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Editor's Note: The photos in the gallery show dead deer and may be disturbing to some viewers.SALT LAKE CITY — Division of Wildlife Resources officials are beginning their patrols for the winter in an attempt to protect Utah mule deer from poachers.
Mule deer congregate on lower-elevation ranges to find feed during the winter months, and as a result, the animals are often more vulnerable to poachers, according to a DWR news release. DWR officials have their annual winter patrols to deter poaching and to find the offenders.
“If there’s an area in Utah that attracts mule deer in the winter, we’re watching it,” DWR law enforcement chief Tony Wood said in a news release.
DWR officers will patrol the winter ranges at night by land and by air, the news release said. Several officers will also patrol the same area at the same time in saturation patrols. The patrols will continue until the deer shed their antlers in the spring.
Wildlife officers have investigated the illegal killing of 152 Utah mule deer in 2014, with bucks as the majority of the poached deer, the news release said. The antlers on several of the bucks were big enough to place the deer in a trophy category. The monetary value of the poached animals was $114,000.
“If you’re a hunter, you would have been thrilled to take any of these bucks,” Wood said in the news release. “Poachers took that chance away from you.”
Anyone with information about the illegal killing of any mule deer can contact the UTIP hotline at 1-800-662-3337.
