The Division of Wildlife Resources is accepting Big Game Applications till April 25. Castle Country Radio was able to sit down with Conservation Outreach Manager, Brandon Behling who shared all the details.
“The application period is open, get online and pick your hunts. I want to recommend to everybody, we offer the Hunt Planner that’s on our website, so you can just click on our hunting tab. Go down there, it’s got an interactive map where you can kind of choose by the species, the hunt number, what you’re after exactly,” explained Behling. The Hunt Planner is a great resource and will have the most up-to-date information for you about all the upcoming hunts.
The applications will be put in a draw and that will determine where and what you will be allowed to hunt for this season. That number of draws depend on the population of the species, as Behling explains, “Our biologists will get out in the field, there going to go out and do the range counts, see how that heard is performing, what its health is and then they’ll go and put together their recommendations. We then take those recommendations for permit numbers through the RAC and Board process. Ultimately, it’s the Wildlife Board that will make a decision on how many permits we are going to issue.” Officials are now seeing an uptick in applications because Utah has become so popular with their hunts that they offer.
Currently, many folks are out taking advantage of antler gathering season which opened in February. “Shed Hunting is in full swing right now. All of our deer, they should have pretty much dropped all their antlers, and the elk, it’s kind of prime time right now. We’re seeing a lot of elk dropping, there’s still a few elk that are holding on to those antlers, those mature bulls they might hold on to them a little bit longer. Now’s the time to get out there,” said Behling. Reminder, you are REQUIRED to take the Antler’s Gathering Ethics Course before heading out to do some shed hunting.
The waterbodies around the Castle Country area are looking good for Spring time fishing as the ice melt is happening. “As ice comes off, fishing gets hot. So it’s a great time to get out there and start getting your lines wet again. There’s still is some ice though on some of our higher elevation reservoirs. You’ll see like Joe’s Valley, Scofield, they’ll still have ice around the edges. One thing you got to remember though is four inches of ice in the Spring is not the same strength as four inches of ice in the winter,” stated Behling. So anglers are urged to proceed with caution right now as they go hit the lakes.
If you have any questions about Big Game Application, Shed Hunting or would like to report a fishing report call the DWR Office at (435) 613-3700.