Wildlife board reduces Utah deer hunt to five days

Deer hunters in Utah will have less time to fill their tag next year.

The Utah Wildlife Board on Thursday reduced the 2010 general deer season from nine days to five, except for hunters 17 or younger.

The board acted on a proposal by the group Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife.

Five-day seasons have been used in southern Utah in recent years to help herds increase their numbers. State wildlife biologists, though, say there's no indication that shortening the season will reduce the number of animals taken in the hunt.

Board members say they'll revisit the shortened general deer season before the 2011 hunt.

About 70,000 people participate in the general deer season each October.

— Associated Press