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SALT LAKE CITY -- Changes to bear hunting in Utah may take place.
The Division of Wildlife Resources is taking public opinion about proposed rules that could allow more people to hunt the animals, but may also improve regulators to monitor the bear population.
Currently, most of the bears hunted in Utah are tracked by dogs and run up trees or bow hunters may use bait to attract the animals. But officials are considering changing that so people could hunt bears similarly to animals.
"They might be able to get a ‘spot and stalk' permit to look for bears, too," said John Shivik DWR Mammal Program Coordinator.
During a spot and stalk hunt, hunters would not be allowed to use bait or hounds.
According to Shivik, the proposed rules would split the state into 23 different units. The number of hunted animals per unit may vary based on things like nuisance complaints.
"We'll do things locally. We'll go unit by unit," Shivik said. "There are 23 different units in the state. In some units, there are some nuisance complaints and issues that we want to make sure we're on top of. In other places there aren't."
The spring hunts could be extended based on whether or not bears are seen raiding campgrounds and killing livestock. Other factors would go into how many permits are granted per unit. Shivik said they're trying to balance the number of hunters who want to go out and the overall strength of the bear population, and new rules would help them monitor that better.
"We can monitor how the population is doing by examining the proportions of males and females that are taken," Shivik said.
He said once hunters find female bears instead of the males that are normally out first, that's an indication that the population is shrinking. In some units, they may need to limit the number of bears hunted. Once they've reached their objective, bear hunts in that unit would be called off.
DWR officials are holding public hearing meetings through December 14th. There's one Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Bingham Entrepreneurship and Energy Research Center in Vernal. The next is on the 13th at the Central Region Conference Center in Springville, followed by a meeting at the Shepherd Union Building of Weber State University on the 14th.
Email:pnelson@ksl.com
