Biologists from the Division of Wildlife Resources are recommending new and innovative approaches for the 2018 general rifle buck deer hunt that are aimed at reducing crowding during the hunt. All the changes being recommended are a result of biologists listening to hunters, shares DWR big game coordinator Covy Jones. “Almost all the requests we receive from big game hunters have a common theme: we’d like more opportunity to hunt big game. We’ve examined how the state’s big game populations are doing and the current hunt structure we have,” says Jones. “We think we’ve found some innovative ways to meet the requests of hunters without negatively affecting the herds.” The new recommendations for 2018 include holding an early season rifle buck deer hunt on 10 general deer hunting units, holding a late-season limited-entry muzzleloader buck deer hunt, giving bull elk hunters a chance to hunt all three seasons, and holding a ‘cactus buck-only’ hunt in southwestern Utah. Public input on the recommendations are welcome during a meeting at the DWR Northeastern Region Office in Vernal
on November 16th at 6:30pm
. For more information, visit
www.wildlife.utah.gov
.
