Amendments to the Utah Elk Management Plan

These amendments are what the Elk Management Plan needs, and here is why. Our elk population in Utah is at or near the objective, which means we cannot significantly increase the elk population without causing negative impacts on other species, agricultural land, and urban areas. Our Fish and Game department is doing well with elk population management, and elk populations as a whole are thriving in Utah. However, our current management plan—specifically our draw structure and season dates—are no longer effective.

We now have over 75,000 people applying for just over 3,000 Limited Entry Elk Permits. If we continue to add permits to our limited entry units, the quality of trophy bulls will continue to decline. Our youth have virtually no chance of ever drawing a trophy tag. For example, if a 12-year-old starts applying today, they could be over 100 years old before having the chance to draw many of our Limited Entry Elk hunts.

Our over-the-counter tags are hardly "over-the-counter" anymore. In 2014, hunters had about three months to purchase an OTC tag. Now, in many cases, hunters have only a few hours or even minutes to secure a tag. We are rapidly running out of both opportunity hunts and trophy hunts.

For this reason, we are implementing significant changes to the elk draw structure and elk hunting regulations. These changes will provide more opportunities not only for our youth but also for those who wish to hunt every year or nearly every year, while offering a better chance to draw exceptional tags for those willing to wait.

As stated, Elk herd numbers are currently at or near objectives, but we will also introduce minor changes to increase our elk populations in specific areas to also allow for more hunting opportunities.

Our goals for these amendments are simple. First and foremost, prioritize the long-term well-being of our elk herds and genetics. Second, we want to provide youth with guaranteed opportunities to get their feet wet in hunting. Third, we want to provide people more opportunities at what they want, whether it be the chance to get a trophy-quality tag or a regular opportunity to go fill the freezer. There has been a battle that seems to get worse every year. Many hunters want game managed for more opportunity while others want Trophy animals. We want the hunters to be able to decide how they hunt without negatively impacting how their neighbor wants to hunt and we're going to do that. In a recent survey done by the UDWR, hunters said they wanted more opportunities to hunt, better trophy-quality animals, and less crowding when they were hunting. The reality is, we have a certain number of elk we can harvest each year and a much larger number of people wanting to harvest an elk each year. Elk can't just be pulled out of a magic hat. There are many aspects of these changes that many of you, and even myself, may not like when implemented. When you disagree with something in this plan, ask yourself this: Is what I want good for the elk population and its longevity, is it good for my fellow hunters, and for future generations of hunters, or is my concern driven by selfish motivations?

Hunting Seasons Adjustments:

Archery Any Bull Elk Hunt:

Start Date: Last Saturday in August

Duration: 21 days

Archery Spike and Cow Hunt:

Start Date: Last Saturday in August

Duration: 14 days

Any Bull Any Legal Weapon Hunt:

Start Date: The day after the Archery Any Bull Elk Hunt ends

Duration: 5 days

Muzzleloader Hunt:

Start Date: The Saturday following the conclusion of the Any Legal Weapon Hunt

Duration: 7 days

Any Legal Weapon Spike Hunt & Any Legal Weapon Any Bull Hunt:

Start Date: First Saturday in October

Duration: 7 days

Late Season Hunts:

The Any Legal Weapon Any Bull late season hunts will be eliminated.

Late Archery Hunt will remain the same as it currently is.

Spike Muzzleloader Season:

No changes will be made to the current season.

Changes To Units Currently Managed as General Season Any Bull Units:

Rifle and muzzleloader seasons will keep the current hunting dates.

The archery season will change to match all other Archery Any Bull seasons.

Cow Hunts:

Cow hunts will remain unchanged, except for the introduction of designated safe zones where cow elk hunting will be prohibited. These safe zones are designed to reduce hunting pressure on elk, encouraging them to move into underutilized winter zones without being pushed back out by cow hunters.

Any Leftover cow tags will be available for sale OTC after the draw, providing the UDWR with a tool to manage herd populations.

Tag Allocation Changes:

Over-the-counter tags will be eliminated, other than leftover cow tags.

Hunters will be allowed to apply for only one of the following categories per season:

Any Bull Hunts

Spike Only Bull Hunts

Cow Only Hunts

Tag distribution will be modified as follows:

90% of tags will be allocated to hunters with the most points to reduce point creep.

10% of tags will be distributed through a random draw to maintain the excitement of always knowing you have a chance to draw.

The 5-year waiting period will be eliminated.

What Will Happen with Current Points:

All Limited Entry Elk points will be carried over into the new any bull system.

All Cow Elk points will be carried over into the new cow elk system.

Important Change: All Any Bull hunts will use your Any Bull points. This means if you have Limited Entry points and apply for a unit that is currently managed as general season Any Bull, you will lose your points.

If you have Bull Elk points and decide you would like to hunt cows or spikes, you may do so without losing your Any Bull points. However, you will not be able to gain a point the years you apply for spike or cow permits.

Youth Opportunities:

Youth will be able to apply for Any Bull permits and/or points. If they are unsuccessful in the draw, they will be able to purchase leftover spike and cow tags.

If a youth applies for a spike hunt, they will be guaranteed a permit.

Elk Herd Management:

Population objectives will follow current objectives.

Cow permits will be allocated based on herd objectives.

Spike elk tags will remain capped at 15,000.

Units managed as General Season Any Bull units will continue to not have spike-only hunts and will be managed for opportunities at any bull. These permits will also be capped at 15,000.

Any Bull Elk permits on current Limited Entry (LE) Units will be adjusted annually based on age class. No unit will be managed for an age class objective less than 5.5-6 years old or more than 7-7.5 years old.

Units will not be managed based on bull-to-cow ratios.

Trophy bull units will be managed to age objectives, allowing hunters to decide whether they prefer easier-to-draw permits or fewer permits, which would allow more bulls to live longer thus why we will not set bull to cow objectives on LE units.

Purpose and Justification:

Elk herds cannot outpace the demand for elk hunting. By making these changes and sacrifices, we accomplish these key things. We currently have a group of 75,000 hunters applying for about 3,000 permits. We change this to include 18,000 permits in the same draw without having to sacrifice trophy quality to do it. For those hunters seeking opportunity, we increase the odds for obtaining spike and cow tags if they wish to fill the freezer with quality meat every year. We provide entry-level hunts that are more easily obtained by the youth. Most importantly, we don't sacrifice the well-being of our elk herds to do any of it.

Changes to season dates are intended to reduce pressure on elk for extended periods of time and to encourage hunters to be less selective. This approach aims to prevent the consistent harvesting of bulls with the best genetics at a young age while allowing bulls with poorer genetics to live longer and breed more.

  Hunters will be given the freedom to choose whether they want to focus on trophy hunting or general hunting opportunities. The trade-off may be that trophy hunters will no longer be able to harvest spikes or cows, thus preserving these opportunities for those seeking more frequent hunting opportunities. Conversely, general opportunity hunters will no longer impact the availability of trophy bull permits. This separation will allow for more effective elk management without the continuous debate between trophy and opportunity-focused hunting and management.

Written by Chuck Hammond