Utahns can take advantage of 13 upland game hunts

Cottontail rabbit hunting should be excellent this year, and chukar partridge hunting should be great in areas that have lots of cheatgrass.

Those two hunts are among 13 upland game hunts that hunters in Utah can participate in over the next few months.

One major change in the program is there's no age limit on who can participate. As long as an individual has passed the state's hunter education course, he or she can buy a license to hunt small game in Utah, regardless of the person's age.

Many of Utah's upland game hunts begin Saturday.

The cottontail populations are entering the upswing in their 10-year population cycle in Utah. Hunters should focus their efforts on dry, brushy draws with dense, rank big sagebrush.

No license is required for jackrabbits.

In Box Elder County, rabbit populations are still in their up-cycle, and there should be plenty of opportunity for rabbit hunters. In Morgan County, cottontail numbers are up and improved from last year. In Cache and Rich counties, populations are low and appear to be down from last year.

Excellent hunting is expected for cottontail in both Duchesne and Uintah counties.

In other parts of the state, rabbit counts are up.

Hunters are reminded that it's illegal to shoot pygmy rabbits. For information visit www.wildlife.utah.gov/habitat/pdf/pygmy_rabbit.pdf.

Snowshoe hare can be found in pine forests interspersed with aspen and alder. Hunter success is predicted to be fair to good depending on the mountain range hunted.

The DWR's annual western desert helicopter survey, conducted in August, indicated a noticeable increase in chukar partridge per square mile over what biologists saw last year. Biologists counted 779 chukars on the survey transect this year. That's up more than 200 birds from the 566 chukars counted in 2005.

Because of sporadic spring rainfall, cheatgrass and resulting chukar numbers vary from mountain range to mountain range. Overall, chukar numbers are fair to excellent across most of Utah this year but are down from the number observed last year.

Chukar populations in east Box Elder County are similar to last year, but in west Box Elder County numbers are down. In Morgan County, chukar populations have improved and should be above last year's numbers, which were considered good to excellent. In Cache and Rich counties, chukar numbers are similar to last year, and hunting should be good in traditional areas.