Southern Utah Crowding???

[Hawkeye]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-17-09 AT 12:27PM (MST)[p]After spending the last several archery openers in Central Utah, I decided to try my luck in Southern Utah this year. My decision to head South was based upon two factors. First, I wanted to try a new area. Second, I was angry and upset at the whiners down South that moaned and complained until the DWR made us pick a region this year. Yes, my decision was partially motivated by spite.

Although we did not fill our tags, we had a great hunt. We saw lots of deer and passed on some smaller bucks. The thing that stood out to me most was the fact that there were very few hunters in the area we were hunting. We saw a few camps and trucks but we only saw two other hunters in the field while hunting Saturday and Sunday. There was a fraction of the people I am accustomed to seeing on an opener in the Central Region. Perhaps less people went South this year now that we have to pick a region? Perhaps more people headed to those limited entry units recently opened to spike hunting? I doubt either of these factors played a significant role. I personally think the complaints of overcrowding in the Southern Region have always been plain fiction.

I am very interested to hear reports from other people. What did you see as far as crowing? Was it any different than in past years?

Hawkeye

Browning A-Bolt 300 Win Mag
Winchester Apex .50 Cal
Mathews Drenalin LD

 

[trevriv]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-17-09 AT 01:29PM (MST)[p]I dont know about Southern Utah, as I've never hunted there. But I think that the whole idea of picking your region is nonsense! I usually hunt the Northeatern Region, Rifle. This is the first year that I have hunted archery, one of the main reasons that I took up archery is that I thought I could hunt statewide as I live in the Central region I thought I could go up after work or on weekends by my house but make my main hunting trip in the NE region. it doesnt make any sense as there are very few archery hunters in the state. I think that the southern utah boys think they have a good thing and dont want to share. The So utah boys have every right to that hunting area as does the rest of the state, our tax dollars and license fees benefit them too. if they want poeple to stay away from their area, they should buy a few thousand acres and do what they want. Again, I do not hunt the southern region but do not appreciate being denied the opportunity if I wanted it.

 

[alp75]

I know a lot of archery hunters and not one has been going to or gone to the southern area. Southeastern yes, but southern no. IMO they are just whining.

 

[noluck]

I live in the Southern Unit, and I hate the idea of picking a unit. My fear is I won't be able to get a tag in my own backyard. I don't want to have to get the unsuccesful letter for archery, I get enough of those every year. Although there are alot of hunters on the mountain here I'm not convinced it's any worse than anywhere else I've hunted opening weekend. I've hunted the wasatch front, Southeast, southern, and Central and I would say the front has the worst crowding issues.

Here is one vote coming from the southern unit that is adamently opposed to the pick your unit idea.

Now if they could ban fourwheelers and alchohol opening week I may vote for that.

 

[huntingjlc]

I also live in the southern unit. I saw fewer hunters this year and was surprised at how few I did see. I was on the Monroe unit and i figured there would be more hunters, not fewer than in years past. Maybe all the whiners from the rest of the state that complain about the southern boys and ended up picking their home regions are more in number than I thought!
And before you whiners from outside the unit chime in, realize that I grew up in the Southeast region and still prefer to hunt there. I also am against picking your region. However, it does get a little old listening to people bit*h and complain about all the southern unit hunters who want a little less hunting pressure.

 

[trevriv]

we would all like a little less hunting pressure!

 

[huntingjlc]

I agree! What I am saying is that with what I saw this weekend, either there was a lot more people in the past hunting the southern unit and so there was overcrowding which has been denied by a lot of people on this site, or the other units were just more popular this year.
Either that or the Monroe unit with the spike hunt and everything, just isn't a popular place this year.

 

[trevriv]

"People who live in southern Utah are concerned about the pressure they feel the statewide archery hunt puts on the region's deer herds," says Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources

I just pulled this off the UDWR site. Heck, when I was concerned about too much pressure in the NE Rifle Unit. I just switched to Archery, problem solved. I didnt cry to the division to fix it. The part that I am surprised about is the DWR fixed their "problem" for them. I guess its who you know. If the DWR was really concerned about "putting pressure the regions deer herds", they would have done something about the pumpkin patch and left the archers alone. Its just politics and somebody down south is playin it right. It has nothing to do with deer management and everything to do with whos bleepin who. Just my 2 cents.

 

[peakfreak]

I know around Enterpise and Pine Valley you have to stand in line to get a seat.

 

[dillon]

I have hunted down there for years growing up on the Zion unit and close to the Panguitch Lake. I have bow hunted since I was 14 and am now 22. So after eight years of bow hunting the Southern Archery I am absolutely excited to go down there from Logan where I am going to school and go hunting with my dad for three days this week.

I agree with the Pick Your Region hunts and am not afraid to say it. I actually wish they would make the regions smaller like the limited entry hunts. However, the general hunting community most likely will never let that happen.

I have to say that the state wide archery is a Joke and that now that there is less pressure down there and I believe everywhere else the hunting should be better and more big bucks will get taken with a bow.

I just wish the rifle was a 5 day hunt still on the Southern.

Dillon

 

[Elkaholic6x6]

My southern unit weekend.
Small trailer cities.
Chubby Buggies keeping the roads well used.
Just as many people as any other year.
I counted 9 people walking up one trail at sunlight. All going to the same ridge. Who knows what they are thinking....(surround and jump shoot?)

But there is hope.
The DWR's email that I got says that with all the people getting their deer, pressure should be down in the southern region next weekend. Nice! I cant wait.
(I cant believe that they said that)

I think we go on opener just because we can. I wish I could resist or change my days off and skip opening weekend. The opening of archery season has really turned into joke the last 10 years. You just have to be willing to hike that extra hill or two to get away. Reminds me of Rifle hunting in the 80's

With all that said. We had an awesome time. Saw some bucks and bulls. Had one guy have some success. Weather kicked a$$.

 

[trevriv]

I have been rifle hunting all my life (just got my new Mathews and switched to archery). I have hunted when the hunt was statewide, and have hunted when I had to pick my region... like it is now. I did not notice any difference in hunting pressure. The pumpkin harvest is still going strong. According to the DWR and alot of the hunters on this site... the ratio of bucks to does and the ratio of bigger bucks is higher in the southern region and has the most available public land than any other region in the state. If this is the case, and the southern region gets punded harder than any other region... why are the deer numbers so much higher than the rest of hte state. Seems like the southern management plan was working better than most. Since the Southern region has the most deer and the biggest deer and the most public land... well it only makes sense that it gets the most pressure. I would bet that there are more buck deer per hunter in the southern region than other region in the state. Therefore, they SHOULD receive the most pressure! As matter of fact I am going to encourage more hunters to visit Dixie! So I can have the SHi**y Northeast region to my self!

 

[wileywapati]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-18-09 AT 12:28PM (MST)[p] OK I've been keeping tabs on this for the past few years.
Here are the numbers from the DWR. About 7500 hunters are in the Southern Region on opening weekend. This number has been consistent for several years, and followed suit this year.

Of this 7500 about 2500 are Dedicated Hunters. Logic would tell you that the herds in the north are down. BESS will tell anyone that will listen to stay out of the Basin. Central is
acreage wise the most hunted Region in the State. All that being said the SOUTH SAW NO INCREASED PRESSURE FROM YEARS PAST THIS YEAR.

I will be the first to admit that there are three area's in the Southern Region that need to be dealt with. Deal with these area's and leave the rest of the State out of this cluster.

A Committee has been formed to deal with these issues, apparently there has been some challenges getting all involved to sit at the same table and I'll tell ya that it ain't the bowhunters holding things up.

7500 bowhunters = Crowding almost 20,000 rifle hunters = no crowding.

People like Dillon are not going to like what comes next but their mindset won't or can't see the inevitable.

 

[muledeershedsrock]

I was down in the southern region with my dad and 2 friends. We were on the Boulder Mountain every morning, after noon, and night up to now and only seen 5 bucks the whole time, the biggest being a nice little 16 inch 3x4. Up to the day before most of the people showed up you would drive up a road and see about 10-15 nice bucks. But when every body showed up all you would see were does and fawns until you got about a half a mile off any road. Up on top of the boulder platue there were more camps than we had seen any time before on the opener of the archery hunts. We had 3 other friends that were camped up on the mountain and all they ever seen was a small 3 point. And not once did I see a fish and game officer checking tags the whole time. Thats what i seen over the weekend.

 

[utahheadgear]

I would agree with the author of the thread. This whole "chose your region" bunk was pushed through by a few blow hards who happen to know the right somebody in a high place and didn't like the fact that someone from Salt Lake City camped next to them one year. It's BS, there was no real facts presented, just speculation, no biological reason for the change, nothing. Politics, politics, politics. Someone's personal agenda. If the deer are suffering down there (which is an issue sometimes brought up in this argument that I don't believe to be true either. The deer are for sure not any worse off than deer anywhere else in the state), it has nothing to do with archery hunters, and anyone that says otherwise either doesn't know what they are talking about, are just plain stupid, or.....have a personal agenda. Hmmmmm??

Archery success rates are nill compared to other hunts. What they need to help the deer down there are MORE archery hunters not less. That would let more hunters hunt, while at the same time harvesting less deer. It's a win, win. Try telling that to those Southern boys and see what happens though.....not pretty.

 

[justr_86]

I am in favor of the statewide archery. It was nice when I got drug to southern utah for a visit to the wifes family I had an option to go hunting. I never killed anything but it was fun to try, thats archery though. I dont want to beat a dead horse but archery success rates are low. They do need to cut the rifle tags, STATEWIDE!! overcrowding the southern region is BS.

 

[xxxbull]

its called everyone in S.Utah is broke or out of job and cant hunt this year and you're gas is cheaper then here! LMAO

 

[BlastNCast]

I usually spend a week or two on Fishlake starting with the opening and this year it was cut short due to other tags. There were definetly more hunters around our camp. They seemed to be mostly roadies on wheelers that beat the roads all day long. I also felt like the elk hunting was better as 2 in our camp filled spike tags and we were seeing elk everywhere we turned. The deer on the other hand were down. I seen only a handful of does and fawns and I can't even say I seen a horn on a deer. I use to love to hunt deer on Fishlake but it has been a joke last couple of years due to poor deer numbers.
I personally don't care what they do with the archery hunt, keep it statewide or make you choose your area, as long as they can give me some relevant info on the decision that was made so I can see how it is going to benefit the deer and my hunting opportunity.

Let's just say it how it is!!

 

[Robiland]

Call me crazy, but could the crowds have a little to so with the last few weekends of summer before school starts, and some holiday that is near the time of the archery hunt called LABOR DAY.

Could People just be out and camping before school starts????

I know that sounds crazy?

This last weekend, I was in the south for the opener. I saw only a small fraction of what I saw last year on the Manti. It was a joke last year. I aslo had a LE archery elk tag, too.

This year, I saw a few camps that were out camping, NOT hunting. Isn't that weird. NON hunters in the south crowding and chasing the deer off of the main roads. Wow!!!

2009=South=little pressure
2008=Southeast/Manti=@#$%# Pressure
2007=South/Monroe=medium pressure
2006=Southeast/Manti=Tons of pressure

Just my 2 cents.

 

[legacy]

I hunted the southern region for the first 6 days of the season and DID NOT SEE ONE OTHER HUNTER!

 

[Scrillznac]

We're archery deer hunting in the Southern region as well. We only saw 1 other hunter in 5 days of hunting and he was a L.E. elk hunter.

 

[dillon]

I just got back from down there. I hunted one morning and shot a 19 inch 4x4. I saw 84 deer in a day and a half ten of which were bucks. I love the southern.

 

[Boone169]

I think if they make it so they have an actual quata for each region some of the people in the southern unit may not even get to hunt there then they will be complaining about not getting a tag. I would like to see the state go to smaller units and the unit you draw is the unit you hunt it has worked with the elk so why the heck they dont do it with the deer is beyond me dang politics. if utah would follow colorado in what they have done last year colorado had some bad winter kill so what did they do lower the tag numbers. That is the only way utahs deer herd is ever going to improve. sorry to get off subject

 

[trevriv]

>I think if they make it
>so they have an actual
>quata for each region some
>of the people in the
>southern unit may not even
>get to hunt there then
>they will be complaining about
>not getting a tag.
>I would like to see
>the state go to smaller
>units and the unit you
>draw is the unit you
>hunt it has worked with
>the elk so why the
>heck they dont do it
>with the deer is beyond
>me dang politics. if
>utah would follow colorado in
>what they have done last
>year colorado had some bad
>winter kill so what did
>they do lower the tag
>numbers. That is
>the only way utahs deer
>herd is ever going to
>improve. sorry to
>get off subject

Do you really think lowering the number of ARCHERY tags will help the herd? How about the Rifle? I'm pretty sure that if we improved their habitat, the deer herd would improve. From what everyone says about the southern region, the deer herd is doing just fine (boy am I going to get crap about that one). Let's not forget either that "picking your region" had NOTHING to do with improving the herd and had everything to do with overcrowding. As I recall, hunting helps the deer by thinning the herd so they dont all starve to death in the winter, right? I said it in another post... but... the southern region has the most deer, the highest buck-to-doe ratios and the most public land in the state. Therefore, the Southern Region SHOULD get the most pressure. Boy, I cant wait until Sept. 2 so I can see what all the fuss is about ! Funny thing, I never had any desire to hunt the Southern Region (except the Henries!) until all this controversy. The hunting must be superb down there! Yep, can't wait til the 2nd!

 

[lone_hunter]

I am an old Bast***. I have hunted the southern region for a long time, even though crowds have increased for archery over the years, it is still not bad if you get off the road.

I am a DH'er and will be back on the rifle, reqretably skipping the ML this year.

In my opinion the biggest impact on southern deer this year will be the 10 rifle season. I don't want to stir eveyone up about length of seasons and what is fair (fair is an agricultural exhibition). In my observation, since they insituted the 5 day, deer quality has improved.

 

[deadibob]

I agree with the old ba^&ard. The five day hunt made a big improvement on the age class of bucks in Southern Utah. There is an overcrowding issue in Southern Utah, but it is in several isolated areas such as enterprise during the Archery hunt, Enterprise, Utah hill, Pine Valley, the Coral pinks, Beaver etc on the rifle hunt.

There are also plenty of areas a guy can hunt the muzzy/archery hunt and be nearly alone. This overcrowding in areas is a problem that would be simply solved by micro-units.