Show Upland game hunt begins Saturday in Uintah Basin The upland game season will begin throughout the State of Utah Saturday Hunters will be seeking grouse and Hungarian partridge cottontail rabbit snowshoe hare and wild turkey Sage grouse hunters should have slightly better success than last year in inthe inthe the Northeastern Region Division of Wildlife Resources officials are expecting expecting ting at least one bird per hunter In Uin- Uin Uintah Uintah tah and Daggett counties Hunters are reminded that Duchesne County Is clos- clos closed closed ed south of Highway 40 due to low populations Much of the best hunting Is Ison ison on private lands so hunters are remind remind- reminded reminded ed to obtain permission The best forest grouse hunting will be bein bein in the lower aspen belts Hunters can expect the same success as In the past four or five years Cottontail rabbit success should be good to excellent in both Uintah and Duchesne Counties and only fair In Daggett County The region has ap- ap apparently apparently recovered from its 79 1978 winter loss which devastated the cot cot- cottontail population Daggett Duchesne and Uintah Coun- Coun Counties Counties ties will remain closed to hun bun hunting bunting ting The Division of Wildlife Resources Resources Is attempting to reestablish establish good population through selected releases of game farm birds Protection from hun hun- hunting ting will help establish these birds The cottontail population Is very good There shouldn't be a problem fin fin- finding finding ding cottontails to hunt Rabbits are high in number for a period and then they take a real sharp drop because they are affected by diseases when there is a large population of rabbits stated Don Smith Northeastern regional supervisor of the Utah Divi- Divi Division Division sion of Wildlife Resources We received received ed a lot of moisture this past spring and that Influenced nesting and hatching ot of forest and sage grouse Blue Mountain Diamond Mountain and Daggett County are good for grouse Smith added The season is closed in our region Nearly were released during the past two years The close season is used to give the a better chance to develop a good wild population before we start hunting them The general outlook for the 81 1982 cottontail season is Improved over last years year's whereas most grouse hunting will be down especially forest grouse Hunters seeking sage grouse this year are urged to check the proclamation for area changes Hungarian and partridge hunting should about equal last years year's Huns are down slightly in Box Elder County but good hunting and success Is expected hunting In Tooele County should be as good or better than last year Although most hunting for these species is done on public land there is the potential for hunting on or cross cross- crossIng tag Ing private lands Hunters are urged to respect the property of the landowner including fences livestock farm eq equip equip- equipment ip- ip ment and buildings Each year landowners lan lan- landowners downers have problems with people us- us using using ing their land without permission or with fences being damaged gates left open or equipment being damaged Pheasant and quail hunting seasons will begin on Nov 6 Hunters In Duchesne and Uintah Counties can again expect a very fine season Last fall the population was up slightly com com- compared compared pared to recent years and this combined combined ed with moderate winter weather resulted in good breeding populations this spring Weather nesting and brood rearing periods have been favorable Average brood size has increased and Is above the 20 year average The index of young per adult hen was up as well Indicating good pro pro- production The best hunting can be expected us- us usIng using Ing dogs in corn fields on opening day Marsh lands such as Pelican Lake and Stewart Lake are better later in the day Hunters are reminded to ask per per- permission permission mission prior to entering private lands to close all gates they go through and to not shoot within yards of houses or livestock The season runs from Nov 6 to 21 with an extension on state and federal lands to Dec 5 The population of quail remains low with considerable habitat loss in Uintah U County Hunting success will be only fair The annual elk hunt will begin in the Northeastern Region on Wednesday Sept 29 and will last until Oct 12 The elk population looks pretty good We should have a good season unless we get snowed out The elk are found in the forest areas on the north and south slopes There arent aren't any best spots Elk are pretty Independent They go where they want to Weather influences where they go said Smith |