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Sam Penrod reportingThousands of hunters are in Utah's mountains this weekend for the annual deer hunt.
The weather today has been great all over Utah. While it may not be the best weather for hunting, no one seems to be complaining. It's been a great day to be outside and so far, it seems to be a good opening day of the deer hunt.
Hunters were out well before dawn today, when the chances are best of seeing deer on the move. Wearing their hunter orange, they were easy to spot in the hills
So far, hunters seem to be having good success- Statewide we are told by the Division of Wildlife Resources, that hunters are enjoying dry roads and trails, which gets them into more country, but hunters are finding the deer really scattered at all elevations.
Several young deer were taken early and hunters we spoke with say they saw a lot of deer, first thing this morning.
Steve Walker/Deer Hunter : “For a little one, it's not as hard to get the little ones, but the big ones, we've seen a few during the archery and muzzle loader hunts, it's generally not as hard with a rifle, but you still have to work for them."
Craig Clyde/Wildlife Biologist: "They are in good health, we haven't checked too many yet, but we do a fat index, measure the fat on the brisket, and I’m sure it is going to come out good, probably better than last year. "
At a game checking station in Spanish Fork Canyon, wildlife biologists have been checking the deer for overall condition and taking samples that will be tested for Chronic Wasting Disease. Similar check stations are set up state wide as the Division of Wildlife Resources tracks if and where deer are infected, as part of an ongoing effort to study CWD among Utah's deer population.
