave the number out rather than publish a statewide average as though it had been measured here. UDWR's current harvest estimates are the place to check before you apply.
Antelope Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — Limited Entry bull/buck only (resident) | 4 | 98 | 4.1% | 14 |
| Rifle — Limited Entry bull/buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 86 | 1.2% | 14 |
| Archery — Limited Entry bull/buck only (resident) | 2 | 10 | 20.0% | 4 |
| Archery — Limited Entry bull/buck only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 4 |
| Any Legal Weapon — Limited Entry bull/buck only (resident) | 5 | 100 | 5.0% | 9 |
| Any Legal Weapon — Limited Entry bull/buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 82 | 1.2% | 9 |
Data from 2024 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.
Open in Draw Odds EngineUDWR's draw recap has no pronghorn record we can tie to unit San Rafael, Desert. That usually means the licence is sold over the counter, is issued under a hunt code covering several units, or was not offered in the years we hold. Rather than estimate a point requirement, we leave it blank — check UDWR's own draw recap for the hunt code you mean to apply for.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit San Rafael, Desert?
What is the pronghorn success rate in unit San Rafael, Desert?
Can you hunt unit San Rafael, Desert on public land?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-24.
- UDWR Hunt Boundaries — boundary descriptions from the Hunt Planner boundary layer — Utah Division of Wildlife Resources · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, UDWR's private-land note for the unit · accessed 2026-10-24
- UDWR DWR_Hunt_Boundaries_combined feature service — all 687 published hunt boundaries, including the CWMUs — Utah Division of Wildlife Resources · supports: Mapped extent of the unit, Which named ground falls inside the unit line · accessed 2026-10-24