Thoughts about the Utah general Regions?

[2rocky]

Going from 5 to 30 general deer regions was probably a good management step to help the Deer herd. So what general regions are going to have more demand than supply?

It’s almost time to apply for Utah’s 2012 big game hunts. This year, there’s one big change to keep in mind: the general-season buck deer hunt will take place in 30 hunting units, rather than five. To see a map of the areas and learn more about the changes, please visit http://go.usa.gov/ncx . A larger printed map of all the units is also available at Division offices and license agents.

Utah’s online big game application runs from February 1 to March 1, 2012. If you aren’t looking for a permit this year, but would like to build your bonus and preference points, you’ll have until March 8 to apply. We thank you for your support and interest in Utah wildlife.

Sincerely,
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

Im wondering, can a person apply for a controlled hunt as 1st choice and a general hunt as a second choice and not loose your "bonus" points?what are the drawing odds of a general as a 2nd choice?I cant find much for information on this question?

 

[1_pointer]

Many of the central/southern units will be in high demand, just as they were in the five region setup. Though I hope it helps management, I just can't see how it will...

 

[BiggWimm]

I think that it will help there management because it will allow them to fine tune the amount of hunters in more specific areas. Before, with the 5 large regions, you could have potentially had all the hunters for that region in the same general area, thereby wiping out the deer in that area. Now they will be able to control the numbers of hunters in smaller areas contributing to the deer herd growth in those areas on a more minute level. I think that within 5 years, there will be an awesome growth in the deer herds in Utah, especially in those areas that are more difficult to access, i.e. you have to walk to.

 

[Oak]

They will be able to better manage areas, but until they increase their buck:doe objectives and reduce buck harvest, they will not see a great increase in the number or size of buck deer. While biologically sustainable, their buck:doe objectives are too low to produce good hunting for older age class deer, IMO. But maybe that's not what hunters want. I'm guessing that they could do a whole lot of good by simply limiting ATV access, without having to cut tag numbers.

Compare Utah buck:doe ratios to Colorado buck:doe ratios (on page 5).

 

[1_pointer]

BW- I think that's what they want you to think. But, I think Oak's more right than wrong. Heck, an old game warden's suggestion for the Cache Herd was to limit trucks to 2WD and open sighted lever actions! He said when that's all we had, we had lots of deer!

If deer were being wiped out of areas in the larger regions, wouldn't that result in less deer killed/more in other parts of the region? IMO, this was step to being able to more easily hide/justify the reduction in tags. Also will make it easier to move units from general to LE, which what I suspect will happen to many due to the SFW influence. Make this unit LE, give us 10 of the tags to auction and we can make it better...

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

does anybody out there have even a guess of how the draw odds look like on these "general" hunts?

 

[jlmatthew]

does anybody out there have even a guess of how the draw odds look like on these "general" hunts?

Who knows??? Glad I have 5 points though....

Might use them in a couple years after things wash out from this

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

I was thinking of putting in for a limited hunt as first choice and then a general deer unit as second choice? does anybody know if this can be done or is the general deer a separate catagory?also,is there any ideas out there on what a second choices might be a good pick?not much info out there on this subject but would like to apply for something as second choice with at least a posibility of drawing?

 

[1_pointer]

LE and General are seperate categories and have seperate bonus point pools.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

thats good to know,i would think areas in the s e side would be more desirable than to the north?hard to tell untill we get this years stats for next year?how is access and deer to the northern units?

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

I found on another forum that even though utah is going to 30 units,that overall numbers are gonna be reduced substancially in some units,,,it said over 10000 tags overall,anybody else hear of this yet?

 

[1_pointer]

IMO, that's one of the reasons to going to the 30 units. It's easier to "hide" tag reductions, but one the plus side the reductions can now be located more easily where their needed.

Public land is plentiful and widespread in UT as the federal government manages about 2/3s of the acreage in the whole state.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

anybody else puttin in the utah draw this year?cant find much info on the 30 unit change other than the utah g&f site,,,are there good deer hunting up in the n w corner? public land access?

 

[1_pointer]

There's quite a bit of public land access (be advised that some's quite checkerboarded) in the NW corner of the state. However, lots of that public land in that part of the state doesn't hold any deer due to the type, not condition, of the habitat. Salt desert and greasewood flats don't hold a lot of deer.

If you decide to try the very NW corner I could probably help you on some locations to narrow down your search. I'd also suggest you consider the muzzleloader hunt as it's quite a bit less crowded. It used to get pretty busy during the rifle hunt, though most didn't get too far from the truck or ATV.

 

[1_pointer]

You can use the interactive map at this website to see the extent of BLM lands in the western US.

http://www.geocommunicator.gov/GeoComm/

Here's a link to a general land ownership map for the all of UT
http://extension.usu.edu/utahrangelands/htm/land-ownership-of-utah

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

i was thinkin of tryin the n w corner of box elder unit area,,,does anybody know if there are decent deer there?

 

[1_pointer]

Though I've never laid my eyes on any real big ones, there are a couple that are shot in that area every year. In one drive through there in the winter (well after hunting season) I counted over 500 head in a bit over 2hrs.

Be forewarned, much of the larger private pieces are in CWMU or are leased so don't even bother asking for permission.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

thanks,,,good to know,,,it appears to have a good sized patch of blm ground in n w corner im looking at.

 

[1_pointer]

It does. There's also a bit of USFS on the Raft River Mountains.