Slight Reduction in Buck Deer Hunting Permits

March 20, 2017

DWR recommends big game hunting permits for 2017

Drought conditions, followed by a tough winter in parts of the state, might lead to a slight reduction in the number of general season buck deer hunting permits available in Utah this fall. Permits for other species, including desert bighorn sheep, bison and pronghorn, might increase.

All of the big game hunting permit recommendations for this fall’s hunts are available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings

*Learn more, share your ideas*

After you’ve reviewed the ideas at www.wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings, you can let your Regional Advisory Council members know your thoughts by attending your upcoming RAC meeting or by sending an email to them.

RAC chairmen will share the input they receive with members of the Utah Wildlife Board. The board will meet in Salt Lake City on April 27 to approve permit numbers for Utah’s 2017 big game hunts.

Dates, times and locations for the RAC meetings are as follows:

*Central Region*
March 28
6:30 p.m.
Springville Civic Center
110 S. Main St.
Springville

*Northern Region*
March 29
6 p.m.
Brigham City Community Center
24 N. 300 W.
Brigham City

*Southern Region*
April 4
5 p.m.
Beaver High School
195 E. Center St.
Beaver

*Southeastern Region*
April 5
6:30 p.m.
John Wesley Powell Museum
1765 E. Main St.
Green River

*Northeastern Region*
April 6
6:30 p.m.
DWR Northeastern Region Office
318 N. Vernal Ave.
Vernal

*Email*

You can also provide your comments to your RAC via email. Email addresses for your RAC members are available at www.wildlife.utah.gov/dwr/rac-members.html.

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

*Permit recommendations*

The following are the total number of permits biologists with the Division of Wildlife Resources are recommending for Utah’s 2017 big game hunts:

*Hunt* *2016* *2017*

General buck deer 90,675 89,050

Premium limited entry deer 184 184

Management buck deer 55 61

Limited entry deer 1,166 1,191

Doe deer 755 1,470

General any bull elk 15,000 15,000

Youth any bull elk 500 500

General spike bull elk 15,000 15,000

Limited entry bull elk 2,752 2,833

Cow elk, public draw 13,680 9,980

Cow elk, private lands only 12,010 8,790

Buck pronghorn 771 849

Doe pronghorn 630 750

Bull moose 68 68

Cow moose 20 22

Bison 96 148

Bison (archery only) 0 10

Desert bighorn sheep 42 53

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep 35 32

Mountain goat 102 106

Mountain goat (archery only) 0 2

*General buck deer permits*

During the 2016 general buck deer hunt, 90,675 hunters took 31,800 buck deer. That’s the highest success rate in Utah since 1996, when nearly 104,000 hunters took almost 33,000 bucks.

Even though hunters harvested plenty of bucks last fall, that’s not the main reason the number of bucks per 100 does has declined slightly in some areas in the state. Justin Shannon, big game coordinator for the DWR, says a difficult winter two years ago, followed by drought conditions in 2016 and then a severe winter this past winter, have reduced the number of younger bucks in some areas.

“Before this winter started,” he says, “we found a statewide average of 59 fawns per 100 does. In some parts of Utah, the winter of 2016 – 2017 was pretty severe, and we know some fawns died. The hunting units that were hardest hit by the winter are the units on which we’re recommending a permit decrease. There will probably be fewer 1½-year-old bucks on those units this fall.”

After the hunts were over last fall, the statewide buck-to-doe ratio, on general season units in the state, averaged 21 bucks per 100 does. That’s slightly higher than the 18 to 20 bucks per 100 does objective most of the general season units are managed for. “There should still be plenty of bucks to hunt in Utah this fall,” Shannon says.

*Doe deer permits*

While buck deer permit numbers might go down a bit—from 90,675 in 2016 to 89,050 in 2017—the number of doe deer permits might go up.

Letting more public hunters take does is the reason why. If public hunters don’t take the does, many of them will likely be taken by private landowners.

Shannon says all of the recommended doe deer permit increases are for units in Southern Utah. “We’re recommending the increases to address situations where deer are getting into farmers’ fields and eating their crops,” he says. “Instead of private landowners taking the deer, we’d like to give public hunters a chance to take them, before the does reach the farmers’ fields.”

*Permit increases*

While the number of buck deer has decreased slightly in Utah, other big game populations are growing. Desert bighorn sheep, bison and pronghorn are three examples. Here’s a recap of the number of permits biologists are recommending for the three species: