Vernal/Bonanza Unit: public land and hunting map
Vernal/Bonanza Unit is one of Utah Division of Wildlife Resources’s 31 mule deer general-season hunting units in Utah. It covers about 2,061 square miles (1,319,145 acres), and roughly 77% of it is public land: BLM 42%, Forest Service 22%, state land 8.7%.
- 77%public land
- 2,061square miles
- 1,019,699public acres
- 3neighbouring units
Measured Oct 12, 2026 from agency boundaries and USGS PAD-US 4.1 · sources and method
Who manages the land
- Bureau of Land Management42%
- U.S. Forest Service22%
- National Park Service3.9%
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceunder 1%
- State land (wildlife, trust and natural-resource agencies)8.7%
Share of the unit’s area. Federal agencies plus state wildlife, trust and natural-resource land, as the WikiHunt map classifies it. The rest is private, tribal, local or other land.
Rut: Published deer rut timing for Utah: Mid-November. Rut dates and sources for Utah.
Units next to Vernal/Bonanza Unit
Utah season dates, 2026
Statewide general seasons. Many units have their own dates, quotas or draw-only hunts, so check the unit in the regulations before you go.
| Species | Season | 2026 dates |
|---|---|---|
| Deer | Archery Deer | Aug 15 – Sep 11 |
| Deer | Muzzleloader Deer | Sep 23 – Oct 1 |
| Deer | General Rifle Deer | Oct 17 – Oct 25 |
| Elk | Archery Elk | Aug 15 – Sep 16 |
| Elk | Rifle Elk | Oct 3 – Oct 16 |
| Turkey | Fall Turkey | Sep 6 – Nov 28 |
Full notes on the Utah page · Utah regulations.
Questions
How much of Vernal/Bonanza Unit is public land?
About 77% of Vernal/Bonanza Unit (1,019,699 of 1,319,145 acres) is federal or state public land in USGS PAD-US 4.1, mostly Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and State land (wildlife, trust and natural-resource agencies). Public land is not always open land: check access and closures before you go.
Who manages the land in Vernal/Bonanza Unit?
Bureau of Land Management: 42%; U.S. Forest Service: 22%; State land (wildlife, trust and natural-resource agencies): 8.7%; National Park Service: 3.9%; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: under 1%. The rest is private, tribal, local government or other land.
Which units border Vernal/Bonanza Unit?
Nine Mile Unit, North Slope Unit and Yellowstone Unit.
Where are the season dates and rules for Vernal/Bonanza Unit?
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources sets them. Start at the Utah hunting regulations. WikiHunt shows the statewide general seasons on the Utah page and in the app.
Sources and method
- Boundary: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (owner dwrdata, State of Utah shared org), the same layer the WikiHunt map draws.
- Public land: USGS Protected Areas Database (PAD-US) 4.1, Fee Managers layer (public domain).
- Method: the unit and PAD-US polygons are simplified to about 100 m and measured on a grid of about 250 cells across the unit, so overlapping records are counted once. Expect about ±1 percentage point.
- Season dates: WikiHunt’s season table, updated Sep 2, 2026, checked against each state’s published regulations. Dates change; the regulations win.
- Last updated: Oct 12, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.