You can apply for next year’s most prized Utah big game hunting permits — 2012 sportsman permits — starting Tuesday.
Only Utah residents may apply for sportsman permits. One sportsman permit is offered for each of the following species: Desert bighorn ram, Rocky Mountain bighorn ram, buck deer, buck pronghorn, bull elk, bull moose, hunter’s choice bison and hunter’s choice Rocky Mountain goat.
Sportsman permits are also offered for three species that are not classified as big game: Black bear, cougar and wild turkey.
If you draw a sportsman permit, the dates you can hunt vary. But in most cases, they’re longer than the regular season dates. You can also hunt on almost any unit in Utah that’s open to hunting the species you drew a permit for.
Highly prized
Judi Tutorow, wildlife licensing coordinator for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says sportsman permits are highly prized items. “If you’re one of the lucky hunters who draws one, you’ll have plenty of days — and plenty of areas — to hunt,” she says.
You can apply for a sportsman permit starting Tuesday at www.wildlife.utah.gov. Applications must be submitted no later than 11 p.m. on Nov. 23.
Draw results will be posted by Dec. 1. If you draw a permit, you’ll also receive a letter in the mail. “That’s a letter you’ll probably want to frame,” Tutorow says.
For more information, see page 23 of the 2011 Utah Big Game Application Guidebook (www.wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks) or call the nearest Division of Wildlife Resources office. You can also call the DWR’s Salt Lake City office at (801) 538-4700.