Box Elder, Hansel Mtn, Utah

Desert flats and alkaline lowlands near the Great Salt Lake give way to rolling foothills and the Hansel Mountains, a range approximately 35 miles long and 11 miles wide running southwest to northeast. Elevation ranges from roughly 4,200 feet on the valley floors to approximately 7,372 feet at the upper reaches of the unit; the Hansel Mountains themselves peak at 6,243 feet at an unnamed point on the southeast ridge (Monument Peak at 5,997 ft is the southwest terminus). The terrain is a mix of broad open valleys (Curlew Valley, Hansel Valley), rocky foothill benches, and low ridgelines. Interstate 84 bisects Curlew Valley diagonally from northwest to southeast; the North Hansel Mountains extend into Idaho north of I-84. The unit boundary (subunit 1b) runs from Ogden north on I-15 to the Idaho state line, west to SR-42, southeast to SR-30, and back east along the Union Pacific railroad causeway to Ogden.

The boundary is reached primarily via Interstate 84 through Snowville and Curlew Valley, and US-30/State Route 30 in the broader Box Elder area. Most of Curlew Valley is BLM-managed open range. The unit contains approximately 190,324 acres of BLM land, 28,082 acres of Utah State Institutional Trust Lands, and 182,078 acres of private land in the yearlong range; no Forest Service or USFWS refuge land falls within the yearlong range. Private agricultural land — dry farms and pastures — occupies large blocks throughout the valleys and lower foothills, significantly restricting elk hunting access as the elk herd resides predominantly on private land year-round. The Locomotive Springs State Wildlife Management Area occupies the southwestern edge near the Great Salt Lake. No designated wilderness areas fall within the boundary. CWMUs are forming in areas where private landowners are tolerant of elk, but these are private-access-only. Private-lands-only antlerless elk permits (hunt EA2026) are also available over the counter. Cell service is reportedly spotty in parts of the unit. Hunters should obtain detailed land ownership maps before accessing the unit.

Foothills and lower mountain slopes support sagebrush, Utah juniper, pinyon pine, bigtooth maple, and oak brush; bitterbrush and serviceberry are important browse species at these elevations. The UDWR elk plan notes excessive juniper cover and cheatgrass encroachment on public lands within the subunit, with poor water resources limiting public-land elk habitat quality. Desert lowlands and valley floors near the Great Salt Lake and Locomotive Springs Wildlife Management Area transition to salt-tolerant shrubs including shadscale, iodine bush, and pickleweed, with salt grass and other halophytic grasses. Curlew Valley is sagebrush-steppe, important for sage-grouse and pronghorn. Open dry-farm and pastureland occupies much of the private valley ground.

Elk colonized the Hansel Mountains from Idaho beginning in the late 1980s, initially wintering in Utah and returning to Idaho in spring. After a drift fence in Idaho was removed in the mid-1990s, 200-300 elk began crossing the state line; several began staying year-round in Utah. The overwinter herd reached approximately 600 animals by 2022. In July 2023, a landowner-agency subcommittee set a population objective of 400 elk year-round (up from 0). The 2023 UDWR plan reports an average of 27 bull elk per year harvested on the general hunt over the last five years and 17 cow elk per year over the same period. Most elk reside on private land year-round; public-land elk encounters are rare. UDWR notes elk also use limited habitat in the Hogup Mountains and winter habitat on Cedar Hill and in the Wildcat Hills within the expanded subunit boundary. Mule deer are present throughout the unit as part of the larger Box Elder deer herd (general OTC unit DB1501). Pronghorn antelope occupy the open sagebrush-steppe floors of Curlew and Hansel Valleys and are hunted under separate Box Elder sub-unit designations (Snowville, Puddle Valley, West — not a named Hansel Mtn pronghorn unit). The Hansel Mountains and surrounding rocky hillsides support chukar partridge. Sage-grouse inhabit the sagebrush steppe. The Locomotive Springs Wildlife Management Area and nearby Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge make the broader area significant for waterfowl and shorebirds. Mountain lion are a potential predator in the foothill zone.