DWR to set aside permits for those 18 and younger

An effort to attract young people to hunting in Utah received an important boost last month. At a meeting in Salt Lake City, the Utah Wildlife Board voted to set aside 20 percent of Utah's antlerless elk, deer and pronghorn antelope permits for hunters 18 years old and younger.

Board members also voted to decrease the number of doe deer and cow elk permits available for hunts in Utah this fall.

Applications for 2005 Utah antlerless big game hunting permits will be available beginning May 24 from hunting license agents, Division of Wildlife Resources offices and the DWR's Web site — wildlife.utah.gov.

Applications must be received no later than June 20 to be included in the draw for permits. Draw results will be available by July 28.

Setting aside 20 percent of this fall's antlerless elk, deer and pronghorn permits for hunters 18 and younger was the major antlerless big game hunting action the board took.

Hunters who will be 18 or younger on Aug. 20 (the start of Utah's 2005 archery buck deer hunt) will be placed in the group that can draw for the permits that will be set aside.

If there aren't enough hunters in this group to take all of the permits, the permits that aren't taken will be added to the permits that hunters over 18 will draw for.

To be eligible to draw for the permits that will be set aside, hunters 18 and younger must apply individually. Those who apply as part of a group will not qualify.

"The number of young people who are becoming hunters has been declining for years, and we're concerned about that trend," said Jim Karpowitz, director of the DWR.

"Hunters and anglers provide most of the funding to manage wildlife that everyone in Utah gets to enjoy. As the number of hunters continues to drop, the amount of funding to manage Utah's wildlife will also continue to drop.

"Hunting is also a great outdoor activity, and we want to do everything we can to bring young people into the hunting ranks," he said. "One thing we believe is driving young people away is the difficulty in drawing a permit to hunt. Setting aside 20 percent of these permits will give youth hunters a better chance of drawing a permit."