More Hunters Will Be Hunting Big Game in Utah This Fall

Salt Lake City -- More hunters will have a chance to take a big bull elk or a big bison in Utah this fall.

At their April 5 meeting, members of the Utah Wildlife Board raised the number of hunting permits for most of Utah’s big game animals.
Permits for elk and bison were increased the most.

It won’t be long before hunters learn whether they drew a permit in this year’s Utah Big Game Draw. Draw results will be available by April 27.

More Elk Permits

Some record-sized bull elk have been taken in Utah over the past few years, but there are still plenty of big bulls in Utah for hunters to take.

Biologists manage each of Utah’s limited entry bull elk units so the average age of the bulls taken by hunters falls within a certain age category.

The age of the bulls that hunters took on 26 of Utah’s 28 units during the 2006 season was higher than the age objective for those units. That means the animals were older than the objective called for on those units.

The age of the bulls taken on two units was at the objective for those units. None of Utah’s limited entry units were under the age objective.

“This means more hunters can be allowed in the field and plenty of big bulls will still be left for hunters to take in years to come,”
said Craig McLaughlin, Wildlife Section chief for the DWR.

With that in mind, board members approved 2,169 limited entry bull elk permits for this fall’s hunts. A total of 79 of those permits are management bull elk permits. These permits allow hunters to take bull elk that have five or less antler points on at least one side.

Management permits are being offered for the first time to reduce the number of smaller bull elk on four of Utah’s best limited entry units.
All of these units have extremely high bull to cow ratios.

More Bison Permits

Board members also approved more hunter’s choice and cow bison permits for the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah. Bison permits for the Henry Mountains jumped from 23 in 2006 to 75 this year.

“In 2005, our biologists flew two aerial surveys of the Henry Mountains,” McLaughlin said. “They didn’t see many bison during either survey.”

Even though bison are big animals, McLaughlin says they tend to gather in small groups and are effective at hiding under pinyon/juniper trees.

“Bison are strong animals, and we were pretty sure that the herd had not experienced a big die-off,” he said. “We guessed that the bison had probably moved into thicker cover where it was harder for us to spot them.”

DWR biologists decided to be cautious, however, and hunting permits were cut in 2006.

“Our biologists flew another survey this past August, and this time they spotted the bison,” McLaughlin said. “They saw lots of bison.

“We’ve confirmed that the herd is doing really well. That’s why we recommended that the board raise the number of bison permits available for the Henry Mountains this fall.”

Buck Deer Permits Will Stay at 95,000

General season buck deer permits were one group of permits that board members decided not to increase. The total number of Utah general season buck deer permits will stay at 95,000 in 2007.

In 2005, general season buck deer permits in the Central and Northeastern regions were cut by 1,000 permits each. The permits were cut because the three-year buck to doe ratio in each region had fallen below the minimum of 15 bucks per 100 does called for in Utah’s Deer Management Plan. As a result, the total number of Utah general season buck deer permits was reduced from 97,000 (the level where permits had been since 1994) to 95,000 permits.

Surveys conducted by DWR biologists after the 2005 and 2006 hunts found that the three-year buck-to-doe average in the Northeastern Region had increased to 15 bucks per 100 does. That number meets the objective called for in the state’s deer management plan.

In the Central Region, the three-year average had fallen slightly to 13 bucks per 100 does.

Based on the findings, the DWR recommended returning 1,000 permits to the Northeastern Region.

Citizens representing the Northeastern Regional Advisory Council (RAC) voted against the DWR recommendation, however. They expressed concerns that allowing 1,000 additional hunters in the region could cause the buck to doe ratio to fall back under 15 bucks per 100 does.

Board members agreed with the RAC and voted not to return the 1,000 permits to the region.

Permits for 2007

Permit numbers for 2006, and the number of permits the board approved for 2007, are listed below:

2006 2007

General season buck deer 95,000
95,000

Limited entry
deer 999 1,014

Limited entry bull elk 1,835 2,169

Pronghorn
antelope 855 833

Moose 138 151

Bison 29 81

* (these bison totals include permits for the Henry Mountains and Antelope Island)

Rocky Mountain goat 79 90

Desert bighorn sheep 36 39

Rocky Mountain bighorn
sheep 15 18


A list showing the total permits for each unit in the state will be available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/hunting/2007permits by April 9.