hunter1975
Active Member
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This is the basis Colorado uses in Unit Management. May be a good start for Utah, but just like Colorado the amount of units and/or unit boundaries may need to be adjusted to better manage each herd. Any Thoughts? Here is the link where I found this info.
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/BigGame/HerdManagementDAUPlans/
"INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) manages wildlife for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the people of the state within the guidelines set forth in the CDOW?s Strategic Plan, Five Year Season Structures, and mandates from the Wildlife Commission and Colorado legislature. Colorado?s wildlife resources require careful and increasingly intensive management to accommodate the many and varied public demands, as well as increasing impacts from a steadily growing human population. The primary tool that the CDOW uses to manage game wildlife within the state is annual hunting seasons. Historically, big game season have been set as a result of tradition or political pressures. Often, the seasons that resulted did not adequately address big game population dynamics or current habitat conditions and pressures.
More recently, big game herds within the state are managed at the herd level, called a Data Analysis Unit (DAU). DAU boundaries are drawn so that they approximate an area where most of the animals are born, raised, and die with as little ingress or egress from other herds as possible. Normally, each DAU is composed of several game management units (GMUs). Within these DAU?s, the herd is managed using the guiding principles set forth in the comprehensive DAU plan.
These DAU plans are updated at five year intervals through a public planning process that incorporates big game management principles and the many and varied public interests associated with Colorado?s wildlife, as well as the mandates of the Wildlife Commission and state legislature. As many interested parties as possible are involved in the planning process, including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, sportsmen, guides and outfitters, farmers, ranchers, the business community, outdoor recreationists, anglers, and the wildlife viewing public. All these groups have a vital interest in the size and composition of the state?s big game herds.
The DAU plan establishes two primary management objectives: the approximate post-hunt population size objective, and the post-hunt composition (number of bucks per 100 does) objective. They are referred to as the DAU population and composition objectives, respectively. These two objectives determine the overall size and structure of the population and influence the management strategies used to reach the goals. The DAU plan also collects and organizes most of the important management data for the herd into one planning document, determines relevant issues through a public scoping process, identifies alternative management strategies to resolve these issues, and finally selects the preferred management objective alternative.
Once these population and composition objectives are set through the DAU planning process, the CDOW has the responsibility to work to achieve these goals on a yearly basis. The population objective drives the most important decision in the establishment of the annual big game hunting seasons: how many animals need to be harvested to maintain or achieve the population objective. To reach these 2 objectives, the CDOW uses a method called ?Management by Objectives? approach (Figure 1).
Select Management Objectives for a DAU
Measure Harvest & Population Demographics
Conduct Hunting Seasons
Establish Harvest Goal Compatible with DAU Objectives
Evaluate Populations & Compare to DAU Objectives
Establish Hunting Season Regulations
Figure 1.
CDOW's Management by Objective Process.
To collect and analyze the data necessary to attain these goals, CDOW biologists use post-hunt aerial classification surveys and computer models. The data collected during annual aerial surveys are used in these computer models and allow biologists to estimate population size and structure. These estimates are then used to generate harvest recommendations that will align population estimates with the herd population objectives generated by the DAU planning process.
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Hunting/BigGame/HerdManagementDAUPlans/
"INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE
The Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) manages wildlife for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the people of the state within the guidelines set forth in the CDOW?s Strategic Plan, Five Year Season Structures, and mandates from the Wildlife Commission and Colorado legislature. Colorado?s wildlife resources require careful and increasingly intensive management to accommodate the many and varied public demands, as well as increasing impacts from a steadily growing human population. The primary tool that the CDOW uses to manage game wildlife within the state is annual hunting seasons. Historically, big game season have been set as a result of tradition or political pressures. Often, the seasons that resulted did not adequately address big game population dynamics or current habitat conditions and pressures.
More recently, big game herds within the state are managed at the herd level, called a Data Analysis Unit (DAU). DAU boundaries are drawn so that they approximate an area where most of the animals are born, raised, and die with as little ingress or egress from other herds as possible. Normally, each DAU is composed of several game management units (GMUs). Within these DAU?s, the herd is managed using the guiding principles set forth in the comprehensive DAU plan.
These DAU plans are updated at five year intervals through a public planning process that incorporates big game management principles and the many and varied public interests associated with Colorado?s wildlife, as well as the mandates of the Wildlife Commission and state legislature. As many interested parties as possible are involved in the planning process, including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, sportsmen, guides and outfitters, farmers, ranchers, the business community, outdoor recreationists, anglers, and the wildlife viewing public. All these groups have a vital interest in the size and composition of the state?s big game herds.
The DAU plan establishes two primary management objectives: the approximate post-hunt population size objective, and the post-hunt composition (number of bucks per 100 does) objective. They are referred to as the DAU population and composition objectives, respectively. These two objectives determine the overall size and structure of the population and influence the management strategies used to reach the goals. The DAU plan also collects and organizes most of the important management data for the herd into one planning document, determines relevant issues through a public scoping process, identifies alternative management strategies to resolve these issues, and finally selects the preferred management objective alternative.
Once these population and composition objectives are set through the DAU planning process, the CDOW has the responsibility to work to achieve these goals on a yearly basis. The population objective drives the most important decision in the establishment of the annual big game hunting seasons: how many animals need to be harvested to maintain or achieve the population objective. To reach these 2 objectives, the CDOW uses a method called ?Management by Objectives? approach (Figure 1).
Select Management Objectives for a DAU
Measure Harvest & Population Demographics
Conduct Hunting Seasons
Establish Harvest Goal Compatible with DAU Objectives
Evaluate Populations & Compare to DAU Objectives
Establish Hunting Season Regulations
Figure 1.
CDOW's Management by Objective Process.
To collect and analyze the data necessary to attain these goals, CDOW biologists use post-hunt aerial classification surveys and computer models. The data collected during annual aerial surveys are used in these computer models and allow biologists to estimate population size and structure. These estimates are then used to generate harvest recommendations that will align population estimates with the herd population objectives generated by the DAU planning process.
