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Show Elk Hunting Changes Should Increase The Number Of Mature Bulls In Utah SALT LAKE CITY - More elk hunters will have a chance to hunt Utah's limited entry units after the Utah Wildlife Board approved changes that should increase the number of mature bull elk in the state. The board took the action Nov. 4 when it approved Utah's 2005 Big Game Proclamation at a meeting in Salt Lake City. The proclamation should be available avail-able by late December. Board members also approved two deer hunting recommendations rec-ommendations brought to them by the Southern and Southeastern citizen regional advisory councils. The five-day general rifle buck deer hunt will continue in the Southeastern Region. In the Southern Region, the general rifle buck deer hunt has been reduced from nine to five days across the region. The 2005 general rifle buck deer hunt in the two regions will run Oct. 22 - 26. Elk hunting changes The elk hunting changes the board approved were recommended recom-mended by the Utah Elk Management Plan Advisory Committee. The 15-person committee com-mittee ipcludes representatives from conservation and sportsman's sports-man's groups (including the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife), the Utah Farm Bureau, land managing agencies, and Utah's Regional Advisory Councils and Wildlife Board. Jim Karpowitz, big game coordinator for the Division of Wildlife- Resources, was the committee's facilitator. "The committee worked hard to find ways to allow more peo- pie to hunt bull elk on limited entry units without negatively affecting the bull elk population we have," Karpowitz said. "The committee came up with some great recommendations, and the Division of Wildlife Resources supported those recommendations." recommenda-tions." The board approved the following fol-lowing committee recommendations. recommenda-tions. These changes will go into effect for Utah's 2005 seasons: sea-sons: The hunter cap on spike bull units has been reduced from 19,000 to 11,000 permits and the general season on spike units has been shortened from 13 to nine days. "This will reduce the take of spike bulls and allow more of them to grow into mature animals," Karpowitz said. "Almost 13,000 hunters participated in the spike bull hunt in 2004." Bull elk on limited entry units are managed under three age class objectives. The board voted to keep the three to four year age class and approved the committee's recommendations to change the middle and highest high-est categories. Units managed under the middle category (which had been five to six years) will be managed for four to five year-old bulls, while units managed under the highest category (which had been seven to eight years) will be managed for five to six year-old bulls. "Lowering these age categories cate-gories will still allow hunters a chance for a very nice bull but because we'll be managing for a slightly younger animal, we can offer more permits," Karpowitz said. "There are plenty of bulls on these units, so offering more permits should not affect bull numbers or the quality of the animals much." A late season rifle elk hunting opportunity will be available away from the rut. The late season hunt will run Nov. 12-18, 2005. To accommodate the late season hunt, the general muzzleloader elk season will start and end three days earlier than it did this year. Thirty percent per-cent of the limited entry rifle permits for 2005 will be used for the late season hunt. "Fewer elk should be taken because this hunt will be held outside of the rut," he said. "The benefit to hunters is the chance to hunt elk when virtually no one else is afield. The long term benefit should be more elk and more limited entry permits for hunters in the future." The board also approved a premium limited entry elk opportunity. Premium limited entry elk permits will cost'more (for example, a resident limited entry permit will cost $280 compared to $508 for a resident premium limited entry permit), but those who draw them will be allowed to hunt all three seasons on the unit they draw a permit for. Five percent of the limited entry bull elk rifle permits avail- able for 2005 will be premium limited entry permits. For more information, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR's Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.. |
