For the fifth consecutive year, the Utah Wildlife Board approved a decrease in the number of general-season deer hunting permits. The board also approved the other big game and antlerless hunting permits that will be issued during the 2023 seasons, as well as a variety of other items during its May public meeting.
The Division of Wildlife Resources manages deer, elk and other wildlife in accordance with management plans to maintain healthy wildlife populations across the state. DWR biologists also weigh additional factors and data in recommending hunting permit numbers for deer.
These include buck-to-doe ratios, current population estimates and demographics; data from GPS collars and body condition of the deer garnered through annual capture efforts; hunter harvest rates, and habitat and environmental conditions across the state.
The current deer management plan includes an objective to have 404,000 deer across Utah — there are currently an estimated 335,000 deer in the state.
"There are a few things that can negatively impact deer populations in Utah," said Dax Mangus, big game coordinator. "Those include poor or limited habitat, predators and weather — at either extreme, ongoing drought or really heavy snowfall, like we had this winter. The most important factors that drive deer population numbers are the survival rates of doe deer (since bucks don't have babies), fawn production and fawn survival after the winter. The way we hunt buck deer in Utah doesn't drive deer populations, but what happens with deer populations drives how we hunt buck deer."
While most deer had good body fat conditions going into winter, the fawn and doe survival varied throughout the different parts of the state, depending on the severity of the snowfall in each area. 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 hunting units in those areas from their prior recommendations in March.
After discussing DWR recommendations and public feedback, the Wildlife Board approved the following for general-season deer permits in the various areas of Utah:
Northern Utah: a decrease of 7,500 permits (about a 31% decrease from last year); Central Utah: a decrease of 550 permits (a 4% decrease from last year); Northeastern Utah: a decrease of 700 permits (about an 8% decrease from last year); Southern Utah: an increase of 600 permits (about a 5% increase from last year); Southeastern Utah: a decrease of 200 permits (about a 2% decrease from last year).
The board approved a total of 64,725 general-season deer hunting permits, an 8,350-permit decrease from the previous year (a roughly 11% decrease.) Of the 31 total deer hunting units across the state, 11 were voted to have a decrease in permit numbers from the previous year.
"While it is hard to see the negative impacts of the severe winter in northern Utah, it is exciting to see high fawn production and very high survival of does and fawns in southern Utah," Mangus said. "Biologists look closely at each hunting unit and individual situation when they make permit recommendations. We are recommending a decrease for both buck deer and antlerless deer permits again this year, but the circumstances of individual deer populations vary greatly across the state. We use the best available data and our management plans to make proactive recommendations for the herd health of our wildlife."
For information about changes for elk permits, antlerless permits, harvest and game retrieval, as approved by the Wildlife Board, click here.