Utah Wildlife Board met last Thursday and approved a decrease in the number of general-season deer hunting permits and other big game and antlerless hunting permits. For the fifth consecutive year, there is a decrease in the number of general-season deer hunting permits as the current deer management plan is to have 404,000 deer across Utah. There are currently an estimated 335,000 deer in the state. After looking at the data, it was determined most of the deer had good body fat going into winter but the fawn and doe survival depended on the severity of the snowfall. Deer herds in the northern and northeastern parts of the state were hit the hardest and DWR biologists recommended an additional decrease in permits for some of the hunting units. The board approved a decrease of 700 permits, about a 8% decrease from last year, in Northeastern Utah. In total 64,725 general-season deer hunting permits were approved, which is an 8,350-permit decrease from the previous year. Of the 31 total deer hunting units across the state, 11 were voted to have a decrease in permit numbers from the previous year.
