Utah releases updated regs for turkey and upland birds

If you hunt upland birds or turkeys in Utah, there’s a few regulation changes you should be aware of. This week, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) released an updated turkey management plan, which was recently approved by the Utah Wildlife Board, according to a news release. 

The new plan will be in effect until 2029 and includes the following goals for turkey management:

• Maintaining and improving wild turkey populations (within the carrying capacity of the habitat)
• Minimizing conflicts between people and turkeys
• Improving turkey hunting opportunities across the state
• Enhancing the appreciation of wild turkeys in Utah
• Enhancing interagency cooperation for the management of turkeys

During the planning process, UDWR also established an emergency feeding policy and crash response plan, which includes updates to limited entry hunt boundaries. 

Some key changes to be aware of going into future seasons:

• Going forward, it will be illegal to harvest trumpeter swans. Utah is one of nine states that allows swan hunting.
• Robotic decoys, night vision devices and drones will be prohibited in turkey and upland bird hunting to be consistent with other technology rules that apply to other species.
• Killing a turkey that is roosting is illegal no matter the type of structure.
• There will be a limit of three turkey tags per hunter during the fall seasons.

Click here for the full news release that may has some additional details.