DWR considers changes to deer, elk hunts in '09

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is proposing changes to Utah's archery and general rifle deer hunt for next year. It is also proposing one major elk-hunting change.

The DWR is proposing restricting archery hunters to one unit until Sept. 1, then opening the hunt statewide.

This was one suggestion made by a committee formed last spring to review Utah's Mule Deer Management Plan. Increasing the number of deer in Utah and providing more chances to hunt deer are among the goals of the committee members.

All of the DWR's big game proposals are available at wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings.

Suggestions to the proposals can be made in two ways: attending a Regional Advisory Council meeting or by e-mail to a council representative. Five Regional Advisory Council meetings will be held across Utah. Citizens representing the RACs will take the input received at the meetings to the Utah Wildlife Board. Board members will use the input to set rules for Utah's 2009 big-game hunts. The meetings will be: (two notes: the Southern Region meeting begins at 5 p.m. The Central Region meeting is being held on a Thursday.):

• Tuesday — Southern Region, 5 p.m. at Beaver High School, 195 E. Center.

• Wednesday — Southeastern Region, 6:30 p.m. at John Wesley Powell Museum, 1765 E. Main in Green River.

• Nov. 6 — Northeastern Region, 6:30 p.m. at Uintah Interagency Fire Center, 355 N. Vernal Ave. in Vernal.

• Nov. 12 — Northern Region, 6 p.m. at Weber Commission Chambers, 2383 Washington Blvd. in Ogden.

• Nov. 13 — Central Region, 6:30 p.m. at Springville Junior High School, 165 S. 700 East.

The e-mail addresses for advisory council members are available at wildlife.utah.gov/public_meetings.

Among the proposed changes for the 2009 deer hunt are:

• Require general season archery buck deer hunters to hunt in a single region until Sept. 1. Starting Sept. 1, they could hunt in any region in the state.

"Hunters in southern Utah are concerned that too many archery hunters are hunting in the Southern Region at the start of the season," said Anis Aoude, big-game coordinator for the DWR. "Depending on which region you choose to hunt in, this change could prevent you from hunting in the Southern Region at the start of the archery season. But you could still hunt in the region halfway through the season."