Deer hunting season officially underway in Utah

Deer hunting season officially underway in Utah

(Hans Koepsell, Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Saturday marked the day that Utah sportsmen anticipate all year long — the official start of the general deer hunting season.

More than 55,000 hunters across the Beehive State flooded the Utah wilderness in search of a prized trophy buck or doe. Conservation officers were out in force Saturday ensuring safety and that hunters were following the rules.

Trevor Dorman, conservation officer with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said one of the high priority issues is hunters who sometimes overlook proper safety etiquette while carrying a rifle in their vehicle.

"People get excited and see a deer, jump out and load (the weapon) and forget to (unload) it when they get back in," he said on "KSL Outdoors with Adam Eakle."

Hunters are also warned to respect boundaries when they are stalking potential targets, he said.

DWR officials were also checking Saturday for proper tags and licenses to make sure hunts were being conducted in legal sporting fashion.

An Ogden hunter was among the first to bag a deer this season when he captured a four-point buck within the first hour of his search in the hills above Davis County.

"We started hiking the ridge along the edge of the road and he happened to stand up and I shot him," Dallas Day, of Ogden, told "KSL Outdoors." "Hunting is 90 percent luck most of the time."

Wildlife biologist Dale Liechty, left, supervises as Janae Nordwall, a veterinary student from Utah State University, extracts the lymph nodes from a buck as students, volunteers and Division of Natural Resources employees take information from deer in South Jordan, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. (Photo: Hans Koepsell, Deseret News)
Wildlife biologist Dale Liechty, left, supervises as Janae Nordwall, a veterinary student from Utah State University, extracts the lymph nodes from a buck as students, volunteers and Division of Natural Resources employees take information from deer in South Jordan, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016. (Photo: Hans Koepsell, Deseret News)

DWR big game coordinator Justin Shannon said the higher than normal deer population should mean a successful season for lots of Utah hunters.

"Hunters are going to see a lot of bucks and success rates are going to be really high," he said. "(In previous years) the typical success rate on the rifle deer hunt was in the high 20s to low 30s, but last year it was 43 percent — really high! And the buck to doe ratio is still climbing and our deer population is growing."

He noted that the statewide deer population has grown by 100,000 animals in the past four years. The higher numbers should result in more mature bucks for hunters to track in the coming years, he added.

Visit the DWR website for more information on the hunting season rules and regulations. E-mail: jlee@deseretnews.com Twitter: JasenLee1

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