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SALT LAKE CITY — Looking for the perfect Thanksgiving turkey? You might just find it gobbling around Utah.
But this year, you’ll have to go online before you snag any of the thousands of turkeys around the state.
Citing ongoing COVID-19 concerns, general season turkey and bobcat hunting permits will mostly just be available on the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources website instead of at a division office or from a retail license agent like permits are normally sold, agency officials said Friday. It follows a similar decision for deer and elk hunting permits, which were the agency’s first-ever hunting permits to be sold exclusively online.
The turkey permits will be available for sale online beginning Thursday until Sept. 17. Hunters can still obtain available turkey hunt permits in physical locations after Sept. 17, according to DWR spokesperson Faith Heaton Jolley.
Bobcat permits are available beginning Oct. 1 until either Oct. 31 or when the permit cap is reached. Bobcat permits will only be available online.
The division made online permit purchases an option some time ago; however, in-person permit purchases spread out the methods people purchased permits. Wanting to avoid any risk of people crowding DWR regional offices or retail stores for permits — something that could spread the coronavirus — the agency instead opted to shift as much as possible online, Jolley said.
The first go-around through mostly online-only sales had its rough patches.
“There were a few glitches and our website had a hard time handling that amount of traffic, so, yeah, there were a few issues then,” Jolley said. “I’ve talked to our IT people and it seems like we’ve fixed a lot of those issues.”
Turkey and bobcat hunting isn’t as big of a draw as deer hunting is, so DWR officials don’t believe they will run into the same problems.
Jolley said she believes online-only permit sales likely will be temporary and not necessarily the direction the division will go in future. That’s because some people prefer going through the process in person, and not everyone has access to the internet.
Hunting dates and other notes
The fall general turkey hunt begins on Oct. 1 and lasts until February 2021. There’s an unlimited number of permits for hunting in northern and central Utah, 500 permits for units in southern Utah, and 50 for southeastern Utah. Of the limited permits, 15% are set aside for youth hunters (17 or younger). A hunter can obtain up to three permits to harvest a turkey of either sex.
There is an important caveat. Many hunting locations in fall are different from spring, which is when the main turkey hunting season is. For example, hunting is only allowed on private land in northern and central Utah locations. That means hunters who obtain a permit must also obtain written permission from the owner of the land they are hunting on.
Hunting in southern and southeastern Utah — for those who obtain permits for those locations — is available in select locations. The agency's website includes a map of the areas where hunting is legal.
Unlike the three other areas, which end on Feb. 28, 2021, the southern Utah region season ends on Feb. 16, 2021.
The bobcat hunting season begins Nov. 25. On Thursday, the Utah Wildlife Board approved adjustments to the hunting season. They voted to reduce the number of permits one individual can receive from five to four permits. The season was also slightly shortened and will end on March 1, 2021.
