Mule Deer Fanatic

Consider the following:

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-The Utah DWR is not really inclined to have more deer
-There is little reason to kill does until the deer herd is up to carrying capacity
-The Utah deer herd is at app. 46% of carrying capacity – overall
-Hunting and killing does is harmful to the herd in the following ways:
   *hunters tend to kill the best
   *does may be pregnant
   *some young bucks get killed supposing them to be does
   *the herd cannot grow without does
   *killing one doe is the same as killing 25 deer (in 5 years)
-Here are the reasons the doe slaughter was started in the first place:
   *to reduce or avoid depredation costs
   *to shrink the herd to the “political” carrying capacity
   *to eliminate “valley deer”
-The Utah DWR hates to pay depredation from wage or toy money 
-The Utah Farm Bureau campaigned successfully to have depredation limits raised
-A pathetic reason for killing does is to increase the buck/doe ratio
-Does taste good but do not look pretty on the wall – bucks look good and taste good
-Predators kill more than enough does without any help from persons
-There were many years when it was illegal to kill a doe, although the herd was much larger than it is now
-Consider teaching your children to let the does live. If you are starving –  kill a buck

Utah Bear Management – Good for bears, Bad for Mule Deer.

Utah Bear Management Plan (excerpt)

Bear management in Utah is guided by the state’s Black Bear Management Plan. The three major goals of the plan—keep the percentage of female bears taken by hunters below 40 percent; keep the average age of bears taken by hunters above 5 years old; and keep the adult survival rate above 78 percent—were all met in 2007.

When these goals are met we know that Utah Bears are healthy.

The state of Utah is located in the heart of the best Mule Deer habitat on earth. Additionally, a high percentage of Utah land is public. Nevertheless, Utah may have the worst mule deer management of any state that has mule deer. Utah is one state that has capped the number of mule deer at a number substantially below carrying capacity. The DWR refers to this limitation as the “political carrying capacity”.  Winter depredation claims against the DWR in the late 80’s and early 90’s were a major factor in the agency placing a ceiling on mule deer numbers.

Around 1990, the state of Utah was split into regions and the regions were split into units. At that time, Utah also implemented a lottery for obtaining deer tags. Mule deer tags, which had previously been unlimited and over-the-counter, were, and are now sold via this lottery. At the same time, the number of hunters was cut by half and a cap on the number of hunters was set at 97,000. No more than 10% of the tags for a region/unit can be awarded to non-residents. In spite of this fact, odds of a non-resident drawing a tag are, in some cases, better than for a resident.

The Utah drawing process begins in January each year, so pay attention. Utah is divided into 5 regions and 80, or so, units. The Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) allocates tags in such a way as to distribute the greatest number of hunters where there are the least number of mule deer. That’s handy.

Even though there are a few whitetail in the Northern part of Utah, there are no tags specifically for whitetail. I suppose you could kill a whitetail on a mule deer tag, if you chose to, and if you could find one.

In the last 25 years, Utah’s elk herd has mushroomed. This phenomenon has coincided with the decline of mule deer populations, hence, there are numerous persons and groups trying to determine if there is a relationship between increasing elk and decreasing mule deer. Thirty years ago, Utah’s few elk were primarily in the North. Today, Northern Utah possibly has the least elk in the state. Overall, the elk population has increased more than 10-fold.

It is widely believed that elk have provided an alternate prey base for mountain lions and black bears, allowing predator numbers to stay at maximum while mule deer numbers remain perpetually dismal. A Utah Forest Ranger told me that, in the three year period, preceding 2003, there had been 89 black bears released between the Idaho border and the Monte Cristo highway (Rich, Cache, and Weber counties), most of which were troublesome bears removed from Yellowstone.

According to my calculations, the Utah mountain lion herd reached it’s maximum carrying capacity around 1990 and has been sustained at that level since then. Annual lion harvest is not allowed to exceed annual recruitment. It is believed that elk have played a key role in allowing mountain lions to be sustained at artificially high numbers while deer numbers are suppressed.

In the last twenty years, there has been a serious decline in ranching and farming in Northern Utah. This has negatively impacted mule deer both in reduced predator control and in reduced grazing which means less quality deer browse. Forest management has never been worse in terms of sustaining or creating habitat for mule deer. Forest Service personnel seem to be interested in only one type of forest – climax forest, which is not good for wildlife and which maintains a tinder box for fire. In the last two decades, southern Utah has had more favorable conditions for mule deer than Northern Utah. Moreover, Southern Utah has fewer hunters. Most of Southern Utah has remained rural. Ranching is still fairly common in Southern Utah, and predator control is still important to ranchers. There is also virtually unlimited winter habitat for most Southern Utah deer.

In Utah, at this time, you don’t need to worry about units unless you apply for a premium limited-entry or limited-entry unit. Otherwise, you will be applying for a region instead of a unit. The number of hunters is limited in all cases, but in the limited-entry and premium limited-entry units, the amount of real estate you can access is much more restricted than it is for a region. Premium limited-entry means there will be fewer hunters, not more deer. Limited-entry may also have few hunters, but is rated as having fewer mature bucks.

Since the inception of the lottery, the Southern region has been the most popular region, with more hunters applying for that region than the number of permits available. The Southern region also has the fewest tags available of the five regions. Some of the other regions, most notably, the Northern region, have sometimes had fewer applicants than available tags. The left-over tags are sold first-come. If you really want a tag, and missed the drawing, this is one way to get one. There have been numerous years when the Northern region did not sell out. The DWR has resorted to peddling these unwanted tags by forecasting high numbers of pre-season bucks and high success rates which is typically a pure fabrication. Don’t rely on these forecasts unless you want to have your hopes dashed.

Experienced hunters are now applying only for the premium limited-entry units and if they do not draw, they do not hunt. The premium limited-entry units are a far cry from the quality they once had, but their quality is higher than the rest, mostly because of the small number of hunters. Unfortunately, some of the tag quantities are now so low that non-residents cannot even apply. Odds of drawing a premium limited-entry tag are low, and now you must by a license before even applying for a bonus point. One problem with the bonus point scenario is that you wait years to draw, and by the time you draw things have changed, so pay attention.

The Mule Deer Foundation has been pressing the Utah DWR to begin feeding Mule Deer in Northern Utah and the DWR has consented.

More than 10 tons of feed have been spread over areas in Cache, Weber, Morgan and Summit counties.

The DWR enlisted local sportsman’s groups to help deliver the deer pellets and corn to feeding stations throughout the region.
       

Go to the States page and click on Utah.

Remember you must purchase a license in order to apply.

Check your credit card expiration date, be sure to have money for the draw.

Good Luck

Must have a license to apply for a point

Basic hunting or combination licenses are required for additional permits.

Some hunting changes went into effect in Utah this year. One of those changes requires you to buy a hunting license or a combination license before you can apply for a hunting permit.

In addition to accepting applications for big game permits, the Division of Wildlife Resources is also accepting applications for bonus points and preference points.

But just like big game permits, you must have a valid Utah hunting or combination license before you can apply for a point.

“This change is important to the future of the state’s wildlife,” says Jim Karpowitz, director of the DWR. “As costs continue to rise, the requirement that hunters buy a license before they apply will provide us the revenue we need to continue managing big game and other wildlife into the future.”

Karpowitz has some advice for you as you decide which license to buy: the hunting license, which costs $26 for residents, or the combination license, which costs $30. “I’d encourage you to buy the combination license,” he says. “It costs $4 more than a hunting license, but it also allows you to fish.”

Hunting and combination licenses are available at wildlife.utah.gov. You can also obtain one from DWR offices and more than 350 hunting license agents across Utah.

Apply for a point by Feb. 29

Bonus points and preference points give hunters who won’t be hunting this year a better chance at obtaining a permit next year.

Applications for a bonus point or a preference point will be accepted until Feb. 29. You can apply for a point through the Internet (wildlife.utah.gov) until 11 p.m. on Feb. 29.

You can also apply over the phone at (801) 538-4700. Phone-in applications for a point must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Feb. 29.

For more information, call the Utah Wildlife Administrative Services office at 1-800-221-0659, the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

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Why the change?

This change was made to raise more revenue by spreading the cost of wildlife management out more equally among everyone. Here’s one example of why the extra funding is needed:

Costs for habitat projects, surveys and management, and law enforcement have grown considerably over the past few years. On Utah’s limited entry units, the cost to manage the unit is usually higher than the amount of money brought in through the few permits that are sold for the unit and all of the application fees collected for the unit.

Because only a few permits are offered for these units, simply raising the cost for the permits would still not provide the funding needed to manage these units effectively. The DWR had to find new ways to generate funding to continue offering quality hunting in Utah.

In the past, paying $5 to try and draw a big game permit was the only financial contribution many people made to Utah’s wildlife. Now everyone must buy a hunting or combination license before they can apply for or obtain a hunting permit. The DWR believes this is a fair way to spread the cost of wildlife management out among all sportsmen.

In addition to allowing you to apply for a permit, a hunting license allows you to hunt small game in Utah. And a combination license allows you to hunt small game and fish. If you’re a nonresident big game hunter, the DWR realizes your primary focus is on larger animals, but we encourage you to try Utah’s excellent small game hunts and blue-ribbon fisheries as you travel the state this year.

Which license should I buy?

There’s only a slight difference between the cost of a hunting license, which allows you to hunt small game, and a combination license, which allows you to hunt small game and fish.

Residents can buy a hunting license for $26; a combination license costs $30.

Nonresidents can buy a hunting license for $65; a combination license costs $80.

How will the DWR use the new funding?

The following are some of the ways the new funding will benefit sportsmen and wildlife:

• More habitat work will be done to benefit big game and other wildlife across Utah.
• The state’s wildlife and waterfowl management areas will be improved.
• The amount of private land open to sportsmen through the DWR’s new Walk-In Access program will continue to grow.
• Work will continue to control phragmites, a plant that’s invaded many of the marshes along the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake.

Other benefits

• Because fewer hunters should apply, you should have a better chance of drawing a permit.
• Even with the new license requirement, overall Utah is still the least expensive state in the West for nonresidents to apply for and obtain a limited entry permit or a bonus point.

If you have comments or questions, please send them to DWRcomment@utah.gov.

This buck was killed in November in Central Utah

Utah is first out of the chute:

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Must apply by Jan. 31

Applications for 2008 Utah big game hunting permits will be accepted until Jan. 31. You can apply through the Internet (wildlife.utah.gov) until 11 p.m. on Jan. 31.

You can also apply over the phone at (801) 538-4700. Phone-in applications will be must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Jan. 31.

For more information, call the Utah Wildlife Administrative Services office at 1-800-221-0659, the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office or the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.

Utah Big Game Unit Map:

Link to 2007 HUNTING ODDS REPORT

One of the best things the Utah DWR has done for mule deer hunters in recent memory is the creation and management of an on-line forum. Typically, the DWR’s actions impact mule deer hunters only in negative ways.

Among other things, the forum allowed the DWR to maintain a pulse on how the hunting community felt about them. I guess they got too much heat. The DWR decided they had no business having a forum and that it was in competition with other forums, so they cancelled it.

There is a version of that forum still in existence. It is managed by a group that calls themselves Utah Wildlife Network. The DWR archive is here: http://utahwildlife.net/dwr_forum/

Or, better yet – here is a forum exclusively about MULE DEER:

MULE DEER FANATIC FORUM