Bowhunters of Utah

At the RAC meeting last November, I heard a lot about the overcrowding issue in Southern Utah. Now the DWR is going to listen to what bowhunters have to say in an upcoming meeting. In order to be effective, one of the items I would like to present to them is "where exactly in Southern Utah are there overcrowding issues?" Is the concern real or perceived? Are the hunters complaining because they have to move their 4 wheelers to the side several times in an hour because of the other hunters coming down the road? I hope we can get a good discussion on here so we can be heard. If you have friends who hunt different areas down South, I want to hear about their experiences. We don't have much time to compile this data but hopefully we can get the ball rolling.

There isn't one. Anise himself said that it is a "perceived" overcrowding issue and that the decision to pick ones region was based on political reasons only. It was also speculated that it was southern any weapon hunters that were making the biggest stink. Finn may have some better input, I'm having a hard time remembering what else was said because I had my BS filter turned on.

I have spent the last couple years on the beaver unit there is defiantly to many hunters there on opening but it seems to clear up after that. Limiting the number of southern tags or drawing for them is not going to decrease the number of hunters in most of the popular areas. One option is smaller units in the southern region. Like the beaver, fish lake, cedar mountain, pine valley and enterprise to name a few. maybe you wont get to hunt your favorite area every year but if you could draw a second choice you could at least hunt somewhere. This Idea works great in Colorado.

If we go to a southern region wide draw and you don't draw how many people will go north out of our region to hunt? Or who will chose not to hunt?

bowboy, are you suggesting a limited entry archery hunt on units that are overcrowded, or thought to be overcrowded?

At present, LE units are managed for "quality" bucks through management to high buck/doe ratio objectives and/or age objectives. Yes?

Since establishing LE units for the purpose of hunter management is an entirely different matter, a couple of new questions come up. First, which units should be designated LE? And second, what is the baseline for the number of permits to be allocated for each of those new LE units?

Mind you, a reduction in deer hunters on any given unit will not effect the number of recreationists, dedicated hunters or LE elk hunters preparing for upcoming hunts on those units. Also bear in mind that not all bowhunters are targeting deer during the current synchronous deer/elk season. (Wouldn't it be a kick in the pants if we modified the deer hunt when in fact, any overcrowding by bowhunters is actually the result of the elk hunt?)

Manti, Fish Lake, Beaver, Dutton, Enterprise - these are preferred as deer hunting areas over their attraction as elk hunting areas?

Finn You make a valid point limiting the number of deer hunters would not change the fact that all the people you mentioned would still be on the mountain enjoying the outdoors. Maybe those units with great access and allot of people would not be good candidates for a LE hunt.

Is the issue of overcrowding not so much bowhunters as much as it is people in general?

Do we as a group want more trophy opportunity or just the opportunity to hunt wherever and with whomever we want?

I agree with bowboy. All hunters need to ask the question, "what kind of hunt do I want?" I for one just want the opportunity to get out and have a chance at a decent buck. My standards for a decent buck is a 20-22" 3 x 3 or larger. If I remember correctly, the DWR survey they read at the Nov. RAC meeting, "just getting out in the mtns. with family to hunt," was either one or two most important to the hunting population. As a bowhunter, I get pretty fired up even when I've taken small bucks. At this point, I don't have to kill a buck every year to stay excited. I live in So. Utah and am fortunate to live 45 mins away from one of my hunting locations. If I have to draw this tag, I won't be bowhunting every year. The question still is, where do I need to go to get away from the crowds? (Crowds meaning hunters and recreationists.) If they really bother you, find a new location. I've spoken to a few of you in the last few days and you've told me you've changed locations because of it. If you don't want to wait in line over an hour to get a decent seat at the theater to watch a blockbuster, don't go opening weekend. I think the same strategy can work for hunting.

I hunted an area by Boulder for 4 years where opportunity was fantastic even on opening weekend, and didn't go back for ten years. Then, there were only 3 or 4 quads running around all day long. Back then the tags were not selling out. In o4 and 05 it started to get really bad and we counted 22 quads as we left the same area and never went back. We moved on to another area in the Boulders where we didn't come in contact with too many hunters but passed many many camps on the way in.

I forgot to mention we are now trying the Northern region for the first time this season and even though we hear that there are many hunters,the opportunity is still good. I am just happy to be out there, seeing game, getting some opportunity for shots, actually taking an animal is like getting my Xmas bonus. Not bumping into too many hunters while hunting would be a good thing too and I go home feeling like I just added another great experience to my life.

Update. Me and Tye attended the DWR's archery committee meeting this week. The long and the short of it is that the DWR will recommend a return to the statewide archery deer hunt next year. With a lot of solid data to disprove the overcrowding issue and with no biological or social support for getting rid of the statewide hunt, (the anti-statewide reps didn't even show up at the meeting), the chances are very good that the Board will approve the recommendation at their meeting on Dec. 2.

finnegan wrote:
Update. Me and Tye attended the DWR's archery committee meeting this week. The long and the short of it is that the DWR will recommend a return to the statewide archery deer hunt next year. With a lot of solid data to disprove the overcrowding issue and with no biological or social support for getting rid of the statewide hunt, (the anti-statewide reps didn't even show up at the meeting), the chances are very good that the Board will approve the recommendation at their meeting on Dec. 2.

FIN,

i LOVE you thanks for the hard work and update

9er