Sitka Gear
Utah’s General-Season Buck Deer?
Mule Deer
Contributors to this thread:
Zbone 03-Mar-16
808bowhunter 03-Mar-16
Florida Mike 03-Mar-16
Zbone 03-Mar-16
808bowhunter 03-Mar-16
YZF-88 03-Mar-16
alpinebowman 03-Mar-16
Zbone 03-Mar-16
alpinebowman 03-Mar-16
wildwilderness 04-Mar-16
From: Zbone
03-Mar-16
Am a little confused… What purpose is Utah’s General-Season Buck Deer preference points?

Wouldn’t all areas not Limited-Entry be considered “General” and if so why would one need to build preference points in the General season?

Thanks in advanced…

From: 808bowhunter
03-Mar-16
I believe you can build points to draw a general tag and also build points to draw a premium tag(2 different draws). I think montana has the same system but they never sell out of general tags so it is kinda pointless for general points

From: Florida Mike
03-Mar-16
" it is kinda pointless for general points"

Classic!

From: Zbone
03-Mar-16
"they never sell out of general tags so it is kinda pointless for general points"

Yeah, that is kinda what I'm asking... I already have one General-Season Buck Deer preference point, do I need another, and do I keep this point if I don't apply anymore in the future?

From: 808bowhunter
03-Mar-16
I was referring to Montana general not selling out. Not sure about utah general deer

From: YZF-88
03-Mar-16
Look up the odds for the unit you are looking at. For many general units you are not garunteed a tag unless you have one point. I myself with zero points didnt draw first choice archery as a non-resident a few years ago.

From: alpinebowman
03-Mar-16
It depends on what units you are applying for. Even as a resident on most units in Utah you need a point to guarantee a draw. They only give out a limited number of tags on the general units which is ironic but the way it is now. And that has certainly brought up discussions on why we don't just combine them. There are some big barriers to climb to sort that all out.

From: Zbone
03-Mar-16
Thank you guys very much!!!

"They only give out a limited number of tags on the general units which is ironic but the way it is now."

That is exactly what I needed to know...

"There are some big barriers to climb to sort that all out."

Tell me about it...8^)

Last question, if I apply again for General-Season Buck Deer preference point, I'll then be setting on 2 preference points... How long can I set on them before they disappear, or do I continually have to annually apply and build just to keep them...

So many states, so many different regs, I can't keep them all straight...8^)

From: alpinebowman
03-Mar-16
I know for limited entry and OIL points if you don't apply for a point or tag fro 3 years you loose your points. I can't remember if that also applies to preference points or not.

From: wildwilderness
04-Mar-16
I had posted this last month in another thread- will answer your question;

To fully understand the general deer tag it helps to know the history. This is what I know but correct me if I'm wrong, back in the day they were OTC for everyone. Then they started putting limits on how many tags were sold by regions (5?) and limiting rifle hunts to these regions. Archery tags were still good state wide back then. No drawing for these tags

At the same time Utah created a few limited draw deer units managed for trophy deer and made a draw system with bonus points for limited deer. so hunters started accruing deer bonus points.

Over time with declining deer herds these OTC tags would start to sell out fast (same day)in the better regions, and the total cap went lower. Finally they decided to break up the regions into units and actually manage the deer herds specifically. Archery tags also became unit specific. To fairly distribute these formerly OTC tags they created a separate general deer permit draw and preference points. And limited residents and non residents permits by units

That is why there are two deer categories , limited trophy units that use bonus points, and general deer with preference points. Currently a NR general archery deer tag can be drawn with 0 pp in most units

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