The state has faced some very tough snow storms this year and it’s affected the deer and elk in the backcountry. Because of this the Division of Wildlife Resources is halting the Shed Horn Hunt till April 30. Castle Country Radio spoke over the telephone with Conservation Outreach Manager, Aaron Bott to get all the details.

Shed horn hunting is a great family activity to enjoy but after a hard winter, it can put pressure or stress on the herds. “In early spring, late winter, these animals have had generally a hard time. They’re trying to keep a live, they’re living basically off of their body fat reserves. These pregnant females really depend on those body fat reserves, especially at this time of year. So that they can give birth to healthy offspring in the coming months,” said Bott. This is already a stressful time for mothers who are going to give birth in extreme winter conditions.

All of the precipitation we’ve received all over the state this year has caused concern for the animals in their habitat. A closure or halting of Shed Horn Hunt is being imposed as of Feb. 7 on both public and private lands. “We’ve decided to put a closure on our Shed Hunting Season from now until Apr. 30. The reason why, again, we are just trying to discourage people from getting out and about and recreationally pushing and stressing these animals at this critical time of year,” stated Bott.

The Shed Horn Hunting course has been postponed as well. The class is no longer offered during this closure. “So typically, in the State of Utah, we require an ethics course to be taken for anyone going to go shed hunting, from the first of Feb. until the end of Apr. Right now, we just decided to close this opportunity off but it could change its weather dependent,” explained Bott. Officials will keep a close eye on the conditions and see how herds are migrating.

The DWR has been busy doing population counts of the animals. “All across the state we’ve been doing our population counts, and we’ve been measuring the body fat of deer and different units. We just finished up our captures a couple of months ago and things are looking pretty good. So if we can pull through this winter with all this precipitation we hope for a good spring green up and a lot of fat calves and fawns in the springtime,” said Bott.

To keep informed on DWR please visit their website at https://wildlife.utah.gov/ or their Facebook page.