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Show DWR To Recommend Buck Deer Permit Reduction The first reduction in general buck deer hunting permits since a 97,000 permit cap was started in Utah in 1994 will be recommended recom-mended by the Division of Wildlife Resources at public meetings in March. The DWR also will recommend recom-mend increasing the number of limited entry bull elk and buck pronghorn permits available for hunts in Utah this fall. An increase in once-in-a-lifetime Rocky Mountain goat permits also will be recommended. Those who attend the meetings meet-ings can learn more about the proposals and can provide their input and suggestions. Citizens representing Utah's five Regional Advisory Councils will take the public input received to the Utah Wildlife Board when it meets in Salt Lake City on March 31 to approve permit numbers for this fall's hunts. Meeting dates, times and locations are as follows: Southern Region March 15, 7 p.m. Beaver High School 195 E. Center St., Beaver Southeastern Region March 16, 6:30 p.m. John Wesley Powell Museum 885 E. Main St., Green River Northeastern Region March 17, 6:30 p.m. Uintah Basin Applied Technology College 1100 E. Lagoon St., Roosevelt Central Region March 22, 6:30 p.m. Springville Junior High School 165 S. 700 E., Springville Northern Region March 23, 6 p.m. Brigham City Community Center 24 N. 300 W., Brigham City Reduction in Central and Northeastern Region buck deer permits The DWR will recommend reducing the number of general buck deer permits in both the Central and Northeastern regions by 1,000 permits each. Central Region permits would be reduced from 13,000 to 12,000, and Northeastern Region permits would be reduced from 14,000 to 13,000. Permit numbers for the Northern, Southeastern and Southern regions would remain unchanged. "The rifle deer hunt went really well this past fall, and hunters killed a lot of older bucks," said Jim Karpowitz, big game coordinator for the DWR. "The snow that fell at the start of the hunt pushed thevdeer down to lower elevations, and hunters found a lot of success." After the hunts were over, DWR biologists conducted their annual post-hunting season deer population surveys. They found that the number of bucks in both the Central and Northeastern regions had fallen to 14 bucks per 100 does. That's just slightly under the goal of at least 15 bucks per 100 does called for in Utah's Deer Management Plan. "It's important, for the deer and for hunters, that these goals ' are met," he said. "Keeping at least 15 bucks per 100 does in the population helps ensure that older, mature bucks are maintained main-tained in the herds and are available avail-able for hunters." Biologists found slightly better bet-ter news in the Southeastern and Southern regions, where buck to doe ratios were 15 bucks per 100 does. The best news was in the Northern Region, where biologists found 17 bucks per 100 does on the region's public land units. , "The success hunters found this past fall isn't the only factor in the lower buck to doe ratios," ' he said "The last couple of years have been better, but we've been hunting bucks that ,. were born during several years , of low fawn production brought on the drought and there just aren't as many bucks out there." Karpowitz says several ' options to increase buck to doe ratios in the Central and Northeastern regions will be considered when rules for Utah's 2006 seasons are set this fall. "There are several optioris ' we can look at," he said. "For example, we may recommend raising the number of permits back to the former level, but decreasing the rifle season to five days, like it currently is in the Southeastern and Southern, regions." Permit increases The reduction in general buck deer permits is one of the few permit reductions the DWR will recommend for this fall. In most cases, the division will recommend rec-ommend permit increases. "We're recommending a slight increase in the number of limited entry buck deer permits," per-mits," Karpowitz said. "Some limited entry herds are meeting the buck to doe objectives and can handle a little more hunting pressure. x'The state's elk herds are also doing great, and we're recommending an increase in limited entry bull elk permits," he said. "Each of the state's units are managed so the bulls on the units fall into one of three age classes. The bulls on all of the state's units are at or above the age class objectives for their units. "Increased permits will be recommended for pronghorn antelope on the Plateau unit in southwestern Utah, and Rocky Mountain goats may be one of the most exciting stories of all," he said. "We count them every three years, and we found , increased numbers of Rocky Mountain goats on several units during our latest counts. The goat populations on the Uinta Mountains and Willard Peak are doing especially well." Recommended permit numbers General bull elk permits were approved by the Utah Wildlife Board last fall. Any bull elk permit per-mit numbers will remain unchanged from 2004, but the cap on general spike bull elk permits was reduced from 19,000 to 11,000. Permit numbers for 2004, and the permit numbers the DWR is recommending for 2005, are listed below: A breakdown showing the total permits for each unit will be available on this Web site before the RAC meetings. |