*Waterfowl hunting rules will also be discussed*

You might have more chances to hunt bison and pronghorn in Utah in 2019. Biologists with the Division of Wildlife Resources are also recommending new archery hunts that might reduce the number of deer coming into cities
and towns in Utah County.

Plans that will guide the management of bighorn sheep and mountain goats across Utah—as well as rules that will guide waterfowl hunting in Utah for the next three years—are also among items that will be discussed at an
upcoming series of public meetings.

You can review all of the biologists’ recommendations at www.wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings.

*Learn more, share your ideas*

After you’ve reviewed the ideas and plans, 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 Nov. 29 to approve the plans and rules for Utah’s 2019 big game and waterfowl hunts.

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

*Central Region*
Nov. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Monte L. Bean Museum on the campus of  Brigham Young University located at 645 E. 1430 N. in Provo

*Northern Region*
Nov. 7 at 6 p.m. in  the Brigham City Community Center at 24 N. 300 W. in Brigham City

*Southern Region*
Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. in the Cedar Middle School at 2215 W. Royal Hunte Dr. in Cedar City

*Southeastern Region*
Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. in John Wesley Powell Museum at 1765 E. Main St. in Green River

*Northeastern Region*
Nov. 15
5:30 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.

*More chances to hunt*

Big game animals are doing well in Utah. And, in certain pockets of the state, they’re doing extremely well. To help manage the populations, and give hunters more chances to hunt, DWR biologists are recommending some new
hunts in 2019. Here’s a sample:

· New bison hunts on the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah and the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah

· New muzzleloader and archery pronghorn hunts in eastern Utah

· A Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt on the Oquirrh-Stansbury unit in north-central Utah. The hunt would be the first bighorn hunt held on the unit since 2015.

*Controlling deer in cities and towns*

Deer are thriving along the Wasatch Front. And the number of people along the front is growing. In some cases, more deer and more people mean more conflicts between the two.

To try and reduce the number of deer that are making their way into cities and towns in Salt Lake and Utah counties, biologists are recommending more extended archery hunts. (The season dates for extended archery hunts are
longer than most hunts. For example, in 2018, deer in the Wasatch Front extended archery area can be hunted from Sept. 15 – Nov. 30. Archery hunters can take one buck deer or one doe deer. Four extended archery deer
hunts are currently held in Utah. )

“The extended archery hunts have worked,” says Covy Jones, big game coordinator for the DWR. “They’ve helped reduce the number of deer that make their way into cities and towns. They’re a great management tool.”

Along the west slope of the Wasatch Mountains, biologists would like to make four changes. Three of those changes would occur in Utah County:

· Establish a new extended archery hunt in the mountains near Herriman in Salt Lake County.

· Establish a new extended archery hunt in areas around Utah Lake in Utah County.

· Extend the boundary of the Wasatch Front extended archery area all the way to American Fork Canyon in Utah County. Currently, the boundary starts at the Weber/Davis County line and then runs south before ending at
the Salt Lake/Utah County line.

· Establish a new South Wasatch extended archery area. The area’s boundary would start at American Fork Canyon and extend south to Hobble Creek Canyon.

“Extending the Wasatch Front boundary to American Fork Canyon,” Jones says, “and creating two new extended archery areas in Utah County should help reduce the number of deer that are coming into urban areas in the county.”