Cache, Rich, Utah

The unit runs from Cache Valley's agricultural floor (~4,500 ft) up through steep limestone canyon country (Logan Canyon rises ~2,900 vertical feet from Logan to Garden City) and over the Bear River/Cache Range summits, reaching Naomi Peak at 9,979 ft. Rich County terrain slopes eastward from the Bear River Mountain crests toward broad, elevated valleys around Randolph and Woodruff (valley floors ~6,000 ft), with the northern border reaching Bridger Peak at 9,255 ft. The Crawford Mountains subunit on the east side of the unit consists of rolling to moderate terrain (6,200–8,000 ft, 129 sq mi, 41% public land) with well-used ATV and dirt road networks. The unit spans roughly 1,833 square miles of moderate to rough terrain overall.

Primary highway access: US-89 (Logan Canyon Scenic Byway) runs east-west from Logan to Garden City/Bear Lake — the main spine for accessing the Bear River Range. State Route 16 provides north-south access through Rich County past Randolph to the Wyoming line. SR-39 runs west from Woodruff into the Wasatch Range toward Huntsville. The Crawford Mountains area is accessed via SR-16 and SR-39, with well-maintained dirt roads branching into ATV trails (Rabbit Creek, South Eden Canyon corridors). The Logan Ranger District encompasses ~274,817 acres of Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest across Box Elder, Cache, and Rich counties with 69 trail corridors. Two designated Wilderness Areas restrict motorized access: Mount Naomi Wilderness and Wellsville Mountain Wilderness. Hardware Ranch Wildlife Management Area (Blacksmith Fork Canyon) is open for camping and wildlife access. Public land totals approximately 50% of the unit (28% USFS, 12% BLM, 9% State, ~6% Wilderness). Private land (~50%) is significant, particularly in Cache Valley's floor and along Rich County's eastern ranch country. Standard CWMU exclusions apply — hunters must verify current CWMU enrollment before crossing onto private parcels.

Vegetation is sharply stratified by elevation. Lower Cache Valley slopes support sagebrush-steppe, mountain shrub (oakbrush, bitterbrush), and critical mule deer winter range on the south-facing foothills of Blacksmith Fork, Logan, Dry, Providence, and Millville Canyons. Mid-elevation zones transition into aspen stands and mixed conifer on the National Forest; aspen is the dominant elk summer habitat and calving cover. Higher elevations support spruce-fir forest and rocky alpine terrain near the ridgeline. Rich County's eastern valleys are characterized by high-desert rangeland — sagebrush, grassland — used heavily for cattle grazing. Riparian corridors along Bear River tributaries (Woodruff Creek, Otter Creek, Randolph Creek) provide additional wildlife habitat.

Mule deer are the primary big game species; the unit's 2021 harvest data showed 4,221 hunters and 1,514 deer harvested (35.9% success) across all hunt types. Summer range is concentrated in the Wasatch-Cache National Forest at higher elevations; deer migrate to lower winter range on south-facing foothills and valley edges, where urbanization pressure (Hyrum to Richmond corridor) is the primary long-term limiting factor. Elk are present in the Cache East Rich subunit (Bear River Bottoms south of Bear Lake, arid hills east of the lake, and mountains between the lake and the Wyoming line; elevation 5,920–7,700 ft, 373 sq mi, 54% public); bulls are predominantly spikes and raghorns, with mature bulls occasionally migrating in from Wyoming, Idaho, or the bordering Cache-Meadowville unit. Pronghorn populations exist in Rich County's open sagebrush flats; the state has conducted transplant efforts to bolster numbers in recent years. Black bear inhabit the forested mountain zones (Cache/Ogden bear unit). Mountain lion are present throughout the unit. Shiras moose have been confirmed and the Cache unit is considered a viable DIY public-land moose opportunity. Merriam's wild turkey occur in the mountains above Logan and Logan Canyon, with generally less-consistent numbers than central Utah ranges. Sandhill crane use Cache and Rich County lowlands seasonally.

1. BOUNDARY NAMING COMPLEXITY: The Cache, Rich label is used by UDWR as a combined hunt boundary for some species (notably pronghorn, where it is part of the larger Cache/Morgan/South Rich/Ogden pronghorn management unit). For deer, the Cache Deer Herd Unit #2 formally encompasses the Wellsville, Cache, and Rich areas combined since 1993. For elk, the eastern Rich County portion is managed under Cache, East Rich for general-season elk. The Crawford Mountains is a distinct LE deer subunit (129 sq mi, 6,200–8,000 ft, 41% public). HuntScore lists the combined Cache unit species as Deer, Mountain Lion, and Moose — elk, pronghorn, bear, and turkey are associated with overlapping or adjacent management units. Hunters must check species-specific boundary maps on the Utah Hunt Planner (dwrapps.utah.gov/huntboundary) to confirm exact boundaries for each tag type. 2. HARVEST DATA: The 35.9% success rate (4,221 hunters, 1,514 harvested) from HuntScore reflects 2021 data across all deer hunt types; current conditions may differ. 3. RESTRICTED WEAPON FRAMEWORK: Beginning 2025, the Cache unit's general mule deer season uses restricted (not standard) rifle and muzzleloader equipment, confirmed alongside Beaver West and Boulder/Kaiparowits as units in this framework. 4. PRONGHORN TRANSPLANT: A transplant of pronghorn into the Cache unit from Parker Mountain (reported January 2025) could not be directly confirmed from UDWR news pages accessed; treat as unverified pending confirmation at wildlife.utah.gov/news. 5. TURKEY SEASON DATES CORRECTED: Spring OTC general season confirmed as May 4–31, 2026 (not 'late Apr' as in original draft); LE spring hunt April 11–30. 6. PUBLIC LAND PCT: The 50% figure is from HuntScore 2021 data (28% USFS, 12% BLM, 9% State, ~6% Wilderness); treat as approximate. 7. WINTER HERD OBJECTIVE: The 25,000 deer winter herd objective cited in the draft could not be verified from readable sources (management plan PDFs were binary-encoded); omit until confirmed.