Wildlife Board approves Antlerless Big Game Hunting Changes

Salt Lake City -- If they have a cow elk permit for the same area, all bull elk hunters—including rifle hunters—can take a cow elk during this fall’s bull elk hunt.

That change was among the antlerless big game hunting changes members of the Utah Wildlife Board approved at their May 6 meeting in Salt Lake City.

All of the changes the board approved—including permit numbers for individual units—will be available in the 2010 Utah Antlerless Guidebook. The guidebook should be available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks  by May 17.

Permit numbers
The following are the number of antlerless hunting permits that were available in 2009 and the number the board approved for this fall:


                             2009         2010

Cow elk                11,146      9,838
Doe deer               1,775       1,975
Doe pronghorn      1,107        622
Cow moose           30            19

Taking cow elk during the bull elk hunts

Division of Wildlife Resources biologists have used several strategies to keep elk herds within population objectives outlined in Utah’s elk unit management plans.

One of those strategies involves archery and muzzleloader bull elk hunters. If they have a cow elk permit for the same unit on which they’re hunting bulls, archery and muzzleloader elk hunters have been allowed to take a cow elk during the bull elk hunts.

Now rifle bull elk hunters will have the same chance.

“Allowing hunters to take a cow elk during the rifle bull elk hunts will be good for the state’s elk herds and the state’s rifle elk hunters,” says Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the DWR.

“Doing so will help ensure enough cow elk are taken,” he says. “Rifle hunters have the highest success rate.

“Also, allowing hunters to take a cow elk during the bull elk rifle hunts will reduce the number of hunters who hunt during the cow elk-only hunts later in the year,” he says. “That will reduce hunter crowding and reduce pressure on the elk while they’re on their winter ranges.”


Deer and crops
Almost 90 percent of the doe deer permits the board approved will be used to control deer that are damaging crops on farm land.

The remaining 10 percent of the permits—200 of the 2,025 permits the board approved—will be used to keep deer herds on the Paunsaugunt and Panguitch Lake limited-entry units from growing beyond the number their habitat can support.

“The deer herds on these two units are at their population objective,” Aoude says. “We need to make sure we balance the number of deer with the habitat that’s available to them.”


Pronghorn on the Parker Mountains
In 2009, the board approved 1,107 doe pronghorn permits. Most of those permits were used to reduce the number of pronghorn on the Parker Mountains in southwestern Utah. (The population objective for the unit is 1,500 pronghorn.)

“The unit is getting closer to its population objective,” Aoude says. “Because it’s getting closer to the objective, we can start reducing the number of doe pronghorn permits offered for it.”

Moose: Nearing their objective
Aoude says the number of moose in northern Utah is approaching the population objective. At the May 6 meeting, members of the board approved a slight decrease in the number of cow moose permits available for hunts this year.

For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

DWR shares ideas for this fall’s Antlerless Big Game Hunts

If they have a cow elk permit for the same area, all bull elk hunters—including rifle hunters—might be allowed to take a cow elk during this fall’s bull elk hunt.

That change—and permit numbers for Utah’s 2010 antlerless big game hunts—are among items Division of Wildlife Resources biologists want your input about.

Learn more, share your ideas
You can read the DWR’s proposals on the Web at www.wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings/next.php . Once you’ve read the proposals, you can provide your comments one of two ways:

RAC meetings
Five Regional Advisory Council meetings will be held across Utah on April 27. Citizens representing the RACs will take the input received to the Utah Wildlife Board. Board members will use your input to set permit numbers for this fall’s hunts.

The April 27 meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. You can participate and provide your input at any of the following locations:

Northern Region
Brigham City Community Center
24 N. 300 W.
Brigham City

Central Region
Springville Junior High School
165 S. 700 E.
Springville

Northeastern Region
Uintah Basin Applied Technology
450 N. 2000 W.
Vernal

Southeastern Region
John Wesley Powell Museum
1765 E. Main St.
Green River

Southern Region
Cedar Middle School
2215 W. Royal Hunte Dr.
Cedar City

E-mail
You can also provide your comments to your RAC via e-mail. E-mail addresses for your RAC members are available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings/rac_members.php .

The group each RAC member represents (sportsman, non-consumptive, etc.) is listed under each person’s e-mail address. You should direct your e-mail to the people on the RAC who represent your interest.

Permit numbers
The following are the number of antlerless hunting permits available in 2009 and the number DWR biologists are recommending for this fall:

                              2009           2010
Cow elk                  11,146      9,813
Doe deer                 1,775       2,025
Doe pronghorn        1,107      622
Cow moose            30           19

Taking cow elk during the bull elk hunts
Allowing hunters to take a cow elk during the bull elk hunts is among the strategies DWR biologists have used to keep elk herds within population objectives outlined in Utah’s elk unit management plans.

If they have a cow elk permit for the same unit on which they’re hunting bulls, archery and muzzleloader elk hunters are allowed to take a cow elk during the bull elk hunts.

Biologists want to give rifle bull elk hunters the same chance.

“There are two advantages to allowing hunters to take a cow elk during the bull elk rifle hunts,” says Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the DWR.

“First of all, doing so would help ensure enough cow elk are taken,” he says. “Rifle hunters have the highest success rate.

“Also, allowing hunters to take a cow elk during the bull elk rifle hunts would reduce the number of hunters who hunt during the cow elk-only hunts later in the year,” he says. “That would reduce hunter crowding and reduce pressure on the elk while they’re on their winter ranges.”

Deer and Crops
Almost 90 percent of the doe deer permits the biologists are recommending would be used to control deer in areas where deer are damaging crops on farm land.

The remaining 12 percent of the permits—250 of the 2,025 permits biologists are recommending—would be used to keep deer herds on the Paunsaugunt and Panguitch Lake limited-entry units from growing beyond the number their habitat can support.

“The deer herds on these two units are at their population objective,” Aoude says. “We need to make sure we balance the number of deer with the habitat that’s available to them.”

Pronghorn on the Parker Mountains
In 2009, the Utah Wildlife Board approved 1,107 doe pronghorn permits. Most of those permits were used to reduce the number of pronghorn on the Parker Mountains in southwestern Utah. (The population objective for the unit is 1,500 pronghorn.)

“The unit is getting closer to its population objective,” Aoude says. “Because it’s getting closer to the objective, we can start reducing the number of doe pronghorn permits offered for it.”

Moose: Nearing their objective
Aoude says the number of moose in northern Utah is approaching the population objective. Biologists are recommending a slight decrease in the number of cow moose permits available this year.

For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

Wildlife Board Approves Big Game Hunting Permits

Salt Lake City -- The number of permits offered for most of Utah’s big game hunts has increased this year.

There are a few exceptions to the increase, though. But even one of the decreases is good news for hunters. At their March 31 meeting, members of the Utah Wildlife Board approved fewer permits to hunt cow bison on the Henry Mountains. Offering fewer permits will allow the bison herd on the unit to start building to a new management objective.

Permit numbers
The following chart shows the number of permits that were available in
2009 and the number the board approved for 2010:

                                                               2009           2010
General season buck deer                     94,000        94,000
Premium limited entry deer                   173              179
Limited entry deer                                1,021           1,034
Management buck deer                       60                95
Limited entry bull elk                            2,737           2,976
Pronghorn antelope                              992             1,022
Moose                                                 147             139
Bison                                                   170              39
Rocky Mountain goat                           104             111
Desert bighorn sheep                            37               45
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep           24                30

Fewer bison permits
It’s time to start increasing the number of bison on the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah. To help that happen, the board approved fewer cow bison hunting permits for the unit this fall.

Two types of bison permits are offered for the Henry Mountains. Most of the permits allow hunters to take either a bull bison or a cow bison. Others allow hunters to take only a cow.

“A management plan was approved for the Henry’s in August 2007,” says Anis Aoude, big game coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. “One of the objectives in the plan limits the number of adult bison on the unit to not more than 305 adults after the 2010 hunting season is over.”

The plan allows that number to increase to not more than 315 adults after the 2011 season is over and not more than 325 after the 2012 season.

Using information from aerial surveys, harvest data from the 2009 hunt and range studies of habitat on the Henry Mountains, biologists feel it’s safe to start increasing the number of bison on the unit to the 305 adult objective.

And right now should be a good time to do that. Aoude says the DWR and its partners have spent more than $1 million on habitat work on the Henry’s over the past three years alone. More than 8,000 acres of habitat has been improved. And water sources have been developed across the unit.

For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

Apply for a 2010 Sportsman Permit

Applications for Utah’s most prized hunting permits accepted soon
Applications for next year’s most prized Utah hunting permits—2010 sportsman permits—will be available by Nov. 2.

Only Utah residents may apply for sportsman permits. One sportsman permit is offered for each of the following species: Desert bighorn ram, Rocky Mountain bighorn ram, buck deer, buck pronghorn, bull elk, bull moose, hunter’s choice bison, hunter’s choice Rocky Mountain goat, black bear, cougar, sandhill crane and wild turkey.

If you draw a sportsman permit, the dates you can hunt vary. But in most cases, they’re longer than the regular season dates. You can also hunt on almost any unit in Utah that’s open to hunting the species you drew a permit for.
Highly prized

“Sportsman permits are highly prized,” says Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources. “If you’re one of the lucky hunters who draw one, you’ll have plenty of days—and plenty of areas—to hunt.”

You can apply for a sportsman permit starting Nov. 2 at http://www.wildlife.utah.gov/ . Applications must be submitted no later than 11 p.m. on Nov. 19 to be entered in the draw for permits.

Draw results will be posted by Dec. 10. If you draw a permit, you’ll also receive a letter in the mail. “Not many hunters draw these permits,” Tutorow says. “If you receive a letter in the mail, it wouldn’t surprise me if you frame it!”

For more information, see pages 23 and 24 of the 2009 Utah Big Game Guidebook (www.wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks ) or call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office. You can also call the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.