House/Tintic, Utah

Rolling to moderately rugged desert mountain terrain with north-south trending ridges and broad intervening valleys. The East Tintic Mountains reach approximately 8,308 ft at Boulter Peak (spanning Juab, Tooele, and Utah counties); the House Range (northern extent of which falls within or adjacent to this boundary) rises to Swasey Peak at 9,673 ft (Millard/Juab counties, NAVD 88). Valley floors sit between roughly 4,800–5,200 ft, giving an overall elevation range of approximately 4,800–9,673 ft within and adjacent to the unit. Slopes are moderate to steep on upper mountain flanks; lower country consists of desert rolling hills and flat alluvial plains. Carbonate limestone and dolomite cliffs are present in the House Range, including the near-vertical west face of Notch Peak (9,658 ft), one of the highest carbonate rock cliffs in North America.

Primary road corridors: US-6 runs along the eastern edge of the Tintic Mountains through Eureka and south toward Delta, providing the main paved spine. SR-36 defines the northern boundary. The Pony Express Road (BLM, improved gravel/dirt) crosses the unit east-west and gives dispersed access to interior areas. BLM maintains a network of well-maintained dirt roads on all sides of the mountain ranges; interior roads typically require 4WD or high-clearance vehicles. The Little Sahara Recreation Area (BLM) lies in the Sevier Desert portion to the south. No designated wilderness areas exist within this unit. The Tooele Army Depot (DUGWAY) is closed to hunting and lies north/northwest of the unit boundary. Private land is present in valley bottoms and agricultural areas near Eureka, Nephi, and Delta; hunters must verify land status before entering. No significant CWMU exclusions reported for this specific unit in 2025-2026 regulations, though the Rock House CWMU (DB1323, Juab County, 1 public permit) overlaps the Juab county portion. BLM Fillmore Field Office (Millard County) and BLM Salt Lake Field Office (Juab/Tooele) co-manage public lands here.

Low desert valleys dominated by sagebrush (big sagebrush), shadscale, greasewood, and rabbitbrush, with scattered prickly pear and Brigham tea. Mid-elevation slopes (5,500–7,500 ft) are covered in pinyon-juniper woodland, antelope bitterbrush, and Gambel oak brush. Patches of aspen and mountain shrub communities occur near ridgelines and north-facing slopes at upper elevations. Annual grass encroachment (cheatgrass) is a documented concern in winter-range valley areas. Permanent springs are few and widely scattered; water is the primary limiting factor for wildlife distribution. Overall, winter range condition was rated 'fair' as of 2022 UDWR assessments, trending up from very poor conditions in 1997.

Mule deer are the primary big game species, residing in low but huntable densities; the UDWR 2022 population estimate for the Tintic subunit (19c) was approximately 1,700 deer against a target of 1,800. Rocky Mountain elk are present in low, scattered densities across the broader West Desert East unit (Vernon and Tintic combined); elk numbers are suppressed by limited high-quality summer range and drought. Pronghorn antelope use the open desert flats of the Sevier Desert and adjacent valleys but are managed under separate West Desert pronghorn units (West Desert, Riverbed and Snake Valley). Mountain lion and coyote are resident predators. Raptors including golden eagle and prairie falcon nest in cliff faces. The rut for mule deer typically begins in late October and runs through late December.

BOUNDARY NAME CAUTION: 'House/Tintic' does not appear as a named hunt unit in the 2025 or 2026 Utah Big Game Application Guidebooks. The geographic area is covered by: (1) for deer – 'West Desert, Tintic' (general season, pre-2025) renamed 'Oquirrh/Tintic' in 2025–2026 (expanded boundary now including Oquirrh Mountains area); (2) for elk – the 'West Desert, East' subunit (19bc, covering both Vernon/19b and Tintic/19c). The 'House/Tintic' term appears in the December 2024 RAC presentation for the combined Elk Herd Units 18 & 19 (West Desert Complex) management document as a habitat subunit designation, not as an official hunt unit name. The Oquirrh/Tintic (new 2025) deer unit boundary is larger than the prior West Desert, Tintic unit and may shift some statistics. The 2023 harvest data (199 deer, 33.3% rifle success) reflects the prior 'West Desert, Tintic' boundary. Public land pct of 33% reflects the GoHunt profile for the West Desert, Tintic unit; the broader Oquirrh/Tintic unit may vary. The Rock House CWMU (DB1323, Juab Co., 1 public permit) overlaps the Juab portion. Pronghorn are present geographically but hunted under separate units (West Desert, Riverbed; West Desert, Snake Valley) and are excluded from the species list. Swasey Peak elevation corrected to 9,673 ft (NAVD 88 per Wikipedia). East Tintic Mountains span Juab, Tooele, and Utah counties (not just Juab and Tooele as in original draft). GoHunt lists unit elevation range as 4,800–8,300 ft; Swasey Peak at 9,673 ft is at the geographic western edge and may fall outside the core hunt unit boundary. BLM Fillmore Field Office web page erroneously states Notch Peak and Swasey Peak exceed 12,000 ft — Wikipedia confirms Swasey Peak is 9,673 ft and Notch Peak is 9,658 ft.