DWR proposes changes to waterfowl, bear hunting in Utah, other items

Salt Lake City — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is proposing a few updates to waterfowl hunting in Utah, as well as the harvest rules for bears, cougars and furbearer species, and a few other recommendations. The DWR is seeking the public's feedback on the proposals.

Proposed updates to waterfowl hunting and falconry

To simplify information and to streamline processes, the DWR is recommending combining migratory upland game bird species with migratory waterfowl in the next Utah Waterfowl Guidebook. The proposal would also classify all of those birds as "migratory game birds" in administrative rule and would update the rule to include the following species:

• Waterfowl
• Snipe
• Coot
• American crow
• Band-tailed pigeon
• Mourning dove
• White-winged dove
• Sandhill crane

In addition, the DWR is also recommending a three-year cycle for hunting regulations for these migratory game birds, instead of the previous two-year cycle.

"These bird species are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the regulations, season dates and bag limits are ultimately set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in conjunction with the harvest strategies of multiple states located within the Pacific Flyway," DWR Migratory Bird and Falconry Coordinator Jason Jones said. "As such, changes to waterfowl frameworks tend to be small, and the regulations are tightly controlled, so a three-year cycle provides more consistency."

The DWR is proposing the season dates and bag limits for the newly classified species for the next three years — within the federal limits — as well as recommending a few other rule changes, including:

• Incorporating the applicable migratory game bird and waterfowl hunting rules for the new Provo River Delta Wildlife Management Area and the new Blackhawk Waterfowl Management Area. The Provo River Delta opened to the public in October and will be open to fishing and hunting on certain parts of the property. The new Blackhawk WMA is located near the Great Salt Lake, but due to current access issues, it is not currently open to the public, but will open at a future date.
• Clarifying that tundra swan permit holders must present any harvested swan or its head for measurement — along with harvest details — to the DWR within three days of harvest. If a trumpeter swan is illegally harvested, the entire bird must be presented to the DWR.

The DWR also proposed season dates and bag limits for falconry species, along with rule updates to streamline reporting requirements, including only requiring falconers to submit federally required 3-186 forms to the federal database, eliminating the need for separate state reporting.

Black bear, cougar and furbearer amendments

2025 will be the first year of the next three-year bear management cycle, so the DWR is proposing the permit numbers and season dates for the 2025-27 black bear hunting and pursuit seasons. The DWR is also recommending the following rule changes:

• Allowing the use of a metal container to hold bait during seasons where bait is legal. The maximum size of the container cannot exceed 55 gallons and may not be used in areas designated as wilderness by federal land-management agencies. The container must also be removed within 72 hours of harvest or the end of the season.
• Allowing anyone who draws a multiseason bear permit to hunt any open harvest objective seasons on the unit they draw, in addition to the limited-entry seasons.

The DWR also proposed the season dates and permits for the 2025-26 furbearer species, including for bobcat, beaver, mink, marten, badger, gray fox, kit fox, ringtail, spotted skunk and weasel. There is a recommendation to close three areas to beaver harvest, (in places where beavers were relocated to help with habitat projects), while two other areas were proposed to reopen to beaver trapping.

A few rule updates were also proposed for cougars, including:

• Allowing the sale of "green" cougar pelts, meaning that the hide does not need to be tanned first.
• Allowing the use of rimfire cartridges and ammunition to harvest cougars caught in traps. This change will not allow the use of these firearms and ammunition to harvest cougars that are not constrained in traps.

Other items

In 2012, the Utah Legislature passed two predator-related bills. As a result of that, the Predator Control Program was created to control populations of predatory animals that endanger the health of Utah's nonpredatory wildlife. Under this program, the DWR provides incentives to hunters to help control coyote populations by offering $50 for each documented harvested coyote. Coyotes primarily kill deer fawns and can produce more than six pups per year. They have high reproductive potential and can be difficult to hunt.

In response to recent legislative feedback, the DWR is recommending increasing the incentive for coyote removal from $50 to $75 in areas that are critical to mule deer survival. In order to allow hunters to maintain the quality of the pelt, the DWR also recommends removing the ear and pelt check-in requirement and instead providing alternative ways to prevent duplicate submissions, such as removing both premolar teeth or keeping the jaw.

In May, the DWR made recommendations regarding shed antler gathering in Utah, including establishing a nonresident shed hunting season that begins May 1, while not implementing season dates for residents. The Utah Wildlife Board did not approve the recommendation and asked the shed antler gathering committee to revisit the issue. The committee met again and again voted to not set a shed hunting season for Utah residents. The committee could not reach a consensus on a strategy for nonresidents coming to Utah to gather shed antlers.

As a result, the DWR is recommending to not set a shed hunting season for residents or nonresidents at this time. The DWR will continue to track resident and nonresident shed hunting participation in Utah and will evaluate trends. The DWR will also continue to follow emergency closure protocols for shed hunting during extreme winter weather conditions that impact deer and other big game populations.

The DWR is also recommending some updates to the deer and elk unit management plans for the West Desert hunting unit.

Give feedback

The public meetings for the recommendations can either be viewed virtually or attended in person. You can view the biologists' presentations before the meetings and share your feedback about them on the DWR website. The presentations are also available on the DWR YouTube channel, but comments can only be submitted through the forms on the DWR website.

The public comment period opened on Nov. 19 for each of the five Regional Advisory Council meetings and for the Utah Wildlife Board meeting. Public comments submitted within the online-comment timeframes listed below will be shared with the RAC and wildlife board members at each respective meeting. Members of the public can choose to either watch the meetings online or attend them in person. If you wish to comment during the meeting, you must attend in person. Online comments will only be accepted until the deadlines listed below.

The meetings will be held on the following dates and times:

• Central Utah RAC meeting: Dec. 10 at 6 p.m. at the DWR Springville Office at 1115 N. Main St. in Springville. (Online comments must be submitted by Dec. 5 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Northern Utah RAC meeting: Dec. 11 at 6 p.m. at the Weber County Commission Chambers at 2380 Washington Blvd. #240 in Ogden. (Online comments must be submitted by Dec. 5 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Southern Utah RAC meeting: Dec. 17 at 6 p.m. at the DNR Richfield City Complex at 2031 Industrial Park Road in Richfield. (Online comments must be submitted by Dec. 11 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Southeastern Utah RAC meeting: Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. at the John Wesley Powell Museum at 1765 E. Main St. in Green River. (Online comments must be submitted by Dec. 11 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Northeastern Utah RAC meeting: Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. at the DWR Vernal Office at 318 N. Vernal Ave. in Vernal. (Online comments must be submitted by Dec. 11 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Utah Wildlife Board meeting: Jan. 9 at 9 a.m. at the Eccles Wildlife Education Center at 1157 South Waterfowl Way in Farmington. (Online comments must be submitted by Jan. 2 at 11:59 p.m.)