UT Extends Upland Season
Plus: Grouse Permits Underway, Youth Bird Hunts
The length of Utah’s upland season is now extended – though the UT DNR hasn’t yet posted what the extension is and says it’s only for “most of Utah’s upland game species.”
The number of birds and bunnies you can have in your possession has also increased, though those details also are missing.
Upland game biologist Justin Dolling says biologists want to give Utah’s hunters more time to hunt. And upland game are the perfect group of species to offer hunters that opportunity.
Whether it’s hunted or not, Dolling says between 60 to 70 percent of an upland game population dies every year from natural causes (not hunting). But a high reproductive rate “is usually enough to bring the population back to the point it was before the losses.”
Getcha Grouse Permits
(Sharpie photo: versatiledogs.com)
Starting June 23, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources began accepting applications for this fall’s sage and sharptailed grouse hunts (also sandhill cranes).
To be included in the draw for permits, your application must be received through the website no later than 11 p.m. July 6 – which is next week!
You can apply over the phone by calling the nearest DWR office no later than 6 p.m. on July 6.
If you apply for a permit, you’ll know by July 28 whether you drew one.
If you’re not going to hunt grouse (or cranes) this year, you can still apply for a preference point.
For more info, call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.
Special Youth Bird Hunts
Hunters under the age of 16 will be able to get out early this bird season, before the adults:
> On Sept. 17, they can hunt chukar and Hungarian partridge. This is one week before the general partridge seasons open on Sept. 24.
> On Oct. 15, you can hunt pheasant and quail. This is three weeks before those seasons open on Nov. 5.
Dolling noted, “Upland game hunting has been called the ‘gateway hunt.’ In addition to being an activity you can enjoy the rest of your life, hunting upland game often leads to young people getting excited about hunting in general.”
Since most of Utah’s pheasant hunting happens on private land, Dolling says the youth pheasant hunting day will give young hunters and their parents experience in approaching landowners about hunting their property.
Category: Sage Grouse, Sharptailed Grouse, UT
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