Thankyou Utah!

[Prism]

This post is to thank all of those involved in putting an end to the DWRs rediculous number of proposed elk tags.

I'm sure there are a lot of individuals to be thanked and they know who they are.

My sincere appreciation for trying to do what's best for our elk herds!!!

I won't draw my tag this year, but when I do it's nice to know that there should still be some trophy bulls on the mountain.

(Now if we could just do the same for our deer.........)

 

[200incher]

What was the final result for the elk tags?

 

[257Tony]

Im way excited too, cuz Im gonna draw in 2-20 years. So I still hope to see a trophy 280 bull!

 

[cowslayer]

Hey, what were the numbers that they approved?

It sounds like your saying the wildlife board didn't accept the RAC Boards recomendations.

What changed their minds?

CS

 

[ktc]

People attending meetings and putting up a good argument and presentation to stop the slaughter on Manti, Wasatch, and Fish Lake.

Good job!

 

[Skunkterd]

My 2-year-old nephews would like to thank you for making it impractical for them to draw in there lifetime. Good work guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[30plus]

wasatch to increase only 20 from last year
same increase on the manti
san jaun and la sal will each increase 7 tags with all rifle increase in the late season.
fishlake to remain the same as last year. DWR is still taking heat for the blue light special on cows on the fishlake a few years ago.
the rest of the units went with what the DWR had proposed.
The board also showed some sense in keeping the NE deer tags at 05 numbers instead of adding the 1000 back. They made it clear that with a 15-20 buck to 100 doe ratio we should try for the top end not settle at the bottom.
Also the elk committe is to be reconvened.
The next round is the antlerless RACs if you really want more oppurtunity this is where we can do it. Most units deer and elk are below objective. The Manti alone is 3000 or so elk below objective.
Dave

 

[HuntElk4Fun_]

What bothers me is they make these decisions weeks/months after we all apply. I know most states wait, so they can count animals, check winter kill, etc.

Why not move Utah's deadlines back? I realize in the big picture of things it doesn't matter much, but to me, it's just another small example of the DWR's seperation between their objectives and the hunter's voice.

So, no new San Juan early tags? Wasatch's changes early I assume?

Thanks for the info guys!

ODDNUT1
Kirt C.
Hunt Odds.com

 

[elkhunterUT]

30plus,
Is the 20 tag increase for the Wasatch the increase for the early any-weapon hunt only, or was it 20 additional permits for all of the hunts?

What was the increase for Wasatch Archery tags over last year? Anybody know?

Thanks,

Cory

 

[Packout]

I believe the 20 permits on the Wasatch and Manti will be divided on the 25/60/15 scale. So you will see approx 5 archery tags, 3 muzzleloader tags and 12 rifle tags (they did not specify which rifle hunts would receive the extra permits) for each unit. The Late Hunt on the Wasatch was not specificly addressed.

The San Juan and La Sals each got 7 additional tags. With the 25/60/15 split, that would be approx 1 archery, 1 muzzleloader, and 5 rifle tags which were specified to be Late hunt tags.

All the rest of the hunts sailed thru without question.

I think the outcome was ok. I don't really agree with giving 30% additional tags on some units, while cutting the additional tags on other units back to less than a 10% increase. Utah's system is definately a Politically driven system. On one hand the Board accepts the biologists' reccomendations on most items (without analyzing them) and grasp at straws on other issues, going against the biological data.

You boys who didn't want an increase in tags better pony up some money to SFW because they are the reason the tag numbers were cut.

 

[Gator]

Prism You know more Bulls die of old age down on the San Juan then are shot, I mean how many bull tags are give out for that are total, AND how big is the herd, I think Todd will even tell ya they need more bulls taken out of the unit.So Please don't cut tags for there.

 

[Prism]

Hopefully Todd'll give his 2 cents, but I'm guessing he's happy they didn't increase it too much.

As far as the oppurtunity deal goes, I think you all know my stance on that. There is A TON of opportunity in Utah to hunt elk. We have PLENTY of OTC tags if you want to hunt elk. Come join the masses around Heber and chase cows and spikes until their tongues hang out and yours does too-wichever comes first

We can archery hunt for almost 4 MONTHS if we choose to do so!

My 72 year old father will likely never draw an elk tag again in Utah in his lifetime. With current odds I'll be lucky to draw 2, so I can see where a lot of you are coming from.

I would like to see more elk tags for trophy bulls in the future, but I believe the proposed increase by the DWR was way to much to soon on the Wasatch and Manti.

Anyway, good luck in the draws to all.

And thanks to all of the groups and individuals that had a part in cutting the numbers back! It wasn't just one group and it wasn't just one individual.

 

[Torch]

Prism, do you want the opportunity to hunt bull elk or to hunt a mature bull? Do you want the opportunity to buck hunt deer or a mature buck? There is a huge difference!

Sure Utah has a lot of opportunities to hunt elk, but not mature bulls. Most of the mature bulls are shot on LE units or private land. How big do you think the average bull shot is on public land with an OTC tag?

I'm actually very glad the board didn't approve the proposal from the rack as well. However, I do believe certain units can handle more tags, but it should be done slowly and capped off if the units don't meet there age objectives.(Whether or not the age objectives are correct is a whole different issue) The RAC's proposal was waaay too many at once in my opinion.

Here is a link for the 2006 limited entry bull permit numbers.
http://www.wildlife.utah.gov/hunting/2006permits/le_bull_elk.pdf

 

[huntindude]

As a nonres this is pretty exciting, with the extra tag numbers I should draw in the year 2098 instead of 2134. I areee with keeping the quality up anyway, there's lots of places to shoot dinks if that's your thing.

 

[schmalts]

why did they add 9 permits to the Manti rifle for the res but didnt add any for the nonres?? WTF?

 

[Prism]

I like shooting spike elk and 2 point deer Throw in an occasional cow and doe tag and I'm a happy UTAH hunter.

Just kidding! I want more opportunity for trophy animals, even if that mean less opportunity to hunt........

But that's just me. I know and understand that a lot of guys are more than happy with spike elk and 2 point deer-most of my family included.

 

[cantkillathing]

Gator,
You obviously don't make it down to the San juan unit, we have never found a dead elk that had died of old age, we have 1,000 head of elk on our unit, that is all they managed for. They could definately up it to 2,000 head, and one day I hope they do. Also consider that this 1,000 head of elk include the 3 different CWMU that cover probably 150,000 acres of private ground, and I would bet they take in 1/3 of our elk herd. You are going to see that the bulls taken last year will never be matched, I would almost bet that they have pushed the San Juan unit age limit down a couple of years after one year. I dont see why they wanted to increase the numbers in the first place.

Tell me how the DWR would know if they already haven't met there objective of 5 to 6 year old bulls. They wont know until this years success to see what the age requirement fell to. I could never understand the increase with out seeing the impact it has done, wouldn't it take a minimum of 3-5 years to see what the increase of tags has already done. How do they not know if they met the objective, sounds like an invalid study to me. You cannot say its a sudy until you have seen the impact the increase has already done to our herds.

 

[taximan]

I would like to see some of these dead mature bulls that are dying on the winter range, maybe someone could direct me to where they are so I can take some pictures myself. I surely wouldn't pick them up for my own (lol). Has anyone considered that mule will not recover with the population of elk where they are right now? Just curious. Thanks.
KLM