Utah Deer Prospects

[greatwhitebuffalo]

Utah wildlife biologists seek 9K fewer deer hunting permits to be issued in 2020

Utah wildlife biologists are proposing 9,175 fewer general-season deer hunting permits to be issued in 2020 as buck populations have fallen a bit in the state over the past few years.

www.ksl.com

Please forrgive me if this has already been discussed. But, I was interested in some people's thoughts. Seems like some of these units might be a little too far gone. Specifically, seems like there's two options: 1. you're either swinging for the fences in a limited entry unit or 2. hard luck in a general unit. But, I've only spent limited time compared to others in some of these areas.

 

[Wildabeest]

2018 was a rough year, with drought, wildfires and then the severe winter into 2019. Not surprised that populations have fallen below objectives. Surprised to see that elk seem to have faired better. I do a lot of hiking and hunting in the areas east of SLC and just north of I-80 (Chalk Creek / East Canyon / Morgan-South Rich) and will say that I’m seeing less game than normal since last winter. I hunted mule deer for 5 days in that unit last year and came up empty.

 

[Jape]

Utah wildlife biologists seek 9K fewer deer hunting permits to be issued in 2020

Utah wildlife biologists are proposing 9,175 fewer general-season deer hunting permits to be issued in 2020 as buck populations have fallen a bit in the state over the past few years.

www.ksl.com

Please forrgive me if this has already been discussed. But, I was interested in some people's thoughts. Seems like some of these units might be a little too far gone. Specifically, seems like there's two options: 1. you're either swinging for the fences in a limited entry unit or 2. hard luck in a general unit. But, I've only spent limited time compared to others in some of these areas.

In general, you are correct.

 

[buckhunterhart]

This really needed to happen, but it is a year late IMO. 2018/2019 winter was really rough on Cache and Chalk Creek / East Canyon / Morgan-South Rich (at least on the eastern slopes). My experience last fall is similar to Wildabeast, areas that we were rich in bucks in 2018 were all but barren in 2019.

 

[bowhuntmontana]

I've hunted some of these units on general tags. The past two years numbers seemed down over 2017. Last year especially so. I passed a few smaller bucks and never found one I really wanted. Felt like I was seeing half the deer vs two years previous. Probably wouldn't have hurt to cut tags more in a few places.