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Show Bow-hunt deer season nears; .new areas open to archers by JANICE PERRY Record editor Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but the best-kept secret at the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is that Kennecott plans to open up two canyons near its mine for the bow-season deer hunt that starts next Friday, Aug. 16. That's good news for Park City-area bow hunters, because close-to-home hunting in the resort area is not expected to be good, said DWR spokesman Steve Phillips. "Summit County has an unfortunate unfor-tunate situation with its deer herd," Phillips said. "They have all the summer range in the world, but particularly the herd around the Park City area is having serious problems because its winter range is disappearingespecially disap-pearingespecially with all the development around there." But bow hunters looking for a good trophy buck may want to travel across the Salt Lake Valley to Coons and Barney's canyons, where Kennecott Ken-necott has given permission for an archery hunt during the season, which ends Sept. 2. "They have been closed the last two to three years, so there ought to be some awfully nice animals in there," Phillips said. About 1,400 archers gathered last weekend in Lamb's Canyon for the should practice with their bows; he said. "It is critical that a shot be exact, or else the deer will go off and die somewhere," he said, noting sometimes some-times a deer will suffer for weeks and months with an arrow wound. "A lot of times you hear hunters out for the rifle season (Oct. 19-29) spot a wounded deer with an arrow sticking out of him," he said, but noted far more deer are lost to winter mortality than to poor shots. "Be proficient and use good judgement," he said. About 27,000 hunters have signed up for this season's bow hunt, a fraction of the 126,000 rifle hunters that have bought permits for the regular hunt. Phillips predicted the hunt will be "pretty good" this fall. "This summer has been plenty moist and the ranges are pretty good," he said. "There weren't winter losses like in '83 and the deer herd is building up again." About 65 percent of the northern Utah herd perished in that severe winter, he said. To help the herd rebuild, fewer permits will be issued for hunting in northern Utah, he said. More permits will be issued in the southern half of the state, where herds were less affected by that devastating winter. But Phillips cautioned hunters against flocking south, saying hunting there won't necessarily be successful due to a greater number of animals. "The point is, stick to an area where you are used to hunting-you're hunting-you're more likely to find deer in an area that you've hunted before. Hunters who consistently take game hunt in the same area year after year." Phillips also noted there will be more so-called "limited entry" areas in which only a proscribed number of hunters are allowed to search for game. "We believe if we continue this, we will get more quality." But that concept has spurred considerable controversy in the towns surrounding those restricted areas. He also said some of the units will require hunters only to take bucks that are three-point or better. "And there will be more opportunity for a quality hunt as time goes on." Phillips noted the limited areas only comprise 10 percent of the total huntable areas. "In 90 percent of the areas you can take anything from a spike buck to Bambi's daddy." The muzzle-loading season for deer begins Nov. 2 and ends Nov. 10. The elk season opener is Sept. 14 and ends Sept. 22. 22 nd annual Beehive-Wasatch Bow-hunters Bow-hunters Treasure Mountain Shoot, honing their skills in anticipation of this month's bow hunt. Archers at the three-day shoot , fired at life-sized styrofoam targets of deer, bear, buffalo and elk at distances of 32 to 80 yards. Phillips said he was pleased by the activity because bow hunters, more than any other class of hunter, must be proficient to bag their game, lest the animal suffer a miserable death with a razor-tipped arrow wound. Too many bow hunters do not properly prepare for the hunt, he said. "You should go in a month before the hunt and scout the area," he said. "The hunter should stand in the trees and locate trails where the deer would go past. It takes patience and preparation." But long before the hunt, archers |
