More hunters will have a chance to take a big bull elk or a big bison in Utah this fall.

At their April meeting, members of the Utah Wildlife Board raised the number of hunting permits for most of Utah's big game animals.

Permits for elk and bison were increased the most.

Draw results will be available by Friday.

Some record-size bull elk have been taken in Utah over the past few years, but there are still plenty of big bulls in Utah for hunters to take.

Biologists manage each of Utah's limited entry bull elk units so the average age of the bulls taken by hunters falls within a certain age category.

The age of the bulls that hunters took on 26 of Utah's 28 units during the 2006 season was higher than the age objective for those units. That means the animals were older than the objective called for on those units.

The age of the bulls taken on two units was at the objective for those units. None of Utah's limited entry units were under the age objective.

"This means more hunters can be allowed in the field and plenty of big bulls will still be left for hunters to take in years to come," said Craig McLaughlin, wildlife section chief for the DWR.

With that in mind, board members approved 2,169 limited entry bull elk permits for this fall's hunts. A total of 79 of those permits are management bull elk permits. These permits allow hunters to take bull elk that have five or fewer antler points on at least one side.

Management permits are being offered for the first time to reduce the number of smaller bull elk on four of Utah's best limited entry units.

All of these units have extremely high bull to cow ratios.

Board members also approved more hunter's choice and cow bison permits for the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah. Bison permits for the Henry Mountains jumped from 23 in 2006 to 75 this year.

"In 2005, our biologists flew two aerial surveys of the Henry Mountains," McLaughlin said. "They didn't see many bison during either survey."

Even though bison are big animals, McLaughlin said they tend to gather in small groups and are effective at hiding under pinyon/juniper trees.

"Bison are strong animals, and we were pretty sure that the herd had not experienced a big die-off," he said. "We guessed that the bison had probably moved into thicker cover where it was harder for us to spot them."

DWR biologists decided to be cautious, however, and hunting permits were cut in 2006.

"Our biologists flew another survey this past August, and this time they spotted the bison," McLaughlin said. "They saw lots of bison.

"We've confirmed that the herd is doing really well. That's why we recommended that the board raise the number of bison permits available for the Henry Mountains this fall."