05/1 - UT - More young hunter opportunities this year!

Salt Lake City -- An effort to attract young people to hunting in Utah received an important boost April 28. At a meeting in Salt Lake City, the Utah Wildlife Board voted to set aside 20 percent of Utah's antlerless elk, deer and pronghorn antelope permits for hunters 18 years of age and younger. Board members also voted to decrease the number of doe deer and cow elk permits available for hunts in Utah this fall. Applications for 2005 Utah antlerless big game hunting permits will be available beginning May 24 from hunting license agents, Division of Wildlife Resources' offices and the DWR's Web site (wildlife.utah.gov). Applications must be received no later than June 20 to be included in the draw for permits. Draw results will be available by July 28. Giving Young Hunters a Better Chance Setting aside 20 percent of this fall's antlerless elk, deer and pronghorn permits for hunters 18 years of age and younger was the major antlerless big game hunting action the board took. Hunters who will be 18 years of age or younger on Aug. 20 (the start of Utah's 2005 archery buck deer hunt) will be placed in the group that can draw for the permits that will be set aside. If there aren't enough hunters in this group to take all of the permits, the permits that aren't taken will be added to the permits that hunters over the age of 18 will draw for. To be eligible to draw for the permits that will be set aside, hunters 18 years of age and younger must apply individually for a permit. Those who apply as part of a group will not qualify. "The number of young people who are becoming hunters has been declining for years, and we're concerned about that trend," said Jim Karpowitz, director of the DWR. "Hunters and anglers provide most of the funding to manage wildlife that everyone in Utah gets to enjoy. As the number of hunters continues to drop, the amount of funding to manage Utah's wildlife will continue to drop too. "Hunting is also a great outdoor activity, and we want to do everything we can to bring young people into the hunting ranks," he said. "One thing we believe is driving young people away is the difficulty in drawing a permit to hunt. Setting aside 20 percent of these permits will give youth hunters a better chance of drawing a permit." Setting aside 20 percent of antlerless permits for youth hunters was recommended to the DWR by Utah's Elk Advisory Committee. The committee consists of 14 citizens and includes representatives from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, the Utah Wildlife Federation and the Utah Bowman's Association. The DWR supported the committee's recommendation and presented it to the board on April 28. Fewer Doe Deer and Cow Elk Permits The board also voted to decrease the number of doe deer and cow elk permits available for this fall's hunts, and to increase slightly the number of doe pronghorn and cow moose permits that will be available. Karpowitz says DWR biologists are seeing some encouraging signs with Utah's deer populations. The total number of deer after last fall's hunting seasons was estimated at 286,705 animals, an increase of almost 20,000 from the 268,180 estimated after the 2003 hunts. "Wetter weather the past couple of years has improved habitat for deer, and the numbers of fawns that are making it to adulthood has increased during that time," he said. "Also, with the exception of parts of Cache and Rich counties, this past winter was ideal for deer across the state." Karpowitz says DWR biologists have almost completed their spring deer surveys. It appears that only a few deer were lost in a few, localized areas this past winter. "Even with all the positive news, there's still a long ways to go before Utah's deer populations will be at the 426,100 animals called for in the state's Deer Management Plan," he said. "Reducing the number of does taken this fall should help increase that number." Karpowitz also said that while the state's elk population is doing great, it's still about 9,000 animals below a statewide objective of 68,400 elk. "Reducing the number of cow elk permits slightly will continue to bring elk herds closer to that objective," he said. For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.