Attention Utah deer hunters
Mule Deer
https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46187256&nid=1288&title=dwr-proposing-early-season-rifle-buck-hunt-in-2018-to-reduce-crowding
If you are a deer hunter in UT. You should read this article. Seems pretty standard for Utah. I’m guessing the crowding is just an excuse to appease rifle hunters who just want an early season hunt.
That link wasn’t very obvious. Hopefully this works better.
Better to go to Utah DWR page to get the full scoop.
Changes for elk hunting too...
We tried for years to get a Dedicated Elk Hunter program like our Dedicated Deer Hunter program so you could hunt elk all 3 seasons bow-rifle-muzzy if you chose to and in return do some on the ground type of work.
This new proposal reads more like everyone can hunt all 3 season with nothing in return for the added opportunity.
As far as the proposal for adding an Early Rifle ( I believe it actually is Any Legal Weapon)hunt/Gen units, I just don't think we have the Mule Deer resource to handle more harvests of bucks.
Plus the proposal for late date Muzzy bucks on the Gen units too-----?????
Good luck, Robb
I don't much like the proposal. Regardless of what most opinions are, you are stressing the animals more than normal before the tough winter months begin. Get ready for higher winter mortality rates...
UT has a terrible DWR in general. They do anything possible to appease the rifle hunters. The main problem is there to many people and not enough deer. They shoot every young buck during the general season rifle hunt. There archery season for elk is a joke in my opinion ends way to early. UT needs a major management overhaul imo!
Just look at CO if you want to see rifle preference! You have early rifle seasons for deer during archery season, muzzy during archery, then 4! Seasons going into the Nov rut. Also elk has muzzy during archery, then "early" season in some units, then 4! More rifle Seasons, then many late seasons for cows!
At least CO limits deer tags more than UT. Hopefully UT will take tags from the regular general tag quota to spread out and not just give out more tags.
If you want to reduce crowding, more hunts that have shorter time frames as in 3 hunts that last only 5 days with a couple of days off in between.
No reason at all to have a general season mule deer hunt with rifle that lasts two weeks...
Yes, the archery elk season is dumb. I'm not really interested in what a rifle hunter thinks about moving the LE bull hunt back to mid Oct where it belongs and let archery go from Sept 1 to Sept 20th or something. And sorry DWR, UT does not have enough elk, and habitat, to hunt them general season for three seasons by the same people. What you will see is an increase per hunt in bow hunters, rifle hunters, and muzzy hunters because of the overlap for each weapon type of people now hunting a season they never had before.
