Utah Wildlife Board approves decrease in general-season deer, antlerless permits for 2020 hunts

Salt Lake City — The Utah Wildlife Board approved a decrease in the number of general-season permits for the 2020 deer hunt during Thursday's virtual board meeting.

The current mule deer unit management plans have an objective of 18-20 bucks per 100 does on 18 general-season hunting units and an objective of 15-17 bucks per 100 does on the other 11 general-season hunting units. In order to manage toward these objectives, the Utah Wildlife Board approved a total of 79,675 general-season permits for the 2020 deer hunt, a decrease of 10,225 permits from 2019. Nineteen of the 29 general-season hunting units will have decreased permits, with no changes on the other units.

"In 2019, the statewide deer population estimate decreased by approximately 57,000 animals to a total of just over 319,000 deer," DWR Big Game Coordinator Covy Jones said. "This decrease was primarily due to drought conditions in the spring, summer and fall of 2018, followed by a heavy winter in 2019. Deer populations in areas of the southern and northern parts of the state showed the most loss, with central Utah populations showing the least impact."

The wildlife board also approved a decrease in antlerless deer permits for the 2020 hunting season. The removal of 1,045 antlerless deer permits leaves a total of 1,175 permits for the upcoming season. A new antlerless deer hunt in 2020 was also approved to help address chronic wasting disease concerns, while 11 other antlerless deer hunts were discontinued.

"Antlerless deer hunts are designed to reduce depredation on private lands, tackle urban deer issues, address chronic wasting disease hotspots and help slow the decline of range conditions," Jones said.

Statewide, elk populations also decreased slightly in 2019, so the wildlife board approved a decrease in antlerless elk permits, as well. The statewide elk population objective is 78,215, and currently there is a statewide estimate of 76,550 elk. The wildlife board approved 8,165 antlerless elk permits for the 2020 public drawing, a decrease of 1,470 from 2019.

Here is a breakdown of the approved permit numbers for all the 2020 big game hunts:

Hunt	2019	2020
General-season buck deer	89,900	79,675
Premium limited-entry deer	184	184
Management buck deer (including “cactus” buck)	74	74
New handgun, archery, muzzleloader, and shotgun (HAMS) limited-entry buck deer hunts	Hunt didn’t exist	15
Limited-entry deer	1,144	1,226
Antlerless deer	2,220	1,175
General any bull elk	15,000	15,000
General spike bull elk	15,000	15,000
Antlerless elk	9,635	8,060
Youth any bull elk	500	500
Limited-entry bull elk	2,938	2,948
Buck pronghorn	1,061	1,147
Doe pronghorn	760	525
Bull moose	97	107
Antlerless moose	38	31
Bison	242	116
Desert bighorn sheep	69	80
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep	56	66
New Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ewe hunt	Hunt didn’t exist	10
Mountain goat	126	122

Plan for implementing recently approved H.B. 125 predator bill

Also presented in Thursday's board meeting was a plan for DWR to implement a new, recently approved law. H.B. 125, which became law during the 2020 legislative session, authorizes the DWR director to take immediate action (under certain conditions) when a big game population is under the established herd-size objective for a management unit.

As a result of the new legislation, DWR biologists will draft management strategies to decrease the number of specific predator species in certain parts of the state, if deemed necessary. The predator species that prey on big game populations, such as deer and elk, include cougars, bears and coyotes.

New data from GPS collars helps DWR biologists determine the cause of death for many species. When the biologists determine that predators are preventing the growth of big game populations, the big game populations are under their management objectives, and several other conditions are met, the predator-management strategies will be implemented.

"Predator control may allow a suppressed, low-density deer population to increase," DWR Game Mammals Coordinator Darren DeBloois said. "These predator-management strategies will only be considered when bighorn sheep populations are under 90% of their management objectives and/or have fewer than 125 individuals in a herd, when a deer population is being suppressed by predators, and when large population declines for big game occur or are anticipated."

Changes after recently approved H.B. 228 livestock depredation bill

H.B. 228, which was also recently passed during the 2020 legislative session, added a few clarifications to when and how a predator that is killing or damaging livestock can be removed. The DWR will update its current rules for bear and cougar depredation to reflect the following changes:

• The 72-hour response period following a livestock depredation incident will be changed to 96 hours.
• The bear rule will be updated to allow depredation permits for the removal of bears involved in chronic losses of livestock.

Other proposals

The Utah Wildlife Board also approved a rule change that will allow over-the-counter bison permits to be sold, and for this type of hunt to be held in southeastern Utah on the Nine Mile, Range Creek Unit, beginning in the fall of 2020. Several hundred bison migrate to this area each year, and there was previously no management plan for the Nine Mile, Range Creek Unit.

The wildlife board also approved a few changes to the rule regarding Cooperative Wildlife Management Units. The changes clarify that a CWMU that falls within a general-season unit will be managed more like a limited-entry unit. It also allows reciprocal antlerless hunts across multiple CWMUs and removes the limit on how many leftover reciprocal permits could be donated to charitable organizations. The total number of CWMU permits decreased from 2019 for a total of 1,205.

You can watch the livestream of the wildlife board meeting on the DNR YouTube channel.