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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah wildlife officials are exploring a new rule that would require hunters to report all deer and elk harvested during the general season hunts beginning next year, joining rules already in place for other hunts in the state.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources introduced the recommended rule amendment last week along with several other hunting proposals, including a plan to implement and study new deer hunting restrictions within five hunting units in southern Utah.
The proposed amendment, which is pending Utah Wildlife Board approval, calls for all permit holders during eight deer or elk hunts to report their harvest to the state within 30 days after the season ends. Hunters who fail to report their results will be barred from applying for any big game or antlerless hunts the following season.
Hunters who report late would have to pay a $50 fee in order to be eligible for the next season's hunt. Kent Hersey, big game projects coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said the agency would not impose this fee until 2025 because 2024 will be a "trial year" for the rule should it be approved.
The eight hunts that would be affected are:
- Any bull elk
- Dedicated hunter buck deer
- General-season archery elk
- General-season buck deer
- Multi-season spike bull elk
- Spike bull elk
- Youth general-season buck deer
- Youth general-season elk
The change would help state wildlife officials collect more and better data that can be used to improve hunting experiences in the future, Hersey explained in a video explaining the rules last week. Hunters, he added, have requested this change over the "past many years" for this reason.
Utah's deer populations have struggled largely because of the drought in recent years, while elk hunts have been impeded by the animal's ability to escape to private land during the same time.
"Hunters have been requesting these data for years, and technology now makes it easier to conduct these surveys and collect this information after the hunts," he said in a statement. "This would also help us to maintain more comprehensive and quality harvest data and would give us better insights into Utah's big game hunts."
Hunters will be able to report all deer and elk harvests either online or over the phone.
The proposed new rule comes after those who participated in antlerless hunts were required to report all harvests this year. State wildlife officials have also required mandatory reporting within all limited entry or "once in a lifetime" hunts over the past two decades, Hersey said.
The Utah Wildlife Board is tentatively slated to vote on the measure during its Nov. 28 meeting, along with the other measures state wildlife officials proposed last week. There are five regional meetings to discuss the proposals that are set to be held between Nov. 8 and Nov. 16, while public comment on the plan can be submitted online through the end of Nov. 16.
