Utah DWR announces 2021 big game recommendations

The Utah Division of Wildlife has recently announced several recommendations for changes to the big game rules in 2021 as well as proposed season dates. These changes range from new hunts to quota changes along with the normal litany of boundary changes.

The DWR is seeking public comment on the proposals that are to be discussed at RAC board meetings in the coming months. The public comment period opens on November 3rd for each of the five regional meetings. 

Public comments can be submitted through an online form.

• Central Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. (Public comments must be submitted by Nov. 7 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Northern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. (Public comments must be submitted by Nov. 9 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Southern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. (Public comments must be submitted by Nov. 14 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Southeastern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. (Public comments must be submitted by Nov. 15 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Northeastern Utah RAC meeting: Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m. (Public comments must be submitted by Nov. 16 at 11:59 p.m.)
• Utah Wildlife Board meeting: Dec. 3 at 9 a.m. (Public comments must be submitted by Nov. 26 at 11:59 p.m.)

You can read about all of the proposed changes and view video presentations on each proposal here.

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Proposed changes for deer

For 2021 the DWR has proposed one new general-season any legal weapon hunt with the most notable changes being in the deer management plan. Several proposed changes have been recommended that would ultimately decrease the statewide deer population objective from 454,100 to 403,800 animals. These large decreases in the number of units may cause a drop in available permits but this will not be fully known until the total tag numbers are released after the drawing deadline.

Recommended new hunts
Hunt name	Season type	2021 dates	NR permits available
North Slope	Any Legal Weapon	Oct 13 - Oct 17	Yes

Recommended hunts to discontinue
Hunt name	Season type	Hunt code
Henry Mtns	Any Legal Weapon (Management)	DB1009
Henry Mtns	Archery (Management)	DB1051
Henry Mtns	Muzzleloader (Management)	DB1052
North Slope, Summit	Any Legal Weapon	DB1021

2021 proposed deer management changes
Unit	Current objective	New objective	Objective change
Box Elder	20,000	20,000	Same
Cache	25,000	25,000	Same
Ogden	11,000	11,000	Same
Morgan-South Rich	18,000	16,000	Lower
East Canyon	13,500	13,500	Same
Chalk Creek	10,500	12,000	Higher
Kamas	8,000	8,000	Same
North Slope	10,000	10,000	Same
South Slope, Yellowstone	13,000	11,000	Lower
South Slope, Diamond Mtn/Vernal	15,000	13,000	Lower
Book Cliffs	15,000	9,000	Lower
Nine Mile	8,500	8,500	Same
San Rafael	1,000	No objective	NA
La Sal, La Sal Mtns	13,000	8,000	Lower
La Sal, Dolores Triangle	5,100	3,100	Lower
San Juan, Abajo	13,500	13,500	Same
San Juan, Elk Ridge	5,600	1,000	Lower
Henry Mtns	2,700	2,700	Same
Central Mtns, Manti	38,000	28,000	Lower
Central Mtns, Nebo	22,600	14,000	Lower
Wasatch Mtns, West	22,600	22,600	Same
Wasatch Mtns, Currant Creek	20,000	17,000	Lower
Wasatch Mtns, Avintaquin	5,000	4,000	Lower
Oquirrh-Stansbury	11,600	11,600	Same
West Desert	11,200	11,200	Same
Southwest Desert	4,000	3,500	Lower
Fillmore, Pahvant	12,000	7,600	Lower
Fillmore, Oak Creek	2,500	2,000	Lower
Beaver	13,000	14,000	Higher
Monroe	7,500	7,000	Lower
Mt. Dutton	2,700	3,200	Higher
Plateau, Fishlake	10,000	7,000	Lower
Plateau, Thousand Lakes	3,000	1,400	Lower
Plateau, Boulder/Kaiparowtis	12,000	8,500	Lower
Paunsaugunt	6,500	6,500	Same
Panguitch Lake	10,000	11,000	Higher
Zion	15,500	19,100	Higher
Pine Valley	16,000	19,500	Higher
Total	454,100	403,800

The proposals from the DWR can be found here.

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Proposed changes for elk

Several proposed changes are on deck for elk one of which includes a proposal to modify the current elk management plan to allow for an unlimited number of any-bull elk permits.

"We're making this recommendation after in-depth discussions with the elk committee who wrote the statewide elk management plan. It's a way to expand hunting opportunities for families, strengthen ties to Utah's hunting heritage and provide a challenge for hunters since this is not an easy hunt," DWR Big Game Coordinator Covy Jones said.

Traditionally, the general-season any bull elk permits have been limited to a total of 15,000 permits statewide. This proposal would remove the limit on any bull permits but will not affect spike elk permits which will still be capped to 15,000 statewide. 

Recommended new hunts
Hunt name	Season type	2021 dates	NR permits available
Box Elder, Pilot Mtn	Archery	Aug 21 - Sep 10	No
Cache, North	Archery	Sep 1 - Sep 30	Yes
Oquirrh-Stansbury, West	Archery	Sep 1 - Sep 30	Yes
Plateau, Barney Top/Kaiparowits	Archery	Sep 1 - Sep 30	Yes
West Desert, Deep Creek	Archery	Sep 1 - Sep 30	Yes
Cache, North	HAMS	Oct 1 - Nov 15	Yes
Oquirrh-Stansbury, West	HAMS	Oct 1 - Nov 15	Yes
Plateau, Barney Top/Kaiparowits	HAMS	Oct 1 - Nov 15	Yes
West Desert, Deep Creek	HAMS	Oct 1 - Nov 15	Yes

Recommended boundary changes
Unit name
Plateau, Boulder
Southwest Desert, South
Box Elder, Grouse Creek

Recommended hunts to discontinue
Hunt name	Season type	Hunt code
Cache, North	Archery	EB3004
Nine Mile, Anthro	Archery	EB3012
Oquirrh-Stansbury	Archery	EB3014
West Desert, Deep Creek	Archery	EB3023
Cache, North	Any Legal Weapon	EB3034
Nine Mile, Anthro	Any Legal Weapon	EB3051
Oquirrh-Stansbury	Any Legal Weapon	EB3054
West Desert, Deep Creek	Any Legal Weapon	EB3074
West Desert, Deep Creek	Any Legal Weapon	EB3075
Cache, North	Any Legal Weapon	EB3035
Nine Mile, Anthro	Any Legal Weapon	EB3052
Oquirrh-Stansbury	Any Legal Weapon	EB3055
West Desert, Deep Creek	Any Legal Weapon	EB3076
Cache, North	Muzzleloader	EB3082
Nine Mile, Anthro	Muzzleloader	EB3090
Oquirrh-Stansbury	Muzzleloader	EB3092
West Desert, Deep Creek	Muzzleloader	EB3101
Cache, North	Multi-Season	EB3106
Nine Mile, Anthro	Multi-Season	EB3114
Oquirrh-Stansbury	Multi-Season	EB3116
West Desert, Deep Creek	Multi-Season	EB3125

The proposals from the DWR can be found here.

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Proposed changes for antelope

For 2021 several new hunts were proposed for antelope in Utah along with a few that were removed. No major changes have been proposed or made at this point.

Recommended new hunts
Hunt name	Season type	2021 dates	NR permits available
Plateau, Highlands	Archery	Aug 21 - Sep 17	No
Fillmore, Oak Creek South	Muzzleloader	Sep 29 - Oct 7	Yes
North Slope, Three Corners/West Daggett	Muzzleloader	Sep 29 - Oct 7	Yes
Plateau, Highlands	Muzzleloader	Sep 29 - Oct 7	No
Plateau, Highlands	Any Legal Weapon	Sep 18 - Sep 2	No

Recommended hunts to discontinue
Hunt name	Season type	Hunt code
Plateau, Parker Mtn	Archery	PB5333
Plateau, Parker Mtn	Muzzleloader	PB5335
Plateau, Parker Mtn	Any Legal Weapon	PB5334

The proposals from the DWR can be found here.

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Proposed changes for Bighorn Sheep and Bison

Among the once-in-a-lifetime species there are both hunt changes and boundary changes being proposed for Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep, Desert Bighorn Sheep, and Bison.

Recommended new hunts - Bison
Hunt name	Season type	2021 dates	NR permits available?
Book Cliffs, Wild Horse Bench	Any Legal Weapon	Aug 1, 2021 - Jan 31, 2022	Yes

Recommended hunts to discontinue - Bison
Hunt name	Season type	Hunt code
Book Cliffs, Bitter Creek/South - Cow	Any Legal Weapon	BI6522
Henry Mtns	Archery	BI6509
Henry Mtns - Cow	Archery	BI6515

Recommended new hunts - Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
Hunt name	Season type	2021 dates	NR permits available
Fillmore, Oak Creek	Archery	Nov 20 - Dec 12	No

Recommended hunts to discontinue - Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
Hunt name	Season type	Hunt code
Box Elder, Pilot Mtn	Any Legal Weapon	RS6702

Recommended boundary changes - RMBHS
Unit name
North Slope, Three Corners-Bare Top
North Slope, Summit/West Daggett

Recommended hunts to discontinue - Desert Bighorn Sheep
Hunt name	Season type	Hunt code
Zion	Archery	DS6619

The proposals from the DWR can be found here.