SALT LAKE CITY — More chances to hunt bison, new deer archery hunts and bighorn sheep hunts are set to be available in 2019, following a vote by the Utah Wildlife Board.
According to a press release made by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, the new hunts are part of several big game hunting changes that were approved during a board meeting Thursday in Salt Lake City.
“Big game animals are doing well in Utah,” DWR said. “And, in certain pockets of the state, they’re doing extremely well. To help manage the populations, and give hunters more chances to hunt, members of the board approved several new hunts for 2019.”
DWR gave a sample of some of the new hunts:
- “New bison hunts on the Henry Mountains in southeastern Utah and the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah.
- New muzzleloader and archery hunts for pronghorn in northeastern Utah.
- A Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt on the Oquirrh-Stansbury unit in north-central Utah. The hunt will be the first bighorn hunt held on the unit since 2015.
- For the first time ever, once-in-a-lifetime archery bighorn sheep hunts. An archery hunt for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep will be held on the Newfoundland Mountains unit in northern Utah. Another archery hunt, this one for desert bighorns, will be held on the Zion unit in southwestern Utah.”
DWR also said that because deer are thriving on the Wasatch Front, members of the board approved additional archery hunts.
In most of the areas where archery hunts were extended, hunters can get deer from Sept. 14 – Nov. 30, 2019, DWR said.
Hunters will also be able to take one buck deer or one doe deer. A total of nine extended archery deer hunts will be offered in Utah in 2019.
DWR released the following areas where the hunt will be extended:
- “A new extended archery hunt will be held in the mountains near Herriman in Salt Lake County.
- A new extended archery hunt will be held in areas around Utah Lake in Utah County.
- The boundary of the Wasatch Front extended archery area has been extended to American Fork Canyon in Utah County. The boundary now runs from the Weber/Davis County line all the way to American Fork Canyon.
- A new South Wasatch extended archery area has been established. The boundary for the area extends from American Fork Canyon south to Hobble Creek Canyon.”
“In addition to the big game hunting rules, members of the board also approved a fishing change at Flaming Gorge Reservoir,” DWR said. “Starting Jan. 1, 2019, those who are not residents of Utah or Wyoming—but want to fish both the Utah and Wyoming sides of Flaming Gorge Reservoir—must buy a nonresident fishing license from both states.”
