Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon, Utah

Rugged canyonlands terrain with steep V-shaped canyons, mesa tops, and eroded escarpments carved by drainages including Floy Canyon, Crescent Canyon, Horse Canyon, Cottonwood Canyon, Diamond Canyon, and Coal Canyon. Elevation ranges from approximately 4,000 feet on the desert floor along the I-70 corridor to roughly 9,000 feet at the upper Book Cliffs divide. South-facing buttes and Cretaceous sandstone cliffs dominate the landscape; pinnacles, balanced rocks, alcoves, and potholes are common erosional features.

Approximately 90% of the boundary is public land, managed primarily by the BLM Price and Moab field offices. The unit is accessed from Interstate 70 via Thompson Springs and a county road through Sego Canyon heading north. Miles of BLM two-track and dirt roads provide vehicle access across mesa tops and into upper canyon reaches; some inner-canyon drainages are roadless and accessible only on foot or horseback. No designated wilderness areas fall entirely within the Floy Canyon subunit, though Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) exist in adjacent BLM lands. Private and state trust land inholdings exist but are minor (estimated under 12% combined). No CWMUs are documented within this specific boundary, but hunters should verify land status before entry. Two spare tires are strongly recommended for backcountry routes.

Lower canyon bottoms and desert flats support greasewood, shadscale, saltbush, cheatgrass, and native grasses. Mid-elevations transition to sagebrush, mountain shrub, and scattered pinyon-juniper woodland. North-facing slopes and upper reaches support Douglas fir stands with sagebrush as a primary browse species. Riparian corridors run along perennial-stream drainages. Portions of the unit burned in a 2002 wildfire and are in various stages of revegetation, which has created additional early-successional browse.

Mule deer are present as a resident and wintering population; the lower canyons serve as important winter range. Elk numbers within the Floy Canyon subunit are modest — some bulls and cows use Rattlesnake, Floy, Cottonwood, and Diamond canyons year-round, with additional animals pushed into the area later in the season by weather from higher Book Cliffs elevations. Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep occupy the canyon walls and steep drainages of the Green River side and eastward toward Thompson, with core use areas along canyon rims at 4,000–7,500 feet; the Book Cliffs, South (Rattlesnake) bighorn unit overlaps this geography. Mountain lion are present throughout, and the unit is designated a bighorn sheep protection area with a liberal cougar quota. Black bear are documented in the Book Cliffs region. Sage grouse, blue grouse, raptors, and coyotes also inhabit the unit.

1. The 'Book Cliffs, Floy Canyon' boundary (DB1090) is a small, distinctly named HAMSS-only limited-entry deer subunit carved out of the larger Book Cliffs complex; it should not be confused with the broader 'Book Cliffs' LE deer units (DB1011/DB1017/DB1018/DB1025) or the adjacent LE elk units (Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/East; Book Cliffs, Little Creek Roadless). 2. Mule deer hunter success: 2024 harvest data shows 5 permits / 5 harvested / 100% success; 2023 shows 5 permits / 3 harvested / 60% success. The 80% success_pct reported here is a two-year average from UDWR harvest reports. 3. Elk: The Floy Canyon subunit was split from the Book Cliffs Bitter Creek South LE elk unit and redesignated as a general-season any bull OTC unit beginning in 2023–24; confirmed by UDWR Wildlife Board action and the GoHunt 'elk-general' profile. No per-unit harvest data is publicly available for general-season elk by subunit. 4. Bighorn sheep quota and harvest stats are drawn from the 2019 UDWR Book Cliffs South management plan and cover the overlapping Book Cliffs, South (Rattlesnake) bighorn unit; the Floy Canyon geographic area falls within this bighorn unit boundary. The 97% success figure is an approximation from the 2004–2018 historical table. 5. HAMSS weapon restriction means no standard scoped rifles; straight-walled cartridges only with iron sights or red dots (no magnified optics). Bonus point waiting period of 5 years applies upon drawing. 6. Public land percentage (90%) sourced from GoHunt profile; BLM bighorn sheep management plan documents 85.4% BLM + 11.7% state trust + 2.8% private within the modeled bighorn habitat boundary. 7. Pronghorn removed from species array — not confirmed as a huntable species within this specific Floy Canyon subunit boundary (BLM Floy Canyon WSA page did not list pronghorn). 8. Portions of the unit burned in 2002 per BLM Floy Canyon page; current vegetation recovery status not confirmed from a post-2019 source.