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SALT LAKE CITY — Due to several thriving big game populations, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources biologists are proposing a couple new hunts for 2019, and they want the public’s feedback.
Deer populations are thriving along the Wasatch Front, and as the number of people in the area continues to grow, there has been an increase in conflicts between deer and people, DWR officials said in a news release. In an effort to try to reduce the number of deer entering city and town limits in Salt Lake and Utah counties, biologists are recommending a few more extended archery hunts.
Currently, the extended archery hunt for deer in the Wasatch Front runs from Sept. 15 to Nov. 30, and archery hunters can take one buck deer or one doe deer. There are currently four total extended archery deer hunts throughout Utah.
The proposal for new extended archery hunts includes four changes:
- A new extended archery hunt in the mountains near Herriman in Salt Lake County
- A new extended archery hunt in areas around Utah Lake in Utah County.
- Extending the boundary of the Wasatch Front extended archery hunt area all the way to American Fork Canyon in Utah County (Currently, the boundary starts at the Weber/Davis County line and then runs south before ending at the Salt Lake/Utah County line, according to wildlife officials).
- A new South Wasatch extended archery area (the area’s boundary would start at American Fork Canyon and extend south to Hobble Creek Canyon) “The extended archery hunts have worked. Extending the Wasatch Front boundary to American Fork Canyon and creating two new extended archery areas in Utah County should help reduce the number of deer that are coming into urban areas in the county,” DWR big game coordinator Covy Jones said in a news release.
Here are some of the other proposed new hunts:
- New bison hunts on the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah and the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah
- New muzzleloader and archery pronghorn hunts in eastern Utah
- A Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt on the Oquirrh-Stansbury unit in north-central Utah. Wildlife officials said the hunt would be the first bighorn hunt held on the unit since 2015.
People can give their feedback for the new hunts by either emailing the Regional Advisory Council member for their area or by attending an upcoming RAC meeting.
Editor's note: The content from this article was taken from a press release sent out by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. This is not information gathered by KSL.com reporters.
