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Show The antelope hunt September Septem-ber 5 to 13 Is predicted to be excellent on most units of the state. Antelope hunting has im -proved significantly in Utah since 1965. During that season, 51 antelope were harvested by 81 hunters for a 63 percent hunter success. Last year, 310 hunters harvested har-vested 280 antelop for a 91 percent hunter success. The improvement is due in a large part to the Utah Division Div-ision of Wildlife's ongoing program of reintroducing antelope Into historical ranges. Of the 13 antelope units being hunted In 1981, 7 of these areas have been repopulated with antelope through the Division's extensive ex-tensive transplanting program pro-gram within the state. Antelope once roamed In most foothill and valley locations lo-cations of the state. However, How-ever, as civilization and unregulated livestock grazing graz-ing encroached, antelope were pushed to remot desert j areas and populations steadily declined. For many years, antelope received I complete protection. An-j An-j telope hunting began again i in 1945 on a very limited I basis. In describing the 1981 antelope an-telope hunt on the Daggett, j Bonanza and Myton Bench ! units, Northeastern Region-i Region-i al Game Manager Bob Nlelson says, "We have fine mature bucks on all three unlts...The Daggetts really look good." ! In Southeastern Region the Icelander Unit will be the best unit, according to ! Jim Bates, regional game i manager. The Cisco unit will also provide good hunting, ! but poor populations prevail on the Hatch Point unit. Bates recommends antelope hunters hunt-ers in the Cisco unif'stick 1 close to the state line" for the best success. Floyd Coles, Regional game manager in theSouth-ern theSouth-ern Region, predicts good hunting on the Cedar City, Southwest Desert, John's Valley and Parker Valley units. "If a person is willing to spend the time, there's no reason he shouldn't be able to harvest an antelope," says Coles. Coles expects the biggest antelope to be taken In John's Valley. He also cautions that some roads In his region may be torn up due to flash flooding. Rodney John, Central Regional Re-gional supervisor, says the two West Desert units and Puddle Valley have stable populations and should provide pro-vide good antelope hunting. SWAN DEADLINE The deadline for applying for swan permits is Friday, September 4, 1981, at 5 p.m. All applications Including the $1 application fee, must be in a Division office at that time. A drawing for the 2500 swan permits will be held on Friday, September 11. To volunteer for the "Save A -Wing" program, hunters need only send their name, address and small game or combination license number to Upland Game Survey, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Re-sources, 1596 W. North Temple, Sale Lake City, Utah 84116. In return, the hunter will receive postage -paid envelopes for sending wings to the Division, and instructions instruc-tions about saving a wing from each harvested bird. The hunter's name will be kept on file, so he may participate par-ticipate in the Save-A -Wing program in future years. On September 1, avid mourning dove hunters and a few hardy band-tailed pigeon hunters get the first shot at upland game bird hunting for 1981. Mourning dove populations are up slightly, according to Jay Roberson, Utah Wildlife Resources upland game supervisor. However, good dove hunting depends on how warm the weather stays. Three or four nights of temperatures temp-eratures below 45 degress will push the birds south. A permit is required to hunt band-tailed pigeons. It may be obtained at no charge from one of the Division's six offices in Salt Lake, Spring-ville, Spring-ville, Ogden, Vernal, Price and Cedar City. |
