Watch today's Wildlife Board meeting

Amy

Active Member
Messages
263
Good morning, everyone! Today, the Utah Wildlife Board will set big game and antlerless permit numbers for the 2020 hunts.

The meeting will be held online only. Board members have already viewed the biologists' presentations and received comments sent in by the public.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., and we will be livestreaming it via YouTube.

If you're interested, please check out the agenda and watch it online!


Amy Canning
Communications Specialist
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
 
I Think Kevin A nailed it!

"While We are Letting Animals Eat/Lick the Apple Piles We Are NOT Really Concerned about CWD"

"WE'VE GOT CWD"!

Let's Kill Em All!

JUDAS!
 
If the deer herd is in such trouble that they have to cut tags like they are this year, they damn sure shouldn’t be issuing antler less tags. The almighty $$ wins out again. It’ll never change
 
If the deer herd is in such trouble that they have to cut tags like they are this year, they damn sure shouldn’t be issuing antler less tags. The almighty $$ wins out again. It’ll never change

Covy addressed this in the meeting - antlerless tags are often times issued to handle depredation issues. The animals are going to be killed either way, and the division would prefer to give sportsmen the opportunity to harvest the animals rather than the division killing them.

I came away from yesterday's meeting with some hope that our wildlife in Utah can be managed using real data and biology rather than politics and special interests (don't get me wrong, some of that still exists). I appreciated the information and preparation the DWR put into the meeting, especially around managing our struggling deer herd. I would still like to see them get away from managing our LE Elk units based on harvest age objectives, but that is a topic for another day. Kudos to the DWR and Wildlife Board for a good Wildlife Board meeting yesterday.
 
Covy addressed this in the meeting - antlerless tags are often times issued to handle depredation issues. The animals are going to be killed either way, and the division would prefer to give sportsmen the opportunity to harvest the animals rather than the division killing them.

I came away from yesterday's meeting with some hope that our wildlife in Utah can be managed using real data and biology rather than politics and special interests (don't get me wrong, some of that still exists). I appreciated the information and preparation the DWR put into the meeting, especially around managing our struggling deer herd. I would still like to see them get away from managing our LE Elk units based on harvest age objectives, but that is a topic for another day. Kudos to the DWR and Wildlife Board for a good Wildlife Board meeting yesterday.
The only problem is that the WB is made up with nothing but special interest group cronies.
 
Agreed there is some of that still for sure, but I am now seeing more decisions made and backed by real data from biologists and not as many “back room” deals. We still have a ways to go to remove special interest politics, and I will always believe that a huge portion of the Utah auction tags and expo tags should be put back in the regular draw, but I am seeing a glimmer of hope in the way things are being managed now. I also think we are starting to get some good balance on the wildlife board with guys that truly care about the long term viability of Utah’s herds and not about driving certain special interest agendas (Karl Hirst being one of them??). Call me an optimist but I like what I am seeing.
 
Covy addressed this in the meeting - antlerless tags are often times issued to handle depredation issues. The animals are going to be killed either way, and the division would prefer to give sportsmen the opportunity to harvest the animals rather than the division killing them.

I came away from yesterday's meeting with some hope that our wildlife in Utah can be managed using real data and biology rather than politics and special interests (don't get me wrong, some of that still exists). I appreciated the information and preparation the DWR put into the meeting, especially around managing our struggling deer herd. I would still like to see them get away from managing our LE Elk units based on harvest age objectives, but that is a topic for another day. Kudos to the DWR and Wildlife Board for a good Wildlife Board meeting yesterday.
In the Monroe unit, there are so many predators in the mountain that 90 percent of the herds are in the fields. I was very disheartened with their actions.
 
I think the Southern RAC was the poor-est meeting that I have liston to, their are Units in real trouble, the Beaver, Southwest Desert, Monroe, MT Dutton which will never come back, all they wanted is get the meeting over, every one on the Southern RAC ought to quit, they didn't even try to save these Units. What do the rest of the hunters think ?
 
Totally agree Dogvalleymule. They sit and discussed how more tags probably should be deducted from the Beaver and Southwest Desert but did not make one motion. In 2019 they decreased the Beaver by 350 tags and what good did that do. Hunters were out in force telling the Southern Rac the deer herd is almost gone. They come back for this years hunt and cut another 900. That still leaves 2100 tags to kill off what few bucks are left. Not enough tag cuts to save these units.
 
Totally agree Dogvalleymule. They sit and discussed how more tags probably should be deducted from the Beaver and Southwest Desert but did not make one motion. In 2019 they decreased the Beaver by 350 tags and what good did that do. Hunters were out in force telling the Southern Rac the deer herd is almost gone. They come back for this years hunt and cut another 900. That still leaves 2100 tags to kill off what few bucks are left. Not enough tag cuts to save these units.

You probably shouldn't be so hard on the RAC members. Maybe they just forgot that Southern Region bucks deliver, nurse, teach and protect the fawns, and if you shoot too many of them, you won't be able to increase the herd populations!
 
Totally agree Dogvalleymule. They sit and discussed how more tags probably should be deducted from the Beaver and Southwest Desert but did not make one motion. In 2019 they decreased the Beaver by 350 tags and what good did that do. Hunters were out in force telling the Southern Rac the deer herd is almost gone. They come back for this years hunt and cut another 900. That still leaves 2100 tags to kill off what few bucks are left. Not enough tag cuts to save these units.

Taking away 350 tags did absolutely nothing to the deer numbers because of the roughly 20% success rates.
It only took 350 vehicles and ATV's off the roads while the same amount of bucks were still harvested by all the other hunters.

If the success rates were higher, like 50%, then maybe a tag reduction would have an effect.

Our GS units are extremely crowded, but success rates are extremely low.
 
Bearpaw Outfitters

Experience world class hunting for mule deer, elk, cougar, bear, turkey, moose, sheep and more.

Wild West Outfitters

Hunt the big bulls, bucks, bear and cats in southern Utah. Your hunt of a lifetime awaits.

J & J Outfitters

Offering quality fair-chase hunts for trophy mule deer, elk, shiras moose and mountain lions.

Shane Scott Outfitting

Quality trophy hunting in Utah. Offering FREE Utah drawing consultation. Great local guides.

Utah Big Game Outfitters

Specializing in bighorn sheep, mule deer, elk, mountain goat, lions, bears & antelope.

Apex Outfitters

We offer experienced guides who hunt Elk, Mule Deer, Antelope, Sheep, Bison, Goats, Cougar, and Bear.

Urge 2 Hunt

We offer high quality hunts on large private ranches around the state, with landowner vouchers.

Allout Guiding & Outfitting

Offering high quality mule deer, elk, bear, cougar and bison hunts in the Book Cliffs and Henry Mtns.

Lickity Split Outfitters

General season and LE fully guided hunts for mule deer, elk, moose, antelope, lion, turkey, bear and coyotes.

Back
Top Bottom