Drought conditions, followed by a tough winter in parts of Utah, means 1,625 fewer hunters will be hunting buck deer during the state's general hunt this fall. More hunters will be hunting desert bighorn sheep, bison and pronghorn, though.
After hearing presentations from biologists, chairmen from Utah's five Regional Advisory Councils and members of the public, the Utah Wildlife Board approved permits for this fall's hunts.
The following are the total number of permits the board approved for 2017 with 2016 numbers in parentheses:
General buck deer (90,675) 89,050; Premium limited-entry deer (184) 184; Management buck deer (55) 61; Limited-entry deer (1,166) 1,191; Doe deer (755) 1,470; General any bull elk (15,000) 15,000; Youth any bull elk (500) 500; General spike bull elk (15,000) 15,000; Limited-entry bull elk (2,752) 2,833; Cow elk, public draw (13,680) 10,060; Cow elk, private lands only (12,010) 8,915;
Buck pronghorn (771) 849; Doe pronghorn (630) 750; Bull moose (68) 68; Cow moose (20) 22;
Bison (96) 148; Bison (archery only) (0) 10; Desert bighorn sheep (42) 53; Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (35) 32; Mountain goat (102) 106; Mountain goat, archery only (0) 2.
During the 2016 general buck deer hunt, 90,675 hunters took 31,800 buck deer. That's the highest success rate in Utah since 1996, when nearly 104,000 hunters took almost 33,000 bucks.
Even though hunters harvested plenty of bucks last fall, that's not the main reason the number of bucks per 100 does has declined slightly in some areas in the state.
Justin Shannon, big game coordinator for the DWR, says a difficult winter two years ago, followed by drought conditions in 2016, and then a severe winter this past winter, have reduced the number of younger bucks in some areas.
"Before this winter started," he said, "we found a statewide average of 59 fawns per 100 does. In some parts of Utah, the winter of 2016–2017 was pretty severe, and we know some fawns died. In northern Utah, there will probably be fewer 1-year-old bucks on some of the units this fall."
The hunting units that were hardest hit last winter are the units on which the number of permits was decreased.
On a positive note, after the hunts were over last fall, the statewide buck-to-doe ratio, on general season units in Utah, averaged 21 bucks per 100 does. That's slightly higher than the 15 to 17 bucks per 100 does objective, and 18 to 20 bucks per 100 does objective, that the various general season units are managed for. "There should still be plenty of bucks to hunt in Utah this fall," Shannon says.
While buck deer permit numbers went down from 90,675 in 2016 to 89,050 in 2017, the number of doe deer permits went up.
Minimizing depredation in agricultural fields is the main reason for the increase. If the board didn't allow public hunters to take the does, private landowners would end up taking many of them.
All of the additional doe deer permits are for units in southern Utah.
"We recommended the increase to reduce the number of deer that are getting into farmers' fields and eating their crops," he says. "We want to give public hunters a chance to take the deer before the does get into the farmers' fields."