OCR Text |
Show Split season for waterfowl underway now The first half of the split season for waterfowl (duck, swan, coot and snipe) opens Oct. 3 and runs through December 6 of this year. The season will be closed from December 7-20, and reopen for the second half of the split season during December 21 through January 3, 1988. However, the general goose season runs uninterrupted unin-terrupted from Oct. 10 through January 3, 1988. Many states have had split seasons for several years. The Utah Wildlife Board set the split season in an effort to provide the best of both worlds. Most ducks migrate through Utah during the month of September, just before the hunting season begins. Opening the season as early as federal guidelines permit allows hunters to be out when the greatest numbers of birds are available. This position carries weight since the majority of waterfowl hunters hunt only during the first few weeks of the season. However, interest has been growing steadily from those who want to hunt during the early winter and around Christmas and the New Year holidays. Federal guidelines permit a 79-day maximum season length, so the only way to accomplish ac-complish both an early and late season hunt is to take time off at some point in the middle-hence the split season. This results in hunters being offered the best of both worlds. |